| | |
| Argentina heads to U.S. appeals court in bond fight Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 11:54 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Argentina will seek on Wednesday to persuade a U.S. appeals court to reverse an order that it pay $1.3 billion to a group of dissident bondholders stemming from the country's 2001 default, a showdown that could have wide impact on global debt markets. The arguments at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York are being closely watched amid fears of a new Argentina debt crisis if the country must pay the so-called "holdout" investors. For years, the holdouts have demanded full payment after spurning two debt exchanges. ... Full Story | Top |
| Comair takes S.Africa to court over airline funding Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 11:47 PM PST JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African airline Comair, a franchise partner for British Airways, plans to take the government to court over its continued funding of state carrier South African Airways , the Business Report newspaper said on Wednesday. Africa's biggest economy last year agreed to guarantee 5 billion rand in loans for the troubled national airline over the next two years. Comair's Chief Executive Erik Venter said the latest bailout and previous payments did not comply with either the domestic aviation transport policy nor the law, according to the paper. ... Full Story | Top |
| S.Africa's rand softens ahead of budget Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 11:46 PM PST  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand softened against the dollar on Wednesday ahead of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's budget speech, which is likely to outline plans for cutting the government's spending deficit amid anaemic economic growth. The rand was at 8.8428 against the dollar at 0643 GMT, 0.28 percent weaker than New York's Tuesday close at 8.82. "Clearly the gap between revenues and expenditures needs to be closed, and today's budget will be about how quickly that might be done and by which means," Barclays Capital said in a note. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU moves closer to imposing caps on banker bonuses Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 10:39 PM PST  BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - The European parliament and EU states could agree on Wednesday to impose caps on bankers' bonuses, a measure that would channel public fury at financial sector greed, but which opponents say marks a reckless overreach by Brussels into private pay deals. Negotiations to introduce a cap on bankers' bonuses in the European Union resume on Wednesday, a week after European lawmakers and ambassadors from countries failed to reach a deal. A majority of states in the 27-member bloc would have to support a measure passed by the European parliament to make it law. ... Full Story | Top |
| Imperial H1 up 14 pct, sees challenging market ahead Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 10:11 PM PST JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African logistics group Imperial Holdings reported a 14 percent rise in first-half profit on Wednesday as debt-led consumer spending lifted its auto unit and offset a weak logistic market. Imperial, which runs car rentals, dealerships and logistics businesses, said headline earnings per share totalled 829 cents in the six months to end-December compared with 727 cents a year ago. Headline EPS, the primary profit gauge in South Africa, strips out certain one-off items. ... Full Story | Top |
| American, US Airways executives face gentle questioning in Congress Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 09:57 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Executives from American Airlines and US Airways Group Inc on Tuesday faced gentle questions from lawmakers about their planned merger, with some expressing concern about losing hubs in their districts. US Airways Executive Vice President Stephen Johnson and American Airlines General Counsel Gary Kennedy defended the proposed $11 billion transaction by saying the companies had largely complementary networks, so little competition would be lost. The Justice Department's Antitrust Division will review the deal to ensure it complies with antitrust law. ... Full Story | Top |
| Namibia to cut corporate tax to encourage investment Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 09:10 PM PST WINDHOEK (Reuters) - Namibia, one of the world's largest diamond producers, announced plans to cut its corporate tax rate to 32 percent over the next two years in its 2013/14 budget on Tuesday to encourage investment. It also said it would cut income tax by adjusting tax bands and expects economic growth to accelerate slightly this year to 4.3 percent. Corporation tax in Namibia, which is also a major producer of uranium, is now 34 percent, one of the highest in southern Africa and compares with 28 percent in South Africa. ... Full Story | Top |
| First conflict-free tin metal from Congo due in March Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 09:09 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - An industry programme to revive legal mining in eastern Congo after a crackdown on conflict minerals will produce its first refined tin by the end of March, its organisers said on Tuesday. So far over 200 tonnes of tin ore have been sold to a Malaysian smelter from the Kalimbi mine in South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) under the Conflict Free Tin Initiative (CFTI), the organisers said in a statement. CFTI was designed to allow mineral exports from Congo's violent east to flow again after the U.S. Dodd Frank law largely brought the trade to a standstill. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigerian president signs parliament's 2013 budget Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 09:05 PM PST  ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan approved on Tuesday a 4.99 trillion naira budget passed by parliament, the presidency said, ending two months of dispute over the spending plans. Jonathan presented the budget to the national assembly in October but lawmakers increased spending and reduced the amount of oil revenues Africa's largest producer would save by the time they passed the budget in December. Spending has risen from 4. ... Full Story | Top |
| AES plant in Cameroon to start operations in March Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 09:04 PM PST  YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Cameroon's 216-megawatt Kribi gas-fired power plant, majority-owned by U.S. power firm AES Corporation, will start commercial operations in late March, a senior executive said on Tuesday. Geremie Bitanga, technical director of the Kribi Power Development Corporation (KPDC), said the gradual startup and testing of the plant's 13 engines would begin on Wednesday, after the gas supply was successfully connected this week. "From March 23 the plant will be ready for commercial operation and be operating at full capacity," he told reporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brent holds steady above $112 on Bernanke assurance; EU woes weigh Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 09:01 PM PST  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent futures held steady near $113 a barrel on Wednesday after Federal Reserve's affirmation of its commitment to monetary stimulus renewed hopes of a revival in demand growth in the world's biggest oil consumer. Chairman Ben Bernanke's strong defence of the Fed's bond-buying stimulus before Congress and a spike in U.S. home sales boosted Asian shares, base metals and other riskier assets. Yet, concerns over spending cuts in the United States and a prolonged instability in Europe as elections in Italy failed to produce a strong government capped gains. ... Full Story | Top |
| Clearwire may tap financing from Sprint Nextel: WSJ Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 08:47 PM PST  (Reuters) - Clearwire Corp plans to tap financing from Sprint Nextel , in a move that further complicates Dish Network's effort to buy Clearwire, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation. Dish made an offer of $3.30 per share for the wireless broadband operator, which had already agreed to sell itself to majority owner Sprint for $2.97 per share. A special committee on the Clearwire board is reviewing the Dish offer. ... Full Story | Top |
| FAA disputes reports that Boeing 787 test flights near Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 07:39 PM PST SEATTLE (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it is not close to approving test flights of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner with a proposed fix for the plane's troubled batteries, denying news reports that such tests could start as early as next week. "Reports that we are close to allowing 787 test flights are completely inaccurate," spokeswoman Laura Brown said on Tuesday in an email to Reuters. Boeing declined to comment. Batteries overheated on two jets last month, prompting regulators to ground the 50 Dreamliners in service worldwide. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pratt rules out worst-case cause for F-35 blade crack: sources Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 06:36 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pratt & Whitney is 99 percent sure the fan blade problem that grounded the Pentagon's 51 new F-35 fighter jets was not caused by high-cycle fatigue, which could force a costly design change, according to two sources familiar with an investigation by the enginemaker. Company engineers have concluded that a 0.6 inch-long crack found on a turbine blade in the engine of an F-35 jet at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida was almost certainly caused by lesser issues, such as high heat exposure or a manufacturing problem, that would be easier to solve, the sources said. ... Full Story | Top |
| DreamWorks slips to loss as "Guardians" movie disappoints Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 05:57 PM PST  (Reuters) - Movie studio DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc reported its first quarterly loss in almost six years as it wrote down $165 million related to the weak box office performance of "Rise of the Guardians" and its decision to delay another film. The company also said it plans to cut jobs as it seeks to "meaningfully" reduce costs. About 350 employees will leave over the course of the year as part of a restructuring, Chief Financial Officer Lew Coleman told analysts on a conference call. Most will be in production groups, he said. ... Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment