Blogs

Chairman, Kwara Investment and Property Develo-pment Company, Funso Sa'ad, yesterday said the company would witness a new dawn that would assist it to transform the state economy into prosperity.

Sa'ad, who spoke with THISDAY in Ilorin, yesterday, said the company would be repositioned, to make it a viable business empire that would generate revenue for the state's socio economic growth.

He said, "I have a mission and purpose, which is to turn around this company positively and add value than I met it, as this will go a long way to move the state forward."

He said the company would provide an enabling environment for industrial and commercial growth, whereby investors would have the opportunity to develop the state, adding that there would be opportunity to develop small scale businesses, acquisition and development of properties among others, so as to accelerate the socio-economic development of the state.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his nation is open to foreign investment and won't get involved in the iron-ore market.

``We are a vast country and dependent on capital inflows,'' Rudd told reporters in Brussels today in response to a question about overseas interest in Australian miners. ``We are open to foreign investment.''

Aluminum Corp. of China, which jointly holds a 9 percent stake in Rio Tinto Group with Alcoa Inc., is in talks with its partner to consider raising the holding, Xiao Yaqing, chairman of the Beijing-based company known as Chinalco, said last month. A stake increase may make it more difficult for BHP Billiton Ltd. to succeed in its $133 billion takeover offer for Rio, the world's third-largest mining company.

Rudd also said the Australian government wouldn't get involved in the spot market for iron ore beyond regulation.

``There is a place where governments have a proper place and that can be described as a regulation of the markets,'' he said.

Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board will assess foreign bids for Australian companies on their ``merits,'' Rudd said Feb. 18, a day after Treasurer Wayne Swan released new guidelines for overseas sovereign funds looking to invest in local assets.

Russia's lower house of Parliament backed new restrictions on foreign investment Wednesday, limiting access to strategic sectors like oil and gas, aerospace and mass media.

The legislation - which widens the Russian security services' power in business transactions - has raised concern among foreign investors.

The State Duma passed the bill in its final reading by a vote of 384 to 55, sending it on to the upper house, the Federation Council. It then goes to the Kremlin for the president's signature.

The legislation stipulates that any private foreign company seeking to buy more than 50 percent of a company in one of 42 "strategic" sectors will need authorization. A commission made up of Russian economic and security officials would review such deals.

Foreign state-controlled companies will need to obtain the same permission if they plan to acquire more than 25-percent of a Russian company on the list.

The list includes major industrial sectors that have long been either state-controlled or closely tied to state interests: aviation, mining, arms production and defense-related industries, as well as fishing, TV and radio broadcasting, and wide-circulation newspapers.

Also affected are telecommunications companies with a "dominant position," radio and television companies that broadcast to at least half of the population of a region, and publications with a circulation of more than 1 million.

That would include Svyazinvest, the massive telecommunications holding company that unites seven regional fixed-line operators and the national long distance operator.

Also included are "mineral deposits of federal importance." That means fields with at least 70 million tons of crude oil, 50 billion cubic meters of gas, 50 tons of gold or 500,000 tons of copper.

Foreign investment in Russia, including loans and portfolio inflow, more than doubled to $120.9 billion last year, official statistics show.

source

The oil arm of Russia's state-controlled natural gas monopoly says it plans investments of more than US$10 billion (€650 million) by the end of the decade.

The oil company, OAO Gazprom Neft, says the plan represents includes investments for this year that are 36 percent higher than a year ago. In all, the company is to invest some 267 billion rubles ($US11.2 billion, €728 billion) through 2010.

Gazprom Neft is Russia's fifth-biggest oil producer. Last year its output was more than 650,000 barrels a day. Company officials have said the aim to nearly triple that output by 2020.

China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is investing 2.12 billion yuan (about 298.6 million U.S. dollars) in education this year, 67.9 percent higher than 2007, an official said on Tuesday.

    The increase is the highest in history, a local official said.

    The investment will mainly be in compulsory education. About 650 million yuan was invested before the current semester and 770 million yuan more was earmarked to support compulsory education, according to the official.

    Inner Mongolia will realize free compulsory education in both urban and rural areas this year, said Yang Jing, Inner Mongolia chairman, in a regional government work report.

    Free compulsory education schoolbooks will be provided to all students in rural and pasturing areas. Tuition fees will be abolished in urban areas starting this autumn, Yang said.

    According to the local official, subsidies will increase and 2.6 million middle and elementary school students will benefit.

    Vocational and higher education are also included in the plan. About 87.5 million yuan and 320 million yuan, respectively, will be invested for subsidies, teacher training, and key research projects.

    About 3.8 billion yuan has been invested into education in Inner Mongolia since 1993. About five million square meters of schools have been built or rebuilt and more than 84,700 teachers were trained between 1998 and 2006, according to the local government.

ATHENS, Mar. 11, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- Shares closed sharply higher, lifted by Wall Street's higher opening, with blue chips led up by Marfin Investment Group.

The ASE general index closed 1.5 pct higher at 3,987.6 and blue chips rose 2 pct to 2,055.3. Mid caps grew 1 pct to 4,839.5 and small caps slid 0.4 pct to 882.7.

Advancers outnumbered decliners 160 to 99 and 63 were unchanged in solid trade of roughly 486 mln eur.

Marfin Investment Group led blue-chip gainers throughout the session and jumped 10.3 pct to 4.26, after recently being oversold. Sentiment surrounding shares improved after it announced several acquisitions last week.

National Bank of Greece (NYSE:NBG) closed 1.4 pct higher at 36.16 eur after it confirmed it has placed a bid for Banque du Caire.

Cosmetics and goods wholesaler Sarantis dropped 3.9 pct to 11.1 eur after it said that full-year net profits grew 40 pct year on year to 31.92 mln eur, boosted by its developed markets sales and a one-off gain.

Alt telecom and ISP provider Forthnet rose 1.5 pct to 7.7 eur. It said it submitted a binding offer for NetMed NV for an unspecified amount.

Metals and engineering company Mytilineos gained 2.8 pct to 9.54 eur and continued its upward trend after its coverage was initiated with a buy rating last week by Deutsche Bank. (NYSE:DB)

Luxury goods retailer Folli Follie ended 0.5 pct lower at 18.8 eur ahead of its full-year results announcement scheduled for tomorrow. Its full-year group net profit is expected to grow 8.4 pct year on year to 70.7 mln eur.

Source: Euro2day.gr Newswire
Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.

NEW YORK — Shares of investment banks jumped in early trading on Tuesday, after the Federal Reserve revealed plans to inject $200 billion in cash into a troubled economy that has been rocked by turmoil in the subprime mortgage and credit markets.

By pumping liquidity into the market, the Fed's new lending initiative provides a confidence boost to banks and other financial institutions that have been reluctant to lend to one another.

Under the terms of the program, the Term Securities Lending Facility will give short-term loans to primary dealers, or big investment firms that trade directly with the Fed. In return, they will pledge other securities, including federal agency debt, federal agency residential-mortgage-backed securities, as collateral.

Shares of Bear Stearns Cos. gained $3.16, or 5.2 percent, to $65.47 in morning trading. On Monday, the stock hit a new 52-week low on speculation that the company was having funding problems. Bear Stearns denied the rumors, saying its balance sheet, liquidity and capital remain strong.

The Amex Securities Broker/Dealer index, which is comprised of 12 investment banks, is down about 22 percent since the start of the year. The index surged 4 percent in morning trading Tuesday.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. rose $7, or 4.5 percent, to $162.59

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. advanced $2.95, or 6.9 percent, to $45.99

Morgan Stanley gained $2.47, or 6.5 percent, to $40.84

Merrill Lynch & Co. jumped $1.50, or 3.7 percent, to $44.45

Citigroup Inc. rose $1, or 5.1 percent, to $20.69

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is comfortable with capital levels at the five largest U.S. investment banks, including Bear Stearns Cos.

The recent gyrations of the stock market, which have pulled prices down by nearly 25 per cent from their all-time highs in January, can no longer be seen in isolation from the real economy. The role of capital markets, after all, is to both channelise funds into new investment and serve as a barometer of the future, guiding businesses about the potential pay-offs from their investments. The first function clearly seems to have been impeded, primarily in the form of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) being withdrawn, thereby reducing the funds available for companies to expand their businesses. It is too early to tell whether the steep decline in stock prices will induce a large number of companies into postponing, or even shelving, investment projects. It might well have. However, there are also factors outside the market that are playing a role, and some of these may counteract the impact of adverse market movements.

The most important of these is the gradual improvement in the investment climate when it comes to the infrastructure sectors. The power sector has at last arrived at a regime in which large-scale investments in generation make commercial sense, enough to attract two of the largest players in the private sector, the Tata group and the Reliance ADAG group. While some of the more important requirements of the Electricity Act of 2003 are yet to be met, the ultra mega power plants have been provided adequate safeguards by being allowed to contract with multiple states to supply power. More large plants, efficiently located and sized, will surely follow. Two new airports are on the verge of inauguration, while the Mumbai and Delhi facilities are the scenes of massive expansions in capacity in every aspect of their operations. Urban mass transport systems, new or complementary to existing ones, are coming up in a number of cities. The highway programme has had its hiccups, but gets more ambitious with each new phase. Compared to just a few years ago, the quantum of funds pouring into infrastructure across the country has grown explosively.

The second driver of investment activity is the significant up-trend in commodity prices. Natural resource-based industries have not had it so good for quite a while and, with prospects of sustained increases in demand from the fast-growing economies in the region, including India, massive investments at various levels of scale are being executed. The larger of these are undoubtedly having trouble on account of environmental and social issues, but smaller projects are less constrained by these factors and are making progress.

Counter-acting these drivers is the cyclical downturn, partly manifested in the movements of the market but also visible in the growth performance of several industrial sectors. The downturn itself may be the result of producers in many sectors deciding that enough capacity has been created for the moment and that it is time to take a break. So, investment activity will moderate for a while, aided and abetted by market volatility. However, the generally optimistic medium-term outlook should keep that hiatus relatively short; no business would want to be caught napping when the cycle does turn. Overall, the outlook for investment activity seems quite positive, with structural change offsetting the turn in the cycle.

Vietnam's Finance Ministry has raised the cap on foreign ownership in unlisted public companies to 40% from the current 30% to boost foreign investment in the local market.

According to local press, finance minister Vu Van Ninh also said in a statement on Saturday on the government website that the ministry would not impose a previously planned income tax on stock investors this year.

And last week the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) took what it billed as "urgent" measures to support the stockmarket after recent declines and announced an unprecedented plan to buy back shares. It posted a message on its website saying it was: "urgently identifying a list of investment portfolios, size and methods of the investment in compliance with the government's directive for implementation".

The statement said the move was subject to final government approval and its website would be updated with information.

Together these measures are clearly designed to attract new investors and restore confidence among existing ones—after all, the nation is struggling with double-digit inflation and the local stockmarket has lost more than a third of its value this year after a rollercoaster ride last year.

Vietnam defines unlisted public companies as those with a registered capital of more than Vnd10 billion ($624,000) and that have more than 100 investors.

This means that foreigners will soon be able to buy a greater percentage of shares in more than 1,000 Vietnamese companies. There are currently 150 companies listed on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange and 130 companies on the official over-the-counter market in Hanoi, and the State Securities Commission is managing trade in shares of 850 unlisted public companies.

Foreign ownership is estimated to account for 25% of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange's total market capitalisation of $18 billion, according to the SSC. In terms of what stocks foreigners buy—they can now own up to 49% of the shares in non-bank listed companies and 30% in banks.

As a result, the market on Monday recorded another day of gains with both the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange and the Hanoi stock exchange rising by 2.8% and 3.3% to 658 and 233 respectively. However, one trader pointed out that unlike the last couple of trading days, not all stocks rose or hit the upside limit and some actually fell or were unchanged. Many analysts reckon that once the rally loses steam, stock selection will become more important as good companies at reasonable valuation would outperform average companies at high multiples.

One trader pointed out that the increase is a minor acceleration of Vietnam's WTO undertakings (100% foreign ownership by 2009 except some specific sectors) and what it means for OTC stocks is that foreign buying will increase for those counters where the ceiling of 30% has been reached. He added that it may not, however, have a significant impact on the market as intended because OTC trades are not publicly visible unlike those on the two centers where the indices reflect investor sentiments with volume/value and foreign/domestic participation.

Domestic retail investors, who dominate trading, have bailed out of the Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi stockmarkets in the past month as inflation hit 15.7% in February, the highest in 12 years.