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| China's Tewoo bets on African Minerals' Tonkolili mine Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 12:23 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - China's largest import and export enterprise has agreed to invest $990 million in iron ore miner African Minerals' Tonkolili mine in Sierra Leone, valuing the project at $6 billion, the group said on Thursday. African Minerals, one of several developers betting on West Africa's potential to become a major supplier of iron ore, said Tianjin Materials and Equipment Group Corporation (Tewoo) would receive a 16.5 percent economic interest in the Tonkolili project in exchange for its almost $1 billion investment. ... Full Story | Top |
| UBS places Bankia's stake in Mapfre for $3.6 per share Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 12:10 AM PDT  MADRID (Reuters) - Broker UBS said on Thursday it had placed the 12 percent stake in Spanish insurer Mapfre held by the country's largest state-rescued lender Bankia for 2.647 euros ($3.6) per share for a total of almost 1 billion euros. The sale represents a discount of almost 3.8 percent from Mapfre's closing share price of 2.753 euros per share. UBS, handling the deal alongside Bankia Bolsa, said that a total of 369.61 million shares were offered in the placing. (Reporting By Jose Elias Rodriguez, Writing by Paul Day; Editing by Fiona Ortiz) Full Story | Top |
| Fairfax's Watsa confident BlackBerry bid will succeed Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 12:04 AM PDT  By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd Chief Executive Prem Watsa said on Wednesday he is confident the consortium he leads can find the money to fund its $4.7 billion bid for smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd. "We wouldn't put our name to such a high-profile deal if we didn't feel confident that at the end of the day that our due diligence would be fine and we'd be able to finance it," Watsa said in an interview. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ghana hikes utility tariffs despite inflation risks Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 12:04 AM PDT  ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana's utility regulator raised power and water prices on Wednesday by 79 percent and 52 percent respectively as the government seeks to curb its budget deficit. The fast-growing economy, a cocoa and gold producer which discovered oil in 2007, has attracted foreign investors with its rapidly growing middle class and reputation for political stability. But the government is under pressure to bring down its budget overshoot in order to hold down its borrowing costs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Angola says $23 bln electricity plan needs sharper, skilled sector Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 12:02 AM PDT  By Shrikesh Laxmidas LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola's plans to invest $23 billion by 2017 on its electricity network to help create new sectors in the oil-producing economy can only work if its energy companies become more efficient and skilled, senior officials said on Wednesday. Angola, Africa's No. 2 oil producer, wants to cut its reliance on crude output but the country's old, war-ravaged and under-capacity energy network hampers investment in new sectors. Oil output represents over 95 percent of Angola's export income and around 45 percent of its gross domestic product. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's rand stable vs dollar ahead of PPI Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 12:01 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand was steady against the dollar on Thursday but could come under pressure later in the session if producer price data indicates that inflationary pressures are building in Africa's largest economy. The rand was at 9.9775 to the dollar at 0645 GMT, little changed from its New York close on Wednesday. Statistics South Africa will release producer price inflation (PPI) data for August at 0930 GMT. Economists polled by Reuters expect PPI to slow to 6.5 percent year-on-year in August from 6.6 percent in July. ... Full Story | Top |
| IMF says could soon reach loan deal with South Sudan Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 12:00 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said it could reach a loan deal with South Sudan in the coming days to help the African oil producer promote economic stability and attract support from other donors and investors. The landlocked country has been on an austerity budget to weather a 16-month shutdown of its oil production in a row with neighboring Sudan, through which it has to transport its oil. Oil, the main source for South Sudan's budget, has been flowing again since April, but output is down at 240,000 barrels a day, still below levels before the shutdown. ... Full Story | Top |
| Asda apologises for 'mental patient' fancy dress costume Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 11:55 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Asda, Britain's second biggest retailer, has apologized and withdrawn a product it advertised on its website as a "mental patient fancy dress costume" after being criticized as stereotyping those suffering from mental illness. The firm, the British arm of Wal-Mart , the world's largest stores group, was selling the costume, designed to look like a blood-splattered straitjacket, for 20 pounds ($32.14). Its advert featured a man wearing the jacket and wielding a meat cleaver. Asda said it removed the product from its website on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Statoil makes big oil find offshore Canada Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 11:51 PM PDT  OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's Statoil has made a big oil discovery offshore Canada near two previous finds and plans more wells, believing the region could become a major oil producer after 2020, it said on Thursday. State-controlled Statoil said its Bay du Nord find, around 500 kilometers (300 miles) northeast of St. John, could contain between 300 million and 600 million barrels of recoverable oil, adding to the nearby Mizzen and Harpoon discoveries. "The Flemish Pass has the potential to become a core producing area for Statoil post-2020," exploration chief Tim Dodson said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Recent Chinese data reinforce IMF's 2013 GDP forecast: official Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 11:44 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - China's recent economic data reinforce the International Monetary Fund's forecast that the world's second-largest economy will avoid a second-half slowdown and grow 7.75 percent this year, a fund official said on Thursday. Markus Rodlauer, deputy director of the IMF's Asia Pacific Department and the fund's mission chief for China, said the IMF expected China's economy to sustain its pace of growth despite a difficult international environment. "This is borne out by a number of high frequency indicators out of China. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ladbrokes warns profits from online business to miss forecasts Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 11:41 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Ladbrokes, Britain's second largest bookmaking group, warned on Thursday that profit from its online operations would fall well short of expectations, the latest in a series of setbacks for the company. In a trading update brought forward from October, Ladbrokes said its digital business would have operating profit of only 10-14 million pounds this year, compared with a market forecast of 27.5 million pounds ($44.2 million). ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan shares rally, caution the watchword elsewhere Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 11:12 PM PDT  By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian share markets were left in limbo on Thursday as investors sweated out the latest battle over the U.S. budget, though Tokyo rallied as talk of a corporate tax cut resurfaced. After a weak start, Japan's Nikkei erased all its losses to be up 1 percent after Kyodo News reported the government would consider cutting corporate taxes, a proposal that has swung in and out of favor for weeks now. The bounce in shares in turn weighed on the yen, already pressured by Japanese selling for month and quarter-end. The dollar popped up to 98.92 yen, from an early 98. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tokyo Electron takeover could be a mold-breaker for Japan Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 10:51 PM PDT  By Nathan Layne TOKYO (Reuters) - Applied Materials Inc's $10 billion acquisition of Tokyo Electron Ltd is more than just a milestone foreign takeover in Japan - it's a rare forward-looking deal in a country where selling to an overseas rival is usually a last resort. U.S.-based Applied Materials, the world's largest maker of chipmaking equipment, and third-ranked Tokyo Electron announced the all-stock deal late on Tuesday. On completion, it would be the biggest foreign takeover of a Japanese manufacturer. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's top appliance maker Gree eyes banking business Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 10:30 PM PDT  HONG KONG (Reuters) - A unit of China's Gree Electric Appliances Inc of Zhuhai plans to set up a private bank, the second Chinese home appliance player to eye a move into the financial industry after Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd announced its own plans last month. Gree, with a market value of $14 billion, said in a filing to the Shenzhen stock exchange late on Wednesday that Zhuhai Gree Group Finance Co Ltd is in initial talks with Zhuhai Hengqin Village Bank, but said no agreement has been reached. Gree, the country's top appliance maker by sales, gave no further details. ... Full Story | Top |
| Korean court overturns Hanwha chairman's three-year prison term Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 09:14 PM PDT  SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's supreme court has overturned a three-year prison sentence against Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn for breach of trust and other charges, sending the case back to a lower court. Shares in Hanwha Corp rose 1.5 percent after the decision on Thursday to a 19-month high, versus a flat benchmark index . The business tycoon had been convicted of using Hanwha affiliates to "unfairly support" ailing companies he owned under assumed names, causing losses to South Korea's 10th largest conglomerate. ... Full Story | Top |
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