Spain drops airport sale plan in poor market
(MADRID) Spain will ditch a plan to privatise airports and come up with a new management model, the new Transport Minister Ana Pastor said.
NetJets widens Lufthansa ties for private US flights
(ATLANTA) NetJets Inc, the private-aircraft company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc, has deepened a partnership with Deutsche Lufthansa AG to offer private-jet service to 3,000 North American airports.
Orders rise at business jet maker Bombardier
(MONTREAL) Bombardier Inc’s airplane orders jumped 24 per cent as the company sold more business aircraft and its proposed CSeries jet met rising demand.
American to take US$713m writedown on jet values
(DALLAS) AMR Corp’s American Airlines will take a US$713 million non-cash charge to reduce the value of some Boeing Co 757 aircraft and related assets as the carrier reorganises in bankruptcy.
Aussie regulator files lawsuit against AirAsia
(SYDNEY) AirAsia was yesterday slapped with a lawsuit by Australian regulators accusing the Asian budget carrier of failing to disclose the full price of fares on its website.
China’s heir apparent to meet Obama
(BEIJING) President Barack Obama will host China’s likely next leader, Vice-President Xi Jinping, at the White House on Feb 14, in a visit set to boost Mr Xi’s credentials as the man who will steer Beijing’s close but quarrelsome ties with Washington.
China’s financing slowdown cuts systemic risk: Moody’s
(SYDNEY) China’s slowing non-bank financing growth will help the economy achieve a ‘soft landing’ and reduces concerns about systemic risk, Moody’s Investors Service said in its Weekly Credit Outlook on Monday.
Foreign investors waking up to risks in China firms
(SHANGHAI) Jack Ma, the chairman of the Chinese Internet giant Alibaba, surprised investors last May when he acknowledged that he had transferred the assets of the company’s online payment platform to a private company that he controlled.
S-chips not seen regaining favour in Dragon year
THE seemingly endless string of bad news from the S-chips cluster has hurt hopes of any potential re-rating of S-chips in the near term and investors trapped in the suspended counters of troubled S-chips would probably resolve to stay away from the cluster for the time being.
Trading in SIPs: all concerned have to raise their game
THERE appear to be rumblings of discontent within broking ranks with the new rules surrounding Specified Investment Products (SIPs) that came into effect on Jan 1.
Economists find holes in US economic data
(NEW YORK) A decline in unemployment and pick-up in manufacturing point to accelerating US growth but some economists say the numbers may not be as good as they look.
Doubts over efficacy of Europe’s austerity moves
(PARIS) With much of Europe embarked on a programme of budget-cutting and belt-tightening, doubts about whether more austerity is the answer to its economic troubles are popping up in the strangest places.
US consumers go online to shop for home loans
(NEW YORK) With US mortgage rates at historic lows and consumers’ power through social media at an all-time high, those looking to buy homes or refinance can find the combination advantageous if they go online to shop for a mortgage.
Downgrades of European credit a yawn
(LONDON) INVESTORS are pouring money into the government bonds of nations such as France and Austria even after the countries lost their AAA ratings at Standard & Poor’s.
Pimco targets European clients amid debt crisis
(MUNICH) Pacific Investment Management Co (Pimco), the asset manager owned by German insurer Allianz SE, plans to tap concern about the European debt crisis to lure more clients in the region.
Nordic banks may lose defensive edge
(STOCKHOLM) Swedish and Norwegian banks, among the few in Europe able to sell senior debt after avoiding toxic assets polluted by the euro crisis, may lose their edge over European peers as funding stresses abate.
Art fund targets investors with promise of 12% returns
(LONDON) Investors are being invited to join a European-based group that plans to buy about US$80 million worth of art and forecasts annual returns of 12 per cent.
US stocks trading at lowest level since ’08
(NEW YORK) Trading in US stocks has fallen to the lowest level since at least 2008 amid mutual fund withdrawals and Wall Street job cuts.
Wall St may be heeding contempt for CEOs’ bonuses
(NEW YORK) Wall Street may be starting to get it – ‘it’ being the post-crisis contempt over excessive bonuses for chief executives. In 2010, some banks unduly increased compensation for their bosses. The Goldman Sachs board, for one, doubled chief executive Lloyd Blankfein’s total pay even though the firm’s earnings, returns and stock price all fell. Based on the first few to release information about 2011, executive handouts are less out of whack.
RBI cuts cash reserve ratio, holds interest rates
(MUMBAI) India’s central bank left interest rates on hold yesterday but cut the cash reserve ratio for banks by 50 basis points, a move that eases tight liquidity in the banking system and underscores a policy shift from fighting inflation to reviving growth.
Indonesia’s tin industry reeling from low prices
(JAKARTA) When Johan ‘Jim’ Murod joined Indonesia’s tin rush some three years ago and began his family-run smelting business, prices of the industrial metal were about to go through the roof.
Jakarta responds to US appeal against ‘kretek’ ruling
(JAKARTA) The Indonesian government has responded to the United States’ appeal against a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel ruling that requires Washington to stop discriminating against kretek (clove-flavoured) cigarettes from Indonesia, an official was quoted by Antara news wire as saying yesterday.
Legoland M’sia targets a million visitors
(JOHOR BARU) Legoland Malaysia is projecting its nearly-completed theme park to attract a million visitors during its first year of operation.
Poor image slows down Nano
(NEW DELHI) When India’s Tata Motors launched the Nano in 2009, the concept of the ‘world’s cheapest car’ in one of the world’s fastest growing auto markets seemed pre-destined for commercial success.
Thailand may roll out record 2m cars this year
(BANGKOK) Thailand is expected to produce a record high two million vehicles this year, driven by a recovery in both domestic and external demand after supply disruptions in 2011 caused by serious flooding, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) said.
Google’s self-driving vehicles have a long and tortuous road ahead
(SANTA CLARA) Even as Google tests its small fleet of self-driving vehicles on California highways, legal scholars and government officials are warning that society has only begun wrestling with the changes that would be required in a system created a century ago to meet the challenge of horseless carriages.
Maruti Suzuki reports 64% slump in quarterly profit
(MUMBAI) India’s biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki on Monday reported a fall of nearly 64 per cent in quarterly profit as high fuel prices, strikes at a major factory and higher interest rates hit operations.
Charter rates plunge as Baltic ice shrinks
(LONDON) Oil tankers may plough through the smallest amount of Baltic Sea ice in almost three centuries this year, speeding up deliveries and driving charter rates to their lowest since at least 1997.
Dutch crews prepare to pump fuel out of wreck
(GIGLIO ISLAND) A Dutch company was set to begin pumping 2,380 tonnes of fuel out of an Italian cruise shipwreck yesterday as rescue workers kept up the search for 17 people still missing after the crash.
Magellan tests waters to expand Houston pipeline
(NEW YORK) Magellan Midstream Partners LP is testing the waters to see if there is enough shipping interest to expand the scope of a previously announced project to carry crude from West Texas oil fields to the refineries along the Gulf Coast’s refinery row.
A ‘Deepwater Horizon moment’
THE capsize of the Costa Concordia – with the loss of 15 lives and 17 people still missing – has continued to dominate the news over the past week.
Canadian rail company takes ex-CEO to court
(VANCOUVER) In another twist to a battle brewing in Canada’s usually staid rail sector, Canadian National Railway said on Monday it has halted pension and other payments worth nearly US$40 million to its former CEO Hunter Harrison.
Liquidity and momentum to keep equity ball rolling
IS THE first half of 2012 likely to be when the best money for the year is to be made? Or will the market live up to the widespread expectation among experts at the start of the year of a poor first half that would hopefully be followed by a better second six months?
Simply delighted about the Dragon Year ahead
Dr Tan See Leng, group CEO and managing director, Parkway Pantai Ltd, is more upbeat than most on the year just ushered in. He turns 48 this year.
Plenty of sales at Watertown over CNY break
THE Chinese New Year festivities did not dampen home-buying fervour at the Watertown project. About 215 residential units were sold at Watertown over the four-day Chinese New Year break, taking total sales in the 99-year leasehold project in Punggol to slightly over 500 units.
Citigroup’s Pandit takes centrestage
(LONDON) CITIGROUP Inc’s Vikram Pandit, leader of the US bank that took the most government aid in the financial crisis and that has the worst stock performance over the past decade, is ready for a starring role at Davos.
Why the experiment failed
THE EURO should now be recognised as an experiment that failed, says Martin Feldstein. This failure, which has come after just over a dozen years since the euro was introduced, in 1999, was not an accident or the result of bureaucratic mismanagement but rather the inevitable consequence of imposing a single currency on a very heterogeneous group of countries.
The euro on life support
BY the autumn of 2011, several European countries had debt-to-GDP ratios that were high enough to make default a serious possibility. Sharp writedowns in the value of their sovereign debts are not a feasible solution because they would do substantial damage to European banks and possibly to banks and other financial institutions in the United States.
Property sector may darken China’s cheery growth story
CHINA-WATCHERS sighed with relief when the year- end statistics were published last week as the surprises were mostly positive. But while many proclaimed that fears of a hard landing had vanished, the Year of the Dragon may still pack a bite.
Heads of SCDF, CNB removed from posts
(SINGAPORE) Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) Commissioner Peter Lim Sin Pang and Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) director Ng Boon Gay have been removed from their posts while the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) investigates allegations of ‘serious personal misconduct’.
The eurozone: still reasons to be fearful
(SINGAPORE) In town last week was Klaus Regling, CEO of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), which is the eurozone’s main bailout fund for troubled sovereign debtors.
Global financial system in danger zone: IMF
THE global financial system has moved ‘deeply into the danger zone’, the IMF warned in a report published last night while calling for the establishment of some kind of ‘gatekeeper’ mechanism to prevent panic deleveraging of assets by banks in Europe and elsewhere as they seek to shore up capital ratios.
The long and the short of it for LCCs
(SINGAPORE) The big news in recent days about AirAsia X’s decision to pull out of key long-haul routes like India, London-Gatwick and Paris will no doubt be closely followed by the folks at Scoot.
SBI ready to ride Indian business wave here
(SINGAPORE) It is important for a bank to focus on its customers and to offer them retail products that they can understand.
It’s high time we took decisive action: Japan PM
JAPAN’S Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda vowed yesterday to break with what he called the ‘politics that can’t decide’ and to confront squarely the issues facing the country.
Three-Minute Digest
CHINA-WATCHERS sighed with relief when the year-end statistics were published last week as the surprises were mostly positive.
Tokyo’s forex intervention makes more sense
A GROWING band of Japanese business leaders is urging Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s government to adopt a Swiss-style solution to the problem of the strong yen by fixing an exchange rate beyond which the nation’s currency will not be allowed to appreciate. The people involved include such figures as Carlos Ghosn, head of Nissan Motors, who has been joined recently by Shigetaka Komori, president of Fujifilm. They want to see the line drawn at around 90 yen to the US dollar (from 78, where it stands at present).
Are emerging markets in for big correction in 2012?
EMERGING markets have performed amazingly well over the last seven years. In many cases, they have far outperformed the advanced industrialised countries in terms of economic growth, debt-to-GDP ratios, countercyclical fiscal policy, and assessments by ratings agencies and financial markets.
Republican race gets wide open and more divisive
FORMER Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has lost his earlier designation as his party’s presumptive presidential nominee after his electoral defeat in the Republican presidential primary in South Carolina on Saturday.
Fortifying the S’pore gateway to Asia
SINGAPORE experienced a phenomenal economic recovery in 2010 after the 2009 global financial crisis. Now, just over a year later, it is riding on a tide of uncertainty as the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and the US economic woes may tip the world into recession this year.
Corruption still major issue in India elections
AS THE campaign for state assembly elections in five states – Uttar Pradesh (UP), Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Goa – heats up, corruption remains a major issue.
Brazil president protege to be first female Petrobras CEO
(RIO DE JANEIRO) State-run oil giant Petrobras announced on Monday that top executive Maria das Gracas Silva Foster, a protege of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, soon would take over as the company’s first female chief executive.
Leaning Tower of London? Big Ben tilting
(LONDON) The landmark clock tower containing Big Ben at Britain’s Palace of Westminster is tilting, while media reports on Monday said the mother of all parliaments was slipping into the River Thames, raising fears over its future.
RIM shares drop further as new CEO offers nothing new
(OTTAWA, Ontario) Thorsten Heins, the newly appointed chief executive of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, introduced himself to sceptical securities analysts on Monday, and shares of the company fell 8.5 per cent.
Predicting the future of Broadway
(NEW YORK) Leaders in entertainment, academics and marketing gathered on Monday to peer into their crystal balls and try to predict what Broadway will look like in 2032. Many agreed on at least one thing: Change is coming.
Action against Megaupload won’t pull plug on piracy
(SAN FRANCISCO) The crackdown on file-sharing site Megaupload is expected to do little to reduce overall piracy of music, software and Hollywood movies, while potentially stifling emerging means of distributing content online.
Studios, Internet firms seek deal after anti-piracy bill fails
(LOS ANGELES) The collapse of anti-piracy bills in Congress has left Hollywood studios searching for a compromise with Internet companies after an online protest by Google Inc and Wikipedia unravelled support for the legislation.
English assert identity as Scots eye separation
(LONDON) As Scotland moves towards a referendum on independence, English people are becoming energised about their own national identity – and increasingly bitter about the Scots, a report found on Monday.
Could the tide be turning for London’s plutocrats?
(LONDON) London’s super-rich, their numbers swelled by fat cats from China, Russia and the Middle East, are spending more on luxuries than before the financial crisis, but there are signs that some may be cutting back on the cream.
US, EU sever Iran’s key financial lifeline
(WASHINGTON) The United States and European Union (EU) took steps to cut off from the international financial system Bank Tejarat, the last institution financing high-volume exports and imports between Iran and Europe.
Private holders’ offer on Greek bonds rejected
(BRUSSELS) Eurozone finance ministers rejected as insufficient an offer made by private bondholders to help restructure Greece’s debts, sending negotiators back to the drawing board and raising the threat of Greek default.
Anglo Irish’s payment draws flak from public
(PARIS) Anglo Irish Bank is poised to pay more than 1 billion euros (S$1.7 billion) today to unsecured creditors, drawing criticism from Irish taxpayers who are paying the enormous bill for the country’s bank bailout.
FSA mulls bonus rules for hedge funds, private equity
(BRUSSELS) The UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) may set bonus rules specifically for hedge fund and private equity managers as it works to implement European Union (EU) regulations.
Finland wins opt-out from ESM provision
(BRUSSELS) Triple A-rated Finland secured on Monday an effective opt-out from future bailouts it disagrees with under a new eurozone rescue fund to enter force in July, Finnish and other diplomats said.
Greece names and shames alleged tax dodgers
(ATHENS) Debt-crippled Greece has named some 4,000 alleged tax dodgers, including a former media magnate and a prominent entertainer, with the worst offender owing the state nearly 1 billion euros (S$1.7 billion).
Talks to restructure Zabeel’s 6b dirham debt fizzle out
(DUBAI) Debt restructuring talks at Zabeel Investments, owned by the crown prince of Dubai, have ground to a halt with multiple loans in limbo and few assets available for sale, leaving banks facing steep haircuts, five people familiar with the matter said on Monday.
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