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    Europe looks to China for bailout funds

    European officials responsible for the eurozone bailout fund commenced discussions on Friday with China to involve them in the EU rescue plan. The European Financial Stability is hoping the Chinese government will invest in a plan to help save EU member nations from their debt crises. The move comes after European leaders on Thursday clinched a new bailout deal with EU lenders to help tame Europe’s spreading debt issues. Klaus Regling, CEO of the European Financial Stability, has been holding consultations with the Chinese to decide on provisions for raising cash. China has in the past been a regular buyer of EFSF bonds. “I am optimistic ...
    On October 28, 2011 / By
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    Greece reaches 50 percent haircut deal with Europe

    Europe’s leaders on Thursday came to agreement on a deal with EU banks to write off half of Greece’s bonds in a plan to reduce the country’s heavy debt load. The agreement, which was reached at the summit in Brussels, will also include a new €130bn bailout package between the IMF and the EU. The combined action is believed to lower the nation’s GDP to 120 percent from the current 160 percent, EU president Herman Van Rompuy said. According to the statement the eurozone members would contribute up to €30bn to the Private Sector Involvement....
    On October 27, 2011 / By
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    High-growth economies drive euro appreciation

    The eurozone is experiencing the biggest challenge since its inception – it is currently at the worst point of the debt crisis that started two years ago. Contagion has already spread to Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus, Spain and Italy; and even France is starting to feel the pain. The crisis recently has also started to spread to the European credit institutions – which are getting a big hit on their bond portfolios – thus creating a need for further capital injections from a market that is already short of cash and reluctant to take further risk. The unwinding of fiscal imbalances, asset bubbles and over-leverage is a protracted, painful an...
    On October 26, 2011 / By
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    Peabody to lead bid as ArcelorMittal pulls out of $5.1bn bid

    ArcelorMittal, the globe’s biggest steel producer, late on Tuesday backed out of its Macarthur Coal joint $5.1bn purchase with Peabody Energy, according to the company. The group originally joined the deal, which will be the second largest coal takeover this year, to help advance its metallurgical coal supplies. The steel maker has now left partner Peabody Energy to pursue the takeover on its own, saying: “ArcelorMittal has determined that it would no longer be appropriate to allocate substantial capital to the acquisition of a non-controlling, minority business interest.” Peabody welcomed the news saying the deal will be fully accretiv...
    On October 26, 2011 / By
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    International buy-in for JCA programme, despite delays

    The origins of the Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) programme can be found in plans developed in the 1990s to replace our carrier-borne aircraft. The aircraft selected to meet the JCA requirement is the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The JSF is an exceptionally capable fifth generation, multi-role, supersonic, stealthy aircraft containing cutting-edge technologies. It is the largest single aviation programme in US history.JCA capabilities will enable the UK to contribute, from the outset of a campaign, to a variety of missions against a high-threat integrated air defence system. Having emerged from the same Lockheed Martin stable...
    On October 25, 2011 / By
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    UBS exceeds $1bn profit despite rogue trade loss

    UBS on Tuesday said 3Q11 profits fell 39 percent owing to the financial loss of around CHF1.8bn ($2.2bn) from an unauthorised trading incident in September. The bank’s net profit beat analysts’ predictions however, as a better than expected $1.13bn was announced due to a large accounting gain which offset the shortfall. Figures were down from the CHF1.66bn reported for the same period last year but were equal to results published in the second quarter of 2011. The lender said investigations into the loss were continuing. “Our financial, capital and funding positions remain solid and we believe the action we are taking now will strengthe...
    On October 25, 2011 / By
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    S Africa buys into “made in China” brand

    Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe finished a trip to China on Friday by praising how it had mobilised state-owned-enterprises (SOEs) to construct a global power. Pretoria should learn from Beijing’s example, he added. “Markets on their own cannot lead such fundamental change,” said Motlanthe, regarded as a leading candidate to be the next president of Africa’s biggest economy. “The state has to play a leading role in reshaping the economy so that it is better able to meet the needs of our people, particularly the working class, as well as the urban and the rural poor.” Beijing says its SOEs generate about 90 percent of all jobs, ...
    On October 25, 2011 / By
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    Citigroup to settle negligence charges

    Federal regulators late on Wednesday charged a unit of Citigroup with negligence after they found it had sold $1bn worth of financial products linked to the flagging 2007 housing market. The bank’s Global Markets division had misled investors when it failed to inform them that the $1bn investment was doomed for failure, the SEC said. Director of the SEC’s enforcement unit, Robert Khuzami, said: “Investors were not informed that Citigroup had decided to bet against them and had helped select the assets that determined who won or lost.” Following the ruling, Citigroup agreed to pay $285m to settle the claims. It steps into the footsteps...
    On October 20, 2011 / By
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    China’s GDP slows in Q3

    China’s economic growth slowed down in 3Q11 to 9.1 percent, down from 9.5 percent in 2Q11 and 9.7 percent in 1Q11, the national Bureau of Statistics of China announced Tuesday.   According to the statement fixed asset investments remained high for the first three quarters of the year with an increase of 24.9 percent. Investments in real estate were down 0.9 percent compared with the first half of 2011. A solid domestic investment offset the country’s export reduction, the bureau said.   The Chinese government said results were in line with plans to moderate growth to a more maintainable level after it rose to 10.3 percent last year....
    On October 18, 2011 / By
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    Philips to cut 4,500 jobs amid profit slump; Occupy Wall Street continues

    Dutch electronics group Philips on Monday announced that 4,500 jobs will have to be cut “inevitably” to help restore earnings after 3Q11 profits dropped to a two-year low, as demonstrators in London continued a sit-in at the London Stock Exchange. Net profit for the three months to the end of September decreased to €74m, down from €524 in 2010, while revenues declined 1.3 percent to €5.39bn. Plummeting profit were due to falling sales, losses at its TV joint venture, weaker demand for consumer products and an increase in raw material prices. The group is now taking steps to attain its 2013 mid-term financial targets which include a ...
    On October 17, 2011 / By