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{"root":[{"title":"Airtel, Idea, RCOM drop on fears of fierce bidding","content":"Biswajit Baruah, ET Bureau Mar 28, 2015, 04.07AM IST(Reflecting the mood, analysts\u2026) MUMBAI: Shares of telecom companies such as Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications (RCOM) dropped more than 5% on Friday on fears of aggressive bidding for airwaves, a development that may exert pressure on companies' balance sheets and cash flow, and restrict their expansion plans. Reflecting the mood, analysts maintained a cautious outlook on the sector, saying fresh buyers should stay away from this space in the near-term. On Friday, the department of telecommunications (DoT) released details of bidders at the recently concluded airwaves auction, where the government mopped up Rs 1.1 lakh crore from the spectrum put up for auction. The prices for the spectrum were considerably higher than the reserve price, said analysts. \"Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular have paid a little more for the spectrum than what the markets were expecting,\" said Mayuresh Joshi, VP, (institutional) Angel Broking. \"Going forward, Reliance Jio's pricing for its services would be closely watched. However, investors should note that the overhang on telecom stocks over spectrum is probably over.\" Telecom stocks came under intense selling pressure on Friday \u2014 Bharti Airtel fell 5.64% to Rs 376. Idea Cellular dropped 4.96% to Rs 171 after touching new 52-week high of Rs 187 in early trade. RCOM touched a new 52-week low of Rs 56.90 before closing at Rs 58.25, down 3.56%, while Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) ended 1.54% lower at Rs 7.68. Shares of some telecom companies \u2014 Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular \u2014 have had a good run in the past one year, gaining 21% and 23%, respectively, while Reliance Communications dropped 53%; all these stocks have underperformed the ET 100 Index which gained nearly 27% over the same period. \"We reiterate our cautious view on the telecom sector, given the stretched balance sheets, rising capital expenditure, regulatory pushback, Reliance Jio's launch overhang, and expensive valuations,\" said Vinay Jaising, analyst at Morgan Stanley. They are also sceptical of Indian telecom companies due to a number of structural issues such as cannibalisation of voice by data, rapid expansion and network operational cost to deliver data, pricing impact from the imminent entry of Reliance Jio, and stretched balance sheets due to spectrum prices. \"Telcos will further bloat their balance sheet with debt, which is already under severe strain. We maintain 'hold' rating for Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular with a price target of Rs 399 and Rs 167\/share, respectively,\" said Amar Mourya, research analyst at IndiaNivesh. Most telecom companies may report negative free cash flow in 2015 as they are required to pay a quarter of the committed amount in the spectrum auction upfront, and the rest will be paid in installments over 10 years from 2017.","pubdate":"Sat, 28 Mar 2015 04:07:22 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"Sustained growth makes Kajaria Ceramics a good long-term bet","content":"Narendra Nathan, ET Bureau Jan 26, 2015, 08.00AM IST(Analysts say Kajaria Ceramics\u2026) We recommended Kajaria Ceramics a year back because of its high growth rate and decent valuations. The company has rewarded its investors by outperforming the benchmark index, Sensex, handsomely during this time. Kajaria Ceramics continues to grow at a fast pace. It has reported a 30 per cent growth in revenue in the third quarter of 2014-15 compared to the same quarter previous year. The net profit jumped 55 per cent because of a 29 per cent increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, and a fall in interest cost due to reduction in debt.  Analysts say Kajaria Ceramics will maintain its high growth in the coming years, largely because of conducive industry dynamics. For the past several years, the Indian tiles industry has been growing due to urbanisation, affordability of tiles, and consumers' focus on home aesthetics, aided by rising disposable incomes. This growth rate is expected to accelerate in the coming years because of the new government's increased focus on affordable housing and the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Going by its performance, Kajaria should be able to beat the industry growth rates. In the next five years, Kajaria Ceramics is aiming to grow its revenue at a compound annual growth rate of 20 per cent. Close to 15 per cent of this growth will come from an increase in volume. The remaining will be a result of an increase in prices and a customer shift to premium brands. Kajaria Ceramics is also expanding capacity. It will be spending up to Rs 200 crore in the next fiscal year towards this purpose. Though the company will continue to focus on its tiles business, which accounts for 90 per cent of its turnover, it has entered the sanitaryware and sanitary-fittings segment. Its sanitaryware plant is already operational and is expected to reach full production by March 2015. Even though margins are expected to remain at the current 15 per cent-plus level, the fall in the natural gas price will bring down costs and should help the entire sector expand margins. The historical PE of 35 may appear high, but analysts say, because of the strong volume growth, pricing power, healthy margins and a strong balance sheet\u2014very low debt, which is being cut further\u2014it is justified. But, bear in mind, the company, and the entire Indian tiles industry, faces a threat from Chinese imports. Any policy shift that serves to boost tiles export from China, will adversely impact the entire industry, including Kajaria. Selection Methodology: We pick up the stock that shows the maximum increase in 'consensus analyst rating' in the past one month. Consensus rating is arrived at by averaging all analyst recommendations after attributing weights to each of them (5 for strong buy, 4 for buy, 3 for hold, 2 for sell and 1 for strong sell). Any improvement in consensus analyst rating indicates that the analysts are getting more bullish on the stock. To make sure that we pick only companies with decent analyst coverage, this search is restricted to stocks that are covered by at least 10 analysts.  ","pubdate":"Mon, 26 Jan 2015 08:00:04 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"Consumer durables stocks like Whirlpool, Voltas, Blue Star & Hitachi growth may not match early spark","content":"Jwalit Vyas, ET Bureau Jan 13, 2015, 05.14AM IST(The festive sales were split\u2026) MUMBAI: Investors riding high on strong returns generated by consumer durable stocks like IFB Industries, Whirlpool, Voltas, Blue Star and Hitachi should turn a little cautious as the last two quarters' strong growth trend may not continue. These companies are unlikely to reap the full impact of the festive season in the December 2014 quarter. The festive sales were split between September and December due to early Navratri and Diwali in 2014. Along summer and an early festive season led to a strong first half for these companies, giving many investors an impression that the demand has bounced back for discretionary products post-election. A base effect, thanks to lower sales in the year-ago period, also boosted the numbers and fuelled sentiment.  There was a growth of 27-57% in sales for the September quarter and 25-39% in the first half of FY15. The earnings growth figures were even higher. The result was a surge in stock prices (See table). But, random checks (while talking to dealers and mall outlets) suggest that the sales in the December quarter have been less than impressive. One spots a similar trend in other consumer discretionary sectors like passenger vehicles and two-wheelers. For instance, Hero Moto reported minus 2% growth YoY for the December quarter, Bajaj Auto recorded minus 1% growth YoY while M&M closed the quarter minus 12% YoY growth. Maruti was an exception, generating a 12% growth YoY. While analysts are justifying current high valuations \u2014 claiming that these companies will benefit from the correction in steel, copper and aluminium prices \u2014 a weak sales growth may keep sentiments sombre.","pubdate":"Tue, 13 Jan 2015 05:14:13 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"Balkrishna Industries: A long-term bet after the recent correction","content":"Narendra Nathan, ET Bureau Jan 5, 2015, 08.00AM IST(Balkrishna Industries\u2026) The profits of Balkrishna Industries fell by around 40% after reporting poor numbers in the second quarter of 2014-15. The tyre company's net profit went down by 17% compared to the corresponding period last year and by 22% compared to the preceding quarter. Lower volume from European markets (the region contributes around 50% of its sales volume) and the discounts offered to clients to compensate the fall in natural rubber prices are the primary factors behind the fall in net profit.  Balkrishna Industries could not take advantage of the lower prices of natural rubber in the second quarter because it had a huge inventory of rubber purchased at higher prices. Rising employee costs following partial commissioning of its new tyre plant with 1.5 lakh per annum capacity in Bhuj, Gujarat, was another factor. The recent correction in its price has brought the valuations of Balkrishna Industries to reasonable levels. In addition to the fall in price, analysts are getting bullish on this niche player because of its improving fundamentals. Its Bhuj plant is expected to become fully operational by April 2015. This will help the company to foray into much bigger radial tyres (expected to move up from 35 inches to 57 inches) and, therefore, its tyre portfolio will be more comprehensive. Radial tyres have higher realisations (3-4% higher) and with this new plant, its radial sales volume is expected to move up from around 30% now to above 40% over the next three years. Balkrishna Industries is also working towards increasing its global market share in the off -highway tyres (OHT) from 5% to 8% in the next three years. To realise this goal, the company plans to set up warehouses in the US and other overseas markets in the near future to increase its penetration levels. Though the global fall in agricultural product prices has resulted in less demand for new tractors (lower demand for OEM tyres), existing tractors continue to work (normal demand for tyres in the replacement segment , which is nearly 80% of its total sales volumes). New tractor sales are also expected to improve following the stability in the American farm sector reported recently. With around 90% of its revenues coming from exports, Balkrishna Industries will also benefit from the sudden depreciation of the rupee in the last six months. Selection methodology  We choose a stock that has shown the maximum increase in consensus analyst rating during the past month. Consensus rating is arrived at by averaging out the recommendations of all analysts and after attributing weightages to each of them (5 for strong buy, 4 for buy, 3 for hold, 2 for sell and 1 for strong sell). Any improvement in consensus rating indicates that analysts are becoming more and more bullish on the stock. To make sure that we pick only companies with decent analyst coverage, this search will be restricted to stocks that have been covered by at least 10 analysts.","pubdate":"Mon, 05 Jan 2015 08:00:53 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"Orient Cement: Despite the recent rally, enough value left in the counter.","content":"Narendra Nathan, ET Bureau Dec 29, 2014, 08.00AM IST(Orient Cement is a good long-term\u2026) Cost competitiveness is the main advantage of this south-based, CK Birla Group cement company. Orient Cement's per tonne cement production cost is around 13% lower than the industry average. Therefore, the company could repeat its stellar performance in the third quarter of 2014-15 as well. In its second quarter sales, EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) and net profit grew by 20%, 123% and 200%, respectively, compared to the corresponding period last year, or on a year-on-year basis. The company could also improve its third quarter EBITDA per tonne to `785, which is among the highest in the industry. The rise in EBITDA per tonne was due to the strong volume growth (up by 4% y-o-y) and improvement in realisations (up by 15% y-o-y). Orient Cement is a good long-term bet because of the infrastructure growth expected in the company's two key markets\u2014Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh\u2014in the coming years. Industrial demand is expected to pick up in Maharashtra following the initiatives by the new state government. Andhra Pradesh, however, is the best example of the amount of harm political uncertainties can do to even well-established companies. The market size of cement has shrunk to 13 million tonnes in the state from the peak levels of 18 million tonnes in 2008-09. However, due to the low cost of production, Orient Cement could increase its market share.  Cement consumption should jump in Andhra Pradesh in the coming years as massive construction projects are lined up at the new state capital. To benefit from this, the mid-sized cement company is in the process of increasing capacity through green-field and brown-field projects. The company's 3 million tonne green-field project in Gulbarga (northern Karnataka) is progressing smoothly. Its trial production and, subsequently, commercial production is expected from April 2015 and June 2015, respectively. This project also includes a 45MW thermal plant and a 7MW waste-heat-recovery plant. Despite the key advantages, such as low-cost cement production, high return on equity (ROE) and return on capital employed (ROCE), this stock is still attractively priced compared to its peers. The discount should narrow down if it produces 8 million tonnes in 2015-16. This will also help it climb up the valuation ladder further Selection methodology  We choose a stock that has shown the maximum increase in consensus analyst rating during the past month. Consensus rating is arrived at by averaging out the recommendations of all analysts and after attributing weightages to each of them (5 for strong buy, 4 for buy, 3 for hold, 2 for sell and 1 for strong sell). Any improvement in consensus rating indicates that analysts are becoming more and more bullish on the stock. To make sure that we pick only companies with decent analyst coverage, this search will be restricted to stocks that have been covered by at least 10 analysts. ","pubdate":"Mon, 29 Dec 2014 08:00:39 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"Credit rating agency Care to benefit from the expected increase in debt issuances","content":"Narendra Nathan, ET Bureau Dec 15, 2014, 01.35PM IST(The cyclical recovery in\u2026) Credit Analysis and Research (Care) surprised the Street with its performance during the second quarter of 2014-15. While its net profit rose by 50% year-on-year, it zoomed by 98% on a quarter-on-quarter basis. The rise in net profit was primarily due to two factors: first, there was a 316% y-o-y jump in its other income which was triggered by the profit it made from sale of investments. Second, the company reported 14% y-o-y increase in rating revenues, which was significantly higher than the 5% achieved by its main competitor Crisil during the period under consideration. In addition to the increase in surveillance income, Care also added 761 clients during the quarter and its total volume of debt instruments rated increased by 16% y-o-y.  Analysts are now getting bullish on the long-term (2-3 years) growth opportunities for the credit rating sector because it is best placed to benefit from the cyclical recovery in corporate capex and bank credit growth. The sector is already doing well because of the pickup in debt issuances in the recent past. According to Prime Database, debt placements during the first half of 2014-15 went up by 22% compared to the corresponding period last year. Another factor helping credit rating agencies is the improvement in credit environment. For example, Care's modified credit ratio (MCR) has improved from 1.05 times to 1.25 times in the second quarter, y-o-y. MCR is calculated by dividing the number of rating upgrades with downgrades. An increase in MCR means that the financials of the rated companies are stable and improving. With a turnaround in the economy, MCR is expected to improve further in the second half of 2014-15. With the revival in market sentiments, debt issuances are expected to rise manifold, increasing business opportunities for rating agencies like Care. Since the company provides 'grading' for equity public offerings, revival in stock market sentiments also bodes well for it. While analysts are bullish on the sector, Care is their preferred choice. This is so because it is the cheapest stock based on valuations and the recent correction has brought down its valuations further to reasonable levels. It is quoting at 35 times trailing price-to earnings ratio compared to 51 times for Crisil and 45 for Icra. Care is also continuing with its liberal dividend policy and has announced 650% dividend during the second quarter, taking the total interim dividend announced in 2014-15 to 710%. Selection methodology We choose a stock that has shown the maximum increase in consensus analyst rating during the past month. Consensus rating is arrived at by averaging out the recommendations of all analysts and after attributing weightages to each of them (5 for strong buy, 4 for buy, 3 for hold, 2 for sell and 1 for strong sell). Any improvement in consensus rating indicates that analysts are becoming more and more bullish on the stock. To make sure that we pick only companies with decent analyst coverage, this search will be restricted to stocks that have been covered by at least 10 analysts. ","pubdate":"Mon, 15 Dec 2014 13:35:31 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"Flat UK FTSE lags euro zone peers as energy stocks weigh","content":"PTI Nov 27, 2014, 05.44PM IST(Britain's top equity index\u2026) LONDON: Britain's top equity index lagged its continental peers on Thursday, held back by energy shares hit by an oversupply of oil sending crude prices to a four-year low. Oil majors such as Shell and BP were the biggest drag on a flat FTSE 100 index after Brent crude hit a a 50-month low of $75.48. Ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries were unlikely to agree a production cut to support prices at their meeting in Vienna on Thursday, sources close to the cartel said. Oil prices having sunk 30 percent since June. \"Oil companies can't help but react to the spot oil prices as it drills down to their bottom line,\" Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG, said. \"Low prices might force companies to alter their production, but demand for oil is quite low anyway.\" Energy stocks knocked 13 points off the FTSE 100, which was down 0.78 points at 6,728.39 points at 1142 GMT. It lagged a 0.5 percent gain for Germany's DAX and a 0.3 percent rise for the Euro STOXX 50, supported by expectations of further stimulus measures from the European Central Bank. The FTSE, which is hovering just below a recent two-month high hit on Wednesday, is roughly flat for the year. Among individual stocks, Barclays rose 1.8 percent after Goldman Sachs raised its stance on the stock to \"buy\" from \"neutral\" and raised its price target to 300 pence from 272 pence. Mid-cap Stagecoach rose 7.2 percent after Britain said it would award a contract to run trains between London and Scotland to a Stagecoach and Virgin partnership.","pubdate":"Thu, 27 Nov 2014 17:44:40 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"S&P, NASDAQ edge higher but IBM results drag Dow","content":"NEW YORK: US stocks were mixed on Monday, with the S&P 500 and  Nasdaq posting modest gains, but the  Dow falling as quarterly results from  IBM disappointed.IBM shares slumped 7.3 per cent to $168.69 as the biggest drag on both the Dow and S&P 500 after the company's third-quarter earnings fell well short of Wall Street expectations. IBM had earlier said it would pay Globalfoundries $1.5 billion in cash over the next three years to take its loss-making semiconductor unit.IBM's weakness produced an outsized drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, accounting for over 80 points to the downside for the price-weighted index.The weak IBM results helped spur speculation the Federal Reserve may be reluctant to end its massive bond-buying stimulus program this month.\"On a number like that, with the forecast they gave you would expect the broader market would come under more pressure, and maybe it will,\" said Ken Polcari, Director of the NYSE floor division at O'Neil Securities in New York.\"But what it is telling you is, based on IBM's report, that the odds are lining up we may hear some more dovish comments out of the Fed next week than not.\"At 9:43 a.m., the Dow Jones industrial average fell 67.84 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 16,312.57, the S&P 500 gained 2.33 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 1,889.09 and the Nasdaq Composite added 14.61 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 4,273.05.Earnings season will ramp up significantly this week, with nearly 130 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report, include Apple Inc after the close on Monday.According to Thomson Reuters data through Friday, of 81 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported quarterly earnings, 64 per cent beat analyst expectations, slightly above the 63 percent average since 1994 but below the 67 per cent rate for the past four quarters.Third-quarter earnings are expected to grow 6.9 per cent from a year ago, on revenue growth of 3.8 per cent.The largest percentage gainer on the S&P 500 was Tesoro Corp , which rose 7.5 per cent, while the largest percentage decliner was IBM.The largest percentage gainer on the Nasdaq 100 was  SANDISK , which was rising 3.0 per cent, while the largest percentage decliner was NetApp, down 1.8 per cent.","pubdate":"Mon, 20 Oct 2014 20:11:15 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"Housing Development and Infrastructure shares jump as promoters revoke pledged shares","content":"PTI Sep 30, 2014, 10.58PM IST(Housing Development and\u2026) MUMBAI: Shares of Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL) rose by over 5 per cent before closing nearly 2 per cent higher as company promoters revoked all shares pledged with IL&FS Trust Company. At the NSE, shares closed up by 1.89 per cent at Rs 83.65. The stock ended 1.64 per cent higher at Rs 83.45 on the BSE. During the day, it jumped 5.29 per cent to Rs 86.45. Realty player HDIL had yesterday said its promoters have revoked all shares pledged with IL&FS Trust Company. \"Promoters of HDIL have revoked all shares earlier pledged with IL&FS Trust Company and now the entire 100 per cent shares in the promoters category is non-pledged,\" a company release had said. IL&FS Trust has released over 7.54 crore equity shares of promoters, including those of Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan. The released shares in the latest tranche comprise 51.89 per cent of the total shares pledged by promoter group. On July 4, IL&FS Trust had released 7 crore equity shares, comprising 48.11 per cent of the total pledged shares of promoter group. With the latest release of pledged shares by IL&FS Trust, the total number of pledged shares by HDIL promoters now stands nil, the release had said. ","pubdate":"Tue, 30 Sep 2014 22:58:19 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"Sony shares plunge 12% on ballooning loss forecast","content":"TOKYO:  Sony shares plunged 12 per cent at the open in Tokyo on Thursday after the electronics giant warned it would lose $2.14 billion this fiscal year, more than four times its earlier forecast. The shares fell to 1,865.5 yen ($17) in the first few minutes of frenzied trading, erasing most of the gains made since the start of the year, in response to Sony's announcement, which came after Japanese  markets had closed Wednesday. The company, whose dual-listed shares slid nearly 7.0 per cent in  New York, blamed the ballooning loss estimate on struggles at its mobile phone business, where it said it would cut staff by 15 per cent, or about 1,000 jobs. Demand for Sony's smartphones has come under increasing pressure from rivals including  Samsung and Apple, which is releasing its newest  iPhone in several key markets, including  Japan, this week. Sony also said it would not pay dividends for the first time since its shares started trading in Tokyo in 1958. The company, whose  credit rating has been slashed to junk, has issued a string of downward earnings revisions over the past two years as it undergoes a sweeping overhaul led by chief executive Kazuo Hirai. The restructuring has included thousands of layoffs, exiting the personal computer business and liquidating assets that saw the $1.0 billion sale of its Manhattan headquarters. News that the company was heading for a 230 billion yen ($2.14 billion) net loss in the fiscal year to March 2015 comes only months after it tipped a shortfall of just 50 billion yen, citing a turnaround in its television unit. The announcement was likely to resurrect fears that what used to be the world's leading electronics company has a lot more work ahead to cast off years of losses. Hirokazu Kabeya, senior strategist at  Daiwa Securities in Tokyo, said the share plunge was inevitable after the firm's latest worrying forecast. \"Market players are getting used to (Sony's downward revisions) but a temporary fall was still unavoidable,\" he said. Sony has been cutting expectations for sales in the money-losing smartphone business amid weaker-than-expected results in emerging markets and the soaring presence of rivals in its home market. \"Other firms are also offering new products with innovative technology -- this business experiences dramatic changes in products and services,\" Hirai told reporters in Tokyo when asked about struggles in the mobile phone unit. \"The environment is changing and becoming more severe,\" he added. Hirai, who took over in 2012, said Wednesday that the firm would continue to focus on more profitable areas of its vast business, which ranges from televisions and portable music to a movie division and little-known insurance business. Despite his bid to slim down the firm, Hirai has repeatedly shrugged off pleas to abandon a money-losing television division, which he insists remains central to Sony's core business. Japanese manufacturers have suffered badly in their TV divisions as razor-thin margins and fierce overseas competition hammered profits. Kabeya at Daiwa Securities said Sony cannot afford to get into a price war with lower-cost rivals, including Chinese smartphone makers, or beat Samsung and  Apple in global market share. \"It is difficult to cut into the dominance of the big two: Samsung and Apple,\" Kabeya said. \"(Sony) would be wise to shift its business resources to where it is strong -- such as movies and music.\" Following Thursday's share price drop, investors may take a step back and see Hirai's efforts to slim down the company as a positive, Kabeya said. \"But it's unlikely we'll see a rapid turnaround and the company will likely continue to go through a difficult time for a while,\" he added. ","pubdate":"Thu, 18 Sep 2014 08:11:08 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"The most and the least volatile global markets for investing","content":"(Most global indices fell\u2026) Most global indices fell during the week, but Argentina's MerVal and Japan's Nikkei 225 rose smartly. Figures are weekly % change. All data on this page as on 12 September 2014, unless specified.Source: ETIG Database\/Bloomberg ","pubdate":"Mon, 15 Sep 2014 08:49:22 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"How good are the returns in alternative investments?","content":"(The scope and attractiveness\u2026) The scope and attractiveness of alternative investments is increasing. Here's a weekly tracker of returns from such investments. But don't compare these with returns from traditional investments since the proportion and purpose of alternative investments is vastly different.  Overall Diamond Index is based on actual transactions from 20 different market players and reflects price movements in the global diamond market. The index is updated daily.","pubdate":"Mon, 15 Sep 2014 08:49:00 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"HUL sinks ahead of Q4 results; PAT seen up 7.5%; higher ad spend to hit growth","content":"ET Now Apr 28, 2014, 12.23PM IST(The stock came under selling\u2026)  NEW DELHI: Hindustan Unilever Limited ( HUL) is scheduled to report its results for the quarter ended March 31 on Monday. India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company is expected to report 7.5 per cent YoY growth in its standalone net profit number to Rs 840 crores, as compared to Rs 781 crores reported in the corresponding quarter last year, according to an ET Now Poll. Ahead of the results, the stock came under some bit of selling pressure and was trading nearly 1 per cent lower at Rs 574 at 12:00 p.m. It hit a low of Rs 565.10 and a high of Rs 588 in trade today. Net sales for the FMCG major are likely to grow by 9.6 per cent to Rs 6980 crores for the quarter ended March 2014, from Rs 6367 crores reported in the year ago period. EBIDTA is seen at Rs 1080 crore, or a 11 per cent rise in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2014, compared to Rs 971 crore reported in the year ago period. EBITDA margins are seen flat at 15.47 per cent as compared to 15.25 per cent reported in the year ago period. According to the ET Now estimates, consumer demand are likely to get worsen QoQ across categories and higher Ad expenses are likely to curtail bottom line growth. Analysts see Volume growth between 3-4 per cent. Volume growth in 4QFy13 was 6 per cent while in Q3Fy14 it was 4 per cent. Soaps & Detergents Co took price hikes in Soaps to pass on palm oil inflation Soaps & Detergents see muted growth Co unwound promotional offers and increased prices Soaps & detergents could grow at 9- 10% and PP at 9% Personal Products Segment could register growth of 8-9% F&L relaunch is witnessing encouraging response Beverages Beverages could post a better quarter QoQ Price growth in Beverages to come down Watch out for - Comments on volume growth - Consumer demand environment","pubdate":"Mon, 28 Apr 2014 12:23:54 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"United Spirits is a very good long term bet: Vinay Khattar","content":"ET Now Apr 15, 2014, 03.47PM IST(One of the largest distribution\u2026) In a chat with ET Now, Vinay Khattar, Head Research (Individual Clients), Edelweiss Financial Services Limited, shares his views on United Spirits. Excerpts: ET Now: What is the advice to your clients on United Spirits, people who are sitting on the stock believe that they can hold this stock for the next couple of years, would you advise them to tender into the open offer or stay with United Spirits?  Vinay Khattar: United Spirits has been a good trade for people who are looking at short time gains. It makes sense for you to tender in the open offer. But if you want to stay long with investment view of five to seven years, it is a very good stock to hold on to. You have a new management which has come in. You have one of the largest distribution set up in India which you could use to introduce new products, premium whiskeys and premium liquors into the country. Now the only thing that you may want to keep an eye for is very high valuations, you are not buying the stock cheap and if you are looking at short term returns, then certain degree of that has already factored into the price. Both gentlemen as well as ladies are beginning to consume liquor so new segments in the market are opening up which is clearly positive and a dominant brand position with a good distribution reach this could be a very-very good play the Indian consumption.","pubdate":"Tue, 15 Apr 2014 15:47:40 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"Suzlon\u2019s unit to get Euro 850 million as working capital; stock gains","content":"ECONOMICTIMES.COM Apr 9, 2014, 10.28AM IST(Its's \u00a0wholly owned owned\u2026) MUMBAI: Shares of Suzlon Energy surged higher in trade after its Germany-based wholly owned subsidiary Senvion SE signed an agreement with a consortium of banks for syndicated working capital facilities of EUR 850 million for the period of 3 years. The consortium of banks is headed by BayernLB, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft and Deutsche Bank AG. This move enables Senvion SE to secure follow-on financing early for the credit facilities of EUR 750 million agreed in May 2012 for the period up to August 2014. \"This enhanced facility with long tenure is of importance for the growth of the company and the oversubscription of the same with new additions to the consortium clearly reflects strong confidence of global banks in business fundamentals of the company,\" Marcus A Wassenberg, CFO of Senvion said. At 09:25 a.m., the stock was at Rs 14.78, up 5.87 per cent, on the BSE. It touched a high of Rs 14.90 and a low of Rs 14.50 in trade today.","pubdate":"Wed, 09 Apr 2014 10:28:52 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"Orix, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority buy unsold ILFS shares in latest rights issue","content":"MUMBAI:  Orix Corporation of Japan and Middle East sovereign fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority have both marginally increased their stake in India's largest private infrastructure development and financial services firm  ILFS by buying unsold shares in its Rs 750-crore rights issue, two people with direct knowledge of the development said. Both companies \u2014 existing investors in ILFS \u2014 purchased the shares recently after three founder shareholders, State Bank of India,  Central Bank of India and  HDFC Ltd did not subscribe to their rights. The largest share holder, Life Insurance Corporation, India's largest insurer, maintained its stake these people said.Orix Corporation will now become the second largest shareholder, marginally up to 25% from 23.16%, while Abu Dhabi Investment Authority will raise its stake to 14% from 12.56%. The rest is held by LIC, Central Bank of India, State Bank of India, HDFC and IL&FS Employees Trust.\"The unsubscribed portion of the issue was purchased by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Orix Corporation of Japan,'' said a person with direct knowledge of the development. \"We have maintained our stake by investing in the rights issue,\" said an  LIC executive. He cannot be quoted as he is not allowed to speak to the media. Officials at Orix Corporation and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority were unavailable for comment.The rights issue, which sought to raise around Rs 750 crore was priced atRs 763 a piece, much less than the previous sale of a 2% stake in the company to LIC in 2014 at Rs 1,100 a share, thus valuing the infrastructure fund company then at $5 billion. \"The valuation has fallen due to the economic slowdown and regulatory hurdles in the infrastructure sector, the primary focus of ILFS,'' the first person with direct knowledge of the deal said.''In general, infrastructure lenders are seeing lower valuation because of the stress in the sector,\" said  Abizer Diwanji, who is national head financial services at EY. \"Infrastructure lending is in a mess and that will have an impact on their valuation.''\"But rights issue is not priced to market. Since the issue is available to existing shareholders only it does not reflect the market valuation of the company,\" he added.LIC \u2014 one of the founder promoters of ILFS \u2014 has teamed up with the company to float an infrastructure debt fund to provide long-term finance to infrastructure companies building power plants, roads and ports.Until now, IL&FS has raised Rs 700 crore (about $110 million) through the infrastructure debt fund. It plans to increase the corpus to $5 billion by 2019 to fund infrastructure companies.  ","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 03:36:14 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"Fund raising via rights issue picks up, climbs 48% to Rs 6750 cr","content":"NEW DELHI: Fund raising through rights issue jumped 48 per cent to Rs 6,750 crore in 2014-15, a sign of increased interest among domestic companies to mop up capital through this route.This is higher than Rs 4,573 crore raised in 2013-14. The number of issues, too, went up to 17 in the past fiscal, from 13 in 2013-14.Market experts said return of investor confidence in the equity markets is at work, which encouraged some of the large firms to go for the rights issue mode.Most of the funds raised were meant for expansion plans and supporting working capital requirements of the companies.In a rights issue, shares are issued to existing investors at a pre-determined price, normally at a discount, in proportion to their holdings.According to the latest data, the gap between capital raised through the rights issue and funds via other routes like initial public offering (IPO) still remains wide.IPOs saw a mobilisation of a total of Rs 2,769 crore during 2014-15. That apart, around Rs 400 crore came in from Institutional Placement Programme (IPP). However, in the past fiscal, not a single firm opted for the FPO (Follow-on Public Offer) route to mop up funds.The largest rights issue in the said period was from Future Retail (Rs 1,589 crore), followed by GMR Infrastructure (Rs 1,402 crore) and Indian Hotels (Rs 1,000 crore).The fund-raising was in step with the soaring markets where the benchmark Sensex gained around 25 per cent in 20","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 17:44:10 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"Gold up, but set for weekly fall as US rate bets buoy dollar","content":"NEW YORK\/LONDON:  Gold rose on Friday as chart levels were broken, but was still heading for its first weekly fall in four weeks, pressured by a stronger dollar and renewed expectations for a US rate hike this year. Spot gold was up 1 percent at $1,206.46 an ounce by 2:23 p.m. EDT (1823 GMT). Flat initially, it gained momentum after a break of technical resistance at $1,196 that triggered automatic buy orders. \"This move is coming during a week when we didn't really have any gold-positive news but ...the way gold is putting up a fight at the moment is potentially giving some confidence to the market,\" Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said. \"But to make headwinds above the resistance area around $1,225 we need to see some real buying coming in.\" Bullion was still down around 0.3 percent for the week, however, having pulled back from Monday's seven-week high of $1,224.10, reached after last week's weak US employment report. US gold for June delivery settled up 0.9 percent at $1,204.60 an ounce. \"The 100-day moving average should serve as some upside resistance,\" said Matt Bradbard, director at RCM Alternatives, boutique advisory firm in Chicago, referring to spot gold's 100-day moving average at $1,211.69, just above the session high. Gold on Friday shrugged off the impact of a stronger dollar and world equity  markets, which tested record highs. But the longer-term outlook is still bearish, traders said, and prices had surrendered gains after Federal Reserve officials suggested a June rate hike could still be in play. Investors tend to shun gold, which does not pay interest, when market expectations point to US  interest rates rising. Gold could drop to a five-year low of $1,100 this year due to the relative health of the US economy compared to Europe and emerging markets, GFMS analysts at Thomson Reuters said. Gold buying in Asia was slow this week as firmer spot prices turned off buyers, especially in China, and a potentially weak monsoon threatened demand in India. Premiums for physical gold at the Shanghai Gold Exchange stood at a modest $1-$2 an ounce over the global spot  benchmark on Friday. Spot  silver rose 1.7 percent to $16.39 an ounce, while platinum gained 1.4 percent to $1,170.50 an ounce and palladium was up 2.1 percent at $775.95 an ounce. ","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 02:29:05 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"Brent rises to $57.87 and posts weekly gain as Iran tensions support","content":"NEW YORK: Oil prices rose on Friday, posting a weekly gain on lift from lowered expectations that an agreement on Iran's nuclear program will result in a rapid return of more Iranian barrels to the market. Strong US refined products futures and data showing a lower US drilling rig count also lent support. Brent May crude rose $1.30 to settle at $57.87 a barrel, finishing above its 50-day moving average of $57.61. US May crude rose 85 cents to settle at $51.64. After a loss last week, Brent rose 5.3 percent. US crude rose 5.0 percent, its fourth consecutive weekly rise. \"The latest agreement with Iran does not open the floodgates for a significant return of Iranian oil on the market as many had feared,\" said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodity markets strategy and oil strategy at  BNP Paribas. World powers and Iran announced the interim accord last week. But on Thursday, Iranian leaders said all sanctions on Iran must be lifted on the same day as any final agreement, while the  United States maintains sanctions would be lifted gradually. News this week of unsold Nigerian crude, the biggest jump in US crude oil inventories since 2001 and record Saudi Arabian output in March, limited crude oil's rally. Brent's price has retreated from $115 hit last June, plunging after  OPEC in November decided not to cut output, choosing to defend  market share instead. Crude received support this week from expectations of stronger demand after data from the United States and Germany bolstered the view that world growth is improving. Baker Hughes said the number of rigs drilling for oil in the United States fell by 42 to 760 this week, which also helped to lift oil prices. Producers have responded to oil's steep price drop over the last six months, idling nearly 800 rigs, or 50 percent, since a peak of 1,609 rigs in October. Money managers raised their net long US crude futures and options positions in the week to April 7, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said. Oil rallied even with a stronger  US dollar, which tends to weigh on dollar-denominated commodities. US ultra-low sulfur diesel futures gained more than 2 percent, \"scooping up some support off seasonal agricultural demand and steady export trade,\" said Jim Ritterbusch, president at Ritterbusch & Associates. US RBOB gasoline also rose more than 2 percent after a 12-cent plunge on Wednesday when government data showed an unexpected inventory rise last week. ","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 02:22:00 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"Dollar gains for 5th straight day","content":"NEW YORK: The  US dollar headed higher against the euro Friday for the fifth straight day, riding on expectations that the US  economy will pick up pace after the winter slowdown. The dollar pushed barely past the $1.06 threshold to the euro last seen three weeks ago, before US growth worries sent the greenback tumbling on expectations the  Federal Reserve would hold off on a rate rise. The dollar dropped to $1.10 per euro after that, but with the Fed news baked in, buyers returned and pushed it to $1.0599 Friday. Kathleen Brooks of Forex.com said that as the European Central Bank builds its quantitative easing stimulus program, and the fed heads in the opposite direction, better yields on the west side of the Atlantic are the draw. \"Interestingly, the euro is coming under pressure even though economic data has been surprising on the upside,\" she said. \"But in this environment, economic data is not determining the direction of the world's major currencies, yields are. \"As the ECB continues to expand its balance sheet, this is likely to boost the amount of euro in circulation, and may continue to weigh on the single currency.\" ","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 04:17:29 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"Rupee ends lower by 7 paise vs dollar","content":" MUMBAI: The  rupee ended lower by 7 paise to 62.31 against the American currency on fresh dollar demand from banks and importers as the greenback firmed up overseas on upbeat US jobs report. The rupee resumed lower at 62.30 per dollar against the last closing level of 62.24 at the  Interbank  Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and dropped further to 62.42 per dollar on initial dollar demand from banks. However, it recovered to 62.29 per dollar on some dollar selling from banks on the back of good foreign capital inflows into  equity market before ending at 62.31, showing a loss of seven paise or 0.11 per cent. It moved in a range of 62.29 and 62.42 per dollar during the day. Fresh dollar demand from banks and importers in the view of firm dollar in the overseas market mainly affected the rupee value against dollar, a  forex dealer said. In the international market, the dollar came off its overnight highs today in Asia as a rebound built on renewed hope of a US interest-rate rise in the coming months lost steam. The dollar index, a gauge of six major global rivals, was up by 0.38 per cent today. The greenback rose to three-week highs against the euro and the yen in the New York market yesterday, recouping all the losses made after disappointing jobs data last week that caste doubt on the strength of the US labour market. Oil prices were trading mixed in Asia after recovering from a steep dive, with buying sentiment shackled by a global supply glut, analysts said. Meanwhile, the Indian benchmark 30-share index  Sensex declined marginally by 5.83 points or 0.02 per cent to 28,879.38. In the forward market, premia dropped further on sustained receiving by exporters. The benchmark six-month premium payable in September moved down to 224.5-226.5 paise from 230-230.5 paise yesterday and forward contracts maturing in March 2016 also fell to 447.5-459.5 paise from 456-457 paise previously. The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 62.3660 and for the euro at 66.4884. The rupee firmed up further against the pound sterling to 91.09 from 92.35 yesterday and also advanced further against the euro to 66.01 from 67.01. The local currency firmed up further against the Japanese Yen to 51.76 per 100 yens from 51.88 previously. ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 18:34:47 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"HDFC Ltd to raise up to $500 million from Exteral Commercial Borrowing","content":"NEW DELHI: Housing Finance company  HDFC Ltd today said it has got  RBI clearance to raise up to $ 500 million (about Rs 3,100 crore) as  Exteral Commercial Borrowing (ECB) to fund its business growth. The approval to raise up to $ 500 million is valid for six months, HDFC Ltd said in statement. HDFC would be raising the money under the ECB window for housing finance companies that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed for funding affordable housing projects. Last year, it raised $ 300 million through ECB, the first by an housing finance company under the low-cost affordable housing scheme of RBI. Low-cost affordable housing units have been defined as units where the property cost does not exceed Rs 30 lakh, loan amount is capped at Rs 25 lakh and the carpet area does not exceed 60 square metres. Meanwhile, HDFC today cut home loan rate by 0.2 per cent to 9.9 per cent for new as well as existing borrowers. Besides, it is also revising its deposit rates. Earlier this week, many banks including  State Bank of India,  ICICI Bank,  HDFC Bank and  Axis Bank cut lending rate by up to 0.25 per cent after RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan's tough talk with bankers. The central bank kept its policy rate unchanged at 7.5 per cent in its monetary policy on April 7. ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 22:53:09 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"Kerala to release bonds of Rs 1,500 crore","content":" THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  Kerala will come out with a Rs 1,500 crore bonds issue to mobilise funds for various development activities. An auction in this regard would be held at the  Reserve Bank office in  Mumbai on April 13, an official release said today. ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 21:52:25 +0530","newspaper":"Economic Times"},{"title":"New U.S. offshore oil drilling rule planned: New York Times","content":"\n\nWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is planning to impose a major new regulation on offshore\u00a0oil\u00a0and gas drilling to try to prevent the kind of explosions that caused the catastrophic BP\u00a0Plc (BP.L) oil spill\u00a0in the Gulf of Mexico, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing Obama administration officials.\nThe Interior Department could make the announcement as early as Monday, the paper said. It is timed to coincide with the five-year anniversary of the BP (BP.L) disaster, which killed 11 men and sent millions of barrels of oil spewing into the gulf.The rule is expected to tighten safety requirements on blowout preventers, devices that are the last line of protection to stop explosions in undersea oil and gas wells, the Times reported.The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in 2010 was caused in part when the buckling of a section of drill pipe led to the malfunction of a supposedly fail-safe blowout preventer on a BP well, the paper said.The regulation comes as the Obama administration is taking steps to open up vast new areas of federal waters off the southeast Atlantic Coast to drilling, a decision that has infuriated environmentalists, the Times reported.It will be the third and biggest new drilling-equipment regulation put forth by the Obama administration in response to the disaster, the Times said. In 2010, the Interior Department announced new regulations on drilling well casings, and in 2012, it announced new regulations on the cementing of wells. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 07:26:48 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Backlogged orders as shoppers get close-up look at Apple Watch","content":"\n\nSAN FRANCISCO\/PARIS (Reuters) - Customers preordering Apple Inc's smartwatch on Friday will have to wait at least a month for delivery, a sign of strong early demand for company chief Tim Cook's first new major product.\nPeople flocked to Apple's stores around the world to get a close-up look at the Apple Watch, the tech company's foray into the personal luxury goods market, with Apple predicting demand would exceed supply at product launch.Cook, interviewed on cable television channel CNBC, said initial orders were \"great\" for the device, available for preorder online and to try out in stores by appointment, but not to take home.\"We view this as an indication of solid demand paired with very limited supply,\" Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote in a note to clients. \"We continue to expect modest sales in the June quarter as demand ramps over time.\"\n        \n        A key factor in the watch's success will be demand once an initial wave of interest from Apple enthusiasts subsides.The watch goes on sale officially on April 24, online and through appointments in shops, including trendy fashion boutiques in Paris, London and Tokyo, part of Apple's strategy of positioning the wearable computer as a must-have accessory. But soon after online preorders opened on Friday, Apple's website listed shipping times in June for some models of the watch and four to six weeks for others.There was immediately brisk bidding on eBay for confirmed orders for watches, with hundreds of sellers looking to make a few hundred or even thousand dollars by passing on their watches, once received. Testing Apple's mastery of consumer trends, the watch is an  untried concept for the Cupertino, California-based company. It straddles a technology market accustomed to rapid obsolescence and luxury goods whose appeal lies in their enduring value. The Apple Watch sport starts at $349 while the standard version comes in at $549 in the United States. High-end \"Edition\" watches with 18-karat gold alloys are priced from $10,000 and go as high as $17,000.At a San Francisco Apple store, dozens of customers crowded around newly installed wooden cabinets, snapping pictures of the gadgets on display under glass. Apple employees, admittedly still unfamiliar with the watches' finer points, guided customers through features like text messaging, maps and fitness tracking.MIXED REVIEWSAt Apple's flagship store in New York, Jack Weber, who was visiting from Charlottesville, Virginia, said he would give his wife a top-of-the-line \"Edition\" as a 50th-anniversary gift.\"What more perfect wedding present could there be than this watch?\" he said. Long wait times will likely stimulate more demand for the watch - which allows users to check email, listen to music and make phone calls when paired with an iPhone - with little risk of losing impatient customers, said JMP analyst Alex Gauna.\"You would want to catch up by the holiday season,\" Gauna said. \"But based on what's out there in Android land, I don't think there's an extreme risk in near term of losing customers who must have a smartwatch and will go to some alternative.\"Android is Google's mobile operating system used on many smartwatches.Reviewers this week praised the watch as \"beautiful\" and \"stylish\" but gave it poor marks for relatively low battery life and slow-loading apps.Sales estimates for 2015 vary widely. Piper Jaffray predicts 8 million units and Global Securities Research forecasts 40 million. By comparison, Apple sold nearly 200 million iPhones last year.Apple's watch is widely expected to outsell those by Samsung, Sony Corp and Fitbit. It will likely account for 55 percent of global smartwatch shipments this year, according to Societe Generale.\"Apple will outsell its wearable rivals by a very wide margin but it will do this on the power of its brand and its design alone,\" independent technology analyst Richard Windsor said.Apple shares closed 0.43 percent higher at $127.10 on Nasdaq. (Additional reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in Bengaluru,  Teppei Kasai in Tokyo, Paul Sandle in London, Pauline Askin in Sydney, Malathi Nayak in New York, Yasmeen Abutaleb in San Francisco, Bill Rigby in Seattle,; Editing by Keith Weir)","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 06:10:22 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Backlogged orders as shoppers get close-up look at Apple Watch","content":"\n\nSAN FRANCISCO\/PARIS (Reuters) - Customers preordering Apple Inc's smartwatch on Friday will have to wait at least a month for delivery, a sign of strong early demand for company chief Tim Cook's first new major product.\nPeople flocked to Apple's stores around the world to get a close-up look at the Apple Watch, the tech company's foray into the personal luxury goods market, with Apple predicting demand would exceed supply at product launch.Cook, interviewed on cable television channel CNBC, said initial orders were \"great\" for the device, available for preorder online and to try out in stores by appointment, but not to take home.\"We view this as an indication of solid demand paired with very limited supply,\" Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote in a note to clients. \"We continue to expect modest sales in the June quarter as demand ramps over time.\"\n        \n        A key factor in the watch's success will be demand once an initial wave of interest from Apple enthusiasts subsides.The watch goes on sale officially on April 24, online and through appointments in shops, including trendy fashion boutiques in Paris, London and Tokyo, part of Apple's strategy of positioning the wearable computer as a must-have accessory. But soon after online preorders opened on Friday, Apple's website listed shipping times in June for some models of the watch and four to six weeks for others.There was immediately brisk bidding on eBay for confirmed orders for watches, with hundreds of sellers looking to make a few hundred or even thousand dollars by passing on their watches, once received. Testing Apple's mastery of consumer trends, the watch is an  untried concept for the Cupertino, California-based company. It straddles a technology market accustomed to rapid obsolescence and luxury goods whose appeal lies in their enduring value. The Apple Watch sport starts at $349 while the standard version comes in at $549 in the United States. High-end \"Edition\" watches with 18-karat gold alloys are priced from $10,000 and go as high as $17,000.At a San Francisco Apple store, dozens of customers crowded around newly installed wooden cabinets, snapping pictures of the gadgets on display under glass. Apple employees, admittedly still unfamiliar with the watches' finer points, guided customers through features like text messaging, maps and fitness tracking.MIXED REVIEWSAt Apple's flagship store in New York, Jack Weber, who was visiting from Charlottesville, Virginia, said he would give his wife a top-of-the-line \"Edition\" as a 50th-anniversary gift.\"What more perfect wedding present could there be than this watch?\" he said. Long wait times will likely stimulate more demand for the watch - which allows users to check email, listen to music and make phone calls when paired with an iPhone - with little risk of losing impatient customers, said JMP analyst Alex Gauna.\"You would want to catch up by the holiday season,\" Gauna said. \"But based on what's out there in Android land, I don't think there's an extreme risk in near term of losing customers who must have a smartwatch and will go to some alternative.\"Android is Google's mobile operating system used on many smartwatches.Reviewers this week praised the watch as \"beautiful\" and \"stylish\" but gave it poor marks for relatively low battery life and slow-loading apps.Sales estimates for 2015 vary widely. Piper Jaffray predicts 8 million units and Global Securities Research forecasts 40 million. By comparison, Apple sold nearly 200 million iPhones last year.Apple's watch is widely expected to outsell those by Samsung, Sony Corp and Fitbit. It will likely account for 55 percent of global smartwatch shipments this year, according to Societe Generale.\"Apple will outsell its wearable rivals by a very wide margin but it will do this on the power of its brand and its design alone,\" independent technology analyst Richard Windsor said.Apple shares closed 0.43 percent higher at $127.10 on Nasdaq. (Additional reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in Bengaluru,  Teppei Kasai in Tokyo, Paul Sandle in London, Pauline Askin in Sydney, Malathi Nayak in New York, Yasmeen Abutaleb in San Francisco, Bill Rigby in Seattle,; Editing by Keith Weir)","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 05:00:04 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Fed takes back seat as market shifts focus to earnings","content":"\n\nNEW YORK (Reuters) - With earnings season underway, Wall Street is temporarily putting the U.S. Federal Reserve and macroeconomic policy on the back burner in favor of a focus on individual company results and forecasts for a pulse on the economy's health.\nA slew of big banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America Corp, is due to report first-quarter earnings next week, providing an expected bright spot in an otherwise gloomy quarter.Profits of companies on the S&P 500 are projected to have declined by 2.9 percent in the first three months from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data.Investors will also be watching other firms, such as Netflix Inc, General Electric Co and Schlumberger NV, to see if corporate America more broadly outperforms the negative forecasts analysts have set for it.\"The market will take a break from Fed watching and actually focus on fundamentals,\" said Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at the ConvergEx Group in New York.\"It's going to drive a lot of feelings of general investor confidence or concern about the back half of the year,\" he said.Energy companies will likely be hit by a dramatic drop in oil prices since last June. As well, a strong U.S. dollar is expected to eat into the earnings of companies with international exposure as they convert their profits back into dollars.BOON FOR BANKSBig banks start reporting their quarterly earnings on Tuesday, starting with JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co.Mortgage lending is expected to prop up U.S. bank earnings for the first quarter, as lower mortgage rates have spurred applications to refinance home loans.Financials have the rosiest outlook among sectors, with analysts projecting first-quarter 2015 earnings to have surged 10.8 percent from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data.In energy, the worst-performing sector, companies may see first-quarter earnings plummet 64.3 percent from the same quarter a year ago, according to analyst estimates.With a mixed bag of recent economic data, many market participants are taking a neutral stance going into earnings season, said King Lip, chief investment officer at Baker Avenue Asset Management in San Francisco.\"They're not negative, and they're not particularly bullish,\" Lip said. \"They're positioning more neutrally due to the fact that some of the economic data we've had pretty recently has been flattish.\"Data released Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose less than expected for the week ended April 4, in a positive sign for the labor market after a slowdown in job growth in March.Despite the mixed macroeconomic reports, there are reasons why stocks should rise during earnings season, said Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Bolton Global Asset Management in Boston.The S&P 500 rose to a high of 2,119.59 on Feb. 25, on the back of strong fourth-quarter earnings, but then gave up 3.8 percent, falling to 2,039.69 on March 11. Then, after rising to another high of 2,114.86 on March 23, the benchmark index fell again, by 3.3 percent, to 2,045.50 on March 26.After those significant drops in March, \"I would expect individual stocks to make new highs and I think the odds are very good that indexes will reach new highs as well,\" Zaro said. (Editing by Linda Stern and Bernadette Baum)","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 04:50:56 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Takata air bag on Honda Civic linked to another injury","content":"\n\n(Reuters) - Faulty air bags supplied by Takata Corp have been linked to another injury involving a Honda Motor Co car in Florida in March. \nA 2003 model Honda Civic's airbag exploded and a piece of metal shot out from the bag into the driver's neck, according to police and hospital reports. The shrapnel was removed after an emergency surgery, hospital records showed. The report said \"an airbag deployed sending foreign body toward patient.\"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it has not yet been confirmed that the accident involved an airbag rupture.\"If it is confirmed that this is another rupture, then it would simply reinforce the reasons that we are working so hard to get these air bags remedied as quickly as we can,\" NHTSA communications director Gordon Trowbridge said.    Honda has already set up an inspection for Monday, said the victim's lawyer, Jason Turchin. He said a lawsuit will be filed soon after.\"Honda is working with representatives of the vehicle's owner to inspect the vehicle and determine whether a rupture of the airbag inflator occurred in this crash. Until this determination has been made, Honda will have no further comment,\" said Honda spokesman Chris Martin. Honda said on March 19 it would add more than 100,000 vehicles to a U.S. recall related to potentially defective airbags made by Takata that can deploy with too much force and spray occupants with metal shards.\u201cWe will work in close collaboration with Honda to determine the facts and circumstances surrounding the situation,\u201d Takata said in an email to Reuters. Turchin said his client received a recall notice more than 10 days after the accident.Six deaths have been linked to the problem so far, all involving Honda cars.About 25 million vehicles with Takata airbags have been recalled worldwide since 2008. (Additional reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru. Editing by Don Sebastian and Andre Grenon)","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 04:49:13 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"GE to sell bulk of finance unit, return up to $90 billion to investors","content":"\n\n(Reuters) - General Electric Co will shed most of its finance unit and return as much as $90 billion to shareholders as it becomes a \u201csimpler\u201d industrial business instead of an unwieldy hybrid of banking and manufacturing.\nThe company on Friday outlined a restructuring plan that includes buying back up to $50 billion of its shares, selling about $30 billion in real estate assets over the next two years and divesting more GE Capital operations. GE stock jumped 8.5 percent.\"The stock has been under-owned by institutional investors, and that's going to change now,\" said Tom Donino, co-head of equity trading at First New York Securities.The repurchase program, which will be partly funded by $35 billion through money returned from GE Capital, is the second-biggest in history after Apple Inc's $90 billion plan. GE, which had 10.06 billion shares outstanding on Jan. 31, said it expected to reduce that by as much as 20 percent to 8 billion to 8.5 billion by 2018.\n        \n        In all, GE said it planned to shed $275 billion in GE Capital assets. That includes the previously announced spinoff of its Synchrony Financial credit card unit, the real estate transaction announced on Friday, and future sales of commercial lending and consumer banking businesses with assets of about $165 billion.The company plans to keep $90 billion in finance assets directly related to selling its products such as jet engines, medical equipment and power generation and electrical grid gear.GE has forecast earnings of $1.70 to $1.80 per share for this year, including 60 cents from GE Capital, but expects profit to be \u201csubstantially higher\u201d in 2018, executives said on a conference call with analysts. Shrinking GE Capital will reduce earnings by 25 cents per share, they said, but the stock buybacks should offset that impact.The company already had a significant number of inquiries about GE Capital units before Friday\u2019s announcement, said Keith Sherin, the finance unit's chief.\n        \n        Blackstone Group LP and Wells Fargo & Co confirmed that they were buying most of the assets of GE Capital Real Estate for about $23 billion.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is the biggest deal in the commercial property market since Blackstone's acquisition of office landlord Equity Office Properties Trust in 2007 for $39 billion, including debt.FOCUS ON INDUSTRIALThe moves announced on Friday will dramatically reduce GE\u2019s exposure to lending and other financial businesses.GE Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt told investors the company would try to generate 90 percent of its profits from industrial operations by 2018. He had previously forecast that share would grow to 75 percent by 2016 from 55 percent in 2013.\u201cWe just think the market timing is very good vis-a-vis the value of financial service assets,\u201d Immelt said in an interview. \u201cThere have been moments in the past when there weren\u2019t a lot of buyers. Now there are.\u201d Immelt and other GE executives said they planned to spend $3 billion to $5 billion a year on industrial acquisitions.GE said it could return up to $90 billion to investors through a combination of dividends, the $50 billion in share buybacks, and completion of the Synchrony spinoff planned for late this year.\tExecutives gave several reasons for GE's accelerated retreat from financial businesses. One is that since the financial crisis, it has become more difficult for GE to fund its lending operations.GE funded many of its loans and leases by borrowing money from bond markets. During the financial crisis it lost access to that funding, bringing it uncomfortably close to running out of cash. Lenders like GE Capital and CIT Group Inc, which cannot rely on bank deposits to fund their assets, have had to rethink the way they do business since the crisis. Many decided to either shed assets or become banks.GE Capital\u2019s size and the potential risks in its lending portfolio made it subject to government regulation as a systemically important financial institution. GE said it would apply to escape that oversight in 2016 as it reduces the financial business' size. GE said it would take after-tax charges of about $16 billion for the restructuring in the first quarter, of which about $12 billion would be non-cash.Shares of GE were sluggish for the past year despite previous moves to reposition itself around the industrial businesses. Still, Friday\u2019s more dramatic move away from finance caught some analysts by surprise.\"What we did not expect was the speed with which management would move to undertake this transformation,\" Sanford Bernstein analyst Steven Winoker wrote. \"We view today's announcement as an overwhelming positive for the company.\"During the conference call, Barclays analyst Scott Davis told executives that while he had been a critic, \u201cthis is good stuff ... I guess you can keep your jobs a little longer.\"JPMorgan Chase & Co and Centerview Partners provided general financial advice to GE, while Bank of America Corp and Kimberlite Advisors advised on the real estate deal. Eastdil Secured and Wells Fargo Securities were advisers to Blackstone and Wells Fargo. (Additional reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 04:40:48 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"GE sparks broad Wall St. rally; indexes post weekly gains","content":"\n\nNEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended a strong week with a broad rally on Friday as investors lauded GE's decision to divest most of its high-risk GE Capital business and repurchase up to $50 billion of its shares.\nAll 10 primary S&P 500 sectors ended up on the day but the S&P Industrials index, driven by gains in GE shares, was by far the best performer and rose 1.5 percent.General Electric rose 10.8 percent to $28.51, hitting its highest level since September 2008 after it said there was potential to return more than $90 billion to investors through 2018.Friday marked the biggest one-day jump for the stock, as well as the most active session, since March 2009. More than 351 million shares changed hands, making GE the most active name on the New York Stock Exchange by far. It was also the S&P 500's biggest percentage gainer.\"This is indicative of a broader trend, a refocus on shareholders, and that can provide a support for markets,\" said David Lebovitz, global market strategist for J.P. Morgan Asset Management in New York. \"If we continue to see buybacks and higher dividends, and I suspect we will, that makes a more convincing case for equities going forward.\"The Dow Jones industrial average rose 98.92 points, or 0.55 percent, to 18,057.65, the S&P 500 gained 10.88 points, or 0.52 percent, to 2,102.06 and the Nasdaq Composite added 21.41 points, or 0.43 percent, to 4,995.98.For the week, the Dow is up 1.6 percent, the S&P is up 1.7 percent and the Nasdaq is up 2.3 percent. Both the Dow and S&P notched their second straight week of gains, helped by a pickup in merger activity. Investors are looking ahead to the first-quarter earnings season. While some companies reported this week, next week will see results from a number major firms, including several banks. Profits of companies on the S&P 500 are projected to have declined by 2.9 percent in the first three months from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data.\"There's a bit of a rough patch ahead, but I think we should be able to jump over lower expectations,\" said Lebovitz, \"I don't anticipate a sharp fall in stocks throughout the season.\"Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,782 to 1,232, for a 1.45-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,603 issues rose and 1,100 fell for a 1.46-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.The benchmark S&P 500 index was posting 26 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 93 new highs and 21 new lows. About 5.47 billion shares traded on all U.S. platforms, according to BATS exchange data, down from the month-to-date average of 6.22 billion. (Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 04:22:50 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Wal-Mart says Walton family to sell shares to keep lid on stake","content":"\n\n(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) said the Walton family was putting 6 percent of the retailer's outstanding shares in a newly formed trust for possible sale to offset expected increases in its stake due to stock buybacks and to help fund charitable contributions.\nThe amount of stock set to go into the trust is worth $15.6 billion at the current price.The Walton family, which founded the company more than five decades ago, owned 50.86 percent of Wal-Mart's stock as of Dec. 31 through an entity called Walton Enterprises, L.L.C., according to Thomson Reuters data.In a statement, the company said it had been informed by the family that it planned to sell shares \"from time to time\" to ensure its stake does not increase as a result of the company's stock repurchase program, and to finance investments in charity.\"The family believes that this is consistent with an appropriate balance of family and non-family ownership that supports the goals of all Walmart shareholders and long term business success,\" the company said in the statement.The family anticipates the share sales will take place over a period of years, the company said.In June 2013, Wal-Mart announced a program under which it would repurchase $15 billion worth of its own shares. As of Jan. 31, authorization for the repurchase of 10.3 billion worth of stock remained under the program, according to a company filing. Prior to the announcement, Wal-Mart shares closed down 0.2 percent at $80.65. (Reporting by Nathan Layne. Editing by Andre Grenon and David Gregorio)","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 04:13:31 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Wal-Mart says Walton family to sell shares to keep lid on stake","content":"","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 03:42:21 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Oil rises and posts weekly gain as Iran tensions support","content":"\n\nNEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Friday, posting a weekly gain on lift from lowered expectations that an agreement on Iran's nuclear program will result in a rapid return of more Iranian barrels to the market.\nStrong U.S. refined products futures and data showing a lower U.S. drilling rig count also lent support. Brent May crude LCOc1 rose $1.30 to settle at $57.87 a barrel, finishing above its 50-day moving average of $57.61. U.S. May crude CLc1 rose 85 cents to settle at $51.64.After a loss last week, Brent rose 5.3 percent. U.S. crude rose 5.0 percent, its fourth consecutive weekly rise.\"The latest agreement with Iran does not open the floodgates for a significant return of Iranian oil on the market as many had feared,\" said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodity markets strategy and oil strategy at BNP Paribas.World powers and Iran announced the interim accord last week. But on Thursday, Iranian leaders said all sanctions on Iran must be lifted on the same day as any final agreement, while the United States maintains sanctions would be lifted gradually.News this week of unsold Nigerian crude, the biggest jump in U.S. crude oil inventories since 2001 and record Saudi Arabian output in March, limited crude oil's rally.Brent's price has retreated from $115 hit last June, plunging after OPEC in November decided not to cut output, choosing to defend market share instead.Crude received support this week from expectations of stronger demand after data from the United States and Germany bolstered the view that world growth is improving.Baker Hughes (BHI.N) said the number of rigs drilling for oil in the United States fell by 42 to 760 this week, which also helped to lift oil prices. Producers have responded to oil's steep price drop over the last six months, idling nearly 800 rigs, or 50 percent, since a peak of 1,609 rigs in October. Money managers raised their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions in the week to April 7, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said.Oil rallied even with a stronger U.S. dollar .DXY, which tends to weigh on dollar-denominated commodities.U.S. ultra-low sulfur diesel futures HOc1 gained more than 2 percent, \"scooping up some support off seasonal agricultural demand and steady export trade,\" said Jim Ritterbusch, president at Ritterbusch & Associates.U.S. RBOB gasoline RBc1 also rose more than 2 percent after a 12-cent plunge on Wednesday when government data showed an unexpected inventory rise last week. (Additional reporting by Alex Lawler in London and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio)","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 01:01:52 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Stock buyback zeal undimmed by prospects for Fed rate hike","content":"","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 23:27:16 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Nissan, BMW recall more than 165,000 vehicles for fuel pump issue","content":"","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 22:39:09 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Exclusive: Canada's Bombardier looks to raise cash from rail business - sources","content":"\n\nLONDON (Reuters) - Bombardier Inc is exploring a possible sale of all or part of its railway business, which bankers value at up to $5 billion, among options to pay for huge cost overruns in its aircraft business, sources familiar with the matter said.\nThe Canadian company is working with banks on strategic options for its transportation arm, including a possible initial public offering either in Germany, where the business is based, or in Britain, three sources said on Friday. They declined to be identified since the matter is private. A merger with peers such as Germany's Siemens or France's Alstom could also be considered, one of the sources said, pointing to a tie-up between China's biggest train makers CNR and CSR Corp last year that put pressure on rivals to gain scale.Bombardier's transport arm provides rail vehicles, signaling and control equipment. The sources said the discussions are in early stages and Bombardier may delay any action until potential buyers such as Alstom and Hitachi have finished wrapping up recent transactions.Quebec Economy Minister Jacques Daoust told Reuters he had been assured by Bombardier's controlling family in a telephone call on Friday that the Montreal-based company would not sell the transportation division entirely and that other options were on the table.The discussions come as Bombardier's aircraft business battles with overruns in cost and development for its new CSeries jet, which has sent the firm's stock down 38 percent this year.   Bombardier shares jumped as much as 7 percent on the Reuters report, before retreating to close at $2.64 on the Toronto stock exchange, still up 1.5 percent from the previous day.Bombardier spokeswoman Isabelle Rondeau noted that the company has previously said it is interested in \"participating in consolidation\" and that many options were on the table. \"We're in no rush to do anything,\" she said. \"We will act in a diligent and smart way to make sure that whatever we do will create value for our shareholders.In February, the company suspended dividends, replaced its chief executive, took on new long-term debt and said it would issue new shares to shore up its finances.Bombardier has more than $9 billion of long-term debt, according to documents from its most recent bond deal. Its market capitalization is about C$5.89 billion ($4.66 billion), giving it an enterprise value of about $13.7 billion.POTENTIAL BUYERS BUSY?Banking sources expect consolidation in the industry to continue as the sector remains fragmented.Bombardier's transportation arm saw earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of $486 million in 2014, down 3.7 percent from 2013.The unit could appeal to rivals such as Siemens, Alstom, Hitachi or General Electric, the sources said. There was no immediate comment from the four companies. Siemens and Alstom might face antitrust issues because of their dominant positions in Germany and France, said the sources.Alstom is also currently busy with the 12.4 billion euro sale of its power equipment business to GE, and is unlikely to embark on a new deal before that is completed, said the sources.Japan's Hitachi is also tied up after agreeing in February to acquire the rail business of Italian group Finmeccanica for 1.9 billion euros.    China's CNR and CSR Corp are not expected to seek further expansion in the near future. GE separately said on Friday it will shed most of its finance unit to focus on its industrial business. (Additional reporting by by Robert Smith at IFR, Arno Schuetze in Frankfurt, Allison Lampert in Montreal and Allison Martell in Toronto; Editing by Sinead Cruise and Elaine Hardcastle in London)","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 21:00:56 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Ford takes control of Russia joint venture","content":"","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 19:11:25 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Copa Airlines to buy Boeing 737s in $6.6 billion deal","content":"\n\n(Reuters) - Panama-based Copa Airlines (CPA.N) will buy 61 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9 jets in a deal worth $6.6 billion, the airline announced on Friday.\nCopa Airlines said in a statement it will use the airplanes to replace existing airplanes and support the carrier\u2019s plans for strategic growth.The deal, announced in Panama during the Summit of the Americas, is largest commercial transaction ever between a Panamanian and a U.S.-based company, the airline said.Copa said it will be the first airline in the region to operate the 737 MAX 9 on deep South American routes. (Reporting by Eric Beech in Washington; Editing by Eric Walsh)","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 18:33:31 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"U.S. import prices resume downward trend in March","content":"\n\nWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. import prices fell in March as rising petroleum costs were offset by declining prices for other goods, a sign of muted inflation that supports the view the Federal Reserve will probably not raise interest rates in June. \nThe Labor Department said on Friday import prices dropped 0.3 percent last month after a downwardly revised 0.2 percent gain in February.Economists polled by Reuters had forecast import prices slipping 0.3 percent after a previously reported 0.4 percent increase in February, when prices advanced after declining for seven straight months.In the 12 months through March, prices plunged 10.5 percent, the largest drop since September 2009.U.S. government debt prices were largely unchanged after the data, while the dollar gained against a basket of currencies. U.S. stock index futures were mixed.Lower crude oil prices and a buoyant dollar have dampened price pressures, leaving inflation running well below the Fed's 2 percent target. Officials at the central bank, some of whom have shown a willingness to consider a rate hike at the June policy-setting meeting, view the low inflation environment as transitory. But the combination of low inflation and weak economic growth in the first quarter has prompted many economists to push back their rate hike expectations to later in the year.And some economists believe monetary policy tightening will only begin in 2016. The Fed has kept its key short-term interest rate near zero since December 2008.Crude oil prices have lost more than half their value since June on fears of a global oil glut and the refusal of Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members to cut output.At the same time, the dollar has gained about 12 percent against the currencies of the main U.S. trading partners. Bank of America Merrill Lynch estimates the strong dollar will cut about half a percentage point off both economic growth and inflation in 2015.Last month, imported petroleum prices rose 0.8 percent after jumping 5.2 percent in February. Import prices excluding petroleum fell 0.4 percent in March. They had dropped 0.3 percent in February. Imported food prices fell 1.1 percent after being unchanged in February. The report also showed export prices edged up 0.1 percent last month, the first increase since July, after slipping 0.2 percent in February. Export prices declined 6.7 percent in the 12 months through March, the largest drop since July 2009. (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 18:31:17 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Alibaba forms automotive, 'smart living' business units","content":"\n\nSHANGHAI\/BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N), the world's biggest e-commerce company, has formed an automotive unit and a 'smart living' division in the past week, the firm said on Friday, as it ramps up its cloud computing, hardware and big data operations.\nAlibaba, like many rival Chinese tech firms, is racing to introduce Internet and computing capabilities to various kinds of everyday products, ranging from televisions and home appliances to cars. This has the $214-billion company pitched against rivals like social networking and online entertainment giant Tencent Holdings Inc (0700.HK), search leader Baidu Inc (BIDU.O), e-commerce competitor JD.com Inc (JD.O) and hotshot smartphone maker Xiaomi Inc [XTC.UL].In this packed field, China's online shopping titan is banking on its big data analysis and cloud computing abilities to provide an edge, as it looks to repeat the successes it has seen in overall e-commerce with more specialized categories.The automotive business unit includes car marketing services built around Alibaba's big data analysis, online retail site Tmall's car sales section and providing loans to help people buy vehicles, an Alibaba spokeswoman said in an email to Reuters on Friday.Almost 50 car brands and 10,000 dealerships have partnered with Alibaba in China, the company said. Last month, Chinese auto maker SAIC Motor Corp Ltd (600104.SS) said it would join forces with the e-commerce company to invest 1 billion yuan  ($161.08 million) in a fund to develop Internet-connected cars.Alibaba's new 'smart living' division is comprised of Tmall's electrical appliances online shopping category, some cloud computing operations and online customer-to-customer marketplace Taobao's crowd funding platform, said the firm. This platform allows smaller businesses to raise capital from a large group of investors and promote and sell their goods.($1 = 6.2080 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by John Ruwitch in SHANGHAI and Paul Carsten in BEIJING; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 16:30:24 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Mom sneaks kids to Mickey D\u2019s amid fast-food backlash, won\u2019t tell Dad","content":"","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 16:05:02 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Exclusive: Bank of Japan's Nakaso warns market against betting on more easing","content":"\n\nTOKYO (Reuters) - Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Hiroshi Nakaso has tempered market expectations that the bank will expand its stimulus program later this month, saying a cut in its inflation forecast would not be enough to justify more monetary easing.\nNakaso, one of Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's two deputies, said that while slumping oil costs have pushed inflation back to zero, rising wages and a steady economic recovery will underpin a long-term rise in prices.\"What's important is the underlying trend of inflation dynamics, which are steadily improving,\" Nakaso told Reuters in an interview on Thursday, his first with non-Japanese media in nearly a year.\"As long as there's no change to the underlying trend of inflation, additional monetary easing is unnecessary.\"Expectations that the BOJ might add to its stimulus program at a rate meeting on April 30 have helped send Japanese shares to a 15-year-high.But Nakaso's remarks are the strongest denial to date by a senior BOJ official about the need for immediate policy action. They also show that Nakaso, who rarely speaks in public, shares Kuroda's conviction that Japan is on track to hit the bank's 2 percent inflation target in about a year from now.The BOJ is under pressure to cut its forecast that inflation will hit 2 percent within the current fiscal year at a twice-yearly review of its projections on April 30, due to the impact of falling oil prices.But while acknowledging that inflation was moving away from the BOJ's target, Nakaso said there were clear improvements in inflation expectations such as the rising number of firms promising wage hikes, including for temporary workers.\"We're seeing some positive changes in corporate and household behavior that rarely happened when Japan was mired in deflation,\" Nakaso said.\"That's evidence that Japan is shaking off its deflationary mindset.\"The BOJ now expects core consumer inflation to hit 1.0 percent in the year to March 2016, roughly triple the pace estimated by private analysts.GREECE A RISKNakaso became deputy governor when Kuroda took the helm in 2013 and deployed his \"quantitative and qualitative easing\" (QQE) program - a radical monetary experiment aimed at getting inflation to 2 percent in roughly two years.Nakaso said he saw no need to alter the BOJ's pledge to hit 2 percent inflation \"at the earliest possible time with a time horizon of about two years\" as having that target will help in its efforts to stimulate the economy. \"We have no intention of changing this commitment,\" he said.The BOJ argues the two-year time frame is not a rigid deadline but a broader commitment with room for maneuver.Nakaso, an expert on market operations, said he was mindful of the need to ensure the BOJ's massive purchases do not dry up liquidity in the bond market.But there is so far no sign of severe market distortions or excessive risk-taking spurred by QQE, he said, brushing aside concerns held by some board members that the cost of the stimulus was outweighing the benefits.\"I don't think we'll face a situation where our purchases will be interrupted,\" he said, suggesting that the BOJ still had room to top up bond purchases if it were to expand QQE again.The BOJ now holds nearly a quarter of Japan's government bond market as it buys up almost all the bonds sold by the government each month, raising concerns it was crowding out private investors.Its aggressive purchases also mean its balance sheet is now equal to the size of Australia's economy, making an exit from QQE increasingly challenging.Nakaso, who played a key role in ending the BOJ's previous quantitative easing in 2006, was quiet on how the bank might end QQE, saying only that it had tools available to withdraw stimulus when needed.While his conviction of achieving the BOJ's price target appeared unwavering, Nakaso warned events overseas - notably the unfolding crisis in Greece - could disrupt the positive momentum building in Japan's economy.\"Deposits continue to be withdrawn from Greek banks and the government's financing looks pretty tight,\" he said.\"If Greece exits from the euro, even if accidentally, this could cause market turmoil and repercussions for Japan's economy,\" said Nakaso.Such worries and other duties keep him at the BOJ's headquarters almost round the clock.The soft-spoken 61-year-old confirmed his well-known reputation as a workaholic, admitting that he couldn't think of anything he does besides work on a weekend.\"I don't have a particular hobby. I'll think of something once Japan exits deflation.\" (Additional reporting by Stanley White and Yoshifumi Takemoto; Editing by Rachel Armstrong)","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 15:57:21 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Stocks surge: Nikkei tops 20,000, Europe hits 15-year high","content":"","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 14:54:13 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Fresh Ivy league post-graduates can't be analysts in India","content":"","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 00:58:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Indian market rebound 5% from March lows","content":"
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\nThe Indian market has seen a dramatic five per cent rebound from its recent lows of two weeks before.\u00a0 The recovery, triggered by value buying, has been supported by passage of key government bills by Parliament and easing of worries on an interest rate increase by the US Federal Reserve.
\nThe Indian market has seen a dramatic five per cent rebound from its recent lows of two weeks before.\u00a0 The recovery, triggered by value buying, has been supported by passage of key government bills by Parliament and easing of worries on an interest rate increase by the US Federal Reserve.The benchmark Sensex has gained from 27,457.6 at the close of March 26 to 28,879.38 on Friday. This has helped reverse most of the losses in March, when the benchmark indices dropped nearly five per cent, the most in a little over two years.With the recent recovery, the benchmark Sensex is now only two per cent (less than 700 points) below its all-time closing high of 29,559.18, on January 29. The total market capitalisation of all BSE-listed companies has surpassed its previous record, by crossing Rs 106 lakh crore on Friday -- the broader market has outperformed the benchmark indices in the past two weeks. The BSE Small Cap Index has rallied 13 per cent and the BSE Mid Cap by seven per cent since March 26.Market experts said last month's fall was primarily for two reasons. The first being fear of an imminent interest rate increase in the US, which trigged a sell-off in risky assets. Second, subdued estimates for March quarter corporate earnings.Ajay Bodke, head-investment strategy & advisory, Prabhudas Lilladher, said the fear of a rate rise in the US had eased considerably and the market has disappointed with weak fourth quarter numbers.\u201cThe scaremongering that the Fed will advance its rate increase has proved unfounded. Now, the expectations are that there will be no rise till September and it will be a one-off increase,\u201d he said.\u201cThe negative news flow on the global front \u2014 US rate hike, Greece or tensions in Ukraine -- has eased a bit. This has improved the risk appetite of global investors,\u201d said U R Bhat, managing director, Dalton Capital Advisors.
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\nMost global equity markets also saw a rise in the past two weeks. The MSCI Emerging Market index, for instance, has gained nearly seven per cent since March 26.Experts said the valuations had turned attractive after the correction in March, which led to a lot of buying interest. In the past two weeks, foreign institutional investors bought shares worth a little over $500 million and domestic mutual funds have been net buyers by around Rs 2,000 crore.Analysts said passing of key legislation by Parliament, including the insurance bill, had boosted sentiment.\u201cDespite opposition the Narendra Modi government faces in the upper house, it has been able to pass three crucial legislations. The building blocks of reforms are being laid, albeit at a slower pace than what some of the enthusiasts would like,\u201d said Bodke.Analysts said the market direction could be guided by corporate earnings, which will begin next week with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country\u2019s most valuable company, announcing its numbers on Thursday.\u201cThere isn\u2019t much expected from India Inc from the March quarter. The market has priced in subdued earnings. However, if there is a huge negative surprise, the markets could correct,\u201d said Bhat.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 23:50:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Sebi revamps securitisation trustee norms","content":"
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\nTo deepen the securitisation market, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has made it easier for banks and public financial institutions to act as trustees, while a new code of conduct has been put in place to safeguard investors\u2019 interest.
\nTo deepen the securitisation market, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has made it easier for banks and public financial institutions to act as trustees, while a new code of conduct has been put in place to safeguard investors\u2019 interest.Amending its Securitised Debt Instruments Regulations, Sebi said the move would further develop the\u00a0 market and \u201crationalise and clarify the role and responsibilities of trustee\u201d.The amendments have been made to allow banks and public financial institutions to act as trustees, without obtaining registration. These also provide for terms of appointment and capital requirement for trustees and make it mandatory for the trustees to provide a summary term sheet.The term sheet would include disclosures on originators, issuer, trustee, transaction structure, key pool features and credit enhancement and would help enhance the confidence of investors in securitisation transactions.Securitisation involves creating a financial instrument by pooling together illiquid assets and then selling them to investors as securities.Under the new norms, a trustee would need to have a net worth of at least Rs 2 crore, at least two employees with minimum five years of experience in securitisation and with required professional qualification, among other conditions.A trustee will have to supervise the implementation of the covenants regarding creation of security for the securitised debt instruments, resolve the grievances of investors and protect their interest, ensure sufficient funds for payout to investors and conduct regular due diligence on assets, etc.Under the new norms, the trustee would call for periodic reports, supervise the implementation of conditions regarding creation of security for securitised debt instruments and take steps to ensure protection of investors as well as resolve their grievances.Besides, they would have to appoint a compliance officer for performing duties, including monitoring compliance of the various rules and redress of investor grievances.The trustees need to ensure on a continuous basis that the trust property is adequately available at all times to pay the securitised debt instrument holders.As per a code of conduct for the trustees, they are required to avoid possible conflict of interest.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 23:49:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Cotton Corp to float global tender to sell procured stock","content":"
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\nSitting on a record-high inventory of around 25 per cent of India\u2019s total annual output, government-owned Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) plans a global tender to invite buyers.
\nSitting on a record-high inventory of around 25 per cent of India\u2019s total annual output, government-owned Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) plans a global tender to invite buyers.Initially, to test the market, tenders will be for 5,000-10,000 bales (a bale = 170 kg) by this month-end. If it goes through, it could float another, with an overall target to sell 30,000 bales this cotton year (October 2014\u2013September 2015).CCI has procured 9.1 million bales this year so far at the government's minimum support price, surpassing the previous record of 8.9 mn in 2008-09. Almost the entire procurement operation for this year is done.\u201cWe have spoken with a number of buyers in Bangladesh who were keen on purchase of Indian cotton,\u201d said B K Mishra, chairman and managing director.CCI is also in talks with buyers in Vietnam. Our usual buyer, China, has slowed its purchase of cotton and yarn, to discourage its power and labour-intensive textile industry. A recent Edelweiss Financial Services report estimates China\u2019s cotton import at a five-year low of 1.6 million tonnes (mt) so far this season, against 3.08 mt the previous year.Bangladesh\u2019s cotton import has hit a five-year high of 0.99 mt in 2014-15, compared to 0.89 mt last year. Vietnam has imported 28 per cent more fibre this year at 0.89 mt, as compared to 0.69 mt last year.Despite China\u2019s absence from active buying, prices in both the domestic and international markets have shot up, with the benchmark No 2 cotton for near-month delivery on the InterContinental Exchange quoted at US cents 66.22\/lb, compared to 59.89\/lb in early February. Similarly, the benchmark Shankar-6 variety was sold at Rs 9,420 a quintal in the spot market here on Friday, as against Rs 8,548 a qtl on February 1.
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\nHome industry\u2019s demand
\nThe textile industry has urged CCI to start releasing cotton into the market, to ease supply. \u201cThe industry is passing through a serious situation due to non-availability of cotton in abundant quantity, on account of the stop-go policy of CCI, in spite of holding a high level of stock. Of its total procurement, CCI has only released 0.3 million bales. It is releasing a negligible quantity of between 3,000 and 5,000 bales a day. This is only resulting in a steep rise in prices, beside creating a shortage of good-quality cotton for the textile sector, which in turn is adversely affecting the export of yarn, fabrics and made-ups. CCI should start releasing at least 50,000 bales a day for 100 days, through e-auction,\u201d said R K Dalmia, chairman of the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council.Added Prem Malik, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, \u201cOur spinning industry is suffering due to weak demand for cotton yarn from both domestic and international markets. Unless immediate measures are taken to avoid a speculative increase in cotton prices, the spinning industry will suffer irreparable damage.\u201dFor disposal of procured cotton in the home markets, however, CCI is waiting for directions from the Union textiles ministry.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 23:48:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"NSEL-FTIL merger: Govt introduces share swap arrangement","content":"
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\n\tThe government on Friday introduced a share swap arrangement for the proposed merger between National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) and Financial Technologies (India) Limited.According to the assessment order, made public on Friday, the government has proposed that three fully paid-up equity shares of Rs 2 each will be given in the new entity in return for every eight shares of Rs 10 each in NSEL.The share swap will be done only once the central government takes a decision on the merger. A case has already been filed by FTIL at the high court (HC) in Mumbai against the merger. The draft order was made on October 21 last year, to merge NSEL with FTIL in the public interest, under Section 396 of the Companies Act, 1956. This was in the wake of the Rs 5,574 crore payment fraud at NSEL, in which FTIL holds a 99.99 per cent stake.The government, in its assessment order, has analysed share prices of NSEL and FTIL and came to a fair value of Rs 77 a share and Rs 208 a share, respectively. FTIL is a listed company with a paid-up share capital of Rs 9,21,57,074, divided into 4,60,78,537 equity shares with a face value of Rs 2 each. NSEL has a paid-up share capital of Rs 45 crore, consisting of 45 million shares of Rs 10 each. Of these 45 mn shares in NSEL, the government has proposed to cancel 4,49,99,895 shares now held by FTIL.Earlier, the government was given a deadline of April 6 by the HC to issue a final order on the merger. However, the government sought three months more to review 19,000-odd objections from FTIL shareholders and related parties before passing an order. The HC had directed the government on February 4 to consider all objections before doing so.The government has also filed a case before the Company Law Board for removal and supersession of the FTIL board, to allow the government to appoint its own nominees in their place, to \u201cprevent further acts of fraud, misfeasance, breach of trust\u201d.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 23:46:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Markets end flat amid narrow trade; Idea Cellular up 4%, RComm jumps 13%","content":"","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 15:53:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Markets snap five-day winning streak","content":"
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\nMarkets snapped five-day winning streak weighed down by profit taking in private banking majors
\nMarkets snapped five-day winning streak weighed down by profit taking in private banking majorsThe 30-share Sensex provisionally ended down 51 points at 28,835 and the 50-share Nifty slipped 11 points at 8,767.
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\n(Updated at 2:45PM)The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices even as telecom shares rallied despite industry regulator announcing ceiling on tariffs on roaming.At 2:45PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 42 points at 28,884 and the 50-share Nifty slipped 13 points at 8,766.Further, the government will announced Index of Industrial Production for February after market hours later today.Meanwhile, global rating agency Fitch said that performance of state-owned banks would remain weak for a while even as the pace of non-performing assets has eased at some large banks. The agency also added that the government\u2019s ability to provide substantial financial support to the banking system in a potential crisis is limited given the already high government debt burden.The Indian rupee was trading lower at 62.35 to the US dollar compared to the previous close of 62.24 after the US currency appreciated overseas on the back of encouraging US jobs report.SECTORS & STOCKSBankex and Healthcare indices were the top sectoral losers while Auto, Consumer Durables, Metal, Power, Oil and Gas were among the gainers.Bank shares witnessed profit taking. HDFC Group shares HDFC and HDFC Bank were both down over 1.5% each contributing the most to the Sensex losses. Axis Bank and ICICI Bank were down 0.5% each.However, SBI was up 2% after the global brokerage Barclays maintained its 'overweight' stance on SBI for a target of Rs 353. Barclays expects operating efficiency through better performance.Cipla slipped over 2% after international brokerage CLSA downgraded the stock from 'underperform' to 'sell'. However, Dr Reddy's Labs and Sun Pharma reversed early losses and were up 0.4-0.8% each.Pharma shares were trading mixed after recovery in select stocks.Hindalco dropped over 1% as sentiment in the stock dampened after global aluminum major Alcoa reported lower-than-expected revenues.State Bank of India advanced 2% after the global brokerage Barclays maintained its 'overweight' stance on SBI for a target of Rs 353. Barclays expects operating efficiency through better performance.Telecom shares shrugged off the tariff ceilings by industry regulator TRAI. Bharti Airtel was up 1.3%, Idea Cellular gained 4% while Reliance Communications jumped nearly 15%.Oil and Gas majors ONGC and RIL which had earlier edged higher on higher Brent crude price trimmed gains and were trading flat.Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers said domestic passenger car sales grew 2.64% to 1,76,011 units in March, from 1,71,491 units in the same month of last year. Tata Motors was up 1.3% while Maruti Suzuki was marginally lower.Motorcycle sales last month dipped 5.22% to 8,59,521 units as against 9,06,901 units a year earlier, SIAM said. Reacting to the news, Hero Motocorp slipped 0.8% while Bajaj Auto dipped 0.2%.Shares of IDFC are up 2% after the company said it has got the shareholders approval for the demerger of its financial undertaking into IDFC Bank.BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices outperformed the benchmarks up 0.5-1% eachThe market breadth is firm on the BSE with 1,514 advances versus 1,065 declines.GLOBAL MARKETSJapan's key share index Nikkei topped 20,000 on Friday for the first time in 15 years on hopes of stronger corporate earnings, and gained 2.4% on the week. The benchmark Nikkei rose as high as 20,006 before ending down 0.2% at 19,907.63. The rally has been driven by many factors, including hopes of higher shareholder returns, a rise in corporate earnings, a recovery in domestic consumption and more share buying, both real and imagined, by Japanese public investors.European shares firmed up with Germany leading the gains after beter-than-expected industrial production data raised prospects that the economy in the euro zone is picking up pace. Germany's benchmark DAX was up nearly 1% while CAC-40 and FTSE-100 were both trading 0.2% higher.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 15:31:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Gold, silver recover on buying by jewellers, global cues","content":"
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\n    Snapping its three-day losing streak, gold recovered by Rs 50 to Rs 26,800 per 10 grams at the bullion market today on increased buying by jewellers at prevailing levels amid a firm global trend.Snapping its three-day losing streak, gold recovered by Rs 50 to Rs 26,800 per 10 grams at the bullion market today on increased buying by jewellers at prevailing levels amid a firm global trend.Silver also edged up by Rs 100 to Rs 36,750 per kg on better offtake by industrial units and coin makers.
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\nTraders said emergence of buying by jewellers and retailers at existing levels and a better trend in the global markets mainly led to the recovery in gold prices.Gold in London, which normally sets price trend on the domestic front, was up by 0.85 per cent to $1,203.70 an ounce in early trade today.In the national capital, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity rose by Rs 50 each to Rs 26,800 and Rs 26,650 per 10 grams, respectively. It had lost Rs 500 in last three days.Sovereign gold, however, remained steady at Rs 23,700 per piece of eight grams in limited deals.Silver ready also traded higher by Rs 100 to Rs 36,750 per kg but weekly-based delivery shed Rs 50 at Rs 36,400 per kg on lack of support from speculators.On the other hand, silver coins continued to be asked at last level of Rs 55,000 for buying and Rs 56,000 for selling of 100 pieces.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 14:57:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"CNX Midcap index hits record high","content":"
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\n\t\tShares of midcap companies are continue at their upward march for the seven straight trading sessions with the National Stock Exchange (NSE) CNX Mid-cap index hitting a fresh record high today.At 1427 hours, CNX Mid-cap index was up 0.60% at 13,608 points, after hitting a new high of 13,631 in intra-day trade. The CNX Nifty was down 0.20% at 8,761.In past seven trading sessions, the CNX Mid-cap Index, which comprises 100 stocks, rallied 6.7% against 5% rise in the benchmark index.The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) S&P BSE Mid-cap index hit high of 11,128 during intra-day deal, is 53 points away from its lifetime high of 11,181 touched on March 4, 2015.The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) have collectively invested net amount of Rs 2,632 crore in equities between March 30 and April 9, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) all four listed companies \u2013 Reliance Communications (up 14% at Rs 72.30), Reliance Power (5% at Rs 61.55), Reliance Infrastructure (4% at Rs 475) and Reliance Capital (3% at Rs 456) \u2013 gained between 3%-14% on the NSE.Century Textiles & Industries surged 6% to Rs 742 on the NSE on the back of heavy volumes. In past two weeks, the stock surged 22% from Rs 608 on March 27, after the promoter increased their stake in the company by converting warrants into equity shares.Bharat Electronics, MindTree, Ramco Cement, SKS Microfinance, Apollo Tyres, Bajaj Finance, ABB, United Breweries, Max India and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals are few from CNX Mid-cap index gained between 12% and 19% in past seven trading sessions.
\n","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 14:35:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Aurobindo Pharma rallies on stake diversion","content":"
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\n    Aurobindo Pharma has firmed up on divesting stake in its Australian subsidiary to Eris Pharma for an undisclosed amount to focus on the US, European and emerging markets. The stock is trading at Rs 1,338, higher by Rs 14 or 1.1%, on the BSE.Aurobindo Pharma has firmed up on divesting stake in its Australian subsidiary to Eris Pharma for an undisclosed amount to focus on the US, European and emerging markets. The stock is trading at Rs 1,338, higher by Rs 14 or 1.1%, on the BSE.\"Aurobindo Pharma Ltd (APL) has divested its step-down subsidiary, Aurobindo Pharma (Australia) Pty Ltd, to Eris Pharma Australia Pty Ltd,\" Aurobindo Pharma said in a filing to the BSE. APL will continue to manufacture and supply products to Eris Pharma for Australian and New Zealand markets over the next few years, it added.The shares had opened at Rs 1,328 and have touched a high of Rs 1347 and a low of Rs 1314 thus far.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 14:21:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Markets continue to trade weak ahead of Feb IIP","content":"
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\n\tBenchmark indices extended losses in noon deals as investors booked profits after five sessions of gains ahead of industrial production (IIP) numbers for February due to be released later in the day.At 1.15 PM, the 30-share Sensex is down 91 points at 28,794 and the 50-share Nifty has shed 33 points at 8,746.
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\n\tSentiments dampened further after Fitch reported that India's relatively weak business environment and standards of governance, as well as widespread infrastructure bottlenecks, will not change overnight, but there is ample room for improvement .\u00a0
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\n\tThe rupee edged up to trade at 62.37 at mid-session. In early trade the rupee had depreciated by 15 paise to 62.39 against the dollar on the Interbank Foreign Exchange as the American currency firmed up overseas on an upbeat US jobs report.\u00a0
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\n\tBrent crude edged up on Friday, supported by strong economic data from Germany that lifted the oil demand outlook and as worries about a quick return of Iranian supplies eased.
\n
\n\tKEY STOCKS
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\n\tOn the sectoral front, BSE Healthcare index is the top loser sown 1% followed by Capital Goods, FMCG and Bankex. However, BSE Realty, Power, Consumer Durables are trading high up to 1.3%.
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\n\tCipla lost over 2% after international brokerage CLSA downgraded the stock from 'underperform' to 'sell'.\u00a0
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\n\tHindalco dropped over 1% after global aluminum giant's first quarter earnings missed estimates.
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\n\tState Bank of India advanced 2% after the global brokerage Barclays maintained its 'overweight' stance on SBI for a target of Rs 353. Barclays expects operating efficiency through better performance.
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\n\tBharti Airtel is trading flat with a negative bias after the Telecom Regulator Authority of India reduced the tariffs on roaming for outgoing local calls and incoming calls on roaming. It has also mandated telecom service providers to offer a special roaming plan.
\n
\n\tOil and Gas majors ONGC and RIL are trading higher after Brent crude edged up on Friday.
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\n\tDomestic passenger car sales grew 2.64% to 1,76,011 units in March, from 1,71,491 units in the same month of last year. Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki have gained up to 0.5%.\u00a0
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\n\tOn the other hand, motorcycle sales last month dipped 5.22% to 8,59,521 units as against 9,06,901 units a year earlier, according to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Reacting to the news, Hero Motocorp and Baja Auto have dipped up to 0.5%.
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\n\tShares of IDFC are up 2% after the company said it has got the shareholders approval for the demerger of its financial undertaking into IDFC Bank.
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\n\tBSE Midacap and Smallcap indices are outperforming the large counterparts and are trading higher between 0.5-1%.\u00a0
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\n\tThe market breadth is firm on the BSE with 1,514 advances versus 1,065 declines.
\n
\n\tASIAN MARKET
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\n\tJapan's Nikkei share average topped the psychological 20,000-point mark on Friday for the first time in 15 years on hopes of stronger corporate earnings, and gained 2.4% on the week.
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\n\tThe Nikkei rose as high as 20,006 before ending down 0.2% at 19,907.63.
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\n\tThe rally has been driven by many factors, including hopes of higher shareholder returns, a rise in corporate earnings, a recovery in domestic consumption and more share buying, both real and imagined, by Japanese public investors.
\n
\n\tThe market expects Japanese earnings to rise 10 to 15% this year, but with the Nikkei already up 14% so far this year, some investors see limited justification to chase them much higher.
\n","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 13:13:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Crude palm oil falls by 1.7% on low demand","content":"
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\nContinuing the dismal run for the fourth straight day, crude palm oil prices fell 1.69% to Rs 429.50 per 10 kg in futures trading today as speculators off-loaded positions because of a fall in demand in the spot market.
\nContinuing the dismal run for the fourth straight day, crude palm oil prices fell 1.69% to Rs 429.50 per 10 kg in futures trading today as speculators off-loaded positions because of a fall in demand in the spot market.Besides, adequate stock position in the physical market following higher supplies from producing belts kept downward pressure on prices.At Multi Commodity Exchange, crude palm oil for delivery in May plummeted Rs 7.40, or 1.69%, to Rs 429.50 per 10 kg in business turnover of 665 lots.Similarly, the oil for delivery in April contracts moved down Rs 6.30, or 1.45%, to Rs 428.90 per 10 kg in 681 lots.Market analysts said off-loading of positions triggered by low demand in the spot market primarily kept the prices lower in futures trade.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 12:42:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Cardamom rises by 2.5% on rising spot demand","content":"
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\nCardamom prices rose 2.55% to Rs 824 per kg in futures trade today as speculators enlarged positions amid pick-up in domestic as well as export demand.
\nCardamom prices rose 2.55% to Rs 824 per kg in futures trade today as speculators enlarged positions amid pick-up in domestic as well as export demand.At the Multi Commodity Exchange, cardamom for delivery in April gained Rs 20.50, or 2.55%, to Rs 824 per kg in a business turnover of 4 lots.Similarly, the spice for delivery in May edged higher by Re one, or 0.12%, to Rs 856.10 per kg in 140 lots.Analysts said besides rising demand in the spot market, restricted arrivals from producing belts mainly kept cardamom prices higher at futures trade.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 12:32:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Silver recover by 0.7% on global cues","content":"
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\nSilver prices recovered by Rs 271 to Rs 36,554 per kg in futures trade today after speculators enlarged positions amidst firming global trends.
\nSilver prices recovered by Rs 271 to Rs 36,554 per kg in futures trade today after speculators enlarged positions amidst firming global trends.At the Multi Commodity Exchange, silver for delivery in May was up by Rs 271, or 0.75%, to Rs 36,554 per kg in a business turnover of 2,003 lots.Similarly, the white metal for delivery in far-month July traded higher by Rs 253, or 0.69%, to Rs 37,002 per kg in 40 lots.Analysts attributed the rise in silver prices at futures trade to a firming trend in the precious metal overseas.Meanwhile, silver traded 0.80% higher at $16.28 an ounce in Singapore.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 12:32:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Mentha oil up by 0.9% on high demand","content":"
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\nMentha oil futures rose 0.90% at Rs 933.50 per kg today as speculators enlarged positions amid positive cues from the spot market on strong demand.
\nMentha oil futures rose 0.90% at Rs 933.50 per kg today as speculators enlarged positions amid positive cues from the spot market on strong demand.At Multi Commodity Exchange, mentha oil for delivery in May edged higher by Rs 8.10, or 0.90%, to Rs 933.50 per kg in business turnover of 222 lots.In a similar fashion, the oil for delivery in April traded higher by Rs 7.10, or 0.78%, to Rs 921.30 per kg in 817 lots.Analysts said apart from a firm trend in the spot market, rising demand from consuming industries amid restricted arrivals from Chandausi in Uttar Pradesh mainly influenced the prices.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 12:13:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Ess Dee Aluminium zooms over 100% in six days","content":"
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\n\tShares of Ess Dee Aluminium have moved higher by 7% to Rs 252, extending its past five day\u2019s rally on the bourses, despite clarification by the company that the rise of its share price is unexpected and unwarranted.In past six trading sessions, the stock zoomed 105% from Rs 123 on March 31, on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The CNX Nifty gained 3% during the same period.With reference to the increase in price, Ess Dee Aluminium has clarified to BSE that \"As of now the company does not have any information\/announcement that have a bearing on the operation\/performance of the company which include all price sensitive information in regard to the company that could have led to the sudden spurt on the price behavior and volume of transactions of the company's scrip.\"The stock opened at Rs 248 and hit a high of Rs 257 on the NSE. A combined 1.08 million shares changed hands on the counter till 1145 hours on the NSE and BSE.Meanwhile, on March 27, the stock hit a low of Rs 121, its lowest level since September 2012, after Sudip Dutta, the promoter of the company sold part of its holding through open market.Sudip Dutta had sold 490,204 equity shares or 1.53% stake in the company on March 17 via market sale on the NSE and BSE, Ess Dee Aluminium said in a statement.Post transaction, Sudip Dutta holding in the company reduced to 56.99% from 58.52%, it added.
\n\t\u00a0
\n","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 12:04:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Gold rises by 0.3% on global cues","content":"
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\nGold prices rose by 0.27% to Rs 26,750 per 10 grams in futures trade today as speculators created fresh positions amid positive cues from overseas markets.
\nGold prices rose by 0.27% to Rs 26,750 per 10 grams in futures trade today as speculators created fresh positions amid positive cues from overseas markets.At the Multi Commodity Exchange, gold for delivery in far-month August moved up by Rs 72, or 0.27%, to Rs 26,750 per 10 grams, with a business turnover of two lots.The metal for delivery in June rose by Rs 67, or 0.25%, to trade at Rs 26,588 per 10 grams, with a trade volume of 544 lots.Marketmen said increased positions built-up by speculators after the precious metal recovered in global markets, influenced gold futures here.Globally, gold in Singapore added 0.20% to $1,195.90 an ounce.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 12:02:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Chana gains by 0.7% on surging demand","content":"
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\nRising demand and expectations of a lower output pushed up chana prices further 0.70% to Rs 3,892 per quintal in futures market today as speculators widened their positions.
\nRising demand and expectations of a lower output pushed up chana prices further 0.70% to Rs 3,892 per quintal in futures market today as speculators widened their positions.At National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), chana for delivery in April advanced Rs 27, or 0.70%, to Rs 3,892 per quintal with an open interest of 67,470 lots.Similarly, the commodity for delivery in May traded higher by Rs 9, or 0.23%, at Rs 3,872 per quintal in 1,47,270 lots.Analysts said besides rising demand in the spot market, hopes of a lower output due to unseasonal rains in growing regions put upward pressure on chana prices at the futures trade.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 12:02:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Nickel up by 0.9% on spot demand","content":"
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\nNickel prices moved up by 0.87% to Rs 789.30 per kg in futures trade today as speculators enlarged their position, tracking a solid trend in spot market on increased demand from alloy-makers.
\nNickel prices moved up by 0.87% to Rs 789.30 per kg in futures trade today as speculators enlarged their position, tracking a solid trend in spot market on increased demand from alloy-makers.Besides, an encouraging trend in metal in the global markets supported the upside.At the Multi Commodity Exchange, nickel for delivery in April contracts gained Rs 6.80, or 0.87%, to Rs 789.30 per kg in a business turnover of 1,249 lots.The metal for delivery in May rose by Rs 6.30, or 0.80%, to trade at Rs 796.50 per kg in 33 lots.Market analysts said apart from increased domestic demand from alloy-makers, firmness in copper and other base metal overseas influenced nickel futures here.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 11:57:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Lead rises by 0.4% on firm demand","content":"
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\nLead futures rose 0.41% to Rs 123.75 per kg today on strong spot demand amid a firming trend overseas.
\nLead futures rose 0.41% to Rs 123.75 per kg today on strong spot demand amid a firming trend overseas.At the Multi Commodity Exchange, lead for delivery in May traded higher by 50 paise, or 0.41%, to Rs 123.75 per kg, with a turnover of 19 lots.The metal for delivery in April rose 40 paise, or 0.33%, to Rs 123 per kg in a turnover of 798 lots.Traders said besides good demand from battery makers, a firming trend in the base metal at the London Metal Exchange (LME) spurred lead futures here.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 11:57:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Refined soya oil slips 0.61% on profit-booking","content":"
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\nRefined soya oil prices fell 0.61 per cent at Rs 598.80 per 10 kg in futures trade today as speculators booked profits at prevailing levels amid fall in demand in the spot market.
\nRefined soya oil prices fell 0.61 per cent at Rs 598.80 per 10 kg in futures trade today as speculators booked profits at prevailing levels amid fall in demand in the spot market.Adequate stock position in the physical market on higher supplies from producing belts also put pressure on prices.At National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, refined soya oil for delivery in April eased Rs 3.70, or 0.61 per cent, to Rs 598.80 per 10 kg with an open interest of 30,950 lots.The June contract shed Rs 3.10, or 0.54 per cent, to Rs 567.90 per 10 kg in 1,21,700 lots.Market analysts attributed the fall in refined soya oil futures to profit-booking by speculators at existing levels and low demand in the spot market.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 11:57:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Markets take a pause; Nifty hovers at 8750","content":"
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\nThe markets are trading in a sideways manner with a mildly negaive bias in mid-morning trades, snapping the runaway gains witnessed in the past five trading sessions, ahead of the IIP data set to be released in the course of the day. At 11:30AM, the Sensex is at 28,810, lower by 74 points and the Nifty is at 8,763, down 15 points.
\nThe markets are trading in a sideways manner with a mildly negaive bias in mid-morning trades, snapping the runaway gains witnessed in the past five trading sessions, ahead of the IIP data set to be released in the course of the day. At 11:30AM, the Sensex is at 28,810, lower by 74 points and the Nifty is at 8,763, down 15 points.The Sensex has been confined to a narrow range of 90 points between an intra-day high of 28,899 and a low of 28,810, while the Nifty has been stuck between 8781 on the higher side and 8758 at the lower end, as the gains in the oil and gas space have been offset by losses on the pharma counters. The benchmark indices had gained in the previous five straight sessions hitting one-month closing highs; with the Nifty ending comfortably above the 8750 mark in Thursday's session on the back of India's outlook upgrade by Moody's.However, the broader space is continuing its recent outperformance vis-a-vis the benchmark indices, with the midcap index quoting at 11,125, higher by 76 points or 0.6% and the smallcap index placed at 11802, up 85 points or 0.7%.The markets will keep an eye on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) numbers to be unveiled in the course of the day.ASIAN MARKETSJapan's Nikkei share average slipped on Friday when the initial euphoria as it topped the psychological milestone of 20,000 was quickly taken over by selling to lock in the past few months' solid gains.The Nikkei fell 0.2% to 19,897.97, reversing its course after having risen above the 20,000 mark for the first time in 15 years.The rally has been driven by many factors, including hopes of higher shareholder returns, rise in corporate earnings, recovery in domestic consumption and more share buying, both real and imagined, by Japanese public investors.The market expects Japanese corporate earnings to rise 10 to 15% this year, but with the Nikkei already up 14% so far this year, some investors see limited justification to chase more gains.SECTORS & BUZZING STOCKSThe oil space continues to hog the limelight on the BSE, with Oil India, BPCL and Oil India gaining about a per cent each. However, RIL is trading flat at Rs 894 after soaring by almost 4% in the previous session on reports that the company had discovered massive gas reserves at MJ-1 block in its KG-D6 basin.On the other hand, the pharma stocks are seeing some selling pressure on the BSE post their recent gains. Lupin, Cipla, Cadilla and Dr Reddy's have shed anywhere between 1% and 2% each.The BSE banking index is also under strain at 21,614, down 0.3%. The index had surged more than 1% in Thursday's session of trade after Moody's Investors Service changed India's outlook to 'positive' from 'stable' earlier and affirmed 'Baa3' credit rating. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank have lost upto a per cent each. SBI has, however, bucked the weak trend in the sector, adding more than a per cent at Rs 283.Among individual names, Sesa Sterlite has rallied by 2% at Rs 199 to top the gainers list on the BSE. The other prominent gainers are SBI, Bhel and Infosys, which have added between 1% and 2% each.On the other hand, Cipla tops the loser's list on the BSE, shedding 1.7% at Rs 706. Hindalco, HDFC Bank and ITC have lost around a per cent each.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 11:33:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Zinc up 0.37% on spot demand, global cues","content":"
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\nZinc futures edged up by 0.37 per cent to Rs 136.15 per kg today as speculators enlarged positions amid a firm global trend and better domestic demand.
\nZinc futures edged up by 0.37 per cent to Rs 136.15 per kg today as speculators enlarged positions amid a firm global trend and better domestic demand.At the Multi Commodity Exchange, zinc for delivery in April rose by 50 paise, or 0.37 per cent, to Rs 136.15 per kg, with a business turnover of 674 lots.The metal for delivery in May rose by a similar margin to Rs 136.90 per kg in a turnover of 25 lots.Globally, zinc contracts for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange (LME) gained 0.1 per cent to $2,178 per tonne.Traders said besides improved spot demand, a firming trend in base metal at the LME over concerns that supply is tightening as inflation grew faster-than-forecast in China, the biggest user of industrial metals, influenced zinc prices at futures trade here.Meanwhile, zinc stockpiles monitored by the LME dropped to the lowest since February 2010, as per bourse data.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 11:32:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Copper gains 0.73% in futures trade on global cues","content":"
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\nCopper prices moved up by 0.73 per cent to Rs 379.05 per kg in futures trade today as speculators enlarged positions amid a firming trend overseas.
\nCopper prices moved up by 0.73 per cent to Rs 379.05 per kg in futures trade today as speculators enlarged positions amid a firming trend overseas.At the Multi Commodity Exchange, copper for delivery in April traded higher by Rs 2.75, or 0.73 per cent, to Rs 379.05 per kg in a business turnover of 1,318 lots.The metal for delivery in June gained Rs 2.80, or 0.73 per cent, to Rs 383.85 per kg in a business turnover of 38 lots.Analysts attributed the rise in copper futures to a firming trend in base metals in the global markets.Meanwhile, copper for June delivery was up 0.1 per cent to 43,360 yuan ($ 6,983) per tonne in Shanghai.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 11:32:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Century Textiles hits 52-week high on heavy volumes","content":"
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\n\tCentury Textiles & Industries has rallied 7.5% to Rs 749 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in an otherwise subdued market on the back of heavy volumes.The stock opened at Rs 696 and touched a 52-week high of Rs 773 so far. The trading volumes on the counter more than doubled with a combined 4.18 million shares changed hands till 1114 hours against an average 2.3 million shares that were traded daily in past two weeks on the NSE and BSE.In past two weeks, the stock surged 24% from Rs 608 on March 27, after the promoter increased their stake in the company by converting warrants into equity shares. The CNX Nifty gained 5% during the same period.On March 30, the finance committee of Century Textiles' board of directors allotted 8.47 million shares to the promoter group companies \u2013 IGH Holdings Private Limited (5.07 million) and Aditya Marketing & Manufacturing Limited (3.4 million) - on conversion of warrants.After conversion of warrants, the total promoters holding in the company will touched close to 50%. As of December 31, 2014, the promoters held 40.23% stake in the BK Birla Group company.
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\n","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 11:18:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Markets remain subdued; BSE Midcap index up 0.5%","content":"
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\nBenchmark indices continue to trade in a narrow range with negative bias weighed down by financials and index heavyweight ITC. However, gains in select index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries and Infosys capped losses.
\nBenchmark indices continue to trade in a narrow range with negative bias weighed down by financials and index heavyweight ITC. However, gains in select index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries and Infosys capped losses.Further, market participants will keep an eye on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) numbers for February to be unveiled in the course of the day.At 10:17AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 45 points at 28,841 and the 50-share Nifty was down 14 points at 8,764.However, the broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up over 0.5%. The market breadth is strong with 1,234 advances versus 765 declines on the BSE.\"The market is likely to trade sideways, before making a sharp upside move. For the Sensex resistance is seen at 28939 above 29183 and support is at 28785 below 28669. For the Nifty resistance is seen at 8791 above 8849 while Support is at 8745 below 8718,\" Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services said in a note.In the currency front, the rupee depreciated by 15 paise to 62.39 against the dollar in early trade today on the Interbank Foreign Exchange as the American currency firmed up overseas on upbeat US jobs report.ASIAN MARKETSJapan's Nikkei share average slipped on Friday when the initial euphoria as it topped the psychological milestone of 20,000 was quickly taken over by selling to lock in the past few months' solid gains.The Nikkei fell 0.2% to 19,897.97, reversing its course after having risen above the 20,000 mark for the first time in 15 years.The rally has been driven by many factors, including hopes of higher shareholder returns, rise in corporate earnings, recovery in domestic consumption and more share buying, both real and imagined, by Japanese public investors.The market expects Japanese corporate earnings to rise 10 to 15% this year, but with the Nikkei already up 14% so far this year, some investors see limited justification to chase more gains.SECTORS & BUZZING STOCKSBSE Oil & Gas, Realty and Consumer Durables indices are trading higher by almost 1%. However, BSE Metal index has slipped by 0.2%.Hindalco is the top Sensex loser, down almost 2% after US-based aluminium major reported lower-than-expected revenues.Bharti Airtel is down by almost 1%. Telecom Regulator Authority of India reduced the tariffs on roaming for outgoing local calls and incoming calls on roaming. It has also mandated telecom service providers to offer a special roaming plan.From the financial space, HDFC, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank have slipped between 0.3-1%. Banking shares ended higher yesterday after Moody's Investors Service changed India's outlook to 'positive' from 'stable' earlier and affirmed 'Baa3' credit rating on Thursday.Other notable losers from the Sensex pack are Cipla, Tata Steel, ITC, Bajaj Auto and Coal India.On the gaining side, SBI, Sesa Sterlite, ONGC, BHEL and M&M have gained between 1-1.5%.SMART MOVERSIDFC is trading higher by 3% at Rs 178 on the NSE after the company said it has got the shareholders approval for the demerger of its financial undertaking into IDFC Bank.Shares of Neyveli Lignite Corporation are up 4% at Rs 78 after the state-owned company said it has commenced the second phase of the Tuticorin Power project.Biocon has gained by 3% at Rs 481 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in early morning trade after the biopharmaceuticals major said it has received approval for its Insulin Glargine by Cofepris, the Mexican health authority, through its partner PiSA Farmaceutica.Shares of all three listed rating agencies \u2013 ICRA, CRISIL and Credit Analysis and Research (CARE) \u2013 were rallied by up to 12% on back of strong foreign institutional investors (FIIs) buying in January-March 2015 quarter.ICRA has rallied 12% to Rs 4,993, CRISIL surged 7.5% to Rs 2,340 and CARE gained 3% to Rs 1,786 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). All these shares hit their respective record highs on the bourses.IndusInd Bank Ltd said it would buy Royal Bank of Scotland's diamond and jewellery financing business in India and the related deposit portfolio. The stock is marginally positive.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 10:17:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Rating agency shares in demand; CRISIL, ICRA, CARE hit record high","content":"
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\n\tShares of rating agencies \u2013 ICRA, CRISIL and Credit Analysis and Research (CARE) \u2013 rallied by up to 12% after foreign institutional investors (FIIs) hiked their stake during the fourth quarter (January-March 2015).ICRA has rallied 12% to Rs 4,993, CRISIL surged 7.5% to Rs 2,340 and CARE gained 3% to Rs 1,786 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). All these shares hit their respective record highs on the bourses.
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\n\tAccording disclosure made by the CARE and CRISIL to the stock exchange, shows that FIIs have increased their stake in both these companies during January-March 2015 quarter. ICRA has yet to declare its shareholding pattern.In CARE, the overseas investors raised their stake to 31.19% in March quarter against 28.95% at the end of December 2014 quarter. FIIs holding in CRISIL increased to 7.44% from 6.93% during the recently concluded quarter.
\n\t\u00a0","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 10:14:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Neyveli Lignite gains on synchronising Unit II of Tuticorin power project","content":"
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\n    Shares of Neyveli Lignite Corporation were up 4% at Rs 78 after the state-owned company said it has commenced the second phase of the Tuticorin Power project.Shares of Neyveli Lignite Corporation were up 4% at Rs 78 after the state-owned company said it has commenced the second phase of the Tuticorin Power project.Unit II of 500MW of Tuticorin Power Project of its subsidiary company NLC Tamilnadu Power Ltd has been test synchronised with the Grid on April 09, 2015, the company said in a release after market hours on Thursday.The stock opened at Rs 76.90 and touched a high of Rs 79.40 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. At 10AM, over 310,000 shares were traded on both the stock exchanges.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 10:01:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"IDFC gains as shareholders approve demerger","content":"
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\n\tShares of IDFC were trading higher by 3% at Rs 178 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), after the company said it has got the shareholders approval for the demerger of its financial undertaking into IDFC Bank.\u201cThe Court Convened meeting of the equity shareholders of IDFC was held on April 9, 2015 as per the order of the Hon\u2019ble High Court of Madras, in which the equity shareholders have unanimously approved the Scheme of Arrangement among IDFC Limited and IDFC Bank Limited and their respective shareholders and creditors,\u201d IDFC said in a filing.With this approval most of IDFC to IDFC Bank conversion process will be completed. In October last year, the IDFC board had approved a proposal to demerge its financial undertaking into its wholly-owned step-down subsidiary IDFC Bank.Each IDFC shareholder will get 1 share of IDFC Bank as a consideration for the demerger of financing undertaking of IDFC into IDFC Bank, to the shareholders holding shares of IDFC as on the record date.The stock opened at Rs 175 and touched a high of Rs 179 on the NSE. The counter has seen huge trading activity with a combined 3.68 million shares changed hands till 0946 hours, against an average around 6 million shares that were traded daily in past two weeks on the NSE and BSE.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 09:51:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Markets open flat; Nifty hovers around 8,775","content":"
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\nMarkets continued to trade with marginal losses in early trades weighed down by profit taking in financials and FMCG major ITC.
\nMarkets continued to trade with marginal losses in early trades weighed down by profit taking in financials and FMCG major ITC.At 9:40AM, the Sensex is at 28,868, lower by 28 points and the Nifty is at 8,768, down 10 points.However, the broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.2-0.3%.The benchmark indices had gained in five straight sessions hitting one-month closing highs; with the Nifty ending comfortably above the 8750 mark in Thursday's session on the back of India's outlook upgrade by Moody's.The markets will keep an eye on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) numbers for February to be unveiled in the course of the day.Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 193.81 crore yesterday, 9 April 2015, as per provisional data.\"Technically, the market has extended its recent pull bull back beyond 50% retracement resistance and that might have triggered short covering in the market. Weak stocks have taken active interest in moving the market upward like Reliance Inds and Tata Steel,\" said Shrikant Chouhan, head of technical research at Kotak Securities in a note.\"We feel that it\u2019s a \u201cV\u201d shape recovery trend of the market and major volatility above major supports 8700\/8680 may be an indication of major up move in the near term. In such a scenario, we may even see the nifty very close to 8950\/9000 in the near term. Fresh buying will trigger if Nifty manages to break 9130 in next 3 weeks of time. Expect weakness only below the level of 8680,\u201d he adds.GLOBAL MARKETSAsian shares extended gains to hit fresh 15-year highs tracking overnight gains on Wall Street while loan payment of 450 million euros by Greece also aided market sentiment. Japanese shares advanced further with the benchmark Nikkei topping the 20,000 mark for the first time since April 2000.However, profit booking above 20,000 capped further gains and the Nikkei was trading flat. Meanwhile, Hong Kong shares also witnessed profit taking after sharp gains in the previous few sessions which lifted the Hang Seng to fresh seven-year highs. The Hang Seng was trading flat with negative bias. Further, Shanghai Composite staged a recovery today and was up 0.7% while Straits Times was up 0.3%.Major US share indices ended higher on Thursday amid a rally in energy shares after Brent crude prices rebounded after a sharp decline on Wednesday. Exxon Mobil gained 0.7% while Chevron Corp gained 0.27%. The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 0.3% at 17,958.73, the broader S&P 500 ended up 9 points at 2,091.19 and the tech-laden Nasdaq rose 24 points at 4,974.57.SECTORS & STOCKSBSE Healthcare index has slipped by over 0.5% followed by counters like Banks, Capital Goods, Metal and Realty, all declining marginally. However, BSE Oil & Gas, Power, Metal and IT indices are up 0.1-0.3%.The main losers on the Sensex are Cipla, Hindalco, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, GAIL and Sun Pharma.Hindalco has slipped over 1% after US-based aluminium major reported lower-than-expected revenues.On the gaining side, RIL, ONGC, Infosys, Wipro and Coal India have gained between 0.4-1%.Telecom stocks are in focus after the Telecom Regulator Authority of India reduced the tariffs on roaming for outgoing local calls and incoming calls on roaming. It has also mandated telecom service providers to offer a special roaming plan. Bharti Airtel is down almost 1%.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 09:40:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Biocon gains on approval for insulin Glargine in Mexico","content":"
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\n\tShares of Biocon were trading higher by 3% at Rs 481 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in early morning trade after the biopharmaceuticals major said it has received approval for its Insulin Glargine by Cofepris, the Mexican health authority, through its partner PiSA Farmaceutica.Insulin Glargine will augment the affordable insulins therapy for diabetes management. Galactus by PiSA is the first Insulin Glargine to be approved in Mexico as per the biocomparable approvals pathway defined in 2012, Biocon said in a release.The stock opened at Rs 481 and touched a high of Rs 483 on the NSE so far. A combined 331,033 shares changed hands on the counter till 0927 hours on the NSE and BSE.
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\n","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 09:28:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Markets may open higher; Telecom stocks in focus","content":"
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\nMarkets are likely to open higher, amid firm global cues, after they gained in the previous five straight sessions hitting one-month closing highs. However, profit taking later in the day is likely to cap upside gains.
\nMarkets are likely to open higher, amid firm global cues, after they gained in the previous five straight sessions hitting one-month closing highs. However, profit taking later in the day is likely to cap upside gains.At 8:30AM, the early indicator SGX Nifty was down 3 points at 8,806.\"Technically, the market has extended its recent pull bull back beyond 50% retracement resistance and that might have triggered short covering in the market. Weak stocks have taken active interest in moving the market upward like Reliance Inds and Tata Steel,\" said Shrikant Chouhan, head of technical research at Kotak Securities in a note.\"We feel that it\u2019s a \u201cV\u201d shape recovery trend of the market and major volatility above major supports 8700\/8680 may be an indication of major up move in the near term.\u00a0 In such a scenario, we may even see the nifty very close to 8950\/9000 in the near term.\u00a0 Fresh buying will trigger if Nifty manages to break 9130 in next 3 weeks of time.\u00a0 Expect weakness only below the level of 8680,\u201d he adds.GLOBAL MARKETSAsian shares extended gains to hit fresh 15-year highs tracking overnight gains on Wall Street while loan payment of 450 million euros by Greece also aided market sentiment.Japanese shares advanced further with the benchmark Nikkei topping the 20,000 mark for the first time since April 2000. However, profit booking above 20,000 capped further gains and the Nikkei was trading flat.Meanwhile, Hong Kong shares also witnessed profit taking after sharp gains in the previous few sessions which lifted the Hang Seng to fresh seven-year highs. The Hang Seng was trading flat with negative bias. Further, Shanghai Composite staged a recovery today and was up 0.7% while Straits Times was up 0.3%.Major US share indices ended higher on Thursday amid a rally in energy shares after Brent crude prices rebounded after a sharp decline on Wednesday. Exxon Mobil gained 0.7% while Chevron Corp gained 0.27%. The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 0.3% at 17,958.73, the broader S&P 500 ended up 9 points at 2,091.19 and the tech-laden Nasdaq rose 24 points at 4,974.57.STOCKS IN FOCUSHindalco could see some pressure after US-based aluminium major reported lower-than-expected revenues.Telecom stocks will be in focus after the Telecom Regulator Authority of India reduced the tariffs on roaming for outgoing local calls and incoming calls on roaming. It has also mandated telecom service providers to offer a special roaming plan.Max India may gain after the Competition Commission approved Max India's proposed corporate restructuring plan to vertically split the company through a demerger into three separate listed firms.Biocon may gain on reports that it has received approval for its Insulin Glargine by Cofepris, the Mexican health authority, through its partner PiSA Farmaceutica.Neyveli Lignite will be in action after the company said that Unit II (500MW) of Tuticorin Power Project has been test synchronized with the Grid on April 09, 2015.
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\nMangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals could see some action after the board at its meeting on Thursday formed a committee to explore and evaluate options for integration of the company and ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd for better synergy within the group.","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 08:34:00 +0530","newspaper":"Business Standard"},{"title":"Weak output pushes pound lower","content":"The pound has fallen to its lowest level against the dollar for nearly five years on weak UK industrial output figures and uncertainty over the outcome of the election.Sterling fell as low as $1.4618 before recovering slightly in late trading.Earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said UK industrial output figures rose by just 0.1% in February from January.The small increase was below analysts' forecasts for a 0.3% gain.A number of opinion polls that showed Labour ahead of the Conservatives also unsettled traders. One said the pound could fall far further if there were to be a prolonged struggle to form a government in the absence of a dominant party.\"A $1.40 level for sterling\/dollar is certainly not out of reach if the election aftermath turns ugly,\" said Steve Barrow, currency strategist at Standard Bank.Oil and gas production fell sharply, while the construction sector contracted by 0.9% in February, compared with forecasts for a rise of 2%.The figures suggest the economy has slowed down this year, after a strong showing of 2.8% growth in 2014.Manufacturing output showed the best growth within the industrial output measure, with a gain of 0.4% in February, bouncing back from its drop of 0.6% in January.Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said: \"Clearly this all bodes ill for economic growth in the opening quarter of the year. It's now looking like the economy slowed, and possibly quite markedly, compared to the 0.6% expansion seen in the closing quarter of 2014.\"The trend should improve in March, however, according to survey data.\"The ONS' industrial output data covers 14.6% of the UK economy.The first official estimate of gross domestic product for the first quarter of the year will be released about a week before the general election.\n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 21:28:58 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"FTSE 100 closes at record high","content":"(Close): The FTSE 100 closed at a record closing high, helped by rising shares in housebuilders and by a boost for drug firm Shire.  The FTSE 100 was up 74.41 at 7089.77, ahead of its previous record closing high of 7,037.67 reached last month. Shares in Shire rose 4.8% after the US regulators granted a priority review to the firm's dry-eye disease treatment.Housebuilders were boosted by upbeat comments from broker Jefferies.Shares in Barratt Developments rose 3.1% after Jefferies raised its rating on the firm to \"hold\" from \"underperform\", while Taylor Wimpey climbed 3% after its rating was raised to \"buy\" from \"hold\".Majestic Wine shares rose 1.7% after it announced it was buying online rival Naked Wines.The move will also see Naked Wines founder, Rowan Gormley, taking over as chief executive of the overall company. Majestic's previous chief executive, Steve Lewis, left the post in February.On the currency markets, the pound fell to a near five-year low against the dollar following the release of weaker-than-expected industrial output figures.UK industrial output rose by just 0.1% in February from the month before, suggesting that growth in the economy has slowed in the first quarter of the year.The pound fell 0.44% against the dollar to $1.4648, but was up 0.1$ against the euro at \u20ac1.3821.\n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 21:38:48 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Extra flights tackle strike backlog","content":"\n                        Hundreds of flights were affected by the two-day strike\n                    \n                Easyjet will run \"rescue\" flights and may put bigger planes on busy routes to deal with the after-effects of strikes by French air traffic controllers.The airline cancelled 248 flights on Wednesday and 340 flights on Thursday, making it one of the operators worst hit by the two-day strike.No cancellations were expected on Friday, but Easyjet said some affected passengers still needed flights.Two more stoppages are expected in the coming weeks.French air traffic controllers have scheduled the first from 16 April to 18 April and the second from 29 April to 2 May.Call centre hoursSome passengers have been stranded in European cities after Easter breaks following the latest strike, prompting Easyjet to operate five \"rescue\" flights on Friday.The flights will bring three parties of schoolchildren back to the UK.The additional flights will run from Luton to Paris, Paris to Barcelona, Barcelona to Luton, Gatwick to Madrid, and Marrakech to Gatwick.\"EasyJet recognises that there are a number of passengers across the network who have been affected by these cancellations and still require flights as soon as possible,\" a spokesman said.The airline said it was extending opening hours of its call centres to help those who still needed to rearrange travel. It said it took 13,000 calls on Wednesday and 12,820 calls on Thursday.Some other airlines were affected by the strike action on Wednesday and Thursday, which affected flights to and from France, as well as flights over French airspace.Ryanair said it had been forced to cancel more than 500 flights over the past two days. A spokeswoman for the airline said: \"All operations are running as normal.  All customers affected by the two-day ATC strike have been contacted and advised of their options.\"Among those affected were Nathan Thorne, 23, from Goole on Humberside, and his sister Olivia, 14, who had their Ryanair flight from Limoges to Leeds Bradford cancelled on Thursday.Mr Thorne, who is with the army's Royal Logistics Corps, is anxious to get back as he begins a six-month tour of duty in the Falkland Islands on 22 April. His sister needs to get back for school on Monday.\"All the flights before next Thursday are booked up and the Eurostar train is extremely expensive,\" he said.Short-haul and medium-haul flights operated by Air France were also affected by the strike.\n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 15:56:42 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Majestic Wine buys Naked Wines","content":"Majestic Wine is taking over smaller online rival Naked Wines. The move will also see Naked Wines founder, Rowan Gormley, taking over as chief executive of the overall company. Majestic's previous chief executive, Steve Lewis, left the post in February.Majestic said the \u00a370m deal would combine Naked Wines' online and e-commerce skills and Majestic's national store network.It also said trading in March was weak. Its shares fell 6% in early business.Rowan Gormley has founded a number of high-profile businesses. As well as Naked Wines, which started business in 2008, he was also behind the launch of Virgin Wines, the Virgin ONE Account and Virgin Money.Majestic also plans to expand further in the US and Australia. The two will continue to operate as independent brands. Kate Calvert, analyst at Investec, said the takeover was a good move: \"Both businesses have much to gain from each other. We expect Mr Gormley to look to unlock Majestic's online potential.\"Profit guidanceNaked Wines acts as a form of wine club and is a prolific user of social media on which its customers and wine producers are encouraged to communicate. It has more than 300,000 customers, compared with Majestic's 640,000.Majestic said same store-sales had risen by 1.5% since Christmas, but that although January and February's trading was in line with expectations, March's was weaker.Majestic said that this sales performance, coupled with \"adverse foreign exchange movements in March\", meant Majestic would announce adjusted pre-tax profit of approximately \u00a321m in June. \n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 13:11:12 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"General Electric sells off property","content":"General Electric (GE) has announced it will sell nearly all of its property portfolio, worth $26.5bn, to funds including Wells Fargo and Blackstone.The sale is the biggest commercial property deal in the US since 2007.GE has been retreating from its property investments globally as it focuses on its industrial operations.Without its properties, the company says it expects its other, \"high-value\" operations to bring in 90% of earnings by 2018, compared to 58% today.The plan allows GE to buy back nearly two billion of its outstanding shares. A further $4bn of commercial real estate assets will be sold to other buyers.GE said it hoped the divestment would make it a \"simpler, more valuable\" company.Chairman Jeff Immelt said: \"This is a major step in our strategy to focus GE around its competitive advantages.\" \n                        GE Chairman Jeff Immelt wants to return GE to its roots\n                    \n                'Less general'In an effort to return to its roots in industrial business -  such as energy management, water and aviation - GE is also shedding its financing and lending arm, because it feels market conditions are \"favourable\", it said.\"GE has been under pressure for a number of years to focus on its industrial business,\" Steven Winoker, managing director at financial analyst company Bernstein, told the BBC. \"The reason they say the market is more favourable is because there are a lot of buyers out there who have approached GE.\"Furthermore, the US Financial Stability Oversight Council has declared several financial firms outside the banking sector - such as GE's - to be so big that failure of those businesses could threaten markets. \"This move would relieve GE of the part of the business that is becoming volatile. Basically, they have to become a lot less general, and a lot more electric.\"GE's share price rose 6% as investors lauded the move.\n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 21:03:24 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Latin America boosts Carrefour sales","content":"Europe's biggest retailer Carrefour has reported a 3.2% rise in underlying first quarter sales, beating analysts' expectations.The retailer posted total sales of \u20ac21bn ($22.4bn; \u00a315.2bn), helped by strong growth in Latin America.Sales in its home market of France rose 2.5%, with sales at its hypermarkets - which account for nearly a quarter of group revenues - up 2.1%.However, Carrefour performed less well in China, where sales fell by 13%.The company said sales in China suffered from an \"environment that continued to be marked by frugal consumption\".The retailer has had problems in Asia before. It shut down its operations in India last year, and withdrew from Singapore in 2012.However, there was better news from Latin America, with like-for-like sales up 26.1% in Argentina and 8.4% higher in Brazil.Carrefour confirmed it would continue with its plan to float its Brazilian business on the stock market later in the year.\n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 13:57:12 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Japan's Nikkei hits 20,000 level","content":"Investors focused on Japan on Friday as the country's benchmark Nikkei 225 index traded above 20,000 for the first time since April 2000.The high was short-lived however with the index closing down 0.15% at 19,907.63 points after hitting 20,004.99 in early trade.Shares were boosted by Wall Street ending higher after US energy stocks performed strongly.The Nikkei was also boosted on Friday by Japan's Fast Retailing.Shares in Asia's largest clothing retailer closed up more than 3.5% on Friday following its announcement a day earlier that it had raised its income forecast for the full year to August by 20%.Investors had also hoped for larger shareholder returns and a recovery in domestic consumption.The Nikkei is up nearly 15% this year.China highsShares on mainland China reached a seven-year high on Friday as the Shanghai Composite benchmark index crossed the 4,000 mark for the first time since 2008.The index closed up 1.94% at 4,034.31. China's consumer inflation rate remained at 1.4% in March. The lukewarm data may see China introduce further easing policies amid its slowing economy, analysts said. The country's producer price index showed that factory deflation continued with prices down 4.6%, although analysts had predicted a 4.8% fall.In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index continued its week-long rally. It closed up 1.22% at 27,272.39, also marking a seven-year high. The chief executive of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange said it would \"substantially increase\" the quotas for the stock connect program between Hong Kong and Shanghai.His comments came after Chinese investors used up the entire 10.5bn yuan ($1.7bn; \u00a31.1bn) daily quota for buying Hong Kong stocks through the trading link for the first time on Wednesday, sending turnover to a record.Australian shares were also higher through the day, closing in on a seven-year high. The S&P\/ASX 200 index ended the day up 0.6% at 5,968.4. Shares of mining giant BHP Billiton weighed on the benchmark, closing down 0.15% on lower iron ore prices.In South Korea, the Kospi closed up 1.4% at 2,087.76 after ratings agency Moody's lifted its outlook on the country from stable to positive. \n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 14:56:13 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"LinkedIn buys learning firm for $1.5bn","content":"\n                        LinkedIn has about 300 million members who use the site's business networking tools\n                    \n                LinkedIn has bought US online learning business Lynda for $1.5bn (\u00a31.1bn), making it the professional networking site's biggest acquisition to date.LinkedIn is trying to boost the business content it offers to its 300 million users.Lynda, based in California, has made hundreds of videos that teach subscribers everything from coding to business skills.Subscribers pay $375 per year to access the tutorials.Although the company was founded nearly 20 years ago, it has expanded rapidly in the past two years, adding several languages to its video offerings and increasing outside investment.\"The mission of LinkedIn and the mission of lynda.com are highly aligned,\" said LinkedIn chief executive Jeff Weiner in a statement. \"Both companies seek to help professionals be better at what they do.\" Shares in LinkedIn rose more than 1.5% on the New York Stock Exchange after news of the acquisition was released.\n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 03:30:35 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Eurozone: Six days for Greek deal","content":"The eurozone has said only six working days are left for Greece to come up with a revised list of reforms to seal a deal on its next rescue bailout.Eurozone deputy finance ministers want an agreement on the \u20ac7.2bn loan in time for a Eurogroup meeting on 24 April.An EU official said: \"If you take into account weekends and Orthodox Easter, there are only six days left.\"It comes as Greece said it had met Thursday's deadline to repay \u20ac460m to the International Monetary Fund.A Greek government official told the Reuters news agency: \"The payment has been made.\"Financial helpOther, much larger, debt repayments are due within a few weeks.Analysis: Chris Morris, BBC News, AthensGreece has fulfilled its financial commitments today, but the situation is becoming rather desperate. There is precious little cash left in the national coffers, and if the government fails to procure further funding soon, it will be in trouble. There are salaries and pensions to pay, and more debt repayments looming. EU officials are also turning the screw by saying there are only six working days left in which to reach agreement on a new package of reforms to the Greek economy. Only if eurozone finance ministers are satisfied with the Greek plan when they meet later this month will more money be released. On the second day of his visit to Moscow, the Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, said he still hoped for an honourable compromise. But his radical left-wing government is ideologically opposed to many of the policies that its eurozone partners have endorsed - that's one of the reasons why it is proving so difficult to strike a deal. And Greece is feeling the squeeze.Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has said that Athens will not be able to service its debt without financial help from the European Union.Without new money it will struggle to renew \u20ac2.4bn in treasury bonds due to mature in the middle of April, or pay back another \u20ac0.8m to the IMF on 12 May.It also has to find the funds to pay wages and pensions.It is still trying to negotiate an easing of the reforms that are part of the conditions of the rescue bailout.Joint venturesGreek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Thursday that the government would restart the privatisation of state-owned businesses.In January, the sell-off of businesses such as the power corporation, PPC, and Pireus port were put on ice. This came the week after Mr Tsipras' government came to power and was part of its pledge to rein in the austerity measures imposed by its creditors.But on Thursday, Mr Varoufakis said: \"What we are saying is the Greek state does not have the capacity to develop public assets. \"We want private-public joint ventures....we want to retain a stake for the state so as to have an income stream with which to finance pension funds.\"Last month, the Financial Times reported that the country was using reserves from its health service and state owned utilities to pay off debts.Mr Tsipras met Russian President Vladimir Putin this week in Moscow, but Mr Putin said he did not ask for financial aid from Russia during their talks.\n    ","pubdate":"Thu, 09 Apr 2015 19:24:36 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Easyjet cancels nearly 600 flights","content":"\n                        Stranded passengers queue at Nice airport in the south of France\n                    \n                Easyjet has cancelled hundreds of flights as the second day of strike action by French air traffic controllers took its toll.The airline did not operate 331 flights after cancelling 248 on Wednesday.Some passengers have been stranded in European cities after Easter breaks, prompting Easyjet to operate five \"rescue\" flights on Friday.The flights will bring three parties of schoolchildren back to the UK.The additional flights will run from Luton to Paris, Paris to Barcelona, Barcelona to Luton, Gatwick to Madrid, and Marrakech to Gatwick.Easyjet says it will put larger aircraft on routes that have been most affected to allow more passengers to get home.A spokesman said the \"unnecessary\" strike had caused \"considerable and disproportionate disruption for passengers and airlines across Europe\".'Held to ransom'Rival low-cost airline Ryanair said it had been forced to cancel more than 500 flights over the last two days.\"We again call on the EU [European Union] and French authorities to act now and prevent  thousands of travellers being held to ransom by these French [air traffic control] workers,\" the Irish airline said.Johanna Booth, from Liverpool, has been stuck in Barcelona after two Ryanair flights were cancelled due to the industrial action. \"We have a four-month-old baby and his formula milk has ran out and he is not drinking much of the other variety, so I am concerned,\" she told the BBC. \"The support we have received from Ryanair has been minimal.\"'Inconvenience'Air France said it was operating one-in-four flights to and from Orly airport in Paris, about 40% to and from cities in the rest of France, and 50% of medium-haul flights to and from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport.No long-haul Air France flights were affected on Thursday.Air traffic controllers are planning further industrial action from 16 to 18 April and from 29 April to 2 May 2 - both key holiday periods.Roger Rousseau, head of the SNCTA union that represents French air traffic controllers, said: \"We can assure our passengers that we are doing everything possible to limit the inconvenience of this strike on them.\"Among the issues upsetting members is that the retirement age will be raised from 57 to 59.\n    ","pubdate":"Thu, 09 Apr 2015 23:48:00 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Hummus recall due to listeria scare","content":"Sabra Dipping Co has recalled 30,000 cases of hummus due to possible contamination with listeria bacteria.The Food and Drug Administration announced the recall after inspectors discovered the bacteria during random testing at a Michigan retail store.Listeria is a food-borne organism which can cause fever and nausea in most cases, and people make full recoveries. But it can be fatal to people with weakened immune systems, and lead to miscarriages among pregnant women. The national recall applied to Sabras Classic Hummus brand of the blended chickpea snack - five of its 60 products - although no illnesses have so far been reported.The contamination was discovered on 30 March at a Kroger grocery store in Port Huron, Michigan.  This is the second food recall related to listeria in the US this week. On Thursday Blue Bell Creameries expanded an earlier recall after an additional three people in Texas were made ill by its products, according to the US Centers for Disease Control. Three people in Kansas have already died from the same outbreak.Sabra has not yet responded to a BBC request for comment.\n    ","pubdate":"Thu, 09 Apr 2015 22:54:49 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"HSBC faces French criminal tax probe","content":"HSBC says it has been placed under formal criminal investigation by French magistrates over alleged past tax-related offences at its Swiss private bank.It added that bail of \u20ac1bn ($1.075bn; \u00a3726m) has been imposed.HSBC said it believed the French magistrates' decision was \"without legal basis and the bail is unwarranted and excessive\".It added that it would appeal and \"defend itself vigorously\".The French claims relate to the conduct of HSBC's Swiss private bank in 2006 and 2007.HSBC has come under fire over what it knew about some clients' tax affairs.Details of some 30,000 accounts at HSBC's Geneva-based private bank were leaked to the French authorities by a whistleblower, Herve Falciani, in 2007.Information about 3,600 UK account holders were passed to HMRC.\n    ","pubdate":"Thu, 09 Apr 2015 19:06:37 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Samsung S6 Edge supply shortage","content":"\n                        The Samsung S6 Edge curved screen is more difficult to mass produce than flat screens\n                    \n                Samsung's new flagship mobile phones go on sale today but the company says it may struggle to meet demand for its S6 Edge model. Although Samsung predicts greater interest in its more conventionally designed S6 model, it is worried about the time it takes to manufacturer components for the distinctive wrap-around touch screen on the S6 Edge. Experts say it could lead to consumers having to order and then wait for the model, and delay any fall in its price. Samsung faces strong competition from Apple at the high-end of the market while much cheaper smart phones made in China challenge its position at lower price points.  Mobile analyst, Thomas Husson at Forrester told the BBC: \"They [Samsung] will have a serious issue if the shortage is due to the difficulty of producing the curved screen.\"Samsung must succeed in the launch of these new flagship phones to regain leadership in the high-end segment. They have a window of opportunity until the new iPhone comes out. The product and design is great - but [it] lacks service differentiation.\"A Samsung UK spokesperson told the BBC the company was \"working hard\" to fulfil pre-orders and sales \"as soon as possible\".   \n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 17:24:52 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Amazon sues four paid review sites","content":"\n                        Amazon alleges that paid reviews undermine the trust people have in its site\n                    \n                Amazon has sued four firms that pay people to produce reviews that then appear on the online retailer's site.The company alleges that the paid opinions \"undermine\" its review system which customers believe come from unbiased sources.Amazon is seeking damages from the four sites and wants them to stop producing the reviews.The four companies named in the legal complaint have not yet responded to Amazon's allegations.\"While small in number, these reviews threaten to undermine the trust that customers, and the vast majority of sellers and manufacturers, place in Amazon, thereby tarnishing Amazon's brand,\" said the retailer in documents filed to the court in Washington.As well as subverting the review process, Amazon accused the sites of trademark infringement, and violations of local consumer protection statutes and cybersquatting laws that govern who can own a domain name. It alleged that the paid reviews were being placed on its site at a slow rate designed to outwit the detection system it ran to spot such content.  In its legal papers, Amazon said it verified its allegations by surreptitiously paying one of the services to write reports about products. This resulted in them getting \"glowing\" reviews, it said.The legal papers name four review producers that operate via sites called buyazonreviews.com, buyamazonreviews.com, bayreviews.net and buyreviewsnow.com. Since the legal action was filed two of the sites named have gone offline. Those still operating have yet to respond to the BBC's request for comments. Mark Collins, who runs the Buy Amazon Reviews site, defended his business in an interview with The Seattle Times. He said the site did not provide \"fake\" reviews but provided \"unbiased and honest\" opinions about products.The sites pay between $19-$22 (\u00a313-\u00a315) for each review which typically result in products getting a four or five star rating. Higher star ratings can often translate into higher sales.\n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 21:00:39 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"VIDEO: 'Why I swapped films for education'","content":"After an outstanding career in the film industry, David Puttnam left the entertainment world behind to take on the challenge of reforming education.In an interview with the BBC's Linda Yueh, Lord Puttnam - chairman of Atticus Education - describes his own experience of the education system and why he believes passionately in the need for change.Watch: Talking Business with Linda Yueh\n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 17:39:13 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"VIDEO: A full Scottish fiscal autonomy?","content":"","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 00:17:51 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"VIDEO: African telecom firms take on banks","content":"The number of people across Africa using mobile phones continues to grow. And the increasing volume of financial transactions made on these phones, has enabled telecom companies across the continent to set themselves up as major competitors in the banking business.The BBC's Russell Padmore has more for Africa Business Report.\n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 20:28:58 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"VIDEO: 'Screwed up behaviour is normal'","content":"In his seminal work on the role of high-frequency traders in global stock markets, Michael Lewis shone a light on inequalities between traders in global financial markets.The central thesis of Flash Boys, which is published with an updated final chapter in paperback this week, is that electronic trading has rigged the market against ordinary investors, particularly in America.Computer algorithms allow high-frequency trading (HFT) firms to \"get ahead\" of institutions investing on behalf of our pension funds and savings schemes.Kamal Ahmed spoke to him about how markets have changed, if at all, since the publication of his book.\n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 15:58:22 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"VIDEO: Saving Uganda's Ankole Longhorn cows","content":"Used for food, trade and as a measure of social wealth, cattle are an integral part of daily life in Africa.Some breeds are rarer or more sought after than others, such as the Ankole Longhorns of Uganda. Not so long ago, this rare breed was on the brink of extinction, because of cross-breeding.The BBC's Roderick Macleod travelled to the south-west of the country to find out more about a new drive to preserve these animals and help transform economies.Watch: Africa Business Report\n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 20:26:44 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"VIDEO: Microfinancing small Indian firms","content":"Getting a bank loan is a struggle for most people running a small business anywhere in the world and India is no different. So to make borrowing more accessible, the Indian government has launched the Mudra Bank - a microfinance initiative. The BBC's Samira Hussain finds out more for India Business Report.\n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 17:34:35 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"VIDEO: India's bid to monitor air quality","content":"India's prime minister has launched a new air quality index, designed to monitor pollution in 10 of its cities. It comes at a time when the country is trying hard to attract industry and develop the economy - but can it be friendly to business without neglecting the environment? From Delhi, the BBC's Pratiksha Ghildial has been taking a look for India Business Report.\n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 17:32:34 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"VIDEO: Brazil's construction sector crisis","content":"A huge corruption scandal in Brazil is threatening many key infrastructure projects that the economy badly needs. The scandal has its roots in the state oil firm Petrobras, and many of Brazil's top firms have been affected.Daniel Gallas reports from Sao Paolo.\n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 15:04:20 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Electric car buyers 'need to hurry'","content":"\n                        Britain's best-selling plug-in electric car has sold 10,000 vehicles in the last year\n                    \n                Just before Christmas 2010, the then transport secretary, Philip Hammond, declared that 2011 would be the year of the electric car.He couldn't have been more wrong.However, had he said that 2015 would be the year - history might have judged him as prophetic.Figures from the UK car industry this week suggest we might finally be waking up to the electric revolution.In March 2015, we bought more than 6,000 \"plug-in\" cars, compared with around 1200 in March 2014 - a 400% increase.Plug-in hybrids - which have a conventional engine as well as an electric motor - saw sales rise by 984% over the same period, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), admittedly from a very low base.Given the fall in the oil price, which has made conventional motoring cheaper, you might have thought that electric vehicles would be falling out of favour.In fact, the opposite has happened. Indeed, if the trend continues, we could well buy more than 30,000 electric vehicles this year alone.But the good news is also the bad: The government's \u00a35,000 subsidy on each new car will run out when a total of 50,000 have been sold - and that target could now be reached before the end of the year. Going Electric: Monthly Car sales in UK\nMarch 2015\nChange on March 2014\nPlug-in pure electric\n1,905\n+ 131.5%\nPlug-in hybrid\n4,209\n+ 984.8%\nAll plug-in cars eligible for grant\n6,104\n+ 404%\nSource: SMMT 8 April 2015\n\n\nIncentivesSo what has changed since 2011?To start with, there are many more plug-in models to chose from. Then there were just six; now there are 27 models which qualify for the government grant.The network of charging points has also expanded. There are now 3,000 places in the UK where you can plug in, and by doing so take advantage of motoring costs as low as 2p a mile.\"It's a classic rolling boulder,\" says Jim Holder, the editor of What Car? magazine.\"More manufacturers have come in, the infrastructure has grown, and there are a lot of incentives behind buying a car.\"Those incentives have been key: Road tax exemption, free entry to London's congestion zone, and the fact that the government currently pays  as much as \u00a35,000 towards the cost of a car - the plug-in grant. Company car tax rates are also much lower (see below).But beware. By my calculations, based on government and the SMMT figures, 31,000 plug-in grants have now been paid - leaving another 19,000 before the scheme ends.Given that we bought 8,500 eligible cars in the first three months of 2015, the grants may well run out by the Autumn.  If you're thinking of going electric, it may pay you to put your foot down.The scheme is due to be reviewed in May, but as yet no one knows whether the subsidy will be extended.\n                        Larry Wood believes customers will still buy electric cars, even without the subsidy\n                    \n                Car taxAt his show-room in north London, car dealer Larry Wood, of Hummingbird Motors, is unperturbed. The main reason is that Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV - a plug-in hybrid SUV - has proved so popular.It is now Britain's best-selling electric car, with more than 10,000 sales in the last year. He believes customers won't stop buying them, even if the plug-in grant is no longer available.\"If that does run out in the future, I still think people will buy these cars, but it just makes them \u00a35,000 cheaper,\" he says.In any case, some of his best customers are businesses, for whom the capital cost is not the only consideration. The main attraction for them is a lower rate of car tax. While the most polluting cars pay 35% in company car tax, electric cars - even though they used to be exempt - pay 5%.As a result, any business with a fleet of vehicles could still save thousands of pounds a year by going electric.TechnologyMost of the problems initially associated with electric vehicles are gradually being resolved, or so the industry would have you believe.\"Range anxiety\" - the fear of running out of charge - does not apply if you buy a hybrid car, which switches to its conventional engine as soon as the battery runs out of power.Nevertheless, those who drive pure electric cars still worry about getting stranded. \"Range anxiety will never go away,\" says Jim Holder.But ranges are being extended. Whereas a maximum range of 100 miles used to be typical, the latest cars offer well over that. General Motors hopes that its Bolt model, currently on the drawing board, will have a 200 mile range.The super-expensive Tesla S - already on sale in the UK - will go for 310 miles without a charge, according to the manufacturer.Another problem has been the cost of batteries, the main reason that electric cars are so pricey in the first place.But advances in technology could make them cost-competitive with petrol engines in less than a decade, according to two Swedish scientists.\n                        Tesla's fast-charge station in Maidstone, Kent\n                    \n                'Ferrari'Time spent charging has been another bugbear of electric motorists - if you can find a charge point of course.The government boasts there are now 7,000 in the UK, in 3,000 locations. 500 of those are \"fast chargers\", which can offer a 50% charge in as little as 20 minutes.But in reality, most charging stops are going to be for at least half an hour.And for motorists, understanding the rival charge point networks - and the different costs for using them - still requires some tenacity.Public subsidies for infrastructure have also changed, with the government ending its specific grant of up to \u00a37,500 per charge point.However, there is still some support available for owners under the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, which pays householders up to \u00a3700 to have a charge point installed at home.What is undeniable is that the appeal of the cars themselves has certainly improved.Where once electric cars looked like garden shed conversions, the designers of BMW and Porsche have now worked magic.Performance too has improved significantly. \"You now get instant torque away from the traffic lights,\" says Jim Holder. \"Frankly, not even a Ferrari will beat you off the line.\"\n    ","pubdate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2015 02:32:14 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Kurdistan's budget battle with Baghdad","content":"\n                        A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter standing guard on the frontline, 25 miles (40km) south of Erbil\n                    \n                In Iraqi Kurdistan, the Kurds' battle with Islamic State has been complicated by the halving of global oil prices over the past year and a dispute with the central government in Baghdad that has seen the region's revenues dry up. Many in Kurdistan have not been paid for months.Commander Faridon Jwanroyi holds up his AK-47 rifle and fires off a few rounds, purely for my benefit. \"I wish there was Islamic State here, I could fire at them!\" he jokes. I would have asked for a more dramatic display, but the Peshmerga - the Kurdish fighting force here - are a bit short on weaponry. In fact they're a bit short on ammunition, too. And since December, they've even run out of money to pay their soldiers.\"Some haven't been paid in three months,\" he confides, when we met in late March. \"It's hard. They have to pay for their rent, for the children's clothes. But still, we fight on. We have belief.\" Weaker oil pricesBut with talk now of a combined Iraqi-Kurdish operation to liberate Iraq's second city, Mosul, it is an open question whether belief alone can bring victory. Indeed, a financial crisis has been brewing for several months. The halving of the global oil price - undercutting Kurdistan's main source of revenue - and the effect of the war have both had a deleterious effect, especially after fighting in August saw the black flags of Islamic State (IS) come just 19 miles (30km) from Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq.\"When IS is at the door, logically it's hard to convince foreign investors that Erbil's safe and nothing's wrong,\" says Govan Haji Akravi, chief executive of Fastnet, an internet systems provider for foreign companies in the city. \"Almost from one day to another, many of them packed up and left.\" \n                        Some Kurdish fighters have not been paid for three months, says their commander, Faridon Jwanroyi\n                    \n                \n                        Islamic State fighters came within 19 miles (30km) of the regional capital Erbil last summer\n                    \n                Displaced peopleThere's also been a major refugee crisis. Some one-and-a-half million displaced people have arrived in Kurdistan, fleeing the fighting in Syria and northern Iraq. That's a 30% increase in the population of the region, leading to huge extra stresses, I'm told, on local services like water and education. The refugees are mostly housed in improvised camps. One of the more bizarre is the Ankawa Mall - a half-built shopping centre on the outskirts of Erbil. Like many building projects, it was abandoned by its developer as the crisis hit last year. Now the raw concrete shell is occupied by some 4,000 Iraqi Christians from the Mosul region, sleeping in alcoves created for designer boutiques. A makeshift wickerwork crucifix hangs over the entrance. One of the refugees, Issa, charges about 30 cents for a haircut and shave in his makeshift barber's shop in the main atrium at the foot of two massive escalators that are now derailed and disintegrating. \"I'm cheaper than the Kurdish barbers here,\" he tells me. \"No one wants to look hairy like the guys from Islamic State, so they come to me!\" he laughs. But the smile quickly fades. Life in the shopping centre is miserable, he says: \"It's like a camp for chickens.\" He dreams of escaping to Europe.    \n                        About 1.5 million refugees have fled to Kurdistan\n                    \n                \n                        The population of the region has risen by 30%\n                    \n                \n                        \"No one wants to look hairy like the guys from Islamic State,\" says Issa, a barber in one of the refugee camps\n                    \n                Dispute with BaghdadPerhaps the biggest economic challenge for Kurdistan stems from its troubled relations with central government. For the last year, Baghdad has only fitfully been paying the regional government in Erbil its share of the national budget. Under the constitution, Baghdad requires the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) to share its own oil production with the rest of the country. The Kurds should then be reimbursed with 17% of the total nationwide budget, which is currently set at $105bn (\u00a371bn).  Baghdad has accused Erbil of selling oil illegally, without its authority, and of failing to meet production quotas - allegations the Kurds deny. \"Baghdad knows very well we are selling oil - we have to pay people's salaries,\" says Dr Ali Sindi, the KRG's minister of planning. \"Meanwhile five million Iraqi citizens have been cut off from their rightful share of the nation's resources. This is a threat to the stability and the sustainability of the region,\" he says.The anger in Kurdistan is all the greater since Baghdad is continuing to pay salaries to government workers living under Islamic State. Even some refugees - civil servants displaced from Mosul - are, it is said, receiving their salaries from within the camps, whilst some of those caring for them haven't been paid since December.In the last three weeks, Baghdad has announced a breakthrough, saying it is renewing budget payments, although so far these amount to less than half what is owed for just March alone. Salaries for most workers, including soldiers, remain many months in arrears. The Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider Al-Abadi, has been quoted as blaming delays on a wider economic crisis in Baghdad. \n                        Under Iraq's constitution, the Kurds have to share their own oil output with the rest of the country\n                    \n                \n                        Kurdistan should be getting $105bn (\u00a371bn) from the central government in Baghdad\n                    \n                'We don't give up'\"If we don't reach a lasting solution, we will have to handle it through our own export of oil,\" says Dr Sindi. Kurdistan is this month said to be completing a new pipeline to its northern neighbour, Turkey. But despite the threats, few in Erbil believe Kurdistan has the political power to cut its own deals with the wider world.  In the meantime, some state employees are getting desperate. Civil servant Najad Amin and his wife Iqbal say they expect the last of their savings to run out in the next month. They've started growing vegetables in their back garden, to help feed the family. Do they blame the politicians in Baghdad or in Erbil, I ask?\"They're all to blame,\" they say. \"But we Kurds are used to depending on ourselves. We will find a way. We don't give up, absolutely.\" \n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 04:45:26 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Cybersecurity v human rights in Africa","content":"\n                        As internet usage rises in Africa, so does cybercrime\n                    \n                Think cybercrime and Africa, and most people in the developed world think of the notorious 419 email scam.This involves gangs extorting money from the likes of great aunt Mabel by promising her riches, if she'll just send some cash and\/or her bank details to a nice man in Nigeria. But cybercrime on the continent has moved far beyond this, with gangs embracing more sophisticated ways to use technology, such as malware and botnets, to get what they want.Internet usage is rising rapidly in Africa, and with it, cybercrime.This growth is making it easier than ever for criminals to operate. And it has created a new pool of potential victims lacking the knowledge and experience to be able to protect themselves effectively.VictimsSecurity expert Kaspersky says more than 49 million cyber-attacks took place on the continent in the first quarter of last year, with most occurring in Algeria, ahead of Egypt, South Africa and Kenya.But cybercrime is actually most pervasive in South Africa, with security firm Norton saying 70% of South Africans have fallen victim to cybercrime, compared with 50% globally.McAfee, another cybersecurity firm, reported that cybercrime cost South African companies more than $500m (\u00a3340m) last year.\n                        In South Africa 70% of people have been victims of cybercrime, says Norton\n                    \n                Baby stepsAfrica has long lacked a legal framework for tackling cybercrime.But in June 2014, the African Union (AU) approved a convention on cybersecurity and data protection that could see many countries enact personal protection laws for the first time.For it to be implemented, however, 15 of the 54 AU member states will need to ratify the text. As yet, not one country has done so, though there is optimism it will happen in the next three-to-five years. \"Cybersecurity is a growing concern for the nations of the African Union as more people come online,\" says Drew Mitnick, junior policy counsel at human rights organisation Access, which has called on member states to ratify the convention as soon as possible.\"It is critical for the countries to adopt cybersecurity policies that better protect users while respecting their privacy and other human rights.\" \n                        The African Union (AU) is made up of 54 member states - only Morocco doesn't belong\n                    \n                Access believes the AU should lead these efforts. The group has tracked proposed cyber and data protection laws in Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Morocco, Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda. In each case, the legislation would either fail to provide basic protection for user data, or allow the government to violate the rights of privacy, expression, and assembly, Access believes.But Beza Belayneh, managing director of the African Cyber Risk Institute (ACRI), says there are positives.\"[The convention] is a jumpstart for many countries who do not have any legal ground or appreciation to combat cybercrime,\" he says.\"It is a good guide to develop... computer or cybersecurity laws in a localised manner. It is the best way just to start the job. It has to start somewhere.\"It is apparent that many, if not all, African countries lack the capabilities to defend their ever-growing cyber infrastructure.\"Cybersecurity is finally receiving the attention it deserves, he added.Ducks in a rowAs a guide to helping African nations get their \"cyber ducks in order\", as Mr Belayneh puts it, the AU convention isn't too bad. Mr Mitnick says the convention contains a data protection provision covering control of personal data, with a large part of it mirroring the data protection framework and language developed by the European Union.He also commends the protection of human rights. \"The text requires governments to uphold the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, along with other basic rights such as \"freedom of expression, the right to privacy, and the right to a fair hearing, among others,\" he says.\"The inclusion of privacy is most welcome, considering it is not explicitly found in the African Charter.\"\n                        The AU proposals include giving judges unlimited power to issue search and seizure warrants on data or computers - causing understandable concern about human rights\n                    \n                'Negative effects'However, there are real concerns about some of the provisions. The Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law at Strathmore University, Kenya, is against implementation in its current form.It believes the convention could limit freedom of expression and allow authorities to intercept private data too easily. Judges would be given unlimited power to issue search and seizure warrants on data or computers, for example.All this could have \"substantial negative effects on online economies and social cultures across Africa,\" it says.\n                        A woman uses a tablet at an internet cafe in Dakar, Senegal\n                    \n                Mr Belayneh agrees that the document gives too much power to judges and law enforcement arms of governments, and says it fails to take into account the roles of education and consultation in combating cybercrime.\"It was written by lawyers,\" he says. \"Cybersecurity and cybercrime need a multi-sectoral approach - cybersecurity educators, researchers, NGOs [non-governmental organisations], vendors, ethical hackers were supposed to be involved so they could present a multi-dimensional framework instead of legal paper.\"\n                        Does criminalising \"insulting language\" allow governments to clamp down on dissent?\n                    \n                Some of the convention's phrases seem to be in direct conflict with protecting human rights. For instance, while the convention limits the processing of personal data, it contains an exception for a task \"carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority\" - a loophole ripe for abuse, some experts believe.Mr Mitnick says the convention could also pave the way for harsh criminal convictions. \"In one example, it limits the use of insulting language, which could describe a significant portion of the language on the internet and is likely to lead to subjective prosecutions,\" he says.Though the experts believe the convention is satisfactory as a first step, the negatives are certainly clear for all to see. \n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 04:48:55 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Offshore profit slump","content":"Recovery from recession includes at least three pay-out bonuses for those who own the capital. Competitors have been closed down or taken over. Assets are going cheaply for those feeling acquisitive. And workers are poorly placed to push for higher wages.So it's no great surprise, after such a long downturn, that profitability is doing rather well. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has just published figures showing as much.At net return on capital of 11.9% last year, UK plc (excluding the finance sector) is at its most profitable this century, and comparable numbers don't go much further back than that. That was a rise from the 9.7% low point for profitability in 2009.The ONS breaks down profitability figures by sector, and the service sector looks particularly strong. Its net profitability was at 16.7% during last year. It peaked in the third quarter at 18.4%.Exploration risksBut the sector that has most to worry about is the UK Continental Shelf. That is, the offshore oil and gas industry.This should be no great surprise to those who have watched the price of Brent crude fall in recent months. But the evidence is described by industry group Oil and Gas UK as \"shocking\".At 10.4% net rate of return in the final quarter of 2014, it doesn't look too bad by comparison with other sectors. But the oil and gas sector thrives on big profits, for which it pays heavily in tax and without which it doesn't take the necessary exploration risks. \nEven if the price rose above $100 per barrel, it is argued, that wouldn't be enough without tackling costs \nThis is also an industry which deploys its capital where it can get the best return. And Oil and Gas UK's Malcolm Webb points out that the UK is now at the bottom of the league table for profitability.The ONS figures show that offshore profitability halved from the first quarter of last year to the last. And the final quarter hadn't yet seen the worst of the oil price fall.Offshore firms registered a 15.7% net rate of return for the whole year - by far the lowest level since the ONS data began. Of the previous 13 years this century, profitability only fell below 30% on three other occasions, and was above 40% in 2008 and 2011.Having secured what it wanted from the UK Budget in tax cuts, the industry is now looking for cost cuts of at least 40% per unit produced, making the argument that that scale of change is necessary to secure a sustainable future.  Even if the price rose above $100 per barrel, it is argued, that wouldn't be enough without tackling costs (as I write, it's trading at $56.64).And of course, cost cutting means a challenge to the workforce, with the threat of strikes hanging over the industry as it pushes for changes to pay and conditions.\"No guarantees\"With assets priced attractively, the Royal Dutch Shell deal to buy BG Group for \u00a347bn is seen as a sign of more consolidation to come.Shell has more than 2,000 people based in Aberdeen, and has already shed 250 jobs this year. BG has 1,500 between its North Sea operations and its Reading headquarters. Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said the company would be taking a \"hard look\" at its development programme and that there would also be savings from \"manpower\" across the company, though the \"why and where\" remained to be worked out.He added that Shell's commitment to the North Sea was \"unchanged going forward\", while it plans to invest \u00a34bn in the UK between 2016 and 2018. But he added: \"There are no guarantees in life. We will have to look at how we make the North Sea strong and healthy again.\"Of the 20 countries where BG operates, the UK is its biggest for output, representing a sixth of the 600,000 barrels per day (or gas equivalent) that it pumped last year. That reflects its history as a nationalised company, which was split from British Gas in 1987.But BG's appeal to Shell is not in the UK. It's in less mature basins and deep water and it's a wide spread of interests. After the UK, the main production centres are Kazakhstan, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, Thailand and Egypt.According to analysts at Wood Mackenzie in Edinburgh, Brazil is one of the big attractions. The returns are relatively attractive there. Ten years from now, including BG, 13% of Shell's production will be from Brazil. It will have the advantage of dominating the deepwater offshore sector.That's if it gets regulatory approval. It needs that in the EU, Brazil, China and Australia, and Brazil could prove difficult, given the scale of the Shell and BG tie-up.However, the BBC's business correspondent in Sao Paolo, Daniel Gallas, has reported today that there are interesting moves afoot that could open up the country to a lot more foreign investment.The Brasilia government has sought to control the scale of foreign investment by demanding partnership with state-owned Petrobras. Not only does that require a lot of government capital, but also Petrobras is deeply mired in a corruption scandal. Only when that has been resolved, through 'Operation Carwash', will the position of foreign companies become clearer.Cooking with gasThe other big attraction to Shell of its BG acquisition is in Liquefied Natural Gas, or LNG. That's proving ever more attractive as a means of avoiding dependence on Russian gas, opening up supply from parts of the world where pipelines are not practical, and it helps reduce coal burning in power stations which helps meet emissions targets. There's been significant investment in the LNG fleet and port facilities to grow that market.Shell and BG together will be the world's biggest LNG player. According to Wood Mackenzie: \"Shell will have unrivalled flexibility and exposure to virtually every major LNG supply source and market, providing significant scope for portfolio optimisation. The move re-energises Shell's LNG development pipeline, adding a leading US position, entry to East Africa, and new options to expand in Australia and Canada\".Having made the first move in this anticipated consolidation, the expanded Shell has the advantage of being first mover, even though it paid a very high premium over BG's recent share price. The vast global scale of the next moves will probably serve to underline that profitability problem with the UK Continental Shelf, as somewhere that doesn't look an attractive competitor in the fight for capital investment.\n    ","pubdate":"Fri, 10 Apr 2015 13:17:09 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Australian firms take to four wheels","content":"Hairdresser Ep Weatherhead has a business that is going places.The owner of the first mobile barber's shop in Australia, from Tuesdays to Saturdays she parks her converted van at different locations across Sydney's beachside suburb of Maroubra.Together with one part-time member of staff, she cuts the hair of 40 men and boys on an average day.The business - called The Barber Van - was set up in 2011 with 60,000 Australian dollars ($46,000; \u00a331,000) of investment. Ms Weatherhead, 46, says she now has up to 1,000 regular customers paying 25 Australian dollars for a haircut.She maintains a timetable on her website, so that users can check where to find her on a particular morning or afternoon. And she has all the permits she needs from the local authority to allow her to park and run her business.\n                        Ep Weatherhead (left) now has up to 1,000 regular customers coming for haircuts\n                    \n                When Ms Weatherhead launched the mobile operation, she had been running a traditional bricks and mortar hairdresser salon for a number of years, but as the van quickly grew in popularity she closed the store to focus her efforts.The Barber Van is part of a growing trend of Australian small firms hitting the road.Led by the food sector, but now extending to other industries, more and more businesses are embracing the flexibility and significantly lower overheads that come from running their business on four wheels.Mobile back rubsAndrew Ward, founder of Sydney-based massage business 3 Minute Angels, says that launching a mobile massage centre is the next logical step for his firm.Set up in 2002, his trained masseurs are currently hired by businesses to provide massages in the workplace, or at events such as conferences and trade shows.\n                        Andrew Ward is hoping that members of the public will help fund his planned Divine Truck\n                    \n                Mr Ward also says that running a massage van could enable people to enjoy a neck and back rub while enjoying a better view.\"I thought if you could look out over the beach or mountains whilst getting a massage - that would be an awesome personal experience,\" he says.To help fund the van, which he plans to call The Divine Truck, he has launched a crowdfunding campaign, hoping to raise money from members of the people in exchange for them being the first to be able to use the service.\n                        Andrew Ward wants his customers to be able to have a massage while looking at a good view\n                    \n                He aims to raise 10,000 Australian dollars, to which he will need to add up to 15,000 Australian dollars.\"Even at maximum cost of 25,000 Australian dollars the truck would be a business premises that is less than half the bond on a prime retail lease in Sydney that I was previously looking at,\" he says.Mr Ward already has a hi-tech design for his van drawn up, including transparent plastic walls.\"I thought when people see other people getting a massage it will make them want one too,\" he says.\"Of course we have internal blinds, so if a customer doesn't want to look out, or have people look in, we can make any of the three transparent walls private.\"Shark on wheelsPaul Sharp's travelling business - a museum called Shark in a Bus - is a labour of love.Containing a varied collection of marine artefacts, the star of the show is a 5m-long (16ft) preserved great white shark called Frankie.\n                        The Shark in a Bus museum tours Australia in a converted 1957 Leyland bus\n                    \n                \n                        But customers can be thin on the ground in Australia's outback\n                    \n                \"It's my family collection,\" says Mr Sharp.\"Dad started collecting in the 1960s, and the exhibition has been displayed at various places. Before my father died he passed on the bulk of the collection to me. So I decided to re-interpret the display as a Shark in a Bus - a transportable museum.\"Mr Sharp, who tours the museum around Australia, charges a five Australian dollar entry fee.\"Business is extremely variable,\" he says. \"I have had anywhere between six to over 1,000 people through in a day. Last year... we had 15,000 people view the collection.\"Mobile laundryThe voluntary sector in Australia has also caught the mobile bug, such as Orange Sky Laundry.Launched in October of last year, the mobile laundry van provides free clothes washing for homeless people in Brisbane.\n                        Nicholas Marchesi (left) and Lucas Patchett allow homeless people to wash their clothes for free\n                    \n                Founders and friends Nicholas Marchesi and Lucas Patchett have their own generator and arrange to source a water supply for free from either local businesses or a council.Today, they have a team of 130 volunteers and average anywhere from 10 to 20 wash cycles per day across their two vans, each of which has a pair of washing machines and dryers.Growth plansBack at Ms Weatherhead's mobile hair salon, she cannot afford to secure water supplies for her van.\"We only do dry cuts,\" she explains. \"If you had to wash hair you would require a clean water supply, waste water supply and a whole lot of other stuff. I have priced it and it would be prohibitive.\" Yet despite the restrictions on what haircuts she can offer, she has plans to expand across Australia.In the meantime she has secured a regular contract with the Royal Australian Navy to drive her van to three naval bases.\"This represents the growth I have been waiting for,\" she says.\n    ","pubdate":"Thu, 09 Apr 2015 04:30:58 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Q&A: What is a non-dom?","content":"\n                        Non-dom status has been a source of debate for some time\n                    \n                The non-domicile rule, that allows some UK residents to limit the tax paid on earnings outside the country, has been a regular topic of debate in recent years.Various changes have been made to the way people face charges in the UK if they wish to keep their non-dom status.Still, the tax status remains, and there is an element of mystery about it - with the number of non-doms in the UK a matter of informed guesswork.Now the Labour Party has vowed to scrap non-dom status, with some caveats to protect temporary workers, if it wins power in the general election.What is a non-dom?A non-dom is a UK resident whose permanent home, or domicile, is outside of the UK. A domicile is usually the country his or her father considered his permanent home when he or she was born, or it may be the place overseas where somebody has moved to with no intention of returning.That means somebody can be born, be educated and work in the UK but still hold non-dom status. It also means that some may inherit their non-dom status from their parents.For proof to the tax authority, they have to provide evidence about their background, lifestyle and future intentions, such as where they own property or intend to be buried.Key to non-dom tax status is that an individual must pay UK tax on UK earnings, but need not pay UK tax on foreign income or gains unless they bring that income back to the UK.Has this system been around for a while?Yes, for more than 200 years.The FT says it was originally introduced in 1799 and allowed people with foreign property to shelter it from wartime taxes.It became a regular point of debate during and after the financial crisis when the legal tax affairs of wealthy residents was put under the spotlight.\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPolicy guide: Taxation\n\t\t\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\tThis election issue includes income tax and national insurance levies and business taxes.\t\t\n\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\tHow many non-doms are there?This is where things become a little more opaque.People do not necessarily have to indicate their domicile status on their UK tax return. The UK tax authority believes there was a general trend of rising numbers to 2008 when charges came in, but a fall since.There were an estimated 114,800 non-doms in 2012-13, according to the latest figures available.Non-doms have included some super-wealthy household names, but also include some foreign doctors and nurses working for the NHS, as well as some students.What tax charges do non-doms face?Non-doms who have lived in the UK for seven of the last nine years must pay \u00a330,000 each year to maintain their tax status.Those living in the UK for 12 of the last 14 years must pay \u00a350,000 to do so.Non-doms living in the UK for 17 of the last 20 years must pay \u00a390,000 to keep their non-dom status.About 5,000 people pay these charges, raising an estimated \u00a3300m this year for the Treasury.Some other countries have similar regimes, but the seven-year period of grace is unusual internationally.What would scrapping non-dom status mean?There would still be a period of time where temporary workers and students can legally maintain their domicile overseas.However, the big questions raised by effectively scrapping non-dom status include:Whether there will be a flight of non-doms who paid an estimated \u00a36.2bn in UK tax in 2012-13\nHow much can be raised in UK taxes if former non-doms decide to stay?\nWill that tax income outstrip the amount raised from non-dom charges? Labour says it would do so by several hundred million pounds but this is very difficult to quantify\nWhat will be the effect on jobs and business creation in the UK?\nWhether this will create a more even playing field among entrepreneurs irrespective of their domicile\nThe debate is likely to continue whichever party wins the election.","pubdate":"Wed, 08 Apr 2015 18:42:52 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Funding an art renaissance in the US","content":"US art museums took a knock in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and attendances continue to fall. But some major investments and new approaches to fundraising have helped them rebound. On an unseasonably warm day in January, as the price of oil dropped by 50%, a group of Texans gathered at a swanky New York restaurant to present a multi-million dollar plan for the redevelopment of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.There were a number of jokes about the impact of oil prices on the portion sizes offered by the restaurant - two salad leaves and a pea, however artfully placed on a teaspoon of green mousse and a coin sized piece of fish, do not make a meal in Texas.But there was no joking about the importance of art to Houston's economy, which is fuelled by oil and energy and has been rocked by the plunge in prices.The city hopes the new campus, with its world class collections, international art school and conservation centre, will help attract the type of workers it needs to diversify and sustain future growth.\"Building a green park of two acres in a downtown city - that's meaningless today,\" says Texan pipeline tycoon Rich Kinder, one of the richest men in America with a personal net worth estimated at $11.9bn (\u00a38bn).\"This is a massive extension of the south west's largest museum of fine arts, but it's also much more than that. It's transformational for Houston.\" US Art FundingIndividual philanthropy remains the strongest source of support for art museums in the US. In 2013 museums were given six times as many works of art as they purchased.Endowments, trusts and foundations provide 28% of art museum funding.  The government funds 6% and corporate giving accounts for just 4%.Visitors spend an average of $8 when they go to a museum.Each visitor costs the museum an average of $53 in terms of investment.Figures from the Association of Art Museum DirectorsAlmost all the $350m cost of the project has been met by wealthy individuals, including Mr Kinder, who is chairman of the museum's board of trustees. He donated $50m. Due to be completed by 2019, the museum campus is expected to generate $334m in economic activity over 20 years. That's in line with a new report from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), a government grant-making agency, which says arts and culture contribute almost $700bn to the US economy, outperforming the construction industry. The sector also employs some 4.7 million workers, and for every 100 jobs created by demand for the arts, 62 jobs are created in other areas.On the downside, the report also shows that museum, gallery and theatre attendances are continuing to fall. According to the NEA, the vast majority of Americans \"consume\" the arts online and only 21% actually visit art museums.  \"But we do ourselves a disservice when we look at only one measure of engagement with the arts,\" says NEA chairman Jane Chu. \"Our reports show that the arts are a formidable presence in America and the ways in which people participate are expanding.\"\n                        Baltimore Museum of Art uses special events to encourage children to visit\n                    \n                She says technology provides an early entry point to the arts which may peak interest in live performances and trips to museums. But institutions need to find new ways to engage with audiences and become more relevant to their communities, she adds.\"Museums were founded years ago on the idea that they were treasure troves or libraries of objects. Today they have to be destinations for people to have experiences that they can create and be a part of,\" says Doreen Bolger, director of the Baltimore Museum of Art in Maryland.The museum has an international reputation and holds the largest collection of works by Henri Matisse. It is supported by a $100m endowment that enables it to offer art making days for local families, outreach programs for city schools, and interactive mobile phone tours for visitors. In 2006 it introduced free admission.'Financially stable'\"We were of course affected by the 2008 downturn because all of our diverse [revenue] sources were affected. But our trustees and donors have been truly astounding. \"Our funding from them was sustained throughout the downturn and many people increased their giving when the museum went free. They felt it was important to provide that for the community,\" says Ms Bolger.Endowments remain the most significant source of museum revenue, but new figures from the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) show that funding has become more diversified.Admission fees play a relatively small part, but memberships, foundations and trusts, store purchases and local government funding make important contributions. Corporate donations have fallen.\"Museum attendance dropped off in 2008 and some museums underwent some staffing cuts, cut back a little on programming. They did what they needed to do to weather the storm,\" says AAMD director Christine Anagnos.\"But they're [now] financially stable because they receive their money from a variety of sources,\" she says.\"They're not just relying on one source, whether it's endowment income or earned revenue or corporate memberships. They are really diversified in their revenue streams.\"Oil dependenceIronically, Houston was sheltered from the worst effects of the financial crisis because of its dependence of oil. But today that dependence is making it vulnerable.\n                        Baltimore Museum of Art says community relevance is vital for survival.\n                    \n                \"People will tell you that Houston is not nearly as wedded to energy as it was a generation ago,\" says Rich Kinder.\"We have the largest medical centre in the world, a tremendous port and a number of universities. But [the falling price of oil] still has a definite impact and will have an impact on philanthropic giving.\"But Gary Tinterow, the director of Houston's Museum of Fine Arts, says he doesn't expect any dramatic decline in donations, and philanthropy remains a better bet than public funding.\"There is something very satisfying and secure when you have government support. You know what your budget is each year and you move forward. But as we've seen with the recent downturn, sometimes massive cuts are necessary in order to fill the mandates from the government.\"The Obama administration has proposed a $2m increase to funding for the NEA next year, bringing the total to $148m. The advocacy group Americans for the Arts says that won't meet the needs of the 95,000 non-profit arts organisations and local agencies the NEA helps support.But the good news is that donations to the arts were up by almost 8% in 2013, according to the latest figures from Indiana University, which tracks charitable giving. The total, $16.66bn, is now touching pre-recession levels.Even if Americans don't go to museums as much as they used to, they clearly think the arts are important enough to support.\n    ","pubdate":"Wed, 08 Apr 2015 05:05:22 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Latin America's wake-up call on global school tests","content":"\n                        Chile is the top-performing Latin American country in both OECD and Unesco school tests\n                    \n                There have been concerns that the quality of education has been stagnant in too many countries across Latin America.This is a major problem in a globalised economy, where rewards go to the most highly-skilled and most productive workers, and where there is more importance than ever attached to high-quality education.But how do we measure the quality of education in Latin America against global standards if there is an unwillingness to take part in international tests? How can would-be reformers compare results across international borders?Among the most widely recognised international comparisons are the Pisa tests - the Programme for International Student Assessment - conducted every three years by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).In Latin America, the regional rankings of these international tests taken by 15 year olds in maths, reading and science, are headed by diminutive Chile, ahead of economic powerhouses like Brazil and Mexico.But most countries remain off the ranking completely.Missing the testsPart of the reluctance for many Latin American countries might be a fear of being compared with world leaders in education like Finland and Japan. Even Chile, the highest ranking country in the region, is considerably below the global average for these tests, with the average in the Pisa tests being countries such as the UK and France.Latin America: Countries in Pisa testsChile\n51st (out of 65 countries and regional education systems)\nMexico\n53rd\nUruguay\n55th\nCosta Rica\n56th\nBrazil\n58th\nArgentina\n59th\nColombia\n62nd\nPeru\n65th\nSource: OECD\n\nBut the Pisa exam has also generated significant controversy over its methodology and design, leading to concerns - common to many standardised tests - that it does not adequately measure the quality of instruction. Or that it does not truly capture the diversity of contexts facing such different school systems.These concerns are reflected in the fact that fewer than half of Latin American countries currently participate.But there are other tests that can provide a global scale for measurement. Unesco's Third Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study (TERCE) covers a much larger part of the region. This has evaluated 15 countries, including Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia, as well as smaller participants such as Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay. \n                        Unesco's tests measure pupils in countries such as Guatemala against international standards\n                    \n                The assessment also has a broader range than Pisa, looking at children at different stages of development (at the ages of eight and 11), and evaluating the context of each school.What TERCE found was reason for cautious optimism - but also renewed effort. Its comparison between its last evaluation in 2006 and today showed a modest but broad improvement in test results across the majority of Latin American countries. These rankings were also headed by Chile, followed by Costa Rica and Uruguay. But they also allowed a comparison with countries missing from the Pisa tests, such as Guatemala and Paraguay, which appear in the lower half of the TERCE test scores.Falling behindBut despite - or even because of - the surrounding controversy, these tests have already served an important purpose. Whatever their flaws, they have brought attention to the fact that the massive expansion of access to education in the region, a major victory in itself, isn't sufficient without an equal improvement in quality. \n                        Uphill struggle: Peru is at the bottom of the Pisa rankings, but midway on the Unesco scale\n                    \n                No longer can policymakers ignore the reality that even Latin America's best performing countries, much less its average ones, are far behind the developed world, and far behind where they need to be to compete in the global economy. A student from Honduras or Paraguay is competing for jobs with graduates in Singapore and South Korea. Latin America: Unesco tests for 11 year olds in literacy, mathematics and scienceChile\n557 pts\nCosta Rica\n546\nUruguay\n532\nMexico\n529\nColombia\n526\nBrazil\n524\nArgentina\n509\nPeru\n505\nEcuador\n491\nGuatemala\n489\nPanama\n482\nHonduras\n479\nNicaragua\n479\nParaguay\n469\nDominican Republic\n456\nSource: Unesco TERCE tests\n\nAs a result, demand for better education is swelling from the bottom up, as individual students, parents, and civil society groups are gaining greater awareness of how their schools stack up to international standards.Not about spendingThe international comparisons have also imparted a necessary lesson - that increased investment alone cannot solve education problems. Latin America's education systems spend nearly as much as the OECD average, with some spending as much as 6% of GDP, while producing lacklustre results.More funding is in some cases necessary, but without a rigorous and targeted approach to ensure that it is spent well, the extra money may just be wasted.That's why a new conversation is needed in Latin America, one that focuses on innovative ways to improve quality - and quickly.A wave of new participants - social entrepreneurs, private businesses, investment funds, foundations, and advocacy groups - are taking the lead in introducing new pedagogies, new technologies, and structural reforms in their education systems.And projects like Pisa and TERCE are helping to put these issues front and centre on the public policy agenda.The next generation of students has little time to lose. Gabriel Sanchez Zinny is author of Educaci\u00f3n 3.0: The Struggle for Talent in Latin America\n    ","pubdate":"Wed, 08 Apr 2015 05:02:37 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Technology to take fireworks nuclear","content":"\n                        Big bang theory: Modern firework displays whether for New Year in New York, or Chinese New Year in Beijing, rely heavily on technology to make them bigger and better than ever\n                    \n                Every year, on the evening before New Year's Eve, thousands of people in New York City amble through the neon glow of Times Square. Most are tourists looking up in awe at the LED screens that dominate the landscape.  Nobody notices the tiny dark figure 350 feet above the pavement clinging to the side of the century old Times Building, home of the New Year's Eve Ball.Jeff Rolfe is a cross between Spider Man and Guy Fawkes, gingerly making his way up and down the side of the building with a bitter winter wind attacking him from every angle as he dangles. In his arms are pre-configured wooden racks full of small explosives. He has to install enough to put smiles on a billion TV viewers worldwide. Thankfully these are the finishing touches to a display of fireworks that in just over 24 hours will hopefully also elicit oohs and aahs from a million New Years Eve revellers in the Square. \n                        Jeff Rolfe on top of One Times Square\n                    \n                Short but sweetFor almost everyone the thrill of fireworks is an experience that can be traced back to childhood. Yet if you were able to time travel backwards two, three or four decades into history and stand once again in front of your local town display, you would likely be  disappointed. Mr Rolfe, from Fireworks By Santore, says few people realise that fountains, rockets, wheels and bursts have all taken a huge step forward thanks to technology.\"The shows used to be much much longer, over an hour in duration. But attention spans are shorter now,\" he says.\"Today, 30 minutes is considered a very long display. Technicians used to manually shoot big shells from steel tube mortars that would need to cool down before the next ones could be fired. It was more relaxed. Now we shoot multiple smaller shells per second from several locations, remotely.\"\n                        Fireworks are something most of us learn to love as children. This group is celebrating July 4th in 1940 with sparklers\n                    \n                \n                        The fireworks at the closing ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 might leave modern audiences slightly underwhelmed\n                    \n                Songs were played in their entirety rather than the mixed snippets that are favoured today. And any notion of syncing the beats to the bursts was usually a happy accident rather than anything pre-planned.New software and hardware means shells and cannons can be fired remotely up to two miles away and timed to within 1\/100th of a second. And in a world full of giant LEDs, laser beams and light shows, fireworks are frequently asked to become team players, which is why \"syncing\" is one of the most sought after skills in the industry.\"Using computer software, we mark where we want the highs and lows of the display to be in relation to the music,\" says Mr Rolfe. \"And then we backtrack all the timings, and create digital cues alongside the music track for the firing sequence in an FSK (Frequency Shift Keying) file. When you hear it, it sounds like the noise made by an old modem.\"\n                        The fireworks business has always been dangerous - these men are making fireworks by hand for King George V's coronation celebrations in 1911\n                    \n                \n                        Health and safety has come a long way since 1929, when these women were pictured in France\n                    \n                Like clockworkBig events, especially those on live TV are usually produced using \"timecode\".  A highly accurate digital clock signal is generated from a central source and every person, computer, device and camera at the event uses it as their only time reference. Music tracks, lighting and fireworks can be pre-programmed digitally to flow together perfectly.But it can take months of work by specialist designers to produce a dazzling display. One thing on their side is that the chemical compounds have become more sophisticated.  The colours are brighter, the variety of effects has greatly increased and there is far less residual smoke that once might have blocked subsequent bursts.\n                        Fireworks have become ubiquitous at sporting events - here during the opening ceremony for the 2015 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand\n                    \n                Fireworks today are so chemically precise and stable, a horizontal rocket with a label that says 60 feet will shoot off a building straight out exactly 60 feet, and predictably reach its peak explosion right at the end of that distance without letting gravity pull it down prematurely. Of course timecode and technology are not always perfect, and when things go wrong the motto invented for the digital age - \"all or nothing\" definitely applies. Perhaps the most famous incident was the 2012 Big Bay Boom display in San Diego, which saw about 18 minutes worth of fireworks explode in just 15 seconds thanks to a timecode issue. It could have been the most expensive fireworks display ever (on a per second basis). But firework displays that often cost cities as much as a teacher's annual salary have an upside - successful or not.Officials in San Diego worked out their firework display fiasco still generated about $10m in revenue from local restaurants, tourism, boat hires, and hotel stays. And accidents don't happen as much these days. The biggest problem with older displays was explosions due to sparks from other fireworks in the display. Now the devices are smaller and more spread out so it doesn't happen as often.\n                        Accidents at modern events are now rare - this traditional display however is created by throwing molten metal against a cold wall in Nuanquan, Hebei province, China to celebrate the Spring Festival\n                    \n                Corporate communicationsCorporate requests often drive the direction of the fireworks industry. Companies are increasingly asking for daytime fireworks which have been around for years, but now look much better because once again there are brighter colours and cleverer chemical combinations which make them more dramatic against a bright blue backdrop.\n                        Flogos are created using a portable bubble container, and allow you to create airborne company logos\n                    \n                Despite the many developments one request that is harder than you'd think is to reproduce corporate logos. Mr Rolfe acknowledges that static logos are easy to do. But firing words and exact shapes from the ground into the sky with 100% accuracy for the entire audience to read from different vantage points is an art form that's in its infancy. \"We are just starting to work with it. The new firing systems allow us to shoot from the same location over and over again to basically form line art. It's not a cheap effect. It takes a bit of trial and error to get the sizing right but when it's done right it's pretty incredible.\"Other companies offer a variation of ways to reproduce airborne corporate designs closer to the ground, such as Flogos, which are made in a portable bubble container and sent off into the sky at a rapid pace.\n                        The view from the top: This is the angle the public doesn't see\n                    \n                \n                        The preparations go on, far above the heads of revellers\n                    \n                But Mr Rolfe believes the future of fireworks is solid. Despite the rising costs of insurance, security, transportation and storage he thinks that beautiful explosions in the sky will never be trumped by holograms or video screens or anything else.Everyone over five loves sparks and sparkle.\n    ","pubdate":"Tue, 07 Apr 2015 04:32:24 +0530","newspaper":"BBC"},{"title":"Pfizer walks away from $118 billion AstraZeneca takeover fight","content":"\n\nLONDON\/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pfizer abandoned its attempt to buy AstraZeneca for nearly 70 billion pounds ($118 billion) on Monday as a deadline approached without a last-minute change of heart by the British drugmaker.\nThe decision ends a month-long public fight between two of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies that sparked political concerns on both sides of Atlantic over jobs and corporate tax maneuvers.British rules now require an enforced cooling-off period. AstraZeneca could reach out to Pfizer after three months and Pfizer could take another run at its smaller British rival in six months time, whether it is invited back or not.Pfizer's move came two hours before a 5.00 pm (1200 ET) deadline to make a firm offer or walk away, under UK takeover rules. Its decision to quit the stage, at least for now, had been widely expected after AstraZeneca refused its final offer of 55 pounds a share.\"Following the AstraZeneca board's rejection of the proposal, Pfizer announces that it does not intend to make an offer for AstraZeneca,\" Pfizer said in a short news release.The biggest U.S. drugmaker promised it would not go hostile by taking its offer directly to AstraZeneca shareholders, leaving the fate of what would have been the world's largest ever drugs merger in the hands of its target, whose board would have had to make a complete U-turn to get a deal done.\"We continue to believe that our final proposal was compelling and represented full value for AstraZeneca based on the information that was available to us,\" said Ian Read, Pfizer's chairman and chief executive.Pfizer's final offer was at a price that many analysts and investors had previously suggested would bring AstraZeneca to the table for serious negotiations.\n        \n        But in rejecting an earlier offer of 53.50 pounds as undervaluing the company, the British group indicated it needed a bid more than 10 percent higher, or at least 58.85 pounds per share, for its board to consider a recommendation.Pfizer had urged AstraZeneca shareholders to agitate for engagement and several expressed disappointment at its intransigence, although others - encouraged by AstraZeneca's promising drug pipeline - backed the firm's standalone strategy.AstraZeneca Chairman Leif Johansson welcomed Pfizer's decision to back down, which he said would allow the British company to focus on its growth potential as an independent company.What happens next will depend upon whether AstraZeneca's share price deteriorates in the coming weeks and how hard its shareholders push for it to revisit a deal with Pfizer.BlackRock, AstraZeneca's biggest shareholder, backed the board's rejection of Pfizer's 55 pounds a share offer, but urged it to talk again in the future.POLITICAL OPPOSITIONThe proposed transaction ran into fierce opposition from politicians in Britain, Sweden - where AstraZeneca has half it roots - and the United States over the likelihood that the marriage would lead to thousands of job cuts.Ultimately, it was price and the lack of room for eleventh-hour maneuvering by Pfizer that killed the deal.Pfizer had several reasons for taking aim at AstraZeneca for what would have been its fourth mega-merger in 14 years.Highest on the list appeared to be Pfizer's desire to take part in a recent trend of so-called tax inversions, under which it could reincorporate in Britain and pay significantly lower corporate tax. Pfizer would also be able to use tens of billions of dollars it has parked overseas, avoiding high U.S. taxes for repatriating the huge cash pile.Pfizer also had its eye on a promising portfolio of drugs in AstraZeneca's developmental pipeline, especially several potentially lucrative cancer medicines.It was this pipeline that AstraZeneca management used to make its case for Pfizer significantly undervaluing the company.Chief Executive Pascal Soriot went as far as making a 10-year forecast for a 75 percent rise in sales by 2023.\"As we said from the start, the pursuit of this transaction was a potential enhancement to our existing strategy,\" Pfizer's Read said. \"We will continue our focus on the execution of our plans, bringing forth new treatments to meet patients' needs and remaining responsible stewards of our shareholders' capital.\"The merger would have restored Pfizer as the world's largest drugmaker by sales, a position it relinquished to Swiss-based Novartis when billions of dollars in annual revenue evaporated after its top-selling cholesterol fighter Lipitor began facing generic competition in 2011.(Editing by David Evans and Mark Potter)","pubdate":"Mon, 26 May 2014 21:25:17 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"See you later? Slim Pfizer deal hopes prop up AstraZeneca","content":"\n\nLONDON (Reuters) - Pfizer's (PFE.N) chances of striking a deal to buy AstraZeneca (AZN.L) in the coming days look vanishingly small, but the notion it could return later this year is propping up the British drugmaker's shares.\nThe stock rose 3 percent on Wednesday, despite AstraZeneca insisting on Tuesday there wasn't the slightest chance of Pfizer's $118 billion offer being increased by a May 26 deadline set by UK takeover rules.While Pfizer agrees it cannot raise its final offer of 55 pounds a share, its advisers have been urging investors to speak up against AstraZeneca's decision to reject its proposal, according to several people familiar with the matter.One suggestion now circulating is that disgruntled AstraZeneca shareholders could call an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to put Pfizer's offer to a vote. The support of just 5 percent of shareholders is needed to call such a meeting.Even if shareholders wanted to revive the bid - or oust the board - an EGM would not come in time to rescue the current process before the takeover rules deadline, but they could force AstraZeneca to open communications with Pfizer in late August, after a compulsory three-month cooling-off period.\"Some of the more active hedge funds, instead of selling out are buying in,\" said one hedge fund investor. \"There has been sufficient shareholder dissatisfaction about this deal that investors can use that to get a favourable outcome further down the road.\"The only way a deal could be salvaged this month would be for AstraZeneca Chairman Leif Johansson and his board to make a complete U-turn and recommend Pfizer's current 55-pound offer, which looks out of the question.More leading shareholders spoke out publicly on the deal on Wednesday, but they didn't speak with one voice, underlining the challenge facing the Pfizer camp in trying to stir an investor rebellion.\n        \n        Threadneedle Asset Management came out in support of AstraZeneca's stance, while investment and insurance group AXA said the board should not have prevented Pfizer's offer being put to investors.The AXA view was echoed by Legal & General, according to the Wall Street Journal. An L&G spokesman confirmed to Reuters that the fund manager had talked to both companies but declined to comment further.EVENLY BALANCEDTo date, investors representing around 10 percent of AstraZeneca's share base have spoken out against the board's decision, with a similar number broadly lending their support, according to Thomson Reuters data.At more than 44 pounds, the shares remain well short of Pfizer's offer but a fair way above the undisturbed price of 37.82 pounds seen before news of Pfizer's interest emerged in mid-April.A recent run of favourable clinical trial news about AstraZeneca's new drugs has also supported the stock, with UBS issuing a note on Wednesday setting a price target for the shares of 50 pounds, without a Pfizer deal.Analysts at Barclays, who have a 40 pounds target, said in a note that the market was pricing in a probability of around 15 percent that there would eventually be an agreed deal with Pfizer valuing AstraZeneca at some 60 pounds.The U.S. company's ambitions to create the world's largest drugmaker - and slash its tax bill in the process - appeared within reach at one point in talks between the two sides last weekend, with AstraZeneca indicating a desired price of 58.85 pounds.But AstraZeneca's Johansson told Reuters on Monday that Pfizer had closed down discussions after a telephone call lasting more than an hour on Sunday and had surprised AstraZeneca by issuing its final offer later that night.(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Will Waterman)","pubdate":"Wed, 21 May 2014 23:53:11 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"AstraZeneca rejects Pfizer's take-it-or-leave-it offer","content":"\n\nLONDON (Reuters) - Britain's AstraZeneca on Monday rejected a sweetened and \"final\" offer from Pfizer, puncturing the U.S. drugmaker's plan for a merger to create the world's biggest pharmaceuticals group.\nThe rebuff came nine hours after Pfizer said on Sunday night it had raised its takeover offer to 55 pounds a share, or around 70 billion pounds ($118 billion) in total, and would walk away if AstraZeneca did not accept it.The rejection left some major shareholders fuming as shares in AstraZeneca slumped 11 percent to close at 42.88 pounds after falling as much as 15 percent - their biggest ever intra-day decline. Pfizer rose 1 percent in New York.AstraZeneca Chairman Leif Johansson told Reuters he now saw no prospect of a deal with Pfizer before a deadline of May 26 set under British takeover rules, or any likelihood of that deadline being extended.Experts also said Pfizer had left itself no room to return with a last-minute higher offer due to the strict takeover code.Pfizer wants to create the world's largest drugs firm, with a headquarters in New York but a tax base in Britain, where corporate tax rates are lower than in the United States. The plan has met entrenched opposition from AstraZeneca, as well as politicians and scientists who fear cuts to jobs and research.\"It died of multiple wounds. Too little cash, too many suspicions about Pfizer's motives, and too little confidence in its assurances about jobs,\" said Erik Gordon, professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. \"Pfizer's chances are going down, despite its offer of a higher price.\"Johansson said he had made clear in discussions with Pfizer that his board could only recommend a bid that was more than 10 percent above an offer of 53.50 pounds made by Pfizer on Friday, which would amount to at least 58.85 pounds. He blamed Pfizer for calling a halt to discussions after a telephone call lasting more than an hour with Pfizer's chairman and CEO Ian Read on Sunday afternoon.\n        \n        In addition to the inadequate price, Johansson also slammed what he said was a lack of industrial logic behind Pfizer's move; the risks posed to shareholders by the controversial tax plans; and the threat to life science jobs in Britain, Sweden and the United States.\"Pfizer's approach throughout its pursuit of AstraZeneca appears to have been fundamentally driven by the corporate financial benefits to its shareholders of cost savings and tax minimization,\" Johansson said in a statement.\"From our first meeting in January to our latest discussion yesterday, and in the numerous phone calls in between, Pfizer has failed to make a compelling strategic, business or value case.\"But many of Johansson's shareholders were deeply unimpressed. \"We do not think the Astra management have done a good job on behalf of shareholders,\" said one fund manager at a top-10 investor in the group.Alastair Gunn of top-30 shareholder Jupiter Fund Management said: \"We are disappointed the board of AstraZeneca has rejected Pfizer's latest offer so categorically. They should have at least engaged in a constructive conversation with Pfizer.\"However, Pfizer's proposed takeover, which would be the largest-ever foreign acquisition of a British company, is opposed by many scientists and politicians who fear it would undermine Britain's science base.The U.S. group said its new offer was final and could not be increased. It said it would not make a hostile offer directly to AstraZeneca shareholders and would only proceed with an offer with the recommendation of the AstraZeneca board.Pfizer had also increased the cash element in its offer to 45 percent, under which AstraZeneca shareholders would get 1.747 shares in the enlarged company for each of their AstraZeneca shares and 24.76 pounds in cash.The new offer represents a 15-percent premium over the current value of a cash-and-share approach made on May 2 - worth 50 pounds a share at the time - which was also swiftly rejected by AstraZeneca.Pfizer's Read said he believed his proposal was \"compelling\" for AstraZeneca shareholders and expressed frustration at its refusal to talk, urging the British company's shareholders to pressure its board to engage.TAKE A BREAKIn the absence of further discussions or an extension of the deadline for making a firm offer under British takeover rules, Pfizer's proposal will expire at 5 p.m. (1600 GMT) on May 26. After that, it would have to wait six months before making another bid.\"AstraZeneca will have six months to demonstrate that it was right to reject Pfizer's offer, or face the prospect of a fresh approach,\" said analyst Mick Cooper at Edison Investment Research.While Pfizer would have to wait on the sidelines until November, it would be possible for AstraZeneca to initiate talks from late August, if it decided it wants coax a higher offer.The latest increased offer had been widely expected. Pfizer said last week it would consider a higher offer as it urged AstraZeneca's board to enter talks.The British firm has laid out details of its pipeline of new drugs and argues it has no need for a deal. However, many analysts believe its projections that it can increase sales by 75 percent to $45 billion a year by 2023 are over-optimistic.There has been a mounting political backlash against the proposed deal in Britain, the United States and Sweden, where AstraZeneca has half its roots.The Swedish government launched a concerted effort on Friday against a merger that it fears will lead to cuts in science jobs and research, echoing concerns aired by British lawmakers at two parliamentary hearings last week, and fears for U.S. jobs in states where AstraZeneca has a large presence.British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he wanted more assurances from Pfizer, in the event of a takeover, although as the head of the free-market Conservative Party he does not want to be seen to be deterring foreign corporate investment.Pfizer gave a five-year commitment to complete AstraZeneca's new research centre in Cambridge, retain a factory in northern England and put a fifth of its research staff in Britain, but added that these pledges could be adjusted if circumstances changed \"significantly\".The tax aspects of the deal, meanwhile, have sparked anger in the United States, where lawmakers are now considering legislation to prevent what are known as corporate inversions, under which U.S. companies re-incorporate overseas to avoid U.S. taxes.Inversions have helped fuel a wave of deals in the pharmaceuticals sector in recent months. Buying AstraZeneca would allow Pfizer to carry out the largest such deal yet.(Additional reporting by Chris Vellacott, Jemima Kelly, Kate Holton and Anjuli Davies in London; Editing by Eric Walsh, David Holmes, Alastair Macdonald and Philippa Fletcher)","pubdate":"Tue, 20 May 2014 04:07:37 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Pfizer raises bid for AstraZeneca to $117 billion","content":"\n\nLONDON (Reuters) - U.S. drugmaker Pfizer said on Sunday it had raised its offer for British rival AstraZeneca to 69.3 billion pounds ($116.6 billion), or 55 pounds a share, and would walk away if AstraZeneca did not accept it.\nPfizer wants to create the world's largest drugs company, with a headquarters in New York but a tax base in Britain, where corporate tax rates are lower than in the United States. It has met entrenched opposition from AstraZeneca, as well as many politicians and scientists who fear cuts to jobs and research.The U.S. group said its new offer was final and could not be increased. It said it would not make a hostile offer directly to AstraZeneca shareholders and would only proceed with an offer with the recommendation of the AstraZeneca board.Pfizer also increased the cash element in its offer to 45 percent, with AstraZeneca shareholders set to receive 1.747 shares in the enlarged company for each of their AstraZeneca shares and 2,476 pence in cash.Two banking sources earlier described 55 pounds a share as the \"magic number\" at which a deal could get done.Pfizer said it had written to AstraZeneca's chairman on May 16 offering 53.50 pounds a share but had been told that this still substantially undervalued the company, prompting it to make a further sweetened offer. AstraZeneca had already rejected an earlier approach worth 50 pounds a share on May 2.\"We believe our proposal is compelling for AstraZeneca's shareholders and that a Pfizer-AstraZeneca combination is in the best interests of all stakeholders,\" Pfizer Chief Executive Ian Read said in a statement.He expressed frustration at AstraZeneca's refusal to engage in talks and urged the British company's shareholders to pressure its board to start discussions.\"Following a conversation with AstraZeneca earlier today, we do not believe that the AstraZeneca board is currently prepared to recommend a deal at a reasonable price,\" Read said. \"We remain ready to engage in a meaningful dialogue but time for constructive engagement is running out.\"In the absence of further discussions or an extension of the deadline for making a firm offer under British takeover rules, Pfizer's proposal will expire at 5 p.m. London time on May 26.AstraZeneca said it had no immediate comment on Pfizer's latest move.DRUG PIPELINE HOPESThe British firm has laid out details of its pipeline of new drugs and argues there is no inevitability about a Pfizer deal, although its management also acknowledges the board would have to consider a compelling bid.Investors have backed AstraZeneca in rejecting 50 pounds a share, but many have said they would want it to engage in discussions if Pfizer came back with an improved offer.There has been a mounting political backlash against the proposed deal in Britain, the United States and Sweden, where AstraZeneca has half its roots.The Swedish government launched a concerted effort on Friday against a merger it fears will lead to cuts in science jobs and research, echoing concerns aired by British lawmakers at two parliamentary hearings last week and fears for U.S. jobs in states where AstraZeneca has a large presence.Pfizer's bid would be the largest foreign takeover of a British firm and is opposed by many scientists and politicians who fear it will undermine Britain's science base.British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he wants more assurances from Pfizer, and science minister David Willetts said last week he would like to see longer guarantees on investment than the five years currently promised by Pfizer.The UK government has also held exploratory discussions with Brussels about strengthening its ability to force Pfizer to honor commitments on jobs and research under European Union rules.But Cameron, head of the free-market Conservative Party, has also said Britain does not want to be seen to be pulling up the drawbridge to foreign companies.($1 = 0.5942 British Pounds)(Editing by Larry King and Cynthia Osterman)","pubdate":"Mon, 19 May 2014 04:27:33 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Pfizer pledges to ringfence key new drugs in AstraZeneca deal","content":"\n\nLONDON (Reuters) - Pfizer (PFE.N) said it would ringfence the development of important drugs if it acquired AstraZeneca (AZN.L), rejecting a charge from the British company that a takeover would disrupt important research and put lives at risk.\n\"As we put these companies together, we will continue with our pipeline, AZ will continue with theirs,\" Pfizer's Chief Executive Ian Read told lawmakers on a second day of questioning about what could be the biggest ever UK corporate deal.\"We would ringfence any important products and they would continue to be developed. There is absolutely no truth to any comment that some products of critical nature would be delayed getting to patients, if anything we would accelerate that to patients.\"AstraZeneca said on Tuesday that Pfizer's proposal risked disrupting its research and delaying getting life-saving new drugs to market, as well as undervaluing the business.\"What will we tell the person whose father died from lung cancer because one of our medicines was delayed - and essentially was delayed because in the meantime our two companies were involved in saving tax and saving costs?\" the British company's Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said on Tuesday.On a second day in Parliament focused on the concerns of the science community, Read faced calls from a committee of lawmakers and other speakers for Pfizer to extend its commitment to UK jobs and research from five years to 10 or more.\"I would like to see a longer period than that (five years),\" science minister David Willetts told the committee.British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was seeking the best possible guarantees from Pfizer.\"This government has been absolutely clear that the right thing to do is get stuck in to seek the best possible guarantees on British jobs, on British investment, and British science,\" he told lawmakers in parliament on Wednesday.The U.S. boss had earlier defended his five-year horizon, saying it was enough time to select medicines that had the greatest chance of approval and the biggest opportunity to meet the needs of patients.Pfizer had changed its R&D strategy to avoid lengthy, and ultimately fruitless, research by bringing in commercial and development expertise at the proof of concept stage in the assessment of experimental drugs, he said.\"It's very important for me for productivity to ... hold (scientists) accountable, to say 'I'm allocating you capital on a five-year period and I'm going to review that on five-year periods',\" he said.Pfizer has indicated it could raise its offer for Britain's second-biggest drugmaker from $106 billion, if AstraZeneca is prepared to talk, but lawmakers are deeply concerned about the impact of a takeover on the country's science base.The U.S. company has a record of making deep job cuts after past takeovers of companies including Wyeth, Warner-Lambert and Pharmacia.FEWER SCIENTISTSRead said on Wednesday there would likely be fewer scientists in a newly combined company than currently work in the two firms, but he declined to put any numbers on it.Nobel laureate Paul Nurse, the president of the Royal Society, Britain's national academy of science, wrote to the chairman of Parliament's science committee Andrew Miller to express his concern that Pfizer's promises so far were vague and inadequate.Pfizer's five-year commitment includes completing AstraZeneca's new research center in Cambridge, retaining a factory in the northwestern English town of Macclesfield and putting a fifth of its research staff in Britain if the deal goes ahead.But it has also said this could be altered if circumstances changed \"significantly\" and Scottish-born Read said he could not commit to maintaining a specific R&D budget for Britain.Nurse said a five-year pledge was simply not good enough.\"A five-year commitment to the UK is insufficient. A commitment of at least 10 years is required. Science is not a quick win,\" he wrote.AstraZeneca has rejected Pfizer's cash-and-stock offer, which was worth 50 pounds a share at the time it was made on May 2, arguing it has a bright future as an independent business, with a pipeline of promising new drugs.So-called Parliamentary select committees cannot block corporate transactions but they can question executives ferociously, as banks, energy companies and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (NWSA.O) have all found out in the past.(Additional reporting by William James; Editing by Mark Potter, Greg Mahlich)","pubdate":"Thu, 15 May 2014 01:55:38 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"UK lawmakers give Pfizer stick as it waves carrot at AstraZeneca","content":"\n\nLONDON (Reuters) - U.S. drugmaker Pfizer hinted it could raise its proposed $106 billion offer if AstraZeneca would only engage in talks, as its boss was grilled by UK lawmakers on his commitment to British research spending and jobs.\nIn response AstraZeneca said it would have to consider a compelling offer but accused Pfizer of an \"opportunistic\" proposal and a ploy to cut taxes that risked its reputation.Pascal Soriot, the French-born boss of AstraZeneca, came out fighting after Pfizer's Chief Executive Ian Read made clear the New York-based group would not rule out a hostile bid if Britain's second-biggest drugmaker did not enter merger talks.Having warned that AstraZeneca could wither without its financial muscle, Pfizer expressed its frustration at being rebuffed, and said on Tuesday that working with the UK company's board could help deliver \"optimal deal terms\" which AstraZeneca could recommend to its shareholders.Soriot - who appeared after Read to answer questions from a parliamentary select committee - said Pfizer's proposal risked disrupting its research and delaying getting life-saving new drugs to market, as well as undervaluing the business.\"What will we tell the person whose father died from lung cancer because one of our medicines was delayed - and essentially was delayed because in the meantime our two companies were involved in saving tax and saving costs?\" he asked.Pfizer's plan to cut its tax bill by re-domiciling to Britain if it buys AstraZeneca also posed a reputational risk, Soriot added.\"The proposed tax inversion structure, we are afraid, could generate substantial controversy and potentially delay this merger and potentially impact the reputation of our company.\"\n        \n        AstraZeneca rejected Pfizer's May 2 cash-and-stock offer worth 50 pounds a share and said it had a bright future as an independent business. But by early afternoon on Tuesday its shares had risen 2 percent to 47 pounds on anticipation it would have to consider a second proposal.\"If Pfizer continues to aggressively pursue the deal by raising the price, then AstraZeneca's board would have to little choice but to engage,\" said Ketan Patel, analyst at Ecclesiastical Investment Management, a holder of AstraZeneca shares.Pfizer is expected to come back with a sweetened offer for AstraZeneca this week, although people with knowledge of the matter said it would likely wait until after the parliamentary hearings. Both chief executives, who gave confident performances, will appear before another panel on Wednesday to answer questions about the science aspects of the deal.PUBLIC INTERESTPfizer's bid would be the largest foreign takeover of a British firm and is opposed by many scientists and politicians who fear it will undermine Britain's science base.Parliamentary select committees cannot block corporate transactions but they can question executives ferociously, as banks, energy companies and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp have all found out: The media coverage resulting from these sessions confirmed them as corporate bad guys for much of the public and placed future dealings under even closer scrutiny.British business minister Vince Cable told the panel Pfizer's assurances on jobs, research and manufacturing had to be meaningful and binding or the government could take action.\"When we are talking to the companies about assurances, they have to understand that as a government we would under certain circumstances consider intervention,\" he said, though he added that doing this using public interest rules was \"quite tricky\" and would have to comply with European merger law.Pfizer has a tarnished reputation in Britain after shutting down most of its research in southern England where Viagra was invented, with the loss of some 1,700 jobs.Now it faces skepticism about its long-term commitment to AstraZeneca, though Read told the panel: \"I'm a man of my word.\"Pfizer has given a five-year commitment to complete AstraZeneca's new research centre in Cambridge, retain a factory in the northwestern English town of Macclesfield and put a fifth of its research staff in Britain if the deal goes ahead.Having pledged to keep a fifth of research jobs in Britain, Scottish-born Read said he could not commit to maintaining a specific R&D budget there.\"We'll be efficient by some reduction in jobs. What I cannot tell you is how much or how many or where. We'll look at this as our global combined footprint and then we'll make decisions,\" Read said.He told the panel he expected the combined research expenditure of the merged drugmaker would be lower than that of the two separate companies, noting one of the drivers of his proposed deal was to increase efficiency to keep both firms competitive in an increasingly tough marketplace.WRONG PRESCRIPTIONAllan Black, national officer for the GMB trade union, told the select committee: \"The lawyers we've consulted don't see any obvious mechanism to make a five-year commitment binding.\"Tony Burke, Assistant General Secretary of Unite, the UK's biggest trade union, said members were \"very, very concerned\" about Pfizer's record of cutting 65,000 jobs worldwide since 2005.AstraZeneca pushed out details on its new drug pipeline late Monday and early Tuesday morning, flagging good news on drugs for asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and diabetes to prove it can stand on its own.Unite ran an advertisement in the country's biggest free morning newspaper Metro on Tuesday, saying Pfizer was \"the wrong prescription for Britain.\"(With additional reporting by William James; Editing by Sophie Walker)","pubdate":"Tue, 13 May 2014 22:33:28 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Pfizer defends 'powerhouse' Astra deal as CEO braces for grilling","content":"\n\nLONDON (Reuters) - Pfizer defended the business case behind its plan to acquire AstraZeneca on Monday and questioned the UK drugmaker's ability to stand alone for much longer as the New York-based group's CEO prepared for a grilling from British lawmakers.\nAiming to douse questions about its commitments to British jobs, Pfizer also said its agreement to complete AstraZeneca's new research centrer in Cambridge, retain a factory in northwest England and put a fifth of its research staff in Britain if the deal goes ahead were legally binding.The comments are Pfizer's latest counter to critics of its proposed $106 billion deal, which would be the largest foreign takeover of a British firm and is opposed by many scientists and politicians - as well as AstraZeneca itself.With its bid now the subject of heated debate in Britain's Houses of Parliament and across the country's news channels, the U.S. drugmaker took a harder line on Monday, saying the merger would create \"a UK-based scientific powerhouse\".It also took a swipe at AstraZeneca's go-it-alone strategy by arguing that Britain's second biggest pharmaceuticals business lacked the financial muscle to make the most of its experimental medicines.\"Looming patent expiries and near term revenue losses jeopardize its ability to deliver on its very promising pipeline,\" Pfizer said in a written submission to a parliamentary committee.Pfizer's Scottish-born Chief Executive Ian Read faces tough questions from British lawmakers on Tuesday about his plans to acquire AstraZeneca - a deal driven in large part by Pfizer's wish to cut its tax bill.Lawmakers will also interrogate AstraZeneca's French CEO Pascal Soriot and business minister Vince Cable on Tuesday. Then a second parliamentary committee on May 14 will question both CEOs again, along with British science minister David Willetts, about the science aspects of the deal.In response to worries about safeguarding the British company's research, Pfizer's R&D head Mikael Dolsten posted a video on Pfizer's website saying he had been through five different mergers which did not disrupt drug research.\"If you keep your sense of curiosity and an open mind, you can learn tremendously,\" he said.\"We must stay laser-focused on our important projects. And that's, of course, true for Pfizer scientists and AZ scientists and will be true also if we can make a potential combination come together.\"Dolsten said there was \"a really great fit\" with the products that AstraZeneca had in its portfolio, with potential for combining drugs in areas such as lung cancer to offer much more effective treatments.There is considerable skepticism about Pfizer's long-term commitment to British jobs, given its record of cost cutting after past acquisitions and after it said it could adjust those promises if circumstances change \"significantly.\"But Pfizer said the fact it had made the promises as part of its offer made them legally binding and the pledges should be given \"full weight\".Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday he had made \"very good progress\" in securing guarantees from Pfizer, though the firm's latest statements contained no new offers.SWEETENED OFFER?Pfizer is widely expected to come back with a sweetened offer for AstraZeneca this week, though people familiar with the matter said it was likely to wait until after the parliamentary select committee hearings.The British group rejected a May 2 cash-and-stock offer worth 50 pounds a share from its larger American rival, and CEO Soriot has been on a roadshow to meet leading investors and lay out his strategy for a prosperous independent future.Soriot has secured the backing of several high-profile shareholders, but others have told Reuters they would like him to engage with Pfizer if the U.S. group makes an improved offer.In addition to wanting a higher price - many analysts think Pfizer will have to offer around 55 pounds a share - investors are also keen to increase the proportion of cash in any deal from 32 percent at present.Pfizer is limited in the amount of cash it can offer since in order to keep the tax advantages of re-domiciling to Britain it must ensure at least 20 percent of the enlarged group is British-owned.Under British takeover rules, Pfizer has until May 26 to make a firm bid for AstraZeneca or walk away.A slide in Pfizer's share price following its first-quarter results last week has reduced the current value of its May 2 offer to just under 48 pounds. AstraZeneca shares traded 0.3 percent higher at 46.15 pounds by 1115 GMT.Pfizer has a tarnished reputation in Britain after shutting down most of its drug research in Sandwich, southern England, where Viagra was invented, with the loss of some 1,700 jobs.(Editing by Sophie Walker)","pubdate":"Mon, 12 May 2014 16:52:03 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"UK research foundation concerned about Pfizer bid for AstraZeneca: FT","content":"\n\n(Reuters) - Wellcome Trust, Britain's biggest medical research foundation said it had \"major concerns\" about U.S. drug major Pfizer's (PFE.N) 63 billion pound offer for AstraZeneca (AZN.L), the Financial Times reported.\nIn a private letter to UK chancellor of Exchequer George Osborne, the trust raised doubts about Pfizer's commitment to investment in Britain and said AstraZeneca was critical to Britain's science base.\"Pfizer's past acquisitions of major pharmaceutical companies have led to a substantial reduction in R&D activity, which we are concerned could be replicated in this instance,\" Wellcome Trust Chairman Sir William Castell was quoted as saying by the British newspaper.Wellcome Trust became the latest in a series of vocal opponents to the potential merger, which would create the world's largest drugmaker.Pfizer is said to be considering raising its offer after AstraZeneca rejected its previous offer of $106 billion. The value of that cash-and-stock offer has since slipped because of a fall in Pfizer shares following weak quarterly results.The deal faces political scrutiny as pressure builds on Prime Minister David Cameron to protect Britain's jobs and research base should it go through.Wellcome Trust spends more than 750 million pounds a year on biomedical research, according to the FT. ($1 = 0.5899 British Pounds)(Reporting by Tasim Zahid in Bangalore; editing by Jane Baird)","pubdate":"Fri, 09 May 2014 01:21:39 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Molycorp slumps 17 percent to record low on bigger quarterly loss","content":"\n\n(Reuters) - Molycorp Inc (MCP.N) shares slumped 17 percent on Thursday in the wake of the U.S.-based rare earths producer's results a day earlier which showed a bigger first-quarter loss and production hiccups at a newly expanded processing plant in California.\nMarket concerns about the rate at which the Denver-area company was burning through cash and the possibility that it may have to tap the market for more funds later in the year sent the stock to an all-time low of $3.76 on the New York Stock Exchange.The company reported a net loss on Wednesday of $86.0 million as rare earth prices dropped, more than double its loss of $38.2 million a year earlier, and it produced less material than expected at its Mountain Pass facility in California.\"In one word, it is all about uncertainty... They were not able to really tell the market when Mountain Pass will be running at the levels - production and cost - that they need,\" said Luisa Morena, an analyst at Euro Pacific Canada.Molycorp has sunk $1.25 billion into modernizing and expanding the Mountain Pass facility. But production interruptions in the first quarter resulted in output being less than the company expected.The company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2010 at $13, and soared above $79 in May 2011 when rare earth prices were rallying.Prices of rare earths - an essential part of many high-tech products from smartphones to hybrid cars - have dropped since early 2011 as China, the world's main producer, eased export controls.It is \"pretty certain\" that Molycorp will try to raise funds in the market again, Morena said.\"They have some $1.3 billion in debt and they will have to restructure that next year or maybe later this year... if the market doesn't improve,\" she said.(Reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Editing by Bernadette Baum)","pubdate":"Thu, 08 May 2014 23:22:07 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"AMC Networks forecasts slower advertising growth","content":"\n\n(Reuters) - Cable TV broadcaster AMC Networks Inc (AMCX.O) said it expects slower advertising growth this quarter as its latest series, \"Turn\", draws fewer viewers than its older hits, sending its shares down nearly 18 percent.\nAMC also reported a first-quarter profit that missed analysts' estimates as it spent more on new programs to replace hit shows such as \"Breaking Bad\" and \"Mad Men\".The company's newest show \"Turn\" debuted in April with 2.1 million viewers, less than half of what its hit zombie show \"The Walking Dead\" started with. (r.reuters.com\/sap29v)\"It sounds like the costs will continue to be higher-than-expected in the second and third quarters, as they are replacing licensed shows with wholly owned shows,\" Evercore Partners analyst Alan Gould said.\"Turn\", which tells the story of four childhood friends who became spies during the American Revolutionary War in 1778, is facing stiff competition from HBO's hit series \"Game of Thrones\".\"The series is not doing that well. I think they'll have to write off that show,\" Albert Fried & Co LLC analyst Rich Tullo said.AMC has also lined up \"Halt & Catch Fire,\" a series set during the personal computer boom of the 1980s, for a June launch.The company's operating expenses soared 48 percent to $376.9 million in the quarter ended March 31, partly due to its purchase of Chellomedia \u2014 the former international content arm of Liberty Global Inc (LBTYA.O).Revenue jumped 37 percent to $524.6 million, beating the average analyst estimate of $507.5 million.Advertising revenue increased 27 percent as more people watched the fourth-season finale of \"The Walking Dead\".National networks revenue rose 20.7 percent to $448.7 million. Revenue from AMC's international networks category, which includes Chellomedia, rose seven-fold to $76.6 million.Net income rose to $71.4 million, or 98 cents per share, from $61.5 million, or 85 cents per share, a year earlier.Excluding items, the company earned $1.04 per share.Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.16 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I\/B\/E\/S.AMC shares were down 9 percent at $59.61 on the Nasdaq on Thursday afternoon after falling to $53.99 earlier in the day.Almost 4 million shares changed hands by 1320 ET, about five times the stock's 10-day moving average.(Reporting By Lehar Maan in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Simon Jennings)","pubdate":"Thu, 08 May 2014 23:06:16 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Cheetah Mobile shares rise about 13 percent in debut","content":"\n\n(Reuters) - Cheetah Mobile Inc's (CMCM.N) shares rose about 13 percent in their market debut, valuing the Chinese security software maker at about $2.2 billion, after its initial public offering was priced near the top end of the expected range.\nEarlier on Thursday, the company said its offering of 12 million American depositary shares (ADSs) was priced at $14 each, raising $168 million .Cheetah had said it expected its IPO to be priced between $12.50 and $14.50 per ADS.The Beijing-based company provides security and optimization software used both in smartphones and PCs. Its apps such as Clean Master and Battery Doctor are popular on Google Play.Cheetah's shares opened at $15.25 and touched a high of $15.89 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.The company is being spun out of software maker Kingsoft Corp Ltd (3888.HK), which will retain control with about 54 percent of Class B shares and 4.7 percent of Class A shares.Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK), currently China's largest listed internet company and owner of the mobile messaging app WeChat, is the second-biggest shareholder in Cheetah with an 18 percent stake.Cheetah's app Clean Master, which boosts memory in smartphones and protects users' data, had 237.3 million downloads and 72.9 million average daily active users in March, the company said.The company also makes an internet browser for mobile phones and PCs. The company's rivals include Qihoo 360 Technology Co (QIHU.N), another U.S.-listed Chinese company.Cheetah's revenue more than doubled in 2013, while its profit surged 530 percent. The company had net income of $3 million and revenue of $50.8 million in the quarter ended March 31.Net proceeds from the offering will be used for marketing and other corporate purposes, Cheetah said in the filing.Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Credit Suisse were among the underwriters for the IPO.Chinese companies are flocking to the U.S. market in their biggest numbers since 2010, encouraged by high investor demand for technology start-ups.Some 30 Chinese companies could list in the United States this year, according to investment bankers interviewed by Reuters.Listings by overseas companies accounted for 16 percent of the 68 U.S. IPOs this year as of March 18, raising $1.9 billion.Alibaba Group Holding Ltd IPO-ALIB.N filed for its hugely anticipated IPO on Tuesday. E-commerce company JD.com Inc IPO-JD.O is also likely to go public soon.Twitter-like messaging service Weibo Corp (WB.O) had a successful debut in April, with its shares soaring as much as 19 percent when they listed.(Reporting by Avik Das in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Kirti Pandey)","pubdate":"Thu, 08 May 2014 19:35:22 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"'Candy Crush' maker King serves up bittersweet results, shares fall","content":"\n\n(Reuters) - King Digital Entertainment Plc's stock plummeted more than 13 percent on Wednesday as signs that the company may be losing steam overshadowed better-than-expected quarterly results from the maker of hit mobile game \"Candy Crush Saga.\"\nKing, reporting for the first time since a disappointing initial public offering earlier this year, told analysts on a conference call that some players of King's two-year-old signature title were spending less money in the game as it matures.Candy Crush Saga accounted for two-thirds of the company's gross bookings in the first quarter, down from 78 percent in the previous quarter.Total gross bookings rose just 1 percent from the fourth quarter 2013. And though revenue from in-game purchases was up, monthly unique payers - gamers who actually spend money in King's titles - dropped to 11.9 million from 12.2 million in the previous quarter.Moreover, King's net profit of $127 million, was up from $53 million a year ago, but slipped 20 percent from $159 million in the previous quarter. On a call with analysts, executives said the company incurred expenses in marketing its new \"Farm Heroes Saga\" game in the first quarter.King's shares dropped to $16.25 in late afternoon trading. The stock has not approached its IPO price of $22.50 since it began trading in March.Arvind Bhatia, an analyst with Sterne Agee, said Candy Crush was fading sooner than expected. \"Other games made up for it ... if you are looking at it glass half full,\" he said.\"But if you are looking at the glass half empty, you'd say their core flagship is declining really fast,\" Bhatia said. \"All the pressure is on the new games and there's no guarantee they will be sustainably successful.\"If it fails to cultivate a suite of hits beyond its marquee title, King may be unable to dodge the fate of \"Farmville\" maker Zynga Inc and \"Angry Birds\" developer Rovio Corp, which are both struggling to retain players.\"What matters is if each quarter, the rate of growth of their other games offsets the rate of decline in Candy Crush and they are diversifying and they are no longer a one-hit wonder,\" Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said.DOWNHILL RACERSInvestors have long warned about the fickle nature of the mobile gaming industry, where titles can race to the top of app-downloads charts but go downhill just as quickly.\"You can have hits and once they start declining, they decline in a very fast spurt,\" Bhatia said.King plans to launch new titles in the second half of the year, including a version of Candy Crush for the Chinese market this summer. It will also release sequels to Candy Crush and its \"Bubble Witch Saga\" game.Farm Heroes Saga, which debuted on mobile devices in January, has quickly become one of the top-10 grossing games on Apple's and Google's app stores. But whether it continues to retain users, and King's new offerings are successful, remains to be seen.\"The decline of Candy Crush Saga will be more than offset by our new IP (games),\" King's Chief Executive Officer Riccardo Zacconi told analysts.London-based King's first-quarter revenue rose three-fold to $606.7 million from the year-ago period while net profit rose to $127.2 million, or 41 cents per share from $52.7 million, or 16 cents per share, a year earlier.Excluding items, King earned 61 cents per share. Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 59 cents per share on revenue of $601.5 million, according to Thomson Reuters I\/B\/E\/S.King's shares hit a low of $15.84 on April 15 on the New York Stock Exchange.(Reporting by Malathi Nayak in San Francisco and Lehar Maan in Bangalore; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Tom Brown)","pubdate":"Thu, 08 May 2014 01:32:56 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Fiat Chrysler shares tumble on strategic plan doubts","content":"\n\nMILAN\/PARIS (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler's FIA.MI shares fell sharply on Wednesday as analysts questioned whether the carmaker could achieve Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne's new targets - and how his ambitious expansion plan would be funded.\nTrading was briefly suspended after the shares tumbled more than 9 percent, before resuming their decline to close almost 12 percent lower at 7.48 euros, with investors still digesting Tuesday's strategy presentation in Detroit.Under the plan, outlined in 10 hours of analyst meetings, Marchionne pledged to multiply sales, raise profitability and slash debt by 2018, while investing 48 billion euros ($67 billion) in a global expansion led by the Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Maserati brands.\"These targets were almost unnecessarily bullish, leaving multiple execution challenges - even if they won't be tested for several years,\" said Citi analyst Philip Watkins.Quarterly earnings, also published late on Tuesday, were a \"major disappointment\" that served to underline the challenge, Watkins added in a note.Fiat Chrysler swung to a 319 million euro net loss in January-March from a 31 million profit a year earlier, missing expectations with a 622 million euro trading profit.The shares, which had risen 44 percent since Fiat announced a January 1 deal to take full control of Chrysler, opened late in Milan as a result of heavy trading volumes.\"The first quarter was a timely reminder of the risks associated with Fiat's plan,\" said Rabih Freiha of Exane BNP Paribas, citing North American pricing pressure that the brokerage expects to cause more trouble for Chrysler.The promise to cut debt to 1 billion euros from an expected 11 billion peak next year was \"one figure that we believe even the bulls will have trouble justifying\", Freiha added.Marchionne, who vowed to remain at the helm of the company for the duration of the five-year plan, said on Tuesday it represented a new start for a combined group that has benefited from a strong U.S. rebound while struggling through Europe's prolonged crisis.But the 61-year-old CEO conceded that the plan's success was not a certainty.Early results will soon become apparent and the company can \"put the brakes on the process if it doesn't work\", Marchionne said, adding that he was \"worried\" by the size of the debt.Other analysts suggested the group would have to raise new share capital, a move Marchionne had sought to rule out while leaving the door open to a mandatory convertible bond issue.\"Fiat's massive plan, and the necessary capital expenditure and R&D, simply do not look affordable or prudent,\" said Max Warburton of Bernstein Research.Calling its financial targets \"enormously optimistic\", Warburton said: \"Fiat would do everyone a favor, including its employees, management and shareholders, by raising capital.\"(Additional reporting by Bernie Woodall in Detroit and Lisa Jucca in Milan; Editing by Mark Potter and Pravin Char)","pubdate":"Wed, 07 May 2014 23:02:27 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"AstraZeneca takeover would benefit science: Pfizer","content":"\n\nLONDON (Reuters) - Pfizer (PFE.N) sought to allay fears that its proposed $106 billion takeover of AstraZeneca (AZN.L) would deal a blow to drug research, saying the new company would bolster innovative science and speed the development of new treatments.\nThe deal would be the largest foreign takeover of a British company and has raised fears that resulting cost cutting would see the loss of thousands of skilled jobs, undermining the UK's science base.AstraZeneca, Britain's second-largest drugs company, has rejected successive approaches from its larger American rival.As political opposition to the plan grew, Pfizer reiterated its commitment to the deal, posting a graphic on its website that touted the benefits of a merger.It said the combined group would be able to expand its global research, speed up the development of treatments and broaden its footprint in emerging markets.A combined Pfizer-AstraZeneca would be the world's largest pharmaceuticals business and save Pfizer billions of dollars in taxes by shifting its domicile to Britain, although it would still be run out of New York.In a mounting war of words, Pfizer quoted the former chairman and CEO of AstraZeneca rival GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L), Richard Sykes, saying the deal was a \"fantastic opportunity\" and \"Pfizer are serious and they've got a lot of money to spend\".But British Prime Minister David Cameron is facing growing pressure from lawmakers to secure promises about jobs, research and intellectual property. On Tuesday, Business Secretary Vince Cable said the government could use its public interest powers to intervene in the deal.On Tuesday, AstraZeneca laid out its defense strategy, touting its strong long-term growth potential as an independent company.\n        \n        (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; editing by Tom Pfeiffer)","pubdate":"Wed, 07 May 2014 21:26:02 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Insurer Allianz defends Pimco after investors take flight","content":"\n\nMUNICH (Reuters) - Europe's biggest insurer Allianz defended its U.S. asset management business Pimco on Wednesday as it came under fire for failing to stem the flow of heavy investor withdrawals.\nAllianz is under pressure from some shareholders to step up oversight of Pimco, the world's largest bond investor with nearly $2 trillion in assets, because of a run of poor returns and the departure of CEO Mohamed El-Erian amid a row with co-founder Bill Gross.But the insurer's chief executive said that investors needed to ignore short-term volatility and take a longer-term view, pointing out that Pimco had produced better returns than many of its competitors for large parts of the past 25 years.\"There is really no reason to rake us over the coals or to sense the end is at hand,\" Michael Diekmann told the insurer's annual shareholder meeting in Munich.Diekmann said customers had been supportive of the creation of a new team of six deputy chief investment officers to support Gross in the wake of El-Erian's departure.\"Responsibilities within Pimco have been redistributed and clearly regulated,\" Diekmann said. \"They now lie on more shoulders.\"Over the past year Pimco has seen investors pull $55 billion from its flagship bond fund, The Pimco Total Return Fund, which is overseen by Gross.Investors have also pulled almost $2 billion from Pimco's emerging markets debt funds during the first four months of this year as ill-timed investments in Russia, Brazil and Mexico hurt returns.In the face of investor defections, Allianz's third-party assets under management remained stable during the first quarter only because of market value increases.'HALO CRUMBLING'\"Pimco's halo is crumbling, and with it Allianz's share price,\" Union Investment portfolio manager Ingo Speich said at the AGM.Speich, whose company is Allianz's tenth-largest shareholder, according to Thomson Reuters data, pointed out that Allianz shares have underperformed both the STOXX Europe 600 insurance index and the German blue-chip DAX index by about 5 percent since the start of the year.\"What are you going to do to finally get Pimco out of the negative headlines? Are you going to get more involved at Newport Beach,\" Speich added, referring to Pimco's California base nearly 6,000 miles from Allianz's Munich headquarters.Three top shareholders told Reuters they want Allianz to rethink the six-person management structure put in place at Pimco after El-Erian's departure and provide greater detail on Pimco's long-term plan to broaden its focus beyond fixed income, among other things.Some shareholders think Gross, known on Wall Street as the Bond King, has been given too much freedom by Allianz, which bought the firm for $3.3 billion in 2000.Historically, Pimco's success has worked wonders for Allianz. In the past decade alone, Pimco's contribution to the German group's operating profit has climbed almost fourfold to 3.2 billion euros ($4.46 billion), representing a third of total core earnings. Allianz now sells nearly two thirds of its investment products to North American clients.Over the past year, however, Gross has shown signs of losing his touch. In a difficult year for bond markets, Gross's flagship Pimco Total Return Fund lost 1.9 percent in 2013, its first annual loss since 1999 and worst performance since 1994, according to Morningstar.Allianz has said little publicly until now about Pimco's performance or the internal disagreements at the fund manager.The insurer's head of investor relations, Oliver Schmidt, said in an interview published on Allianz's website that the company is working to address investor concerns about asset management and the fallout from rock-bottom interest rates.\"We are currently in the midst of extensive discussions with investors regarding both our investment and our product strategy,\" Schmidt said.Investors are also keen to hear plans about Allianz's own management, given that the contracts of six of its 11 board members - including Diekmann - are due to expire at the end of the year. Diekmann, who turns 60 in December, has not indicated whether he wants to continue in the job.Allianz has previously said that its supervisory board would look at the board positions in October, far too late for investors who fear the delay may add to uncertainty surrounding the business.(Editing by Carmel Crimmins and David Goodman)","pubdate":"Wed, 07 May 2014 15:58:53 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"HTC shares fall after guidance announcement","content":"Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.\n            NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.\n        ","pubdate":"Wed, 07 May 2014 06:36:50 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Shareholders set to grill Allianz management on Pimco","content":"\n\nMUNICH (Reuters) - Top Allianz (ALVG.DE) executives are set to face a grilling on Wednesday from shareholders worried about a wobbly performance at its Pimco fund management unit.\nEurope's biggest insurer has made a strong comeback from the financial crisis, boosting net profit by 15 percent to 6 billion euros ($8.3 billion) last year and raising its dividend by nearly one fifth to 5.30 euros per share.But shareholders, including some of Allianz's largest, told Reuters last month they were concerned about Pimco, the bond powerhouse whose reputation has been tarnished by a run of poor returns and the departure of CEO Mohamed El-Erian amid a row with co-founder Bill Gross.Over the last year, Pimco has seen investors pull $55 billion from its flagship bond fund, The Pimco Total Return Fund, which is overseen by Gross.RETHINKThree top shareholders told Reuters they wanted Allianz to rethink the six-person management structure that was put in place at Pimco after El-Erian's departure and provide greater detail on Pimco's long-term plan to broaden its focus beyond fixed income, among other things.Allianz has said little publicly about Pimco's performance or the internal disagreements at the fund manager.The insurer's head of investor relations, Oliver Schmidt, said in an interview published on Allianz's Internet site that the company was working to address investor concerns about asset management and the fallout from rock bottom interest rates.\"We are currently in the midst of extensive discussions with investors regarding both our investment and our product strategy,\" Schmidt said.Extensive discussions may not satisfy everyone, however.Fund manager Union Investment, Allianz's 10th-largest shareholder according to Thomson Reuters data, said it would make its concerns public at the shareholder meeting.\"The Allianz share is currently showing a clear Pimco discount,\" Union fund manager Ingo Speich told Reuters.Allianz's share price has underperformed the STOXX Europe 600 insurance index .SXIP by around 4.5 percent since the start of the year.Investors are also keen to hear plans about Allianz's own management structure, given that the contracts of six of Allianz's 11 board members -- including Chief Executive Michael Diekmann -- are due to expire at the end of the year.Diekmann, who turns 60 in December, has not tipped his hand whether he wants to continue in the job and if so, for how long.Allianz has previously said that its supervisory board would take up the issue of board positions in October, far too late for some investors, who fear it may add to uncertainty.(Reporting by Jonathan Gould, editing by Thomas Atkins and Susan Thomas)","pubdate":"Wed, 07 May 2014 04:35:44 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Twitter shares plumb new lows as stock lock-up expires","content":"\n\n(Reuters) - Shares of Twitter Inc sank 18 percent to a new low in frenzied trading on Tuesday, wiping out more than $4 billion of its market value, as early investors sold stock in the messaging service for the first time after a six-month \"lock-up\" expired.\nThe stock closed at $31.85 on the New York Stock Exchange, as losses deepened late in the session to the lowest since its debut on November 7 at $37. On a consolidated basis, more than 130 million shares changed hands - 10 times the daily average volume for the last 50 days.The lock-up agreement that expired this week applied to about 470 million shares, or 82 percent of Twitter's equity, held by insiders, venture capitalists and other investors. Twitter allowed one batch of shares to be sold in February, but that lockup governed only about 10 million shares, most of which were held by non-executive employees.\"The move is bigger than expected and is indicative of the negative investor sentiment towards Twitter right now,\" Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell told Reuters.Tuesday's reaction to Twitter's lock-up expiry was in sharp contrast to that of Facebook Inc in late 2012. Facebook shares jumped 13 percent on November 14 that year, when its lock-up expiry of roughly 800 million shares did not trigger an immediate wave of insider selling.Twitter's shares have been trading at all-time lows since April 29, when the company disclosed sagging usage metrics.Indeed, concerns about user growth and engagement levels have wiped out about half of Twitter's market value, more than $18 billion, since late December, even as it has hit revenue targets in the two quarters since it went public at $26 a share.The stock does not look cheap either, despite the declines. Before Tuesday's selloff, Twitter shares were trading at 323 times forward earnings per share, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine. Facebook trades at about 39 times.\"I am starting to think that sentiment might have got too negative, but I don't see anything that can turn this around in the near term,\" Cordwell said.The largest holder of Twitter shares, private equity firm Rizvi Traverse, had no intention of selling when the lockup expired, a spokesman for the firm said on Friday.Rizvi Traverse, which owns about 85.2 million Twitter shares, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.Lowercase Capital, which also holds a significant stake in Twitter, said Monday it had no intention of selling its shares.Twitter co-founders Jack Dorsey and Evan Williams and Chief Executive Dick Costolo said in April they did not plan to sell shares after the restrictions were lifted.Venture capital firm Benchmark, which holds a roughly 6 percent stake, has also said it would not sell its stake.But other major shareholders could see an opportunity to cash out, given that none of Twitter's insiders sold their shares during the initial public offering.Large shareholders include venture capital firms Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital. Spark declined to comment, while Union Square Ventures could not be immediately reached.Many tech companies have a lock-up clause to prevent holders from flooding the market as soon as the company goes public.(Additional reporting by Soham Chatterjee; Editing by Savio D'Souza, Ted Kerr, Bernadette Baum and Richard Chang)","pubdate":"Wed, 07 May 2014 03:00:52 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"AstraZeneca fights Pfizer bid by predicting sales surge - eventually","content":"\n\nLONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca Plc laid out its defense against Pfizer Inc's $106-billion takeover approach on Tuesday by predicting its sales would rise by three quarters over the next decade, although only after a short-term drop.\nWith promising new medicines expected to lift annual revenue above $45 billion by 2023, up from $25.7 billion in 2013, selling out to the U.S. group now would deprive investors of huge gains, it argued.\"The increasingly visible success of our independent strategy highlights the future prospects for our shareholders,\" said Chairman Leif Johansson. \"These are benefits that should fully accrue to AstraZeneca's shareholders.\"Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said plunging AstraZeneca into a disruptive merger would also jeopardize its ability to deliver on the new drug pipeline, which is expected to account for 30 percent of the 2023 sales total.Investors and analysts agree Britain's second-biggest drugmaker has an improving experimental portfolio in areas ranging from cancer to asthma, but they remain nervous about the uncertain commercial future of many products.AstraZeneca has rebuffed three approaches from Pfizer, which wants to create the world's biggest pharmaceuticals company - and cut its tax bill - by buying the group. It said on Friday that the U.S. firm's latest offer of 50 pounds a share \"substantially\" undervalued the company.The group has not ruled out a deal altogether, however, and people familiar with the matter said it was willing to talk if there were a compelling offer. Several large shareholders have told Reuters they would be open to a deal at a higher level.Shares in AstraZeneca were down 2.7 percent at 46.80 pounds at  11:10 am ET (1510 GMT).\n        \n        \"OVERLY OPTIMISTIC\"Sales are set to fall over the next three years as older medicines lose patent protection, slipping to $24.5 billion by 2016 and $23.6 billion in 2017, according to Thomson Reuters consensus analyst forecasts.AstraZeneca has previously said it disagrees with analysts and sees sales back up at last year's level by 2017. Now it is forecasting \"strong and consistent\" growth from 2017 to 2023, driven by new treatments for cancer, diabetes, heart disease and lung disorders.It also flagged up a possible therapy for Alzheimer's disease, a notoriously high-risk area for drug development.Growth in core earnings per share, which excludes certain items, is expected to exceed revenue growth during this period, it added.Jefferies analysts said the forecasts appeared \"overly optimistic\" but the detailed product breakdown might help raise the price and cash mix in any deal. In addition to a higher bid, AstraZeneca also insists there should be more cash than the 32 percent suggested by Pfizer, with the balance paid in shares.AstraZeneca launched its 10-year sales forecast defense salvo a day after Pfizer CEO Ian Read renewed his call for the British company's board to enter talks.Read insisted his offer was \"compelling\" and signaled he was now weighing all options, including a possible hostile bid or looking at other targets, though he stressed that buying AstraZeneca remained \"Plan A\".Pfizer's pursuit of AstraZeneca has created a political stir in Britain, with critics of the U.S. group's approach fearing that a takeover will lead to big cuts in drug research, despite assurances given by Pfizer to the government.Officials have said a deal would be a commercial matter for the two companies but business minister Vince Cable said Britain could use its powers to assess if a takeover was in the public interest, while lawmakers called on Pfizer's bosses to appear before parliament.CANCER FOCUSMost investor interest centers on AstraZeneca's experimental cancer medicines designed to boost the immune system. Such drugs promise to revolutionize treatment of many tumor types and would also complement Pfizer's line-up of oncology medicines.But AstraZeneca is lagging rivals such as Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, Merck & Co and Roche Holding AG in this field.\"This is a company that has made significant progress in moving its pipeline forward over the last 18 months,\" said Alistair Campbell, an analyst at Berenberg Bank. \"Is it enough on a fundamental basis to justify the current share price? Personally, I don't think so - at least not without the certainty you need in terms of knowing clinical trial outcomes.\"Among individual products, AstraZeneca said heart drug Brilinta had the potential to deliver annual sales of around $3.5 billion by 2023, with diabetes and respiratory medicines both adding about $8 billion apiece.In cancer it forecast potential peak sales of $6.5 billion for its experimental immunotherapy drug MEDI4736 - the product that has excited most interest from investors and analysts.AstraZeneca said last month it planned to push ahead with late-stage Phase III testing of MEDI4736, following evaluation of positive Phase I data that will be presented at an American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference on May 30-June 3.The detailed presentations on this and other experimental cancer medicines will be important for AstraZeneca and rivals, and could move its shares - but may be just too late for the Pfizer bid battle.Pfizer has a deadline of May 26 to make a firm offer or walk away under British \"put up or shut up\" takeover rules.\"They've got drug candidates in what look to be really exciting areas,\" said Dan Mahony, a fund manager at Polar Capital, who raised his stake in AstraZeneca last year. \"But it is not clear to us yet who, across the industry, has the best drug.\"(Additional reporting by Anjuli Davies; Editing by David Stamp and Will Waterman)","pubdate":"Tue, 06 May 2014 21:35:17 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"},{"title":"Lead underwriters start Candy Crush maker with \"buy\" ratings","content":"\n\n(Reuters) - The three lead underwriters of King Digital Entertainment Plc's IPO started coverage of the stock with \"buy\" ratings or the equivalent, two days ahead of the release of the \"Candy Crush Saga\" game maker's first results as a public company.\nKing Digital's shares rose 1.7 percent before the bell on Monday, at the expiry of a 40-day \"quiet period\" for underwriters to issue recommendations after the IPO.\"Candy Crush peaked in mid-2013, but we expect it to still have a long tail of monetization driven by updated content, increased distribution, and effective marketing,\" analysts at J.P. Morgan Securities said in a research report.The analysts have an \"overweight\" rating on the stock, with a target price of $30 compared with the IPO price of $22.50.King Digital's stock was trading at $17.85 before the bell.King Digital shares closed down 16 percent in their first day of trading on March 26, underscoring the concern of some investors that the company was too dependent on \"Candy Crush Saga\" for its revenue.Credit Suisse and BofA Merrill Lynch, the other lead underwriters to the IPO, also highlighted King Digital's strength in mobile gaming.\"Smartphones and tablets are the dominant modality of play for King's games, and with nearly one third of the consumer's time spent on mobile on games, the company is highly levered to the proliferation of connected devices,\" Credit Suisse analysts wrote.Credit Suisse has an \"outperform\" rating on the stock and a price target of $28.Analysts at BofA Merrill Lynch started coverage with a \"buy\" on the stock and a price target of $23.Apart from the underwriters, at least six other brokerages also began their coverage with top ratings. Cowen and Co put a price target of $31 on the shares.King Digital shares, which have not touched the IPO price since their debut, hit a low of $15.84 on April 15.(Reporting By Lehar Maan in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)","pubdate":"Mon, 05 May 2014 18:53:13 +0530","newspaper":"Reuters"}]}