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| S.Africa's rand firms near two-week high vs dollar Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 11:01 PM PST  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The rand firmed near a two-week high on Friday and looked to end the week on a stronger footing against the dollar as a renewed appetite for risk supported emerging market assets. Dealers said the rand was also in a technical recovery after being oversold last week. By 0649 GMT, the local unit was up at 8.7675 and within reach of a two-week high hit in Thursday's session. "It's a short-term correction but I think most people are looking to buy any dips in dollar/rand," said Jan Defouw, a trader for Standard Bank, suggesting the currency could be sold back to the key 8. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenya's Kakuzi issues profit warning for 2012 Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 10:50 PM PST  NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan agricultural firm Kakuzi Ltd warned on Friday that its 2012 profit would be at least 25 percent lower than last year's level. It cited the lower prices of its export crops due to the economic problems in the euro zone, a strengthening of the Kenyan shilling against the euro as well as the sale of a subsidiary tea firm. Kakuzi, which produces tea, avocado and pineapples, posted a pretax profit of 920 million shillings in 2011. Full Story | Top |
| Insight: How a desperate HP suspended disbelief for Autonomy deal Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 10:36 PM PST  SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - For Leo Apotheker, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO, a July 2011 meeting with Autonomy founder Mike Lynch at a chic seaside resort in France was pivotal to his effort to remake a storied technology giant. In the nine months since taking the helm at HP, Apotheker had tried furiously to find a way to move the lumbering company away from its low-margin computer hardware business and into the lucrative corporate software and services arena. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brent drops toward $110 on US fiscal worries Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 10:11 PM PST  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude slipped towards $110 per barrel on Friday as critical U.S. budget talks to avert a looming fiscal disaster appeared to have stalled, denting the outlook for oil demand from the world's biggest consumer. U.S. fiscal worries have cut into oil's gains this month that were spurred by tensions in the Middle East. Brent had risen 2.4 percent in the first half but is now on track to close the month up 1.6 percent, snapping two straight monthly losses. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Lawyers gain from "say-on-pay" suits targeting U.S. firms Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 10:10 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Since the Dodd-Frank law gave shareholders a say in executive pay in 2010, courts have routinely rebuffed efforts by shareholders to force companies to heed their voice. Now, lawyers have found a new way to bring lawsuits over executive pay, resulting in a handful of legal settlements. But the settlements to date have produced no changes in executive compensation and no money for investors. In fact, the main financial beneficiary so far has been a small New York law firm that brought the bulk of the cases. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gabon to become palm oil exporter by 2020: minister Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 09:57 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Gabon will become a significant exporter of palm oil by 2020, as it diversifies into agriculture and works to reduce its reliance on crude oil exports, the country's agriculture minister told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. Gabon expects to produce 250,000 tonnes of palm oil per year by 2020, up from 50,000 tonnes currently, with Belgium's SIAT and Singapore's Olam running projects in the country. West Africa consumes a huge amount of palm oil, which is used in cooking and for fuel. With the vast majority of the region's 3. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gabon plans offshore licensing round for June 2013 Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 09:54 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Gabon plans to launch a new deep offshore oil licensing round in June, providing new investor-friendly regulations can be enacted by then, the West African country's oil and energy minister said on Thursday. Etienne Ngoubou told Reuters in an interview that Gabon had been pumping at least 225,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil this year and expected to increase output slightly to around 230,000 bpd next year and in 2014. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chevron lifts force majeure at Angolan oil platform Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 09:53 PM PST  GENEVA (Reuters) - U.S. oil major Chevron's Angolan subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company lifted a month-long force majeure at the Kuito offshore oil terminal on November 27, Chevron said on Thursday The end of force majeure will likely come as a relief to oil traders active in the west African market where theft and flooding in Nigeria has also caused disruptions to exports. A Chevron spokesman added that there was no impact on production at Kuito as the necessary repair work on a mooring line coincided with planned maintenance. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan's new gold refinery's daily capacity at 900 kilograms: SUNA Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 09:48 PM PST  KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's new gold refinery has built up a daily production capacity of 900 kilograms, two months after it was launched, state news agency SUNA said on Thursday. Sudan is boosting its production of gold and other minerals to tap new sources for foreign currency after losing three-quarters of its oil output when South Sudan became independent in July last year. Oil used to contribute more than 50 percent of state revenues. ... Full Story | Top |
| S.Africa stocks hit record close on Gold Fields surge Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 09:43 PM PST  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African stocks booked a record close on Thursday, rising more than 1 percent as Gold Fields surged on news the bullion producer would spin off two of its oldest mines. Sentiment was also lifted by renewed optimism a deal will be reached to resolve the U.S. fiscal crisis, increasing appetite for assets seen as higher risk such as equities and commodities. Higher resources prices helped lift other gold miners, which are among the worst performers in Johannesburg this year. ... Full Story | Top |
| S.Africa's rand hits two-week high on fiscal cliff optimism Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 09:42 PM PST  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand rallied to a two-week high on Thursday on hopes that U.S. policymakers would reach an agreement to reduce the debt pile of the world's biggest economy. The rand was at 8.7690 to the dollar at 1550 GMT on Thursday, 0.5 percent stronger than Wednesday's New York close, after reaching a high of 8.7470 earlier in the session. The currency has traded within a narrow 8.80-9.00 band in the last two weeks and failed to break free even after a deal on Monday by Greece's international lenders to reduce the country's debt. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rwanda's biggest bank says 9-month pretax profit up 34 pct Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 09:39 PM PST KIGALI (Reuters) - Bank of Kigali, Rwanda's biggest bank by assets, posted a 34 percent rise in pretax profit for the first nine months of 2012, driven by higher interest income, and said it had diversified into stockbroking. The bank has established a wholly-owned subsidiary to offer brokerage services and launched five mobile banking vans to reach more isolated customers in the landlocked central African nation. It said that it had also received approval to start branchless agency banking and has already recruited 300 agents. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sasol, Mozambique's EDM plan 175 MW gas-fired plant Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 09:38 PM PST MAPUTO (Reuters) - South African petrochemicals group Sasol and Mozambican power utility EDM plan to build a $250 million gas-to-power plant to boost electricity supply to the southern African nation, EDM said on Thursday. The plant, which is expected to have installed capacity of 175 MW when it starts in mid-2014, will be built via a joint venture between Sasol and EDM. EDM will take a 51 percent stake. "With the new plant we want to respond to the future growing electricity demand in the southern side of the country," EDM chief executive Augusto Fernando said at a ground-breaking ceremony. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's top daily tells U.S. to avoid fiscal cliff or lose clout Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 08:20 PM PST BEIJING (Reuters) - China's top newspaper scolded the United States on Friday for shirking responsibility as a superpower by prolonging uncertainty over how it will avoid a "fiscal cliff" that could put the world economy at risk. "American politicians should understand that a 'self-created' recession will gravely erode both the soft and hard power of the United States," the People's Daily, a newspaper regarded as a mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Auto industry frets about more fuel mileage fiascos like Hyundai's Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 08:19 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor Co's admission that it overstated fuel economy claims on several of its top-selling cars has the industry worried, with speculation rife among executives and analysts at the Los Angeles auto show that more automakers may have to do the same. Four weeks ago, Hyundai and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp conceded that they overstated the fuel economy by at least a mile per gallon on more than 1 million recently sold vehicles. "I think we might see more of this," said Jake Fisher, the head of automotive testing at Consumer Reports. ... Full Story | Top |
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