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| Japan's Line denies report of talks to sell stake to SoftBank Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:52 PM PST  By Sophie Knight and Miyoung Kim TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) - Japan-based Line Corp denied a media report it was in talks to sell a stake to SoftBank Corp - a report that comes after big acquisitions of rival messaging app firms have fanned speculation that it too may be up for grabs. SoftBank's founder Masayoshi Son has held talks with Line about a purchase, Bloomberg News said, citing a person with knowledge of the matter. We haven't had any talks with SoftBank," said an official in Naver's investor relations team. "There's no reason to sell a stake and no plan to sell." SoftBank, Japan's No. 3 biggest mobile operator and a prolific investor in Internet firms, said it would not comment on speculation. Full Story | Top |
| Blackberry to launch sub-$200 smartphone Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:48 PM PST  BARCELONA (Reuters) - BlackBerry Ltd unveiled a new, cheaper smartphone on Tuesday as it tries to stem losses and win back customers in emerging economies where customers are gravitating toward devices powered by Google's Android operating system. The device is being built under a partnership deal with FIH Mobile Ltd - the Hong Kong-listed unit of Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn. The device, codenamed Jakarta, will first go on sale in Indonesia in April for under $200, said John Chen, BlackBerry's new chief executive, who took the reins at the company late last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish PM's office says Erdogan recordings are fake Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:41 PM PST  Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's office said voice recordings on YouTube purportedly of Erdogan telling his son to dispose of large sums of money on the day news broke of a graft inquiry into his government were fake and "completely untrue". Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the audio recordings, which were posted on the video sharing site late on Monday. In the recordings, a voice supposedly of Erdogan can be heard asking his son to remove the money from his home. The recordings are purportedly of Erdogan and his son Bilal discussing how to reduce the funds to "zero" by distributing them among several businessmen. Full Story | Top |
| Ladbrokes sees first-half profit hit from online betting upgrade Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:39 PM PST  Britain's second-biggest bookmaker, Ladbrokes, said first-half operating profit in 2014 would take a hit due to upgrades of its online offering, as it ended another troubled year with a sharp fall in annual profit. The company has struggled to keep pace with its larger rival William Hill and establish itself in a growing online market, prompting a series of profit downgrades that have piled pressure on Chief Executive Richard Glynn. Ladbrokes, a familiar sight in Britain's town centres with 2,300 retail outlets, formed an alliance with software developer Playtech last year to gain ground in serving the growing number of gamblers who bet on sports events through their computer, tablet or smartphone, but the switching of its gaming products to a new system is taking longer than expected. Ladbrokes said annual operating profit for 2013 fell 33 percent to 138.3 million pounds ($230 million), broadly in line with market forecasts, with profits from its UK retail business, its largest division, down 26 percent, and profits at its digital division down 74 percent. Full Story | Top |
| Investors pledge $7.8 billion to kick-start Senegal growth plans Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:34 PM PST  Senegal secured pledges worth about $7.8 billion at a donor conference that began in Paris on Monday to help kick-start a development plan aimed at doubling economic growth rates over the next decade. Senegal is one of West Africa's most stable democracies. Its president, Macky Sall, has been praised for anti-corruption measures he has implemented since winning office in 2012. The development plan being presented at a gathering of private and public sector institutions in Paris this week had sought 2.97 trillion CFA francs to help finance development over the next four years, but managed to raise 3.729 trillion CFA francs ($7.8 billion). Full Story | Top |
| Newmont to cut additional 500-600 jobs at Ghana mine: official Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:32 PM PST By Kwasi Kpodo ACCRA (Reuters) - Newmont Mining Corp plans to cut up to 600 jobs at its Ghana gold mine by June this year, its local manager said on Monday, citing an ageing facility and slumping gold prices. Global gold prices slumped 28 percent last year. They have recovered around 4 percent so far this year, benefiting from risk-aversion on fears of capital flight from emerging markets following the U.S Federal Reserve's move to taper its stimulus. U.S.-based Newmont operates two mines in the West African country. Full Story | Top |
| Chinese man becomes first to sue government over smog Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:31 PM PST  By Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese man in a smoggy northern city has become the first person in the country to sue the government for failing to curb air pollution, a state-run newspaper reported on Tuesday. Li Guixin, a resident of Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province, has submitted his complaint to a district court, asking the Shijiazhuang Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau to "perform its duty to control air pollution according to the law", the Yanzhao Metropolis Daily said. He is also seeking compensation from the agency for residents for the choking pollution that has engulfed Shijiazhuang, and much of northern China, this winter. The court and the Shijiazhuang environmental protection bureau could not be reached for comment. Full Story | Top |
| Cobham investigating unit's sales practices, contacts DOJ Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:16 PM PST British defence supplier Cobham said it had voluntarily contacted the U.S. Department of Justice to inform it of an initial internal investigation into potentially irregular sales practices concerning sales to Asia of products made by a Cobham unit. The company said on Tuesday that the products were made by Florida-based TracStar Systems Inc which is part of Cobham's SATCOM business. It said it would continue to cooperate with the DOJ in relation to the matter. Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's rand weaker against the dollar ahead of GDP data Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:15 PM PST  The rand weakened against the dollar early on Tuesday, pulling back from a 5-week high hit overnight as political tensions in emerging markets such as Ukraine and Turkey remained and depressed risk appetite. At 0645 GMT, South Africa's currency was down 0.3 percent to 10.8270, off a 10.7940 close in New York on Monday. "An overnight eruption of renewed political problems in Turkey is set to spoil what is otherwise an excellent rand environment," said John Cairns of Rand Merchant Bank in a note. Statistics South Africa will release the last quarter of 2013's economic growth data, which will give a full picture of how Africa's largest economy fared last year. Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's PIC says Camac investment price based on acquisitions Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:13 PM PST By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's state pension fund said on Monday an investment which saw it agree to pay far more than the market value for a 30 percent stake in U.S.-listed Camac Energy was justified as it was made to fund acquisitions. This is capital to fund the purchase of these assets," Dan Matjila, the chief investment officer of South Africa's Public Investment Corporation (PIC), told Reuters after Camac listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Houston-based Camac, which explores for oil and gas in Nigeria, Kenya and Gambia, has said the PIC investment would fund the purchase of the remaining 60 percent it does not already own in Nigeria's Oyo oil field. The PIC, which manages 1.4 trillion rand of South African government employee retirement funds, on Friday justified the investment, saying that while the company was "low in capital" its "fundamentals were still sound." On Nov 18, the PIC publicly agreed to pay $270 million for a 30 percent stake in Camac, which had a total stock value at the time of around $150 million. Full Story | Top |
| Trans-Pacific trade ministers say progress made but issues remain Monday, Feb 24, 2014 10:56 PM PST  Ministers in 12-nation Trans-Pacific trade talks said on Tuesday they have made progress trying to finalize a deal during a four-day meeting in Singapore but several issues remain, particularly questions over market access. "While some issues remain, we have charted a path forward to resolve them"," said New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser, reading from a joint media release at the end of the meeting. Full Story | Top |
| South African building firm Aveng reports drop in H1 profit Monday, Feb 24, 2014 10:47 PM PST  South Africa's biggest construction firm, Aveng Ltd, reported a drop in half-year profit on Tuesday, hit by delays in public building projects and labour unrest. Like other building firms in Africa's top economy, Aveng has struggled to increase profit since the end of the building boom for the 2010 soccer World Cup held there. The company said in the six months to the end of December, headline earnings per share, South Africa's primary profit gauge which exclude certain one-off items, fell 21 percent to 82.1 cents. During the period under review, the sector was hit by a three-week strike over wages by South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers and often tense labour relations are seen as a constraint on productivity in general. Full Story | Top |
| South Africa explosives maker AECI says earnings rise 57 pct Monday, Feb 24, 2014 10:39 PM PST South African chemicals and explosives maker AECI posted a 57 percent rise in 2013 earnings on Tuesday, lifted by a weaker local currency as it grew its business in the African mining sector. AECI said headline earnings per share totalled 791 cents in the year to end-December compared with 547 cents a year earlier. Headline EPS, South Africa's primary profit gauge, exclude certain one-off items. The company said it had benefited from the weakening rand as more than 50 percent of its revenue is generated outside South Africa and is mostly denominated in U.S. dollars. Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's Telkom says suspended CFO has repaid loan Monday, Feb 24, 2014 10:37 PM PST JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The suspended chief financial officer of South Africa's Telkom SA has repaid a $548,000 loan that a government watchdog said violated South African company law, the fixed-line operator said on Monday. Telkom said last year that it loaned Jacques Schindehutte nearly 6 million rand to purchase Telkom shares, which the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission has since found to be in violation of sections of the country's company law. As a result, Telkom's chief executive, Sipho Maseko, will be required to attend a corporate governance course, the company said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tanzania's Tigo starts cross-border mobile money transfer service Monday, Feb 24, 2014 10:36 PM PST By Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tigo, a unit of emerging markets telecom group Millicom Cellular International, launched on Monday a mobile money transfer service between Tanzania and Rwanda, opening a potentially lucrative market in cross-border mobile transfers. Tigo has pipped other regional rivals, such as Kenya's Safaricom which led the way in mobile money with its popular M-PESA service but said it had yet to break into the field of cross-border transactions. Tigo's service allows subscribers in Tanzania and Rwanda to make mobile money transfers and automatically converts them to the new currency, which it said was a world first. Full Story | Top |
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