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Deutsche Boerse, Celesio, Sartorius: German Equity Preview

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/deutsche-boerse-celesio-sartorius-german-equity-preview.html

The following is a list of companies whose shares may have unusual price changes in Germany. Stock symbols are in parentheses and share prices are from the previous close. Germany’s benchmark DAX index rose 0.2 percent to 7,039.31. Celesio AG (CLS1) (CLS1 GY): Haniel & Cie. GmbH Chief Executive Officer Juergen Kluge said Celesio needs to improve its core business as a drug wholesaler, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported, citing an interview. Haniel, which owns a majority stake in Celesio, won’t be able to finance “continuing” acquisitions of the Stuttgart-based company, the newspaper cited Kluge as saying. The shares fell 0.9 percent to 16.36 euros. Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1) (DB1 GY): The exchange operator said it remains committed to its merger agreement with NYSE Euronext. The shares lost 0.2 percent to 52.76 euros. Sartorius AG (SRT GY): The German maker of laboratory scales and filtering equipment posted a first-quarter unadjusted consolidated net profit after minority interests of 10.1 million euros. The shares rose 1.6 percent to 31.80 euros. To contact the reporter on this story: Oliver Suess in Munich at osuess@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Frank Connelly at fconnelly@bloomberg.net Edward Evans at eevans3@bloomberg.net

Sberbank to Lead Bond Organization on Troika Merger, Gref Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/sberbank-to-lead-bond-organization-on-troika-merger-gref-says.html

OAO Sberbank Chief Executive Officer German Gref comments on the ruble rate and the Russian lender’s integration with Troika Dialog after it bought the broker in March. Gref gave an interview in Moscow on April 15. On acquisition of Troika: “Obviously there have been some issues, nothing major, but we can’t be expected to have foreseen every little issue. In general, I would say that everything is going according to plan. The main thing is that we didn’t make an error with the quality of assets, of the human capital. I think our understanding of each other has improved further. The main thing is that we are very close in our philosophy and values, which is very important. We have virtually no disagreements. You rarely see such deals.” On Sberbank as organizer of ruble bond sales after merger: “I think we shall become the absolute leader on this market. Both of us have very decent DCM teams and uniting their efforts and spirits I think will eventually yield a very good result.” On ruble bonds versus dollar debt: “You know the ruble’s appreciation trend is always under a question mark. No one can say whether it will be a long-term trend. Everything depends on the oil price. Though it’s also an interesting time to raise funds in foreign currencies, including the dollar. The rates are interesting, the ruble rates are very interesting. Foreign currency rates are extremely low if you start hedging.”

Dow Shuts Plaquemine Hydrocarbon Cracker After Upset

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/dow-shuts-plaquemine-hydrocarbon-cracker-after-process-upset-.html

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) , the largest U.S. chemical maker, shut the light hydrocarbon cracker 3 after a “process upset” at its Plaquemine plant in Louisiana, said Gregory Baldwin, a company spokesman. The cracker was safely shut down and there were no injuries, Baldwin, who is based at company headquarters in Midland, Michigan , said today in an e-mail. It was taken offline after a process upset April 16. A restart date is being assessed, according to Baldwin. A cracker split oil products like naphtha and liquefied petroleum gases through pressure and heat. Outages can increase prices for ethylene and propylene as companies turn to spot markets to help them meet supply contracts. The company shut an ethylene plant at Plaquemine for over two weeks on Feb. 16 to make repairs, Baldwin said at the time. Plaquemine is 94 miles (151 kilometers) northwest of New Orleans. To contact the reporter on this story: Leela Landress in Houston at llandress@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Richard Stubbe at rstubbe1@bloomberg.net

Telefonica O2 Buys Smaller Internet Provider, Lidovky Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/telefonica-o2-buys-smaller-internet-provider-lidovky-says.html

Telefonica O2 Czech Republic AS (SPTT) is buying smaller Internet connection providers to gain clients, expand its optical-fiber network and eliminate competitors that offer cheaper rates, Lidove Noviny reported. Telefonica bought Losan Internet for 100 million to 130 million koruna ($5.9 million to $7.6 million), the newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information. To contact the reporter on this story: Lenka Ponikelska in Prague lponikelska1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: James M. Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net

China Money Rate Surges on Speculation PBOC to Drain More Cash

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/china-money-rate-surges-on-speculation-pboc-to-drain-more-cash.html

China ’s money-market rate rose to the highest level in almost three weeks on speculation demand for cash will jump as the central bank steps up efforts to drain capital from the financial system. The rapid accumulation of China’s foreign-exchange reserves is putting pressure on the central bank as it seeks to reduce liquidity, People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said late yesterday. The monetary authority sold 55 billion yuan ($8.4 billion) of one-year bills and 32 billion yuan of 28-day repurchase agreements , two days after raising banks’ reserve- requirement ratios for the fourth time this year. “The market speculates the central bank will drain more capital because the strengthening yuan is attracting more capital inflows,” said Liu Junyu, a Shenzhen-based bond analyst at China Merchants Bank Co., the nation’s sixth-largest lender. “It’s probably not going to withdraw cash through open-market operations this week because the reserve-ratio hike will mop up 360 billion yuan of capital.” The seven-day repurchase rate, which measures interbank funding availability, gained 27 basis points to 2.97 percent as of 10:45 a.m. in Shanghai , according to a weighted average rate compiled by the National Interbank Funding Center. That was the highest level since March 30. China’s foreign-currency holdings jumped $197 billion in the first quarter, the second-biggest amount on record, even as the nation posted its first quarterly trade deficit in seven years. The central bank issued the one-year bills at a yield of 3.3058 percent, unchanged for a second week. A total of 191 billion yuan of central bank bills and repurchase agreements will be redeemed this week, according to China Merchants’ Liu. One-year interest-rate swaps, the fixed cost needed to receive the floating seven-day repurchase rate, were little changed at 3.38 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The yield on the 3.90 percent government bond due August 2014 gained one basis point to 3.27 percent, according to the Interbank Funding Center. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. -- Judy Chen. Editors: Andrew Janes, Sandy Hendry To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Judy Chen in Shanghai at +86-21-6104-3043 or xchen45@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry at shendry@bloomberg.net .

Billups Ruled Out of Knicks Playoff Game Against Celtics With Knee Injury

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/billups-ruled-out-of-knicks-playoff-game-against-celtics-with-knee-injury.html

Chauncey Billups won’t play for the New York Knicks against the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association playoffs tonight because of a strained left knee. The point guard, 34, said he’ll have a scan on the injury tomorrow as a precaution. Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni announced Billups’s absence shortly before the start of Game 2. Billups was injured with less than a minute remaining in Boston’s 87-85 win two days ago in the first game in the best-of-seven series. D’Antoni said he didn’t know if Billups will be ready for Game 3 on April 22 at New York’s Madison Square Garden. To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Gloster in San Francisco at rgloster@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net

El-Erian Says S&P Negative Outlook One of ‘Unthinkable Things' to Happen

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/el-erian-says-s-p-negative-outlook-one-of-unthinkable-things-to-happen.html

The Standard & Poor’s change yesterday in its outlook for the U.S. AAA credit rating to negative is one of the “unthinkable” things that have happened, said Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer at Pacific Investment Management Co., in a radio interview on “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dennis Fitzgerald at dfitzgerald5@bloomberg.net

Colombia Stocks: Conconcreto, Bolsa de Valores, Canacol Energy

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/colombia-stocks-conconcreto-bolsa-de-valores-canacol-energy.html

The following companies are having unusual price changes in Bogota trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and prices are as of 11:44 a.m. New York time. The IGBC Index fell 0.2 percent to 13,908.29, while the Colcap Index dropped 0.4 percent to 1,647.72. Colombian construction company Conconcreto SA (CONCONC CB) rose 2.8 percent to 1,470 pesos, after inaugurating its Alcaravan commercial plaza in Bogota yesterday, said Camilo Rubiano, an analyst at brokerage Afin SA. Bolsa de Valores de Colombia (BVC) SA, the operator of the country’s main securities exchange, rose 0.3 percent to 39.8 pesos. Colombia ’s securities regulatory agency, Superintendencia Financiera, yesterday approved the issue of 100 million shares by Grupo Odinsa SA (ODINSA CB), the Bogota-based engineering and construction company. Canacol Energy Ltd. (CNE) , the Calgary-based oil company that operates fields in South America , fell 1.3 percent to 2,330 pesos on delayed results of the company’s drilling at its Apoteri K-2 exploration well in Guyana, said Santiago Melo, an analyst at Alianza Valores SA. To contact the reporter on this story: Blake Schmidt in Bogota at bschmidt16@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net

Hungarian Wages Rise Less Than Economists Forecast in February

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/hungarian-wages-rise-less-than-economists-forecast-in-february.html

Hungarian wages rose at a slower annual pace in February than economists forecast. The average monthly gross wage climbed 4.8 percent to 202,654 forint ($1,076), the biggest increase since March 2010, the Budapest-based statistics office said in a statement today. The median estimate of 10 analysts in a Bloomberg survey was for wage growth of 5.1 percent. Public wages rose 4.6 percent after dropping 12.5 percent in January while salaries at private companies increased 4.3 percent. Regular private wages excluding bonuses, one of the central bank’s most closely watched indicators for determining inflation expectations, rose an annual 3 percent in February. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Zoltan Simon at zsimon@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Willy Morris at wmorris@bloomberg.net

Sprint Talks With Startups About Network Space Rental, WSJ Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/sprint-talks-with-startups-about-network-space-rental-wsj-says.html

Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) is talking with LightSquared Inc. and Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) about renting them space on its wireless networks, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mike Millard at mmillard2@bloomberg.net

U.S. Bancorp First-Quarter EPS Ex-Gain 50c, Est. 49c

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/u-s-bancorp-posts-50-cents-first-quarter-eps-before-gain-above-estimates.html

U.S. Bancorp, the fifth-biggest U.S. commercial bank by deposits, had first-quarter profit of 50 cents a share before a gain. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated profit of 49 cents on average. To contact the editor responsible for this story: JoAnne Norton at jnorton@bloomberg.net

U.A.E. Arrests Pro-Democracy Activist Al-Shehhi, Lawyer Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/u-a-e-arrests-pro-democracy-activist-al-shehhi-lawyer-says.html

United Arab Emirates police arrested a fourth pro-democracy activist who called for constitutional changes, a lawyer and fellow campaigner said. Abdullah bin Qious Al-Shehhi, 55, was detained in the northern emirate of Ras Al Khaimah on April 15 after police raided his home and confiscated documents and laptop computers , Mohammed al-Mansouri said yesterday in a telephone interview. Al-Shehhi is a former army officer and head of the media section at the Emirates Heritage Club. Al-Shehhi signed an online petition that calls for elections for members of the Federal National Council, which advises the government, and for an expansion of the body’s legislative and regulatory powers. A government committee now picks half the council’s members and the rulers of the U.A.E. seven emirates choose the rest. The spokesman for the U.A.E federal government declined to comment. Khater Massaad, an adviser to the ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, said he had no knowledge of the case. Bloomberg News was unable to reach Sheikh Talib bin Saqr Al Qassimi, chief of the Ras Al Khaimah police, for comment. While the U.A.E. has been spared in the wave of protests taking place across the Arab world this year, the government has taken measures to appease its citizens. It said March 2 that it would allocate 5.7 billion dirhams ($1.6 billion) to fund water and infrastructure projects in the country’s northern emirates, which have traditionally lagged behind the rapid development of others such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Three other activists, including Nasser bin Ghaith, an economics professor at the Abu Dhabi branch of France ’s Sorbonne University, have been arrested since April 8, according al- Mansouri and fellow lawyer and activist Abdulhamid al-Kumaity. To contact the reporter on this story: Vivian Salama in Abu Dhabi at vsalama@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net .

China Resources Power Outlook Revised to Negative at S&P

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/china-resources-power-outlook-revised-to-negative-at-s-p-1-.html

China Resources Power Holdings Co., the Hong Kong-listed mainland electricity producer, had its outlook revised to negative by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, which cited rising fuel costs. All the company’s ratings were affirmed, including the BBB corporate credit rating and the BBB- senior unsecured issue rating, S&P said in a statement today. The power producer was put on CreditWatch with negative implications on March 21. “Soaring coal prices plus delayed adjustments of electricity tariffs have negated the company’s efforts to improve operating efficiency and control costs,” S&P said. China’s current policy focus on curbing inflation makes it uncertain when and by how much state-capped electricity prices may be adjusted, putting China Resources Power’s financial profile under pressure over the next 12 months, S&P said. The ratings company expects a price increase in or before 2012. The government raised the price of electricity that grid operators pay power plants in 16 provinces to help generators cope with rising fuel costs, state media including Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday. The increase was the first since November 2009. Average benchmark prices for power-station coal for immediate delivery at Qinhuangdao, China’s largest port for the fuel, rose 25 percent last year. China Resources Power’s fuel bill increased 21 percent last year, according to its 2010 earnings statement. The power producer posted a 7.8 percent drop in profit last year. Fuel accounted for 72 percent of its operating expenses. The shares fell 15 percent in Hong Kong trading in the past year, compared with the 9.9 percent gain in the benchmark Hang Seng Index. (HSI) China Resources Power dropped 1.3 percent today to close at HK$13.84. -- Wang Ying. Editors: Ryan Woo, Paul Gordon. To contact the reporter on this story: Ying Wang in Beijing at ywang30@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amit Prakash at aprakash1@bloomberg.net .

PNB Bank And UCO Bank CDs Deals:Indian Money Market

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/pnb-bank-and-uco-bank-cds-deals-indian-money-market.html

Following is a table showing certificate of deposits dealt by Indian companies.The data has been provided by Trust Financial Consultancy Services,SPA Securities Ltd. And NVS Brokerage Ltd. Generated by Bloomberg Publisher WEB Service Provider ID: 0d903c7869474a40a8f9607a78440fe9 -0- Apr/19/2011 13:18 GMT

Hungarian Shares Rebound After Biggest Decline in Five Months

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/hungarian-shares-rebound-after-biggest-decline-in-five-months.html

Hungarian shares rebounded from their biggest retreat in five months after global markets dropped yesterday as Standard & Poor’s revised the U.S. government’s long-term credit-rating outlook to negative. The benchmark BUX index added 1.4 percent to 23,600.7 by the 5 p.m. close in Budapest. It fell 3.8 percent yesterday, the most since Nov. 10. OTP Bank Nyrt., Hungary ’s largest lender, gained 2.3 percent to 6,080 forint. The forint strengthened 0.8 percent to 265.82 per euro. S&P cited concern the White House and Congress will fail to reach agreement on cutting medium- and long-term debt, threatening the country’s top AAA rating. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index of equities, which fell 1.7 percent yesterday as investors pared holdings of risky assets, rose 0.4 percent today. “The general view is that the rating downgrade can be avoided, a deal will be struck,” Zoltan Reczey, an analyst at Buda-Cash Brokerhaz Zrt. in Budapest, said in a telephone interview today. “The negative reaction from the markets was natural but it only generated a temporary deterioration in sentiment. There is a rebound from yesterday’s panic.” Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said in a Bloomberg Television interview today he’s confident U.S. political leaders will bridge their differences and move toward a long-term plan to narrow record budget deficits and reduce the debt. U.S. stocks rebounded from the biggest drop in a month today as results beat analysts’ estimates at companies from Johnson & Johnson to Burberry Group Plc. To contact the reporter on this story: Andras Gergely in Budapest at agergely@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Zoltan Simon at zsimon@bloomberg.net

Gold Rises to Record $1,498.90 an Ounce as Weakening Dollar Stokes Demand

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/gold-rises-to-record-1-498-90-an-ounce-as-weakening-dollar-stokes-demand.html

Gold was little changed in New York after climbing to a record on demand for an alternative to the U.S. dollar. Gold earlier today reached an all-time high of $1,498.90 an ounce following Standard & Poor’s revision yesterday of its long-term rating of U.S. debt , to negative from stable. The precious metal has gained 31 percent in the past year, partly on Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis. “There certainly has always been that lingering concern over U.S. debt and the S&P people are finally identifying the threat,” said Stephen Platt, an analyst at Archer Financial in Chicago. “The world is awash in liquidity. Gold’s slow, grinding action upward shows the deterioration in the dollar, excess liquidity and deficit problems are still in force.” Gold futures for June delivery rose 50 cents to $1,493.40 an ounce at 9:45 a.m. on the Comex in New York. Bullion for immediate delivery fell $2.85 cents to $1,492.45 in London, after rising to a record $1,498.07. To contact the reporter on this story: Pham-Duy Nguyen in Seattle at pnguyen@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net .

SPAIN DAYBOOK: Enagas Posts First-Quarter Earnings; Yield Climbs

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/spain-daybook-enagas-posts-first-quarter-earnings-yield-climbs.html

Enagas (ENG) SA, the operator of Spain’s natural-gas grid, reports first-quarter earnings. WHAT TO WATCH: ECONOMY: *Finance Minister Elena Salgado will be interviewed at 8.30 a.m. CET on Cadena Ser radio. *The extra yield investors demand to hold Spanish 10-year bond instead of German equivalents surged to 230 basis points, the most since January, on increasing expectations Greece may be forced to restructure its debt. POLITICS: *Carme Chacon, Spain’s defense minister, will appear in Congress to seek approval for an extension of its authorization of the deployment of Spanish units in military operations to enforce an air exclusion zone in Libya. EQUITIES: *Enagas reports first-quarter earnings. * Metrovacesa SA (MVC) , Spain’s third-largest property company, got approval from the High Court of Justice in England and Wales for a scheme of arrangement on a loan refinancing with most creditors, the company said in a regulatory filing. MARKETS: *The IBEX 35 Index (IBEX) dropped 2 percent to 10,344.9. *The spread between Spanish and German 10-year borrowing costs widened to 230.6. To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Manuel Baigorri at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at acullen8@bloomberg.net

Japan, Australia Stock Futures Rise as U.S. Housing Starts Gain

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/japan-australia-stock-futures-rise-as-u-s-housing-starts-gain.html

Japanese and Australian stock futures advanced after U.S. housing starts increased and earnings beat estimates at companies including Johnson & Johnson, signaling the world’s biggest economy is recovering. American depositary receipts of Canon Inc. (7751) , the world’s biggest camera maker, rose 0.7 percent from the closing share price yesterday in Tokyo. Those of Advantest, Japan’s largest maker of chip-testing equipment, gained 0.9 percent after Intel Corp. forecast quarterly sales that may top estimates. ADRs of Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL) , Australia’s No. 2 oil producer, climbed 0.5 percent in Sydney as crude prices gained. Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average expiring in June closed at 9,495 in Chicago yesterday, compared with 9,440 in Osaka, Japan. They were bid in the pre-market at 9,500 in Osaka at 8:05 a.m. local time. Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.7 percent today. “You’re seeing signs the U.S. and Europe are still on track for recovery,” said Hiroichi Nishi , an equities manager in Tokyo at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. “That’s helped to ease nerves.” Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 1.1 percent today. In New York, the index advanced 0.6 percent yesterday after the Commerce Department said housing starts increased 7.2 percent in March from the previous month. Work began on 549,000 homes, exceeding the 520,000 median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Results Top Estimates Companies in the U.S. and Europe also reported results that beat projections, helping boost confidence in the global recovery. Intel Corp. (INTC) , the biggest chipmaker, forecast second- quarter sales that may top analysts’ estimates as demand for processors for high-powered machines that handle Web services overcame slower personal computer growth. Johnson & Johnson, the world’s second-biggest seller of health products, forecast full-year earnings $4.90 to $5 a share, better than an outlook for $4.80 to $4.90 in January, boosted by new drugs. Japan’s currency also weakened, giving a relief to the country’s exporters. The yen depreciated to as low as 118.44 against the euro today in Tokyo, compared with 117.24 at the close of stock trading yesterday on speculation the European Central Bank will raise interest rates further. Against the dollar, Japan’s currency weakened to 82.76 last night from 82.44. Commodity producers were boosted by higher crude and metal prices. Crude oil for May delivery gained $1.03 to settle at 108.15 a barrel yesterday in New York. The London Metal Exchange Index of six metals including copper and aluminum increased 1 percent, the biggest gain in almost two weeks. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 2.5 percent this year through yesterday, compared with gains of 4.4 percent by the S&P 500 and drops of 0.5 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at 12.9 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 13.5 times for the S&P 500 and 11 times for the Stoxx 600. To contact the reporters on this story: Norie Kuboyama in Tokyo at nkuboyama@bloomberg.net ; Satoshi Kawano in Tokyo at skawano1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net .

Zain Saudi First-Quarter Loss Narrows to 532 Million Riyals

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/zain-saudi-first-quarter-loss-narrows-to-532-million-riyals-1-.html

Zain Saudi Arabia , a unit of Kuwait ’s Mobile Telecommunications Co., said its first-quarter loss narrowed as the kingdom’s third-largest phone company by market value attracted customers with new services. The loss fell to 532 million riyals ($141.9 million), or 0.38 riyal per share, from 662 million riyals, or 0.47 riyal, a year earlier, the Riyadh-based company said in a statement on the Saudi bourse website today. First-quarter revenue rose 36 percent to 1.48 billion riyals. Saudi telecom companies, including Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) , are competing for mobile-phone and Internet customers with advertising campaigns and pricing promotions. Mobile-phone users rose 15 percent to 51.6 million by the end of 2010 from a year earlier and Internet users increased 11 percent to 11.4 million, the Saudi Communication and Information Technology Commission said on its Web site. The quarterly loss narrowed “due to the success of the company in expanding its customer base by offering new services,” Chief Executive Officer Saad al-Barrak said in the statement. Zain Saudi Arabia’s share price declined 11 percent during the first quarter. The share price closed unchanged at 6.95 riyals yesterday in Riyadh. $600 Million Refinancing Zain Saudi Arabia said on April 12 it signed an accord with a group of banks on refinancing $600 million of debt. The two- year Shariah-compliant transaction was arranged by banks including Arab National Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi and Bahrain- based Gulf International Bank, the company said in a statement to the Saudi bourse. Zain Saudi’s net debt rose to 14.68 billion riyals by the end of last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Zain signed an agreement with Bahrain Telecommunications Co. and Kingdom Holding Co. (KINGDOM) on April 6 to sell a 25 percent stake in Zain Saudi Arabia. Saudi Telecom is the largest mobile phone operating in the kingdom. To contact the reporter on this story: Glen Carey in Riyadh at gcarey8@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net

Vodafone May Consider IPO of Indian Joint Venture After 2011, Colao Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/vodafone-may-consider-india-share-sale-similar-to-south-africa.html

Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) Chief Executive Officer Vittorio Colao said the world’s biggest mobile-phone operator may consider an initial public offering of its Indian venture, similar to that of the South African unit. The listing would only be considered after 2011 and after disputes with partner Essar Group and the Indian tax authorities are resolved, Colao said in an interview with Bloomberg UTV in Mumbai yesterday. The listing also depends on local demand for data offerings, he said. After these matters are settled, “we should consider at some point whether a listing of the company is an option,” he said. “If there’s a good story from a data perspective, and from a regulatory perspective, I’d be likely to look at it.” Vodafone, based in Newbury, England , last month said it will buy an additional 33 percent stake in Vodafone Essar Ltd. for $5 billion from Essar, raising its stake in India’s third- largest mobile-phone operator to 75 percent. “I would think markets would take a listing positively, Vodafone is a very respected player,” said Apurva Shah, head of research at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. in Mumbai. “In India, the outlook on the mobile companies is turning somewhat positive,” he said. “Institutional interest is certainly there for mobile companies at this point.” Local Rules Listing shares may help Vodafone to comply with local rules. The deal with Essar will increase Vodafone’s direct equity stake in the venture to 75 percent, while India doesn’t allow foreign companies to own more than 74 percent in a local mobile-phone operator. “One of the possibilities for us is to do what we have done in South Africa ,” Colao said. Vodafone listed its South African unit in 2009. The business, called Vodacom Group Ltd., is the largest provider of wireless services in South Africa. Vodacom “maintains its independence, but we have local individual shareholders, and all the benefits of belonging to the Vodafone Group ,” the CEO said. “South Africa is one of the countries where data is growing the most. So, there are some similarities here.” Another option in India is to turn to smaller local partners, Colao said. “The short-term option is to use more our Indian partners that we have here, or to find other Indian partners that want to be part of the adventure.” Indian ‘Jewel’ The Indian wireless market is forecast by Stamford, Connecticut-based Gartner Inc. to exceed 993 million users by the end of 2014. India was one of the “jewels” in the three months through December, Colao said in February. Vodafone bought a 67 percent stake in Hutchison Essar for $10.7 billion in 2007. Vodafone’s outlook for India soured a year after its entry, when six new national licenses were awarded. Vodafone is challenging a tax bill for the acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (13) ’s local unit, the country’s largest cross-border deal. India is seeking 112 billion rupees ($2.5 billion) on Vodafone’s purchase and the company was ordered to set aside 25 billion rupees as a deposit. “We trust the objectivity and the fairness of the supreme court,” Colao said. “We are buyers, not sellers of an asset, and no buyer in the world can make a capital gain for an asset that is bought,” he said. “If the Indian tax authorities want to go after a certain transaction, please at least go get the guys who made the money, not the guys who are investing in the country,” Colao said. To contact the reporter on this story: Ketaki Gokhale in Mumbai at kgokhale@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net

Bulgari, Fiat, Popolare Milano and Saipem: Italian Stock-Market Preview

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/bulgari-fiat-popolare-milano-saipem-italian-equity-preview.html

The following companies may be active in Italian trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and share prices are from the previous close. Italy’s benchmark FTSE MIB Index (FTSEMIB) 65.23, or 0.3 percent, to 21,249.9 in Milan. Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl (PMI) : The country’s oldest cooperative bank agreed to sell an 81 percent stake in Bipiemme Vita SpA to Covea for 243 million euros ($348 million). The bank plans to raise as much as 1.2 billion euros ($1.7 billion) by selling new shares after the Bank of Italy asked the country’s oldest cooperative bank to strengthen capital levels. Gruppo Banca Leonardo downgraded the shares to “sell” from “underweight,” while Deutsche Bank AG cut its rating to “hold” from “buy.” The stock fell 0.1 percent to 2.53 euros. Bulgari SpA (BUL) : First-quarter sales rose 27.5 percent at current exchange rates to 253.8 million euros. The stock advanced 0.1 percent to 12.27 euros. Buzzi Unicem SpA (BZU) : Italy’s second-biggest cement maker was upgraded to “hold” from “sell” at Citigroup Inc. Buzzi and Holcim Ltd remains Citigroup’s least preferred stocks in the European industry. The shares rose 0.5 percent to 9.47 euros. Fiat SpA (F) : The carmaker plans to report first-quarter results. Fiat said after Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne met with labor leaders today in Turin that a legal challenge by the FIOM union may impact the so-called Fabbrica Italia investment plan for its plants in Italy. The shares gained 1.8 percent to 6.29 euros. Prysmian SpA (PRY) : UniCredit is placing 7.4 percent of Prysmian shares on behalf of Flint Investment BV. UniCredit is selling the shares at 14.85 euros to 15.15 euros, terms of the deal obtained by Bloomberg News show. The shares added 0.3 percent to 15.33 euros. Saipem SpA (SPM) : Europe’s largest oil-field services contractor by market value plans to report first-quarter results. The stock climbed 0.2 percent to 36.86 euros. Telecom Italia SpA (TIT) : Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc downgraded Italy’s biggest phone company to “hold” from “buy.” The shares dropped 2.3 percent to 97.25 euro cents. To contact the reporters on this story: Marco Bertacche in Milan at mbertacche@bloomberg.net. Francesca Cinelli in Milan at fcinelli@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at acullen8@bloomberg.net Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net

Indonesian Millionaire Uno Sees More Buyouts as 3i Seeks Deal

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/indonesian-millionaire-uno-sees-more-buyouts-as-3i-seeks-deal.html

Sandiaga Uno, co-founder of one of Indonesia ’s three biggest private-equity firms, said asset sales by companies with diverse units will lead to more buyouts. “It’s not easy finding a deal in Indonesia, but I’m predicting that there will be more buyout opportunities going forward,” Uno, co-founder of Jakarta-based Saratoga Capital, said in an interview in Singapore. “Conglomerates are selling non-core assets.” There were only two private-equity transactions worth a combined $1.2 billion in Indonesia last year, about 12 percent of the amount invested in China , according to the Hong Kong- based Centre for Asia Private Equity Research Ltd. The world’s fourth-most populous nation is attracting more interest from buyout firms including the U.K.’s CVC Capital Partners Ltd. and London-based 3i Group Plc (III) as China’s and India ’s demand for Indonesia’s resources boosts raw-material prices. “We have spent the last 12 months looking at Indonesia in a serious and focused way,” said Mark Thornton, 3i’s head of Southeast Asia. “There’s a lot of talk about the private-equity opportunity in Indonesia. Still, the number of completed deals is relatively small.” 3i, which is focusing on consumer companies, hopes to make an investment in Indonesia this year and expects the number of deals in the country to double, he said. Consumer confidence has been buoyed by political stability under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono not seen since the ouster of former dictator Suharto in 1998. CVC CVC agreed last month to invest in PT First Media, a Jakarta-based cable-television and Internet company. This was the second investment by the buyout fund in the Lippo Group, which owns property, media and retail assets, following CVC’s purchase of the retail unit of PT Matahari Putra Prima in 2010. Indonesia’s larger family businesses are also competing with the funds “to provide capital for the most interesting transactions,” said Dennis Barsky, Singapore-based partner at the law firm Jones Day , whose clients include private-equity funds investing in Asia. The holding company for several listed units of Bakrie Group, a palm oil-to-property empire controlled by Indonesian billionaire politician Aburizal Bakrie and his brothers, said in December 2009 that it planned to start new funds aimed at foreign investors. “The local players have a significant advantage because of their on the ground presence, the connections that they’ve developed over long periods of time, their ability to conduct effective due diligence, understanding the nuances of the market and how things are being done there,” Barsky said. More Deals Saratago, which has made about $1 billion of investments in Indonesia since it was set up in 1998, expects to “close two to three deals” this year, said Uno. The 41-year-old, who founded Saratoga with Edwin Soeryadjaya, the 13th richest man on Forbes’s Indonesia list , said last year the firm plans to raise $300 million for a new fund. Uno has a net worth of $795 million, according to the magazine. Northstar Pacific Partners, TPG’s Indonesian partner, and Quvat Management Pte, run by a former executive of Farallon Capital Management LLC’s Indonesian affiliate, are also raising their third private-equity funds to invest in the country. “We will not compete on price basis because there’s no way we can add value in the process,” Uno said. “We will focus more on our strength, which is finding investments through our network and relationships through proprietary deal origination and sourcing.” Energy Industries Saratoga, which owns almost 20 percent of PT Adaro Energy, Indonesia’s second-largest coal producer, plans to focus on natural resources and the industries that support it, such as mining services companies, Uno said. “For coal mines, the valuations are already very high,” he said. “The Chinese and Indians have dominated this space and it’s going to be very hard for financial investors to compete with them.” Saratoga will also invest in infrastructure companies and those that will benefit from growing consumption in Indonesia, Uno said. Saratoga listed PT Tower Bersama Infrastructure, a Jakarta-based telecommunication tower operator, in October. More than 7 million people jumped from the low-income bracket to the middle class each year since 2003, Uno said, citing the World Bank. Yudhoyono is targeting annual growth of 6.6 percent on average through the remainder of his term ending in 2014. To contact the reporter on this story: Netty Ismail in Singapore nismail3@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andreea Papuc at apapuc1@bloomberg.net

Serb Opposition Leader on Hunger Strike Accepts Medical Help

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Tomislav Nikolic, the Serbian Progressive Party leader who has been on hunger strike for three days to appeal for early elections, accepted medical help today. “I am not suicidal and I have not decided to step out of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Treat my strike as a fast,” Nikolic told reporters from his hospital bed, adding that the church has not understood “correctly” the motives for his strike. The Serbian Patriarch said yesterday that food-and-water strikes were non-Christian and called on Nikolic to end it. Nikolic, who wants elections to be held on Dec. 18, is the former deputy leader of nationalist Serbian Radical Party, whose leader Vojislav Seselj is standing trial at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Serbia is trying to become an European Union candidate by the end of the year and get a date for the start of membership talks. The ruling Democratic Party of President Boris Tadic wants elections once this goal has been achieved. Elections in Serbia are due in March 2012. To contact the reporter on this story: Gordana Filipovic in Belgrade at Gfilipovic@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James M. Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net

United Business Media Says It May Relocate Tax Base to U.K.

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United Business Media Ltd. (UBM) , the publisher of InformationWeek, said it may relocate back to the U.K. later this year following government proposals to cut Britain’s corporate tax rate. “We are considering later in the year moving back to the U.K.,” Chief Financial Officer Robert Gray said in a conference call today. U.K. Chancellor George Osborne last month indicated in the 2011 budget that he would speed up a cut in the corporate tax rate and plans to amend the tax on the overseas profit of U.K. companies. WPP Plc, the world’s largest advertising company, said last month it was also considering a move back to Britain from Ireland. Both WPP and UBM moved their tax base from Britain in 2008. UBM, the owner of PR Newswire, said it will meet its full- year forecasts because of strong growth from its acquisitions and events business. Revenue for the three months ended March 31 rose 14 percent to 237.7 million pounds ($385.9 million) from 209.1 million pounds a year earlier, the Dublin-based company said in a statement. Adjusted operating profit grew 18.8 percent to 44.6 million pounds. UBM said it acquired two Indian events businesses and sold print titles in France , the U.K. and the U.S. in the first quarter. ‘Continued Momentum’ “Overall, we anticipate continued growth in profit largely driven by a full year of contribution from our acquisitions and continued momentum in our Events business,” David Levin, chief executive officer, said in the statement. Revenue in the events business rose 34 percent to 84.1 million pounds. Net debt was 459 million pounds as at March 31. “Events business goes from strength to strength, offsetting investment and disposals across other areas of the business,” Patrick Yau, an analyst with Peel Hunt LLP said in a note to investors today. Yau recommends buying the stock. UBM shares added 3.1 percent to 590.5 pence at the 4:30 p.m. close in London , giving the company a market value of 1.44 billion pounds. The stock lost 14 percent in value so far this year. To contact the reporter on this story: Renee Lawrence in London at rlawrence7@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Colin Keatinge at ckeatinge@bloomberg.net

European Coal Derivatives Fall 0.8%, Dropping for Second Day

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Benchmark European coal derivatives fell for a second day. Coal for delivery to Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Antwerp with settlement next year dropped $1.05, or 0.8 percent, to $128.20 a metric ton by 10:53 a.m. in London. The data are drawn from information supplied by ICAP Plc, GFI Group Inc. (GFIG) , Spectron Group Ltd., Credit Suisse Group AG, IHS McCloskey, Bloomberg, Tradition Financial Services and Tullett Prebon Plc. To contact the reporter on this story: Alistair Holloway in London at aholloway1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

Spanish Finance Minister Salgado Pledges ‘Another Quarter of Reforms’

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/spain-s-finance-minister-pledges-another-quarter-of-reforms-.html

Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado pledged to push ahead with “another quarter of reforms” as the government seeks to win the confidence of investors. “We have improved a lot in terms of the perception of the markets in recent months during which we have carried out big reforms,” Salgado said in an interview with Cadena Ser radio station today in Madrid. “This quarter will also be a quarter for reforms.” The euro had its steepest decline in almost four months yesterday and Greek and Portuguese bonds tumbled on speculation Greece may default, sending risk premiums for Spanish debt soaring. The “fundamentals” of the Spanish economy are unchanged from last week and the government will press ahead with cutting the deficit and forcing struggling lenders to bolster capital, said Salgado. The spread between Spanish and German 10-year borrowing costs narrowed to 228.5 basis points from 230.6 basis points yesterday. The spread soared from 175 basis points a week ago after comments by German officials speculating that Greece may run out of alternatives to restructuring and the outcome of a Finnish election underscored the risk that political opposition to the European Union’s rescue of Portugal may grow. “We are on the path toward correcting these imbalances and we have to keep on doing reforms, reducing our public deficit and restructuring our financial system,” Salgado told Ser. “In the end, it’s the fundamentals of the economy that the markets judge.” To contact the reporter on this story: Charles Penty in Madrid at cpenty@bloomberg.net ; Manuel Baigorri at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Frank Connelly at fconnelly@bloomberg.net

J&J's Penalty on Risperdal Marketing Violations Postponed by State Judge

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/j-j-judge-defers-ruling-on-risperdal-penalty-in-south-carolina.html

A South Carolina judge today deferred a decision on the penalties he will impose on a Johnson & Johnson unit for violating consumer-protection laws in a case in which the attorney general seeks billions of dollars. Circuit Judge Roger Couch ended a two-day hearing by saying Attorney General Alan Wilson and lawyers for J&J’s Ortho-McNeil- Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit had two more weeks to file written arguments. Jurors ruled March 22 that Janssen sent doctors a misleading letter in 2003 on the safety and effectiveness of its antipsychotic drug Risperdal. The panel also said the letter and the drug’s package label violated the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act. “I obviously have received a great deal of information,” Couch said in the Court of Common Pleas in Spartanburg. “I’ll report to you once I have my findings.” Lawyers for New Brunswick , New Jersey-based Janssen urged Couch to impose minimal damages. They said the letter sent to 7,194 doctors in South Carolina wasn’t untrue, and that no company had ever faced “substantial penalty” for a package insert approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “The question is whether anybody was hurt,” Janssen lawyer Edward Posner argued today to the judge. “There’s no evidence that anybody was deceived, or that a doctor, patient or the state was harmed by the violation.” $5,000 Per Violation An attorney for South Carolina, Donald Coggins, urged the judge to impose the maximum penalty of $5,000 for each of thousands of violations. Those violations, the state argues, include as many as 722,000 Risperdal prescriptions written, 183,144 calls on doctors by Janssen sales representatives, and 496,565 sample boxes distributed. “It is the public policy of the state of South Carolina that we don’t want companies coming in and engaging in unfair and deceptive trade practices,” he said. “For that law to have any teeth, the court needs to impose penalties that are significant and substantial. To do less, would not only make a mockery of this proceeding, it allow this behemoth to laugh at us.” Risperdal’s global sales peaked at $4.5 billion in 2007 and declined after the company lost patent protection. It generated $3.4 billion in sales in 2008, or 5.4 percent of J&J’s total sales, according to company filings. Sales of the drug fell to $527 million last year, according to a January earnings report. Risperdal Consta, the long-acting version of the antipsychotic drug, generated $1.5 billion in sales last year for Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) , officials said this month. Third State Trial The case is the third of about 10 state lawsuits to be considered by jurors over J&J’s Risperdal marketing campaigns. In June, J&J won dismissal of Pennsylvania ’s suit alleging the company hid the drug’s diabetes risk and tricked regulators into paying millions more than they should have for the medicine. A Louisiana jury ordered the drugmaker in October to pay $257.7 million in damages to that state for making misleading claims about Risperdal’s safety. A judge later added $73 million in legal fees to the award. A West Virginia judge in a 2009 non-jury trial awarded $3.95 million, finding the company misled doctors about the risks and benefits of Risperdal. The state dropped its Risperdal claim after J&J won an appeal, company officials said in February. The case is State of South Carolina v. Janssen Pharmaceuticals, 2007-CP-42-1438, Circuit Court for Spartanburg County, South Carolina (Spartanburg). To contact the reporters on this story: David Voreacos in Washington at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net ; Gary Henderson in Spartanburg, South Carolina, at wgaryh@gmail.com. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net

Solar Millennium Surges After $2.1 Billion U.S. Loan Guarantees Approved

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/solar-millennium-surges-after-2-1-billion-u-s-loan-guarantees-approved.html

Solar Millennium AG (S2M) rose as much as 11 percent today after the U.S Department of Energy offered a $2.1 billion loan guarantee that will underpin financing for two solar thermal plants in Blythe, California. The guarantees, offered as conditional commitment by U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, are the precondition for financing about 75 percent of the construction costs for the first two of four planned solar-thermal plants, Solar Millennium said in a statement last night. The Erlangen, Germany-based solar thermal technology company surged to as much as 21.65 euros a share, the highest since Dec. 16. “In times of restrictive public budgets, I am particularly pleased that the U.S. government is so clearly committed to the energy turnaround,” Christoph Wolff, chief executive officer of Solar Millennium, said in the statement. The Blythe project uses mirrors to concentrate the sun’s energy rather than solar panels that convert light directly into electricity. It’s the world’s largest solar power plant project, according to Solar Millennium. The company expects to complete the entire financing late in the summer after negotiations with institutional investors, the company said in the statement. The power plants each have a capacity to produce 242 megawatts and will cost about $2.8 billion in total, according to the statement. Solar Trust of America LLC, Solar Millennium’s Oakland, California-based unit, started building the parabolic trough power plants Blythe 1 and 2, at the end of last year. To contact the reporter on this story: Sally Bakewell in London at sbakewell1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:

Ukrainian Sunflower-Oil Production Rises, UkrAgroConsult Says

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Ukrainian sunflower-oil production rose 14 percent from a year earlier to 302,000 metric tons in March, UkrAgroConsult said. Output gained 6.7 percent from February’s 283,000 tons, the Kiev-based researcher said in an e-mailed statement today. Production of the oil climbed 12 percent from a year earlier to 1.95 million tons in the seven months through March, UkrAgroConsult said. Sunflower-oil exports gained 19 percent from a year earlier to 1.66 million tons. Outbound shipments of the oil jumped 56 percent from February to 310,800 tons in March, the researcher said. To contact the reporter on this story: Kateryna Choursina in Kiev at kchoursina@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

State Street Leads Custody Banks on Fee Income as BNY Mellon Profit Misses

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/state-street-leads-custody-banks-on-fee-income-as-bny-mellon-profit-misses.html

State Street Corp. (STT) led custody banks reporting higher fee income in the first quarter as acquisitions and the stock market rally boosted assets. Fee revenue at the third-largest custody bank rose 16 percent from a year earlier to $1.79 billion, State Street said today in a statement from Boston. Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) , the largest custody bank, said fee income increased 12 percent to $2.83 billion. Northern Trust Corp. (NTRS) , the fourth-largest of the banks, said non-interest income, a figure consisting mainly of fee revenue, declined 0.6 percent to $663.5 million. “Both State Street and Bank of New York were adversely affected by low interest rates, but State Street seems to have had the better quarter,” said Gerard Cassidy , an analyst with RBC Capital Markets in Portland , Maine. State Street benefited from strength in its asset-management business while BNY Mellon was hurt by foreign exchange and securities lending , he said. BNY Mellon and State Street together spent at least $4.4 billion on acquisitions over the past year to add assets and expand abroad as interest rates near zero erode income from money funds, securities lending and fixed-income investments. Joseph Hooley, 54, who took over as State Street’s chief executive officer a year ago, said acquisitions in Italy and the U.K. last year have exceeded targets. State Street rose $1.02, or 2.3 percent, to $45.69 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. BNY Mellon declined 85 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $28.35. Northern Trust dropped $2.73, or 5.3 percent, to $48.67 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. Beating Estimates Net income at State Street fell to $466 million, or 93 cents a share, from $492 million, or 99 cents, a year earlier, when earnings were boosted by the sale of securities the bank had previously written down. On an operating basis, profit rose 19 percent to $439 million, or 88 cents a share, beating the 86- cent average estimate of 22 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. BNY Mellon reported a 12 percent increase in first-quarter net income to $625 million, or 50 cents a share, from $559 million, or 46 cents, a year earlier. Analysts had expected the New York-based company to earn 56 cents a share, according to the average of 13 estimates. Northern Trust said profit in the three months through March fell 3.9 percent as low interest rates reduced lending and money-market revenue. The Chicago-based firm is the third- largest independent custody bank. JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York has a custody business that’s the world’s second-largest. ‘Exceeding the Goals’ Custody banks earn fees for keeping records, tracking performance and lending securities to institutional investors such as mutual funds, pensions and hedge funds. U.S. firms have expanded in Europe , where the market is more fragmented and banks have been selling custody units to strengthen their balance sheets. State Street added the securities-servicing unit of Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo SpA for 1.28 billion euros ($1.82 billion) in May, Mourant International Finance Administration in the U.K.’s Channel Islands in April of last year, and Bank of Ireland’s investment-management business in January of this year. “The performances of our securities servicing business that we acquired from Intesa Sanpaolo and the acquired Mourant business are exceeding the goals we set,” Hooley said in the statement. “We have added new clients in both of these businesses.” Assets Rise BNY Mellon bought Germany ’s BHF Asset Servicing GmbH for 253 million euros in August, and acquired Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Service Group Inc.’s investment-servicing business for $2.31 billion in July. Assets under custody and administration at BNY Mellon rose 14 percent to a record $25.5 trillion, helping offset earnings from money funds and fixed-income investments that have been hurt by interest rates near zero. Assets under management rose 11 percent to $1.23 trillion. State Street had $22.6 trillion under custody at the end of the quarter, an increase of 19 percent. Money the firm invests for clients rose 7.7 percent to $2.12 trillion. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, the benchmark for U.S. stocks, has gained 9.6 percent in the past year, helping lift assets and fees. BNY Mellon in March hired Jack Malvey, a former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. analyst, as chief global markets strategist. It named BlackRock Inc.’s Curtis Arledge as chief executive officer of its asset-management unit in August, filling a role left vacant when Ronald O’Hanley departed to become president of asset management at Boston-based Fidelity Investments. Litigation ‘Risk’ State Street’s Hooley and BNY Mellon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert P. Kelly said the firms’ foreign exchange revenue hadn’t been negatively affected by lawsuits on behalf of some public pension funds. “We’ve seen stability in the revenue and, in the pricing, stability has been there as well,” Hooley said today in an interview. Officials from states including California and Arkansas have sued the banks claiming they defrauded pension funds by overcharging for some foreign-exchange transactions. California is suing State Street for more than $200 million in alleged overcharges and penalties. Glenn Schorr , a Nomura Holdings Inc. analyst, said in March the scrutiny stemming from the lawsuits could force custody banks to lower their charges regardless of the legal outcomes. Dividends Raised “We have seen very little impact from the recent scrutiny,” Kelly said today during a conference call with analysts. He added that litigation “is going to continue to be a risk.” BNY Mellon has denied the allegations and said it will defend against the suits. State Street settled one suit from the state of Washington for $11.7 million in October. The company said contracts with the remaining plaintiffs were “significantly different” and that it will defend against those suits. Foreign exchange revenue at BNY Mellon was $173 million, down 1 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Kelly blamed the decline on diminished volatility in currencies. State Street’s foreign exchange revenue increased 19 percent from a year earlier “primarily due to changes in product mix,” the bank said in its earnings announcement without giving a dollar figure. BNY Mellon and State Street raised their dividends last month and announced share buybacks after the Federal Reserve approved the measures following a review of banks’ financial strength. Both cut their payouts to investors in 2009 after plunging financial markets hurt earnings. To contact the reporters on this story: Charles Stein in Boston at cstein4@bloomberg.net ; Christopher Condon in Boston at ccondon4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net

Bulls Beat Pacers, Heat Down 76ers to Take 2-0 Leads in NBA Playoff Series

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/heat-beat-76ers-94-73-to-take-2-0-lead-in-nba-first-round-playoff-series.html

The Chicago Bulls used a late rally to beat the Indiana Pacers 96-90, while the Miami Heat never trailed in routing the Philadelphia 76ers 94-73 in their National Basketball Association playoff series. The Bulls and Heat, the top two seeds in the Eastern Conference, hold 2-0 leads in their best-of-seven first-round series. “We just wanted to protect home court,” LeBron James , who led the Heat with 29 points last night, said in a televised interview. “We did what we’re supposed to.” The New York Knicks visit the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference series tonight after losing the opener 87-85 on Ray Allen’s 3-pointer with 11 seconds left. The Knicks may be without point guard Chauncey Billups because of a knee injury suffered during Game 1 in Boston. “I’m disappointed. This is the worst time, getting hurt in the first round of the first game of a tough series,” Billups told reporters after sitting out yesterday’s practice. “I know the team really needs me.” The Orlando Magic host the Atlanta Hawks in Game 2 tonight after losing Game 1 at home 103-93 three days ago. The Portland Trail Blazers visit the Dallas Mavericks in today’s final game. The Mavericks won the opener of the Western Conference series. Rose Lifts Bulls Derrick Rose scored 14 of his game-high 36 points in the fourth quarter last night at the United Center in Chicago as the Bulls pulled away from the Pacers, who were the only team to make the playoffs with a losing record. “We knew it was going to be tough,” Rose said in a televised interview. “We’re just happy that we won.” Carlos Boozer added 17 points and 16 rebounds for Chicago, which had the NBA’s best record during the regular season. The Bulls, who have won 11 straight games, made their final 15 free throws and outscored the Pacers 29-23 in the fourth quarter. They took the lead for good on a 3-point play by Rose with 5:43 remaining. Danny Granger scored 19 points to lead Indiana. The best-of-seven series moves to Indianapolis for Game 3 on April 21. “We’re standing toe to toe with this team. I’m very proud of our guys,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said during a news conference. “We’ll take it back to Indy and see what happens.” At AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, the Heat rolled to the first win of more than 10 points this postseason. Chris Bosh added 21 points and 11 rebounds for Miami, while Dwyane Wade played through migraine headaches to score 14 points. Heat Roll to Win The Heat, the second favorite to win the NBA title after the Los Angeles Lakers , outscored the 76ers 30-18 during the second quarter to open a 49-31 halftime lead. Miami stretched its advantage to 28 points during the fourth quarter and limited the seventh-seeded 76ers to 34 percent shooting. “If they’re playing on top of their game, they’re a better team,” 76ers coach Doug Collins said. “That doesn’t mean we’re not going to play, compete and fight. It’s going to be very difficult to beat them.” Miami has won nine straight games against Philadelphia dating back to the 2009-10 season. The teams shift to Philadelphia for the next two games, with Game 3 scheduled for April 21. To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net

RBA to Look Through Higher Inflation, Slower Economic Growth, Minutes Show

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/rba-to-look-through-inflation-slower-growth-minutes-show-1-.html

The Reserve Bank of Australia viewed its policy setting as “appropriate,” saying it will look through higher inflation and slower growth stemming from natural disasters, minutes of its April 5 meeting showed. “Headline inflation was likely to be quite high in the March quarter, while GDP would be held down, to a greater extent than earlier assumed,” the bank said in the minutes released in Sydney today. In setting interest rates , “the board would look through these fluctuations,” it said. Central bank Governor Glenn Stevens has held rates for four meetings at 4.75 percent after seven increases in the overnight cash rate target from October 2009 to November last year. Tropical Cyclone Yasi in February tore through sugar- and banana-producing areas, following two months of flooding in Queensland state that shut mines and wiped out crops. “The extreme weather events across Queensland and elsewhere were complicating the interpretation of the economic data for the March quarter,” policy makers said in the minutes. Gross domestic product advanced 0.7 percent in the three months through December from the third quarter, when it rose a revised 0.1 percent. The trade balance unexpectedly swung to a deficit in February for the first time in almost a year as the natural disasters cut mining shipments and higher fuel prices boosted imports, a government report showed this month. Australian Dollar The Australian dollar was little changed, trading at $1.0486 at 11:31 a.m. in Sydney from $1.0493 before the minutes were released. Australia is undergoing a boom in resource investment as mining and energy companies boost output to meet demand from China and India. That has spurred hiring and helped bolster demand for Australia’s dollar, the world’s fifth-most traded currency, which touched a record $1.0584 on April 8. Australian employers added more workers than economists forecast in March, led by hiring in the mineral- and energy- rich states of Western Australia and Queensland. The number of people employed rose by 37,800, rebounding from a revised decline of 8,600 in February, a government report showed April 7. The jobless rate fell to 4.9 percent, matching a two-year low set in December. Jobs Market “Forward-looking indicators pointed to a continuation of employment growth over the months ahead,” policy makers said. “Liaison with firms suggested that wage growth was increasing in mining-related industries and some skilled occupations, though pressures in the labor market had not become widespread.” The central bank in February raised its forecast for 2011 economic growth to 4.25 percent, from a November prediction of 3.75 percent, saying flood rebuilding will accelerate in the second half. Policy makers expect annual growth will be boosted by projects such as BG Group Plc’s $15 billion liquefied natural gas venture in Queensland, generating 5,000 construction jobs. BG, Chevron Corp. (CVX) , Royal Dutch Shell Plc and ConocoPhillips are among energy companies investing about A$200 billion in proposed LNG projects in Australia. The outlook for global growth has been clouded by unrest in Libya that spurred oil prices and the radiation crisis in Japan , Australia’s second-largest trading partner. Japan Disruption “In the very short term, it was likely there would be some disruption to exports of goods and services to Japan, though, beyond this, the rebuilding effort and a possible increase in use of non-nuclear forms of energy could provide a boost to Australian exports,” policy makers said. Interest rates on “housing and business loans were a little above average levels,” policy makers said. “Given the outlook for the economy, and in particular the high level of the terms of trade and the prospective further large increase in investment, members considered that this stance remained appropriate so as to ensure that the medium-term inflation outlook remained consistent with the target.” The bank aims to keep inflation between 2 percent and 3 percent and the Australian currency’s strength has helped slow parts of the economy. Traders see a less than 50 percent chance Stevens will increase the benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point this year, bank bill futures showed before the minutes were released. “Outside the resources sector, growth in investment was expected to be relatively modest,” policy makers said. “In contrast, with office vacancy rates in the two largest cities projected to fall to quite low levels, a pick-up in commercial property construction was expected over the next couple of years from the current low levels.” To contact the reporter for this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net

Malawi's Government Summons U.K. High Commissioner Over Leaked Criticism

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/malawi-s-government-summons-u-k-high-commissioner-over-leaked-criticism.html

Malawi ’s foreign affairs minister summoned Fergus Cochrane-Dyet, the U.K. High Commissioner in the country, because of comments contained in a leaked cable to his government, said Lewis Kulisewa, a spokesman for the commission. Cochrane-Dyet was called in to see Malawi’s Foreign Minister Etta Banda yesterday after the cable was published in the Blantyre-based Nation newspaper on April 16, Kulisewa said in an e-mailed response to question today. Cochrane criticized Malawi’s president as being autocratic in the diplomatic cable sent to U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague , according to the Nation. The U.K. warned Malawi that there will be consequences if its envoy is asked to leave. “If the government of Malawi pursued such action there would likely to be consequences affecting the full range of bilateral issues,” Geoffrey Adams, acting permanent under secretary for the foreign and commonwealth office, said in an e-mailed statement today. To contact the reporter on this story: Frank Jomo in Blantyre at fjomo@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gordon Bell at gbell16@bloomberg.net

NewPage Bonds Continue Slide After Coated-Paper Maker Replaces CFO Short

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/newpage-bonds-continue-slide-after-coated-paper-maker-replaces-cfo-short.html

Bonds of NewPage Corp. continued to decline after the coated-paper maker replaced its chief financial officer last week. Its $806 million of 10 percent notes due in May 2012 fell three cents to 56.5 cents on the dollar as of 8:50 a.m. in New York , according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The debt has declined from 61 cents on the dollar on April 15, when the Miamisburg, Ohio-based company said that Curtis Short, its controller and chief accounting officer, will become CFO on an interim basis. To contact the reporter on this story: Krista Giovacco in New York at kgiovacco1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net

Arsenal’s Usmanov Increases Stake After Kroenke Takes Control of Club

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/arsenal-s-usmanov-increases-stake-after-kroenke-takes-control-of-club.html

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov has continued to buy shares in Arsenal even after rival investor Stan Kroenke took control of the 13-time English soccer champion. Usmanov, a metals magnate with an estimated $18 billion fortune, bought six shares for a total of 70,950 pounds ($116,000), according to a statement released by the Regulatory News Service today. The 57-year-old last week told Bloomberg News he wouldn’t sell his 27 percent holding to Kroenke. The American took his stake to 63 percent by agreeing to buy shares from other directors, triggering a mandatory takeover bid. Kroenke offered 11,750 pounds a share for the remaining stock in the north London-based team, valuing it at about 731 million pounds. That’s the share price he agreed to pay for the combined 32 percent holdings of Nina Bracewell-Smith and Danny Fiszman, a director who died April 13. “I’m not going to sell,” Usmanov said in the telephone interview from Moscow last week. “I love Arsenal, that’s why I’m a shareholder.” The Russian has been vying with sports investor Kroenke for control of the Gunners for the past four years. He owns two boxes at the club’s 60,000-capacity Emirates Stadium and has four seats in the directors’ box. While billionaire Kroenke was welcomed onto the board in 2008, the Russian doesn’t have a seat. Usmanov’s holding allows him some control over the club’s finances and organizational structure. He first took a stake in the club in 2007, when he bought 15 percent for 75 million pounds from former board member David Dein. To contact the reporter on this story: Tariq Panja in the London newsroom at tpanja@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Elser at celser@bloomberg.net .

France Gasoline Prices Reached Record Last Week, La Tribune Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/france-gasoline-prices-reached-record-last-week-la-tribune-says.html

Gasoline prices in France reached a record in the middle of last week, exceeding a previous high just a week earlier, La Tribune reported, citing figures from the Direction Generale de l’Energie et du Climat. The average price of a liter of “super 95” unleaded gasoline reached 1.54 euros ($2.19), compared with 1.53 euros a week earlier, the newspaper said. To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Campbell in Paris at mcampbell39@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Vidya Root at vroot@bloomberg.net

Goldman Sachs Reduces First-Quarter Compensation Pool to $147,825 a Person

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/goldman-sachs-first-quarter-pay-pool-falls-to-147-825-a-person.html

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) , the fifth-biggest U.S. bank by assets, set aside $5.23 billion to pay employee salaries, bonuses and benefits in the first quarter, down 5 percent from a year earlier. The compensation and benefits expense, the firm’s biggest cost, is enough to pay each employee $147,825 for the quarter, down 11 percent from $165,952 a year earlier, New York-based Goldman Sachs said today in a statement. The bank employed 35,400 people at the end of March, up 7 percent from a year earlier even after the firm cut 300 jobs in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs has reduced pay since 2007, when Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein was awarded a record $67.9 million bonus and the firm’s average compensation per employee was $661,490. Last year average pay per employee dropped 14 percent to $430,700 as the firm set aside 39 percent of revenue for compensation. The ratio of compensation to revenue was 44 percent in the first quarter, up from 43 percent a year earlier. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) , the second-biggest U.S. bank by assets, set aside $3.29 billion in the quarter to compensate employees at its investment bank, or an average $124,300 per person, according to the New York-based bank’s earnings report last week. Blankfein, 56, was awarded $18 million in stock and cash bonuses for his 2010 performance, double his $9 million all- stock award for 2009. Blankfein and six other senior officers received no bonuses for 2008. Wall Street firms typically set aside a portion of revenue throughout the year for year-end bonuses, enabling the company to increase or decrease pay in line with performance. Average pay is derived by dividing total compensation and benefits by the number of employees and doesn’t represent what workers actually receive. The reduction in compensation in the first quarter was less than the 7 percent decline in revenue from a year earlier, according to Goldman Sachs’s earnings statement. The firm’s total operating expenses rose 3 percent as non-compensation costs surged 23 percent from the first quarter of 2010. To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Harper in New York at charper@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scheer at dscheer@bloomberg.net .

LG Display Shares Advance on Earnings Outlook, Narrower-than-Expected Loss

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/lg-display-shares-advance-on-earnings-outlook-narrower-than-expected-loss.html

LG Display Co., the world’s second- largest maker of flat screens, rose the most in more than two years after reporting a loss that was smaller than analysts’ estimates and forecasting a profit this quarter. LG Display gained 6.9 percent to 38,600 won at the close of trading in Seoul, the biggest jump since January 2009. The stock was the third-best performer on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. The maker of liquid-crystal displays for Apple Inc. (AAPL) ’s iPad, may post a profit in the second quarter, helped by demand for panels in tablet computers and 3-D TVs, the company said yesterday after announcing its first-quarter results. LG Display aims to supply at least half of all 3-D TVs sold globally this year, betting on demand for its technology. “The worst is behind us,” Im Jeong Jae, a Seoul-based fund manager at Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management Co., which oversees $30 billion. “As the outlook is expected to improve from the second quarter, investors are scrambling to buy the shares.” The company had a net loss of 115.4 billion won ($106 million) in the three months ended in March, LG said yesterday. That compared with an average estimate for a loss of 208.4 billion won in a Bloomberg survey of 12 analysts before the announcement. Sales fell 8.7 percent to 5.37 trillion won. LG Display may post a profit of 149 billion won in the current quarter and boost that to 549 billion won in the third quarter, according to the average of 18 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. LG Versus Samsung While panels for TVs accounted for less than half the overall sales in the first quarter, falling from 54 percent a year ago, demand for 3-D TVs will help boost profit, Chief Financial Officer James Jeong said. LG aims to account for 50 percent to 70 percent of the 25 million to 30 million 3-D TVs expected to be sold worldwide this year, he said. LG is promoting a technology called Film Patterned Retarder, or FPR, which uses polarized glasses to view 3-D images with visual information sent to both eyes simultaneously. It offers an alternative to the shuttered-glasses approach used by Samsung Electronics Co., which produces a 3-D image by sending visual information to each eye sequentially. LG said its polarized glasses will be lighter and more comfortable to wear, with less eye strain, than shuttered glasses. To contact the reporters on this story: Jun Yang in Seoul at jyang180@bloomberg.net Saeromi Shin in Seoul at sshin15@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net .

Apple Releases Some Preliminary Sales for iPad in Lawsuit

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/apple-releases-preliminary-sales-for-ipad-in-lawsuit-correct-.html

Apple Inc. (AAPL) , scheduled to disclose financial results tomorrow, released some preliminary sales numbers for the iPad tablet computer and iPhone in a lawsuit last week. In an intellectual property complaint Apple filed on April 15 against Samsung Electronics Co., the company said it had sold more than 19 million iPads by March 2011. Based on unit sales in earlier quarters, that indicates at least 4.21 million iPads sold during the fiscal second quarter, less than the 6.1-million average estimate of 13 analysts compiled by Bloomberg. Apple has had trouble keeping the iPad 2 in stock at stores since it was released on March 11. At the same time, iPhone sales may have exceeded estimates, based on figures in the lawsuit. The complaint says Apple had sold more than 108 million iPhones by March, which would mean at least 18 million sold in the second quarter, more than the 16.3 million estimated by analysts. Apple also said it had sold more than 60 million of its iPod Touch media players. The lawsuit doesn’t say when in March the sales figures run through. The company’s second quarter ended on March 26. Steve Dowling, a spokesman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, declined to comment. Apple reports financial results tomorrow after U.S. markets close. The computer maker’s iPhone became available on the Verizon Wireless network for the first time during the second quarter. In the quarter, analysts predict Apple will report profit of $5.03 billion on sales of $23.4 billion, according to the average of 35 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Apple rose $6.01, or 1.8 percent, to $337.86 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have risen 4.7 percent this year. The sales figures in the lawsuit were earlier reported by the website Asymco.com. To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net .

LG Chem Profit Beats Estimates as Asian Recovery, Japan Quake Boost Demand

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/lg-chem-profit-beats-estimates-as-asian-recovery-japan-quake-boost-demand.html

LG Chem Ltd. (051910) , South Korea ’s biggest chemicals maker, posted a 27 percent gain in first-quarter profit, beating estimates, as economic recovery in Asia and an earthquake in Japan boosted demand. Net income rose to 656.6 billion won ($601 million) in the three months ended March 31 from 517.7 billion won a year earlier, the Seoul-based company said in a regulatory filing today. That compares with the mean estimate of 585 billion won of 11 analysts in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. Sales gained 24 percent to 5.49 trillion won. Orders from customers in Asia, including China , the world’s fastest-growing major economy, boosted South Korean exports of materials used to make plastics and synthetic rubber by 24 percent last month. The March 11 magnitude-9 temblor that disrupted operations at Japanese chemical producers also helped increase demand. “The earthquake in Japan is spurring demand for substitute chemicals at a time when consumption in the region, driven by China, is already strong,” said Lee Hee Cheol, an analyst at HI Investment Securities Co. “That’s helping to lift LG Chem’s petrochemical margins to near a 12-month peak.” Petrochemical margins at LG Chem reached $579 a metric ton in the first quarter, compared with $250 a ton on average to break even in the past 10 years, Hwang Kyu Won, an analyst at Tong Yang Securities Inc., wrote in a report on April 6. LG Chem’s petrochemical division posted a 735.6 billion-won operating profit in the quarter, up 50 percent from a year earlier, according to the filing. Shares of LG Chem rose 1.4 percent to close at a record 520,000 won in Seoul trading, before the earnings announcement. The benchmark Kospi stock index fell 0.7 percent. Operating Profit Rises “The petrochemical division will sustain high profitability in the second quarter as regular maintenance at its rivals will limit supply while demand for chemicals is rising,” Chief Executive Officer Kim told investors in Seoul. Overall operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, reached 835.3 billion won in the first quarter, up from 652.4 billion won a year earlier. Operating profit at the electronics division, which makes batteries for notebooks, cell phones and electric cars, dropped 36 percent to 112.7 billion won. The division will slowly recover in the coming quarters, Kim said. The chemicals maker finished building a plant this month that can supply lithium-ion batteries for 100,000 electric cars a year. Sales from car batteries may exceed the company’s estimates by 20 percent this year, Kim said, without giving a value. Revenue may surpass 1 trillion won next year, he said. Polysilicon Business LG Chem is preparing to develop its polysilicon business independently, Kim said. “We are confident we can develop it with our own technology, and at low cost, to compete with existing players,” according to Kim. “We have potential buyers who have signed memorandums of understanding.” The company will hold a board meeting in the first half to discuss a plan to build a plant to make polysilicon, used in solar cells, with a goal of starting production in the second half of 2013, Kim said. LG Chem will join chemicals producers including Hanwha Chemical Corp. in betting orders for solar-power equipment will gain as governments take steps to cut carbon emissions blamed for global warming. Kim said the polysilicon plant may have an annual capacity of 5,000 to 10,000 metric tons. To contact the reporter on this story: Sangim Han in Seoul at sihan@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amit Prakash at aprakash1@bloomberg.net .

Swiss Stocks Increase; Novartis, Richemont, Swatch, Synthes Shares Advance

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/swiss-stocks-increase-novartis-richemont-swatch-synthes-shares-advance.html

Swiss stocks advanced, rebounding from the biggest drop in more than a month, as drugmaker Novartis AG (NOVN) climbed on better-than-estimated earnings. Synthes Inc. (SYST) , the biggest maker of devices to treat bone fractures and trauma, rose for a tenth day amid speculation that Johnson & Johnson will buy the company. Cie. Financiere Richemont SA, the world’s largest jewelry maker, gained after LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (MC) ’s sales beat estimates. The Swiss Market Index (SMI) of the biggest and most actively traded companies increased 1.3 percent to 6,326.65 at the 5:30 p.m. close in Zurich after sliding 2.4 percent yesterday. The broader Swiss Performance Index added 1.2 percent. “So far the first-quarter earnings have been fine,” said Marco Bider, a fund manager at Banque CIC in Basel, Switzerland. “Two of the three big companies in Switzerland have published positive figures. Earnings will be less of a surprise if you compare with the last quarter of 2010.” Novartis jumped 3.5 percent to 50.30 Swiss francs. The Basel, Switzerland-based company said first-quarter profit fell 6 percent as sales of its influenza vaccine slumped following the end of the flu pandemic last year. Novartis’s $2.77 billion net income and $14 billion sales still beat the average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Synthes gained 0.6 percent to 147.40 francs. The shares reached their highest price in more than two years yesterday after the company confirmed it has held talks with J&J about a takeover. Synthes has also talked to at least one other company, Tages-Anzeiger reported today. Richemont, Swatch Rise Richemont, the maker of Cartier watches, rallied 3.7 percent to 52.25 francs as LVMH, the world’s largest luxury- goods company, said first-quarter sales rose 17 percent to 5.25 billion euros ($7.5 billion), beating analysts’ estimates. Watch and jewelry sales at Paris-based LVMH climbed 28 percent. Biel, Switzerland-based Swatch Group AG (UHR) , the world’s largest maker of timepieces, added 3 percent to 404.60 francs. Swiss Reinsurance Co. slid 4 percent to 49.65 francs as shareholders lost the right to the latest dividend. Accounting for the lost payment, the shares gained 1.4 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Giles Broom in Zurich at gbroom@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net .

Astral Foods Says Six-Month Earnings Expected to Advance by as Much as 33%

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/astral-foods-says-six-month-earnings-expected-to-advance-by-as-much-as-33-.html

Astral Foods Ltd. (ARL) said earnings per share for the six months through March are expected to increase by 28 percent to 33 percent from a year earlier. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alastair Reed at areed12@bloomberg.net

Harvard's Adams Enlists Nobel Economist Charging $5,000 for Hour of Advice

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/harvard-s-adams-enlists-nobel-economist-charging-5-000-for-hour-of-advice.html

Lots of bandwidth and $5,000 can get anyone an hour with Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker. A couple more computer clicks can also remake a tennis serve, fix a golf swing and provide tips on how to out-bluff the poker world’s top pros. Becker, a University of Chicago professor who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1992, will be selling his time on ExpertInsight.com , a website offering one-to-one video chats with leaders, which opened yesterday. He’ll join people such as economics professors Jeffrey Miron of Harvard University and Laurence Kotlikoff of Boston University , “Freakonomics” co- authors Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, poker celebrities Patrik Antonius and Tom Dwan, and tennis coach Jeff Salzenstein. “The idea is to bring this coaching model to everything,” said Brandon Adams, Expert Insight’s 32-year-old founder and chief executive officer. The site’s roster blends the interests and contacts of Adams, a top poker professional who taught undergraduates in Harvard’s Department of Economics for the past eight years. Adams, the primary research assistant for Michael Lewis ’s book “The Big Short,” began giving one-to-one poker lessons over the video-chat service Skype in March 2010, charging $300-$400 per hour. “I was amazed at how easy it was to drum up business,” Adams, a regular in some of the world’s biggest cash poker games, said in a telephone interview. “I realized that one-to- one teaching was a great opportunity to monetize content. What you’re doing is searching the world for that small slice of people, maybe 15 to 30, who are willing to pay a high price for your content.” Nobels, ‘Freak’ In exchange for an equity position, Adams sought help from Greatest Good LLC , a business and philanthropy consulting firm founded by a group that includes Becker; Levitt, who also teaches at the University of Chicago ; and Daniel Kahneman, a Princeton University professor and 2002 Nobel economics laureate. “Ultimately, the Internet is about reducing what economists call ‘search’ costs and ‘transaction’ costs,” Levitt, who will charge $3,000 per hour on the site, said in an e-mail. “There may be only a handful of customers scattered around the world willing to pay the fees that top experts or celebrities might demand. Before now, there was no easy way to find each other. The search and transaction costs were prohibitive. Now there’s a market.” Expert Insight spent $450,000 to build the website and expects to become profitable in late 2012 or 2013, Adams said. Experts will set their own rates and schedules, giving 30 percent commissions to the company. Mountaintop Tennis One of the site’s pros will be Salzenstein, a 37-year-old former Stanford University tennis All-American who was No. 100 in singles in 2004 in the ATP World Tour rankings. He said he got into video coaching a couple months ago when a woman in Portugal , Alexandra Franco, commented on his blog, seeking advice on her serve. He suggested she send him some video and later began giving her advice over Skype. “Here’s a woman on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, we’re sharing Skype and she’s learning things she’s never heard before,” he said. Salzenstein, who will charge $200 per hour on Expert Insight, uses video clips from top professionals such as 16-time major champion Roger Federer and top-ranked Rafael Nadal to teach proper strokes and movements without “the distraction of hitting a ball over the net.” Internet Coaching Franco, who lives among six houses on a mountaintop in Quatrim do Norte, about 175 miles (281 kilometers) south of Lisbon, said she sought top coaching locally before turning to the Internet. “Even the best coaches here are not getting the detail that Jeff is getting with the video,” Franco, a 47-year-old former professional basketball player, said in a telephone interview. Jerome Andrews, a proponent of video coaching who in 2007 was named one of the top 20 U.S. golf instructors under the age of 40 by Golf Digest, also will be on the website, as will some of Adams’s poker-playing friends, including Phil Gordon, who’s had $2.8 million in tournament winnings, and Rafe Furst, who won an event in the 2006 World Series of Poker. Adams has taken Twitter bids on sessions with Antonius and Dwan to launch the site. Antonius has drawn an offer of $3,200 and Dwan $3,000. Dubner, 47, and Becker, 80, held a chat on the service yesterday, its opening day. Gambling Crackdown Last week’s crackdown on poker gambling websites by the U.S. authorities probably will hurt that segment of the business, Adams said yesterday. Founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker were among 11 people charged by the U.S. last week in a case that seeks at least $3 billion in forfeitures and penalties. “The indictment of the major poker sites by the Department of Justice will definitely hit our poker coaching business very hard,” Adams said in an e-mail yesterday. “Long term, I’m 100 percent sure that the appetite for poker in this country is very strong and will reassert itself somehow.” Other experts available include political blogger Nate Silver at $1,000 per hour, Miron at $400, Dubner at $3,000 and Becker at $5,000. James Katz, a professor of communication at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey , said he knew a Wall Street banker who had a monthly lunch with a Nobel Prize winner, paying $2,000 for advice on life and business. “It might be fun for someone to spend $5,000 to talk to a very smart person,” Katz said in a telephone interview, cautioning against over-reliance on such experts. “What I find is that smart people tend to be smart in a subject area or domain, and just a regular person for all the other things.” Down-Market Move Adams said his company’s plan is “to make a managed move down market over time,” trying not to risk alienating his high- priced roster. Internet video chat has potential to be used for services ranging from tutoring and counseling to home repair and psychic readings. It may also help the world’s biggest celebrities interact with fans. “I’d pay a lot of money to give my daughters the chance to video chat with Taylor Swift ,” Levitt said of the Grammy Award- winner singer. “I can’t see any way that will happen other than Taylor Swift signing on with Expert Insight.” To contact the reporter on this story: Mason Levinson in New York at mlevinson@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net .

N.Y. Crude Oil Little Changed After Reversing Earlier Decline of 1.5%

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/n-y-crude-oil-little-changed-after-reversing-earlier-decline-of-1-5-.html

Crude oil rose 7 cents to $107.19 a barrel at 10:21 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Excnange, reversing an earlier decline of 1.5 percent. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Richard Stubbe at rstubbe1@bloomberg.net

GM Defying China Slowdown May Reclaim Sales Lead from Toyota

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/gm-defying-china-slowdown-may-reclaim-sales-lead-from-toyota.html

General Motors Co. (GM) and Volkswagen AG (VOW) expect to boost vehicle sales in China faster than the nation’s economic growth rate, defying government policies to curb sales and threatening Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) ’s standing as the world’s largest carmaker. GM, the largest U.S. automaker, plans to double sales in China to 5 million vehicles by 2015, the Detroit-based company said at this week’s Shanghai auto show. Germany ’s Volkswagen, the biggest maker of passenger cars in China, said it may outpace industrywide sales growth of as much as 12 percent. Carmakers are boosting sales and production plans even after the government ended industry subsidies and as cities including Shanghai and Beijing restrict new car licenses to fight pollution and ease traffic. GM’s sales target may enable it to retake the global sales title it lost to Toyota in 2008. “You get used to not worrying about variations around the trend line,” Kevin Wale , GM’s China president, said yesterday. “In the past 10 years, China’s growth rate has only been below 10 percent in one year. The underlying trend is very strong.” GM’s prediction of 5 million sales compares with Toyota’s goal of doubling deliveries in the nation by 2015 from 846,000 vehicles last year. The Japanese company sold 8.42 million vehicles globally last year, compared with GM’s 8.39 million. Realistic Forecast “If the market doesn’t have any major setbacks, GM’s forecast isn’t unrealistic,” said Ashvin Chotai , managing director of consultant Intelligence Asia Automotive. “We’ve been wrong in the past with conservative forecasts.” China is already GM’s biggest market, with 2.35 million sales last year, compared with 2.21 million in the U.S. The carmaker aims for market share of more than 14 percent in China by 2015, Wale said yesterday in an interview. Industrywide auto sales in the nation may grow as much as 12 percent a year over the medium term, Karl-Thomas Neumann, chief executive officer for China at Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen, said yesterday. Volkswagen’s deliveries may increase at a faster rate, he said. “We’re bracing for more rather than less,” Neumann said. The company sold 1.92 million vehicles in China and has said it aims to be the world’s biggest carmaker by 2018, surpassing Toyota and GM. VW sold 7.14 million vehicles globally in 2010. China GDP Growth The carmakers’ sales estimates compare with economic growth of 10.3 percent in China last year, a rate that may ease to 9.6 percent this year, according to the Asian Development Bank. The world’s second-largest economy expanded by a more-than-estimated 9.7 percent in the first quarter of this year, even after the government raised interest rates to rein in inflation. China overtook the U.S. as the world’s largest auto market in 2009, when sales jumped 46 percent from the previous year. The growth slowed to 32 percent last year as the government began phasing out tax breaks and subsidies for car buyers. The market may expand by less than a previous forecast of 10 to 15 percent this year, Dong Yang, vice chairman of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said this month. Carmakers are unworried about lower growth because China, the world’s most populous nation, still dwarfs all other markets and two-thirds of Chinese customers are first-time car buyers, said Joe Hinrichs, head of Asia Pacific and African operations at Ford Motor Co. (F) Catching Toyota “A market as big as this one, even 5 to 10 percent growth is very significant,” Hinrichs said. “I’d take 10 percent growth forever.” Ford plans to add 15 models in China by 2015, the company said April 15. Hyundai Motor Co. (005380) said yesterday it’s considering building a fourth plant in Beijing, while Nissan Motor Co., the biggest Japanese automaker in China, said it expects sales to rise to 1.5 million in 2012 from 1.02 million in 2010. GM and VW’s growth plans may help both automakers catch up with Toyota, whose growth has lagged behind rivals in China. The Toyota City, Japan-based automaker may miss this year’s target to sell more than 900,000 vehicles in China after Japan ’s record earthquake on March 11 caused parts shortages, Masayoshi Hori, the automaker’s executive coordinator for China, said yesterday at the Shanghai show. While Toyota would like to increase its market share, the company is focused on improving vehicle quality, service and customer satisfaction, Hori said. “We’re not in the business of prioritizing market share,” he said. Chinese Car Companies Chinese car companies are also planning expansion. SAIC Motor Corp., GM and VW’s local partner, is aiming for 6 million deliveries by 2015, compared with 3.6 million last year, it said yesterday. Dongfeng Motor Group Co., the partner of Nissan and Honda Motor Co., aims to produce and sell 5 million models a year by 2015, it said yesterday. SAIC and Great Wall Motor Co. also aim to raise sales outside China. Shanghai-based SAIC said it’s aiming to sell 800,000 cars a year in other countries by 2015. Great Wall said exports may account for 30 percent of its sales by then. While automakers’ growth plans are realistic, government measures to limit car sales in cities may become a concern, Chotai said. China will start curbing vehicle ownership in cities with more than 10 million people from 2011 to 2015 to ease congestion, China’s Economic Observer reported March 31. The government has also passed a new law requiring vehicles with larger engines to pay more taxes, starting next year. License Restrictions Beijing’s government said Dec. 23 it would set a monthly quota of 20,000 new vehicle licenses in the Chinese capital. “Beijing demand will be down 45 percent this year just because of license-plate restrictions, and more cities will follow,” Chotai said. “Cities in Guangdong province , Shenzhen, Chengdu, Shanghai are all possibilities because of high congestion rates and levels of pollution.” Tightening measures to slow China’s economy may also deter car sales. The nation increased interest rates four times since October to curb inflation that accelerated to a 5.4 percent annual pace in March. Liquidity remains “excessive,” central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said in Beijing on April 18, a day after the People’s Bank of China announced the fourth increase in lenders’ reserve ratios this year. That may not be enough to slow rising auto sales or Toyota’s replacement as the leading global automaker, said Koji Endo , an analyst at Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo. “Automakers ought to get out there and grab market share, because the Chinese market will grow unless something unexpected happens,” he said. “You can expect the Chinese market to expand to something like 40 million by 2020, and obviously there’s a possibility Toyota may be surpassed.” --Liza Lin, Makiko Kitamura, Andreas Cremer, Tian Ying, Yuki Hagiwara, Jamie Butters in Shanghai, and Terje Langeland and Anna Mukai in Tokyo. Editors: Ian Rowley, Kae Inoue To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kae Inoue at kinoue@bloomberg.net

Raul Castro Named Cuban Communist Party’s First Secretary as Members Meet

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/fidel-castro-says-he-won-t-be-part-of-communist-party-s-central-committee.html

Cuban President Raul Castro was named first secretary of the island’s Communist Party and revolutionary hero Jose Ramon Machado became second in command as officials gathered to debate ways to revive growth. Raul’s brother, former Cuban President Fidel Castro , said he had resigned from the party’s leadership and called on a new generation of leaders to bolster the Caribbean island’s economy. “Raul knew that at this time I wouldn’t accept any role in the party,” Castro, 84, wrote in a column published on Cuba Debate, a state-run website. Party members are debating changes to Cuba’s economic system, which has been battered by a U.S. embargo and the global financial crisis. Proposals being discussed include eliminating the monthly ration books that provide Cubans with subsidized food and providing loans to individuals who start independent businesses. Fidel attended the closing session of the Communist Party summit today, according to state-run newspaper Juventud Rebelde, which published a photo of Castro wearing a blue warm-up jacket at the meeting. In a column yesterday, Castro said new leaders are well- prepared intellectually for a task that would be more difficult than the challenges faced by his generation when they took power in 1959. Castro said he wrote the comments after listening to debates during the summit, which started April 16. Castro Surgery Castro began transferring control to Raul in July 2006, when he underwent intestinal surgery, and officially stepped down as president in 2008. Raul, 79, has since initiated some measures to open the economy. “There is no margin for error in this moment in human history,” Castro said in the first column. “The new generation is being called upon to rectify and change without hesitation everything that should be rectified and changed.” Raul Castro said on April 16 that the country needed to impose term limits for elected officials to no more than two consecutive periods of five years each, state-run newspaper Juventud Rebelde reported. Raul, who was shown submitting his ballot in a photograph in state-run media yesterday, was previously the second in command in the party’s central committee. To contact the reporter on this story: Jens Erik Gould in Mexico City at jgould9@bloomberg.net ; Andrew J. Barden in Dubai at barden@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Goodman in Rio de Janeiro at jgoodman19@bloomberg.net

Hong Kong Jobless Rate Falls to Lowest Since September 2008

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/hong-kong-jobless-rate-falls-to-lowest-since-september-2008-1-.html

Hong Kong’s unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since September 2008, encouraging consumer spending and aiding the city’s economic expansion. The jobless rate for the three months through March was 3.4 percent, the government said on its website today. That compares with 3.6 percent in the previous period and the 3.5 percent median estimate of 13 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Financial Secretary John Tsang said last week that growth will remain “robust,” with the economy expanding as much as 5 percent this year, boosting wages and supporting the labor market. Risks include the threat to exports from Japan ’s earthquake and the Europe sovereign-debt crisis, and the danger that a bubble will form in Hong Kong’s property market, according to Tsang. “Strong domestic demand is pointing to a continued tight labor market,” Frances Cheung , a strategist at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong, said before today’s data. The jobless rate may fall to 3.2 percent by year-end, she said. The introduction of an HK$28 ($3.60) per-hour minimum wage may increase business costs and restrain hiring. The measure will take effect May 1 and may boost the pay of 314,600 workers, according to Matthew Cheung, the Hong Kong labor secretary. Hong Kong’s gross domestic product grew a more-than- estimated 6.8 percent last year. The first-quarter economic report is due May 13. -- With assistance from Michael Munoz. Editors: Paul Panckhurst, Stephanie Phang. To contact the reporter on this story: Sophie Leung in Hong Kong at sleung59@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Panckhurst in Hong Kong at ppanckhurst@bloomberg.net

Boyner, Isiklar Yatirim, Sinpas: Turkey Equity Market Preview

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/boyner-isiklar-yatirim-sinpas-turkey-equity-market-preview.html

The following stocks may be active in Turkey. Symbols are in parentheses and prices are from the last close. Turkey’s benchmark ISE National 100 index (XU100) fell 1,842.88, or 2.7 percent, to 66,607.58 yesterday. Boyner Buyuk Magazacilik (BOYNR) AS: The Turkish department store chain was raised to “market outperformer” on higher growth potential by equity analyst Melda Agirdas at Ekspres Invest, according to an e-mailed report today. The price estimate is 5 liras, Ekspres said. Boyner dropped 9 kurus, or 2.3 percent, to 3.91 liras. Isiklar Yatirim Holding AS (ISYHO) : The Turkish group active in construction, foundry and energy said its unit Ozisik Insaat & Enerji AS sold its stake in a power plant to Enerjisa Enerji Uretim AS, the Turkish joint venture between Verbund AG and Haci Omer Sabanci Holding AS (SAHOL) , for $8.9 million, according to a statement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange after the market closed yesterday. Isiklar declined 7 kurus, or 6.3 percent, to 1.05 liras. Sabanci fell 12 kurus, or 1.5 percent, to 7.84 liras. Sinpas Gayrimenkul Yatirim Ortakligi AS (SNGYO) : The Turkish real-estate company agreed to buy an ongoing apartments project in northwestern Bursa city for $50 million from its partners Nergis Group and Savings Deposit Insurance Fund. Sinpas dropped 13 kurus, or 6.1 percent, to 1.99 liras. To contact the reporter on this story: Aydan Eksin in Istanbul at aeksin@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net

EU Hits India With 5-Year Tariffs on Stainless Steel Bars, Rods

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/eu-hits-india-with-5-year-tariffs-on-stainless-steel-bars-rods.html

The European Union imposed five- year tariffs on stainless steel from India , saying EU producers including Acerinox SA (ACX) are victims of subsidies to Indian competitors such as Mukand Ltd. (MUK) The EU duties as high as 4.3 percent aim to counter alleged trade-distorting Indian aid to exporters of stainless steel bars and rods, which are used in domestic appliances, cars and medical instruments. The levies affect EU imports worth around 40 million euros ($57 million) in 2009. European producers that also include Ugitech SA and Aceros Inoxidables Olarra SA suffered “injury” as a result of subsidized imports from India, the 27-nation EU said in a decision today in Brussels. The five-year duties match provisional measures introduced in December and will take effect after being published in the EU Official Journal by April 30. Indian exporters of stainless steel bars and rods increased their combined share of the EU market to 11.8 percent in the 12 months through March 2010 from 10.4 percent in 2007, according to the bloc. It said three aid programs based on India’s Foreign Trade Act and one program stemming from the country’s Banking Regulation Act led to unfair export subsidies. The duty rates are 3.3 percent against four manufacturers in the Venus group, 3.4 percent against Chandan Steel Ltd., 4 percent against 19 manufacturers including Mukand and Shah Alloys Ltd. (SA) , and 4.3 percent against Viraj Profiles Ltd. and any other Indian exporters. The anti-subsidy -- or “countervailing” -- duties are the outcome of an investigation that the EU opened in April 2010 after a complaint by the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries , also known as Eurofer, on behalf of producers representing more than 25 percent of the bloc’s output of stainless steel bars and rods. To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Stearns in Brussels at jstearns2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net

J&J-Synthes Takeover Obscuring Recalls in Makeover: Real M&A

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/j-j-synthes-merger-obscures-product-recalls-in-instant-makeover-real-m-a.html

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) , reeling from more than 50 drug and device recalls since the start of 2010, is trying to recapture its younger self by digesting Synthes Inc. (SYST) Synthes, the largest maker of devices to treat bone fractures and trauma, has an operating margin of 35 percent, the highest among medical-products makers including J&J with market values of more than $5 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Synthes has increased the amount of net income generated per dollar of revenue for seven straight years to the best in the industry, while J&J’s profit margin declined in two of the past four years, the data show. J&J, with almost $28 billion in cash at its disposal, is in talks to acquire Synthes, a $19.4-billion company with only $98 million in debt, as it seeks to revive its image after product recalls and lawsuits over failed artificial hips. The world’s second-biggest maker of health-care products would gain a device company with almost 50 percent of the trauma market. Synthes’s operating margins are 45 percent higher than Smith & Nephew Plc (SN/) , which investors had speculated was a target for J&J. “J&J had a severe challenge to its premier reputation given all the recalls,” said Michael Holland, who oversees more than $4 billion, including J&J shares, as chairman of Holland & Co. in New York. “This relatively bold step to buy a premier company is a significant move to regain their luster.” Share Gains J&J’s shares rose as much as 1 percent yesterday before closing down 0.2 percent at $60.46 on the New York Stock Exchange. That was still the third-best performance in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which slid 1.1 percent as Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook on U.S. long-term debt to “negative.” Synthes advanced 5.6 percent to 146.5 Swiss francs in Zurich yesterday to give it a market value of 17.4 billion Swiss francs ($19.4 billion). The West Chester, Pennsylvania-based company said in a statement that it’s in talks with J&J about a possible combination. Synthes doesn’t intend to provide more information until a definitive agreement is reached or talks are terminated, it said. William Price, a spokesman for New Brunswick , New Jersey- based J&J, declined to comment in an e-mail. J&J climbed 3.7 percent to $62.69 on the NYSE today after the company reported first-quarter earnings that beat the average estimate from analysts and raised its full-year forecast. Synthes gained 0.6 percent to 147.4 francs in Zurich. ‘Change the Focus’ J&J is considering an acquisition of Synthes after product recalls cost the company $900 million in sales last year. J&J removed almost 200 million packages of Tylenol, Motrin and other over-the-counter medications tainted by nauseating odors or improper ingredients. Its DePuy unit has also withdrawn 93,000 hip implants that failed at higher-than-expected rates, forcing repeat surgeries. After the company’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit was charged on March 10 with violating U.S. law, the Food & Drug Administration expanded oversight of three manufacturing plants for at least five years. The settlement doesn’t preclude future criminal charges, the agency said at the time. “They want to change the focus of the conversation,” said Erik Gordon , a University of Michigan business professor in Ann Arbor who studies the biomedical industry. J&J is “probably thinking, ‘Let’s have the conversation be the potential upside of something,’” he said. While Synthes and J&J may “fit together,” J&J should be focused on fixing its in-house recall problems, he said. ‘Great Margins’ Synthes had an operating margin of 35 percent in 2010, the best among 17 medical-product companies with market values greater than $5 billion, including J&J at 27 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The company’s efficiency turning revenue into operating income also topped rivals specializing in medical instruments such as Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc. (MDT) , St. Jude Medical Inc. in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) in Natick, Massachusetts. Synthes improved its profit margin to 24.6 percent last year from 6.1 percent in 2003, the data show. “They have great margins,” said Michael Liss, a Kansas City, Missouri-based portfolio manager at American Century Investments, which oversees $109 billion and owned about 7.8 million shares of J&J as of Dec. 31. “It only helps J&J’s margins overall.” Synthes has attractive margins because it’s in the orthopedics market and has implemented efficiencies, Gilgian Eisner, a spokesman for the company in Solothurn, Switzerland, said yesterday. Artificial Hips J&J had looked at buying Smith & Nephew, Europe ’s biggest marker of artificial hips and knees, a person familiar with the plan who declined to be identified because the discussions were private said in January. The U.K. device maker had a 16 percent profit margin in the 2010 calendar year. The London-based company declined 3 percent yesterday, the most since January, after Synthes confirmed it was in talks with J&J. An acquisition of Synthes would push J&J’s share of the $5.5 billion orthopedic trauma market to 54 percent from about 5 percent, and boost earnings between 4 percent and 5 percent in each of the next three years, Larry Biegelsen , a Wells Fargo & Co. analyst in New York , said in a note to clients yesterday. The trauma market will grow faster than replacement hips and knees, according to Biegelsen. J&J’s share of the $9 billion spinal-care market would almost double, he said. The company may have to divest some of Synthes’s spine business, according to Lisa Bedell Clive, a London-based analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. ‘Called Into Question’ Prices for Synthes’s trauma devices may succumb to the pressure that has narrowed margins for other medical devices, according to Michael Weinstein , a JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst in New York. The sustainability of Synthes’s profits “has been and should be called into question,” he wrote in a note yesterday. Synthes’s exclusive arrangement with the Swiss AO Foundation may draw antitrust scrutiny from U.S. regulators, Bernstein’s Clive said. The non-profit teaches courses for surgeons using only Synthes products, leading to many becoming Synthes customers, she said. Like J&J, Synthes has also grappled with product recalls. After reports that its Synex II Central Body components had failed in six people, leading to pain and loss of height for some, Synthes recalled the spinal implants in 2009. Credit Ratings The company was also ordered to sell its Norian unit, which pleaded guilty in November to one felony and 110 misdemeanor counts for conducting an unauthorized trial of its bone-mending cement products. Three patients died, according to the U.S. Justice Department. J&J built up $19.4 billion in cash and near cash items and $8.3 billion in short-term investments as of the end of last year that could be tapped for acquisitions, compared with $16.8 billion in total debt, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The maker of health-care products is one of only four U.S. companies to have the top credit rating from both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service. Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) ; Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Washington ; and Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) in Roseland, New Jersey , are the others, data compiled by Bloomberg show. J&J is also ranked AAA in Bloomberg’s Company Credit Ratings, which analyze borrowers based on indebtedness, profitability and other financial ratios. Even if J&J added long-term debt equal to the current market value of Synthes, it would still have a rating of A2L, the fourth-highest investment grade level. J&J’s combined cash and short-term investments outstrip the market capitalization of Synthes by about $8.2 billion, the data show. Biggest Deal Synthes, which is not rated by S&P or Moody’s, had total debt of $98.4 million at the end of last year, compared with $736.6 million in cash and near-cash items and $1.25 billion in short-term investments, data compiled by Bloomberg show. An acquisition of Synthes for about $20 billion would be the biggest deal in J&J’s 125-year history, surpassing the $16.6 billion purchase of New York-based Pfizer Inc. (PFE) ’s consumer health care business in 2006. Pfizer is the world’s largest maker of medical products by sales. “J&J is what it is. It’s a big powerhouse,” said Harry Rady, who oversees $270 million as chief executive officer of Rady Asset Management LLC, a hedge fund in La Jolla , California. “They could choose to allocate resources to fight all these small battles, or they could make a transformational acquisition like this to really change the face of the company.” Overall, there have been 7,336 deals announced globally this year, totaling $713.1 billion, a 29 percent increase from the $553.3 billion in the same period in 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. To contact the reporters on this story: Tara Lachapelle in New York at tlachapelle@bloomberg.net ; Alex Nussbaum in New York at anussbaum1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Hauck at dhauck1@bloomberg.net ; Katherine Snyder at ksnyder@bloomberg.net ; Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net .

Singapore Stocks: Keppel Land, Straits Asia Resources, Wilmar

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/chasen-straits-asia-resources-singapore-stocks-preview.html

Singapore’s Straits Times Index (FSSTI) climbed 1.3 percent to 3,165.80 at the close. All but three stocks in the benchmark index of 30 companies advanced. Shares on the measure trade at an average 14.4 times estimated earnings, compared with about 15.6 times at the end of 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The following shares were among the most active in the market. Stock symbols are in parentheses after the company name. Palm-oil producers: Crude palm-oil futures for July delivery gained as much as 2.3 percent in Kuala Lumpur today, heading for a third day of advance. First Resources Ltd. (FR) , an Indonesian palm-oil producer, increased 1.5 percent to S$1.40. Indofood Agri Resources Ltd. (IFAR) , the palm-oil unit of Indonesia ’s biggest noodle maker, rose 0.5 percent to S$2.15. Wilmar International Ltd. (WIL) , the world’s biggest palm-oil trader, climbed 1.9 percent to S$5.27. Keppel Land Ltd. (KPLD) , the real-estate unit of Keppel Corp. (KEP SP), rose 1.4 percent to S$4.42. The company said first-quarter profit rose 46 percent to S$92.1 million ($74.2 million) and revenue more than tripled to S$357.9 million. Straits Asia Resources Ltd. (SAR) , the owner of coal mines in Indonesia, increased 3.9 percent to S$2.66. The company said first-quarter net income rose to $41.4 million from $11.2 million a year earlier. United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB) gained 1.4 percent to S$19.66. The Australian unit of Singapore ’s smallest lender by market value plans to sell three-year bonds in its first sale of Australian dollar-denominated debt. The benchmark-sized sale of senior unsecured notes will be priced by tomorrow, according to an e-mailed statement from Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., which is helping manage the sale. To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at jburgos4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net .

Northern Trust’s Net Income Down 3.9% as Low Interest Rates Reduce Revenue

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/northern-trust-s-net-income-down-3-9-as-low-interest-rates-reduce-revenue.html

Northern Trust Corp. (NTRS) , the third- largest independent U.S. custody bank, said first-quarter profit fell 3.9 percent as low interest rates reduced lending and money-market revenue. Net income decreased to $151 million, or 61 cents a share, from $157.2 million, or 64 cents a share, a year earlier, the Chicago-based company said today in a statement. Excluding some items, analysts had expected earnings of 65 cents, according to the average of 23 estimates surveyed by Bloomberg. The U.S. Federal Reserve has held its benchmark lending rate at zero to 0.25 percent since December 2008, cutting the income Northern Trust earns when investing or lending out securities and client deposits. Low interest rates also have forced the company to waive some of the fees it collects for running money-market funds so that yields stay positive. When rates are depressed for a long period, more investments and loans are affected. Assets under custody rose 17 percent to $4.36 trillion. The earnings were announced before the start of regular U.S. trading. Northern Trust lost 6.7 percent this year through yesterday, including reinvested dividends. The 17-member Standard & Poor’s index of asset managers and custody banks was little changed. (Northern Trust is scheduled to hold a conference call for investors at 9 a.m. New York time. The call can be accessed at http://www.northerntrust/financialreleases .) To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Condon in Boston at ccondon4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net .

Portuguese Business Group Against Minimum Wage Rise, Diario Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/portuguese-business-group-against-minimum-wage-rise-diario-says.html

Portugal ’s Commerce and Services Confederation will propose that the country’s minimum wage is not increased to 500 euros this year, which was a goal set by the government at the end of 2010, Diario Economico reported, without saying how it obtained the information. The confederation will present the proposal tomorrow at a meeting with officials of the International Monetary Fund , European Commission and European Central Bank, the Portuguese newspaper said. IMF officials joined European Commission and ECB teams on April 12 “for technical discussions with the Portuguese government” and policy discussions started this week, following the country’s April 6 request for financial assistance. Click here for web link To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joao Lima at jlima1@bloomberg.net

Peru Sol Holds at Four-Month Low Amid Humala Election Concern

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/peru-sol-holds-at-four-month-low-amid-humala-election-concern.html

Peru’s sol held at a four-month low as concern former military rebel Ollanta Humala may win a presidential runoff led foreign investors to sell the local currency. The sol was little changed at 2.8233 per U.S. dollar at 4:12 p.m. New York time, from 2.8225 yesterday. That’s its weakest level on a closing basis since Dec. 13. The sol has dropped 2 percent in the last month, the second-biggest decline after the Japanese yen among world currencies tracked by Bloomberg. “Foreigners have been buying dollars in the spot market as they cut back on their Peru holdings,” said Gonzalo Navarro, head trader at Banco Santander in Lima. “Humala is the reason behind the uncertainty. The market doesn’t believe his moderate stance.” Humala, who has pledged to renegotiate contracts with foreign companies and the country’s trading partners if he is elected, finished first in the April 10 vote, winning 32 percent of the ballots. The second round of elections will be held on June 5. Peru ’s central bank sold 50 million soles ($17.7 million) worth of six-month certificates of deposit today. The bank last week sold dollars for the first time since 2009 to ease the currency’s slide. Banco Central de Reserva del Peru didn’t buy or sell dollars in the currency market today, it said on its website. The yield on Peru’s benchmark 7.84 percent sol-denominated bond due August 2020 was little changed at 7.25 percent, according to Deutsche Bank AG’s local unit. It has increased 95 basis points, or 0.95 percentage point, from 6.30 percent a month ago. The bond’s price today remained at 104.08 centimos per sol. To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Jaramillo in Bogota at ajaramillo1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net

Europe Ends Three-Month Curbs on Carbon Registries After Hacking Thefts

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/europe-ends-three-month-curbs-on-carbon-registries-after-hacking-thefts.html

The European Union allowed the Lithuanian carbon registry to reopen tomorrow, bringing back to normal all emission registries in its cap-and-trade system after a string of thefts triggered three months of restrictions. The European Commission, the EU regulatory arm, closed the registries that track the ownership of emission permits on Jan. 19 after thieves stole more than 2 million permits valued at about 34 million euros ($49 million) at today’s prices. The national carbon trackers were required to demonstrate that their systems were secure from hacking attacks before getting permission to reopen. “Tightening the security of the registries system has been the top priority,” EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said in a statement in Brussels today. “All registries are now up and running with enhanced security measures in place.” The closure of registries in January drove spot carbon markets to a halt for 15 days before the first centers were allowed to reopen. The European emissions trading program, known as the ETS, includes 27 EU nations as well as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The registry in Iceland is not yet active. EU permits for delivery in December rose 1 percent to 16.84 euros as of 5 p.m. on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London. They have gained 18 percent so far this year. Damaged Reputation Even though the allowances stolen in January accounted for only 0.1 percent of the European Union average annual cap in the 2008-2012 trading period, the attacks hurt the reputation of the ETS and sparked criticism from some analysts that the supervision of the system is not adequate. The thefts followed instances of “carousel fraud” involving value-added tax collection and password “phishing” in previous years. Jos Delbeke, director general for climate at the commission, said on Jan. 28 that some member states and firms neglected security rules and national authorities are working with Europol to catch the fraudsters. While the countries attacked by hackers in January managed to locate some of the missing permits, legal questions about how to prevent recirculation of the stolen allowances are keeping investors at bay from spot trading. The recovery of any allowances transferred illegally has not been harmonized in the 27-nation bloc and is a matter for national law and local enforcement authorities. Know Your Customer The commission and national registries would immediately boost confidence in the market by isolating stolen allowances, installing a mandatory four-hour delay for every transaction and requiring strict “know-your-customer” tests for all traders, said Simone Ruiz, European policy director at the International Emissions Trading Association. IETA urged yesterday that EU nations and the commission ensure that the arrangements for the next phase of the ETS from 2013 “stop any recurrence of these unnecessary and frankly embarrassing problems.” It also renewed calls on the commission to reveal more information about the minimum security measures that national registries had to implement, requests that the EU has said could mean “educating the gangsters.” The ETS imposes pollution limits on more than 11,000 companies including Germany ’s biggest steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG and Italy ’s biggest utility Enel SpA, allowing those that emit less than their quota to sell surplus permits. One permit gives the right to discharge one ton of CO2. EU-wide solutions would require backing from member states. Improving Security The commission has already demanded that national registries implement additional identification checks and is now drafting regulatory changes that may be presented as soon as this or next month. The EU is also examining improved oversight rules for spot carbon trading. “We are working on a set of measures to further improve security on all fronts such as a delivery delay mechanism, improved management of registry accounts and detection and quick response mechanisms,” Hedegaard said. “With these measures and a more unified approach for the third phase of the ETS due to start in 2013, we have definitely strengthened the integrity of the European carbon market.” To contact the reporters responsible for this story: Ewa Krukowska in Warsaw at ekrukowska@bloomberg.net Mathew Carr in London at m.carr@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net

Treasury 10-Year Yield Near Three-Week Low as Noda Counters S&P

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/treasuries-hold-advance-as-japan-s-yosano-sees-quality-after-s-p-warning.html

Treasury 10-year yields stayed within three basis points of the lowest in three weeks as bondholders said U.S. debt will still draw investors even after its rating outlook was cut by Standard & Poor’s. Two-year yields reached the lowest since March 24. U.S. debt is “attractive,” Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said at a press conference in Tokyo today, a comment that was later reiterated by Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano. Pacific Investment Management Co., which runs the world’s biggest bond fund, said the Treasury market will still be a place for other nations to invest. “Where will they put their reserve assets?” Tony Crescenzi, a market strategist and portfolio manager for Pimco in Newport Beach, California, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “First Up” with Susan Li. “The Treasury market remains the deepest, most liquid market in the world.” Ten-year yields were one basis point higher at 3.39 percent as of 8:24 a.m. in London , after dropping by three basis points yesterday, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices. The 3.625 percent note due in February 2021 traded at 101 30/32. The yield fell yesterday to 3.36 percent, the least since March 24. Yields are down from 3.80 percent a year ago and below the average of 5.21 percent over the last two decades even with the U.S. projected to post a deficit in excess of $1 trillion for a third consecutive year. Yields will remain less than 4 percent through year-end, according to the median forecast of 73 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Negative Outlook S&P yesterday put the U.S. government on notice that it risks losing its AAA ranking unless officials agree on a plan by 2013 to reduce budget deficits and the national debt. China , Russia, Brazil , South Korea and other nations will still have demand for Treasuries, Crescenzi said, even as Pimco joins the criticism of U.S. spending. Bill Gross, who runs the record-size $236 billion Pimco Total Return Fund, set a bet against U.S. government and related debt in March. U.S. spending may result in inflation and currency devaluation, he said in his April outlook posted on Pimco’s website. Worldwide reserve assets climbed to a record $9.65 trillion this month, according to Bloomberg data. China is America’s largest creditor, holding $1.15 trillion of the $9.13 trillion in publicly traded debt. Japan is second with $890.3 billion. “We continue to see U.S. debt as an attractive investment,” Japan’s Noda said. Yields to Rise Treasuries would be “extremely good-quality securities” even if the grade is cut, Yosano said in a separate press conference in the Japanese capital. Yields will still climb in 2011, said Tomohisa Fujiki, an interest-rate strategist at BNP Paribas Securities Japan Ltd. in Tokyo. BNP’s U.S. unit is one of the 20 primary dealers that trade directly with the Federal Reserve. “Into the end of this year, we think yields are going to rise,” Fujiki said. “The U.S. economy is on track for a recovery, even if the pace is slow,” he said. Ten-year rates will increase to 4.25 percent by Dec. 31, Fujiki said. Fed Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said yesterday he is optimistic about the U.S. economy this year. Fed Dallas President Richard Fisher said in separate comments the recovery appears to be “self-sustaining.” Housing Starts A government report today will show housing starts increased 8.6 percent in March from the month before, after a 23 percent decline in February, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists before the Commerce Department report. The difference between yields on 10-year notes and Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, a gauge of trader expectations for consumer prices over the life of the debt, has widened to 2.62 percentage points from 2.08 percentage points six months ago. The 10-year average is 2.10 percentage points. Treasuries rose yesterday as speculation that Greece will be unable to avoid a default and declines in stocks boosted demand for refuge assets. “Geopolitical concerns haven’t gone away, and we are seeing safety flows into Treasuries,” said Russ Certo, a managing director and co-head of rates trading at Gleacher & Co. in New York. Credit-default swaps covering Treasuries climbed to an 11- week high of 49.5 basis points yesterday, according to data provider CMA. Out of 56 markets tracked by Bloomberg, only Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and Norway have lower swap costs. Traders use credit-default swaps to speculate on credit quality. A drop in price signals improved perceptions of creditworthiness, while an increase suggests the opposite. The contracts pay the buyer if a borrower fails to meet its debt agreements. To contact the reporters on this story: Wes Goodman in Singapore at wgoodman@bloomberg.net. Lukanyo Mnyanda in Edinburgh at lmnyanda@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net

Ugandan Authorities Plan Continued Arrests to Block Opposition Protests

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/ugandan-authorities-plan-continued-arrests-to-block-opposition-protests.html

Uganda vowed further arrests of opposition leaders protesting against the rising cost of living as opponents of President Yoweri Museveni’s government pledged to continue their demonstrations. Protesters will be detained because they are acting “outside the law and accepted norms of society,” Internal Affairs Minister Kirunda Kivejinja told reporters today in the capital, Kampala. “We shall not be ashamed in the execution of our duties.” Demonstrations have been organized in Uganda to denounce surging prices for staple foods and gasoline, after inflation in the East African nation accelerated to 11.1 percent in March, from 6.4 percent a month earlier. Yesterday, the authorities arrested the country’s main opposition leader, Kizza Besigye , for the second time in a week as he took part in a so-called walk-to-work demonstration. On April 11, Besigye was arrested for blocking traffic. Three days later, at a similar demonstration, Besigye’s hand was injured after police sprayed teargas and fired rubber bullets to disperse protesters. The opposition will continue with their twice-weekly protests until the government halts the rise in food and fuel prices, said John Ken Lukyamuzi, the chairman of a coalition of four opposition parties. ‘Harassment’ “We shall continue with the demonstrations in spite of the harassment,” he said in a phone interview today. “We want government to address the issues which are hurting the people.” Norbert Mao, the leader of the Democratic Party , and six of his party activists were remanded at the country’s biggest prison yesterday after they declined to apply for bail, according to the New Vision , a Kampala-based newspaper. At least 20 opposition leaders were charged for “inciting violence,” it said. Besigye, who was the flag bearer for the coalition in a Feb. 18 presidential election, rejected the outcome of the vote, claiming Museveni was fraudulently reelected. Uganda, with a population of more than 30 million, is Africa ’s largest producer of robusta coffee. To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala at fojambo@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net .

Akhmedov Seeks $1.8 Billion for 49% of Northgas, Vedomosti Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/akhmedov-seeks-1-8-billion-for-49-of-northgas-vedomosti-says.html

Farkhad Akhmedov raised the price he wants for his 49 percent in ZAO Northgas to $1.8 billion after getting a higher valuation from bankers and an audit of the Russian gas producer’s reserves, Vedomosti said today, citing a letter from the businessman to the potential buyer, OAO Inter RAO UES. Inter RAO, a state-run power utility, had agreed to buy the stake for about $1.5 billion under a non-binding agreement, Vedomosti said, citing the businessman. Akhmedov may use the extra $300 million to buy Inter RAO stock, the newspaper said. OAO Gazprom, which owns the majority stake in Northgas, didn’t exercise its right of first refusal to Akhmedov’s stake by an April 12 deadline, the newspaper said, citing two unidentified people with knowledge of the transaction. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Torrey Clark at tclark8@bloomberg.net

Hot Rock to Explore Peru Areas for Geothermal Energy

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/hot-rock-to-explore-two-more-peru-sites-for-geothermal-power-potential.html

(Corrects location in first paragraph of April 19 story.) Hot Rock Ltd. (HRL) , an Australian geothermal developer, won permission to explore two sites in the south of Peru for potential to support power plants as the South American country seeks to diversify its power supply. The sites, called Chocopata and Quella Apacheta, together cover 295 square kilometers (115 square miles), the Brisbane- based company said in a statement today. Peru gets 52 percent of its electricity from fossil fuels and 48 percent from hydroelectric plants, according to the statement. The country’s power grid will need to grow 6.2 percent a year to meet demand that may reach 10.5 gigawatts in 10 years, Hot Rock said, citing a report from grid operator Comite de Operacion Economica del Sistema. “The Peruvian government supports the development of geothermal energy through legislation that provides a mechanism for setting feed-in tariffs, tax incentives and guaranteed connection to the grid and sale of all power produced,” Executive Chairman Mark Elliott said in the statement. With the awards, Hot Rock now owns the rights to explore three sites in Peru and eight in Chile, according to the statement. The company expects to get five more Peruvian concessions in the next few months, according to the statement. To contact the reporter on this story: Stephan Nielsen in Sao Paulo at snielsen8@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net

Ayala Land, Filinvest Land, Phinma: Philippine Stocks Preview

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/ayala-land-filinvest-land-phinma-philippine-stocks-preview.html

Shares of the following companies may have unusual moves in Philippine trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and prices are as of the previous close, unless stated otherwise. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose 0.4 percent to 4,269.19. Ayala Corp. (AC) : The owner of the largest Philippine developer and its biggest bank by market value said this year’s capital spending will increase 21 percent to 79 billion pesos ($1.82 billion), repeating an earlier announcement on March 11. The spending plan includes investments in power and infrastructure projects, according to yesterday’s filing. The stock increased 0.3 percent to 393.40 pesos. Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) : The largest Philippine developer said profit may reach 10 billion pesos by 2014, a stock exchange filing showed. The stock fell 0.1 percent to 16.96 pesos. Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) : The company is interested to bid for state-owned power assets that the government will auction, a stock exchange filing showed. The stock climbed 1.6 percent to 5.08 pesos. Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) : The Philippine builder plans to increase its leasable assets by adding 100,000 square meters of office and shopping mall space, a stock exchange filing showed. The stock gained 1.6 percent to 1.28 pesos. Phinma Corp. (PHN) : The company’s property venture will spend 4.5 billion pesos to develop three residential projects, a stock exchange filing showed. The property venture plans to list its shares on the exchange in the next 12-to-24 months, it said. The stock sank 4.6 percent to 11.70 pesos. To contact the reporter on this story: Ian C. Sayson in Manila at isayson@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at dboey@bloomberg.net

Ex-Taylor Bean Chairman Farkas Found Guilty on All 14 Counts in Fraud Case

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/ex-taylor-bean-chairman-convicted-of-conspiracy-fraud-1-.html

Lee Farkas , the ex-chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp., was found guilty of 14 counts of conspiracy and bank, wire and securities fraud in what prosecutors said was a $3 billion scheme involving fake mortgage assets. A federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, yesterday returned the verdict after one day of deliberations. Farkas, who was free during the trial, was taken into custody. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years on the conspiracy and bank-fraud charges and 20 years or more on the wire-fraud and securities-fraud counts when he’s sentenced on July 1. Prosecutors said Farkas, 58, orchestrated one of the largest and longest-running bank frauds in the U.S. that duped some of the country’s largest financial institutions, targeted the federal bank bailout program and contributed to the failures of Taylor Bean and Montgomery, Alabama-based Colonial Bank. Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer , head of the Justice Department ’s criminal division, said Farkas’s fraud “poured fuel on the fire” of the financial crisis. “The financial crisis has many faces and today Lee Farkas’s face is one of them,” Breuer, who attended part of the trial, said after the verdict in a conference call with reporters. ‘Ongoing’ Investigation Breuer said the government’s investigation into the fraud scheme is “ongoing.” He declined to say whether additional people might be charged. Prosecutors spent eight days laying out the allegations for jurors. The government called 23 witnesses, including officials at Freddie Mac , Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Deutsche Bank AG. (DBK) Six of those who testified were former colleagues or associates of Farkas who had pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. Farkas used Taylor Bean as his own “personal piggy-bank” and stole more than $30 million from the company he built to buy homes, cars, airplanes, restaurants and other side businesses, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Connolly during closing arguments. Farkas, who denied any wrongdoing, testified on his own behalf and called two former Taylor Bean employees and a forensic accountant in his defense. William Cummings, one of Farkas’s lawyers, said the defense team is disappointed with the verdict. “We fought hard,” said Cummings, a former U.S. attorney in Virginia. “Getting six former colleagues to plead guilty and testify is a difficult obstacle to overcome.” Cummings said he was surprised U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ordered Farkas to be jailed, adding that the judge said she would hear arguments next week on whether he should be released while he awaits sentencing. Rolls Royce Prosecutors are seeking to seize properties that Farkas owns in Florida and Georgia , as well as nine vehicles, including a 1929 Ford Model A and 1963 Rolls Royce. Taylor Bean, based in Ocala, Florida, was servicing more than 500,000 mortgages including $51 billion of Freddie Mac loans when it collapsed in August 2009, according to court records. Prosecutors allege the fraud began in 2002 when Farkas had trouble meeting operating expenses, such as payroll and mortgage-loan servicing payments owed to the government- sponsored Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. With assistance from officials at Colonial Bank , at one time among the country’s 50 biggest, Farkas masked shortfalls of about $15 million a day by moving money from another Taylor Bean account into the company’s master account, then returning the money later in the day, according to a related lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Overdrawn Account By December 2003, Taylor Bean was overdrawing its account by about $150 million a day, the SEC said. Farkas, in about four hours of testimony, denied ordering anyone to move money among the Taylor Bean accounts and said he and Taylor Bean officials didn’t have authority to do it. The government alleges that Farkas and other conspirators, in a scheme they called “Plan B,” began sending mortgage data to Colonial Bank for loans that didn’t exist or that Taylor Bean had already committed or sold to other investors. Fake Loans By the end of 2007, the scheme consisted of about $500 million in fake residential mortgage loans and about $900 million in unmarketable residential mortgage loans and securities, said Patrick Stokes, deputy chief of the U.S. Justice Department’s fraud section, during closing arguments. Farkas and his co-conspirators diverted cash from Ocala Funding LLC, a financing vehicle used and controlled by Taylor Bean, to cover its losses, prosecutors said. Ocala Funding issued asset-backed commercial paper to financial institutions including Deutsche Bank, Germany ’s biggest bank, and Paris-based BNP Paribas (BNP) , according to court papers. By August 2009, Ocala’s deficit had grown to $1.5 billion, according to prosecutors. As Colonial Bank struggled to stay afloat, Farkas tried to raise $300 million from private investors to secure a $550 million cash infusion from the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program, according to Paul Allen , the company’s former chief executive officer who pleaded guilty to the conspiracy. Farkas was convicted of falsely representing that he had commitments from investors for the money. Colonial never got the TARP funds, the U.S. said. Taylor Bean accounted for about 2 percent of the mortgages for single-family homes by volume bought by Freddie Mac in 2009, according to a company filing. The firm said it filed a claim in Taylor Bean’s bankruptcy for $1.8 billion, with $440 million relating to funds deposited with Colonial Bank. Alabama regulators seized Colonial Bank in 2009 and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed as receiver. Colonial BancGroup and Taylor Bean filed for bankruptcy in 2009. The case is U.S. v. Farkas, 10-cr-00200, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria). To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Schoenberg in Washington at tschoenberg@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net

Kenyan Coffee Advances as Traders Boost Stocks Before Break

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/kenyan-coffee-advances-as-traders-boost-stocks-before-break-1-.html

Kenya ’s benchmark coffee grade rose 3.5 percent at auction today as buyers replenished their stocks ahead of a two-month break, the Nairobi Coffee Exchange said. The top arabica AA grade sold for an average of $405.97 for a 50-kilogram (110-pound) bag, up from $392.24 at the previous sale on April 12, the exchange said in an e-mailed report. Supplies of the grade climbed 13 percent to 1,459 bags, it said. “Demand was a little bit higher because buyers wanted to boost their stocks before we break until June 14,” said Kizito Keya, a trader at Mumba Coffee Ltd., by phone from Nairobi. Arabica beans are grown in East Africa and Latin America and are brewed by specialty companies including Starbucks Corp. Kenya may produce about 40,000 metric tons this season, James Wahome, quality manager at the Coffee Board of Kenya , said on Jan. 17. The nation produced 45,000 tons in the last season. The East African country is trying to help small-scale farmers revive output, which dropped from more than 100,000 tons in 1988-89 because of a slump in global prices and farm mismanagement. The average price for all the coffee sold at the auction declined 1.8 percent to $294.66 a bag, the exchange said. Sales fell to 9,961 bags valued at $3.59 million, from 10,490 bags worth $3.87 million last week, it said. The following are details of the auction in U.S. dollars for a 50-kilogram bag: To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala at fojambo@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net

Japan’s Benchmark Bonds Rise, Pushing Yields to Three-Week Low, on Exports

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/twenty-year-government-bonds-may-decline-on-auction-concerns-stock-gains.html

Japan ’s 10-year bond rose, pushing yields to the lowest level in three weeks, after a report showed exports fell for the first time in more than a year. The nation’s government debt handed investors a 0.6 percent return in the three months ended yesterday, according to indexes compiled by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, outperforming an 11 percent slump in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average during the period. Investors demanded the lowest 20-year yields in more than a month relative to five-year rates before a 1.1 trillion-yen ($13 billion) auction of the longer-maturity bonds tomorrow. “With the outlook still in a haze, we have to be rather bearish on the economy,” said Toru Suehiro, a market analyst in Tokyo at Mizuho Securities Co., one of the 24 primary dealers obliged to bid at government debt sales. “Ten-year yields are likely to try a range of between 1.1 percent and 1.2 percent.” The benchmark 10-year yield declined one basis point to 1.23 percent at 3:47 p.m. in Tokyo at Japan Bond Trading Co., the nation’s largest interdealer debt broker. The yield dropped to as low as 1.225 percent, the least since March 29. Ten-year bond futures for June delivery were unchanged at 139.54 at the 3 p.m. close of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Twenty- year yields dropped one basis point to 2 percent. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. Japan’s overseas shipments declined 2.2 percent in March from a year earlier, the Finance Ministry said in Tokyo today. The median estimate of 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 1.1 percent drop. 20-Year Auction The yield spread between 20-year debt and five-year notes narrowed to 1.51 percentage points, the least since March 11. The prior 20-year debt auction on March 16 drew bids valued at 4.13 times the amount on offer, compared with the average of 3.82 for the past 10 sales. Primary dealers often reduce holdings of bonds in case prices decline before they can pass on the new securities to investors. Bond futures earlier slid as much as 0.16 as Asian stocks extended gains in global shares. The Nikkei 225 rose 1.8 percent after the MSCI World Index advanced 0.6 percent yesterday. “Bonds are being sold a bit ahead of tomorrow’s auction, especially after yields dropped rapidly over the past few days,” said Makoto Noji, a senior debt and foreign-exchange strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. in Tokyo. “Stocks also turned to positive, hurting bonds.” Ten-year yields are likely to drop to 1.20 percent by the end of September, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists and analysts. Should the predictions prove accurate, investors who buy the debt today would make a 0.8 percent return, Bloomberg calculations showed. To contact the reporters on this story: Monami Yui in Tokyo at myui1@bloomberg.net ; Masaki Kondo in Singapore at mkondo3@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rocky Swift at rswift5@bloomberg.net .

Wimbledon Tennis Chief Wants U.K. to Relax Tax on Player Sponsorships

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/wimbledon-tennis-chief-wants-u-k-to-relax-tax-on-player-sponsorships.html

The ATP World Tour Finals and other British tennis tournaments may lose access to players unless the U.K. stops taxing foreign athletes’ endorsement income, Wimbledon officials said today. Athletes are taxed on a per diem rate by the U.K. on such income, even if the sponsor is located outside the country. The taxation “will inevitably concern players,” Ian Ritchie, chief executive officer of Wimbledon, said in a press conference at the All England Club in southwest London. “We don’t believe it is a problem for Wimbledon in terms of people coming here. We want to encourage people to come for other events and in the discussions we’ve had with players and agents, it is on their radar.” Former Wimbledon champion Andre Agassi in 2006 lost a 27,500-pound ($44,860) tax dispute at Britain’s highest court, which blocked other sports and entertainment figures from claiming millions from British tax authorities. Agassi, an eight-time grand slam winner who earned more than $31 million in career prize money, had challenged the U.K. taxation of sponsorship payments made by some of his endorsers including Nike Inc. (NKE) and other non-British companies to his own company, Agassi Enterprises Inc., while he played at U.K. tournaments such as Wimbledon. Ritchie added it seems unfair individual athletes such as professional golfers, tennis players and athletics stars are subject to the taxation, while stars in team sports such as soccer are not. “If Lionel Messi comes here for a Champions League final, he does not get taxed, but Roger Federer does,” Ritchie said. Wimbledon has spoken to Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One Management Ltd. CEO, about the issue, Ritchie said. To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Rossingh at the All England Club through the London sports desk at drossingh@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Elser at celser@bloomberg.net .

Nigeria’s Inflation Rate Rising on Higher Energy, Food Costs, Sanusi Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/nigeria-s-inflation-rate-rising-on-higher-energy-food-costs-sanusi-says.html

Inflation in Nigeria , sub-Saharan Africa ’s second-biggest economy, is accelerating amid rising global costs for food and energy, said Lamido Sanusi, the governor the country’s central bank. Increasing costs of building materials and household items are adding pressure to the inflation rate, Sanusi said in a phone interview late yesterday. Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to an annual 12.8 percent in March from 11.1 percent a month earlier, the Abuja-based National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday. The Central Bank of Nigeria raised its benchmark interest rate by one percentage point, the second increase this year, on March 22 in an effort to slow the rate of inflation. “We had anticipated, in the light of rising global food and energy prices, that structural pressures would impact on inflation,” said Sanusi. Fuel costs, specifically for kerosene and diesel that are not covered by government subsidy, are particularly “susceptible to rising prices,” he said. Nigeria ’s government guarantees a price per liter of gasoline at 65 naira ($0.42) and pays the difference when oil costs climb. Kerosene is commonly used for cooking and diesel is used in generators that are needed to combat the country’s frequent power cuts. Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, boosted spending ahead of this year’s elections, adding to pressure on inflation. The parliament approved a 4.97 trillion-naira expenditure plan for the 2011 fiscal year, which is “unduly expansionary,” Sanusi said on March 22. To contact the reporter on this story: Emele Onu in Lagos at eonu1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net .

Rajaratnam, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Madoff in Court News

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/citigroup-morgan-stanley-rajaratnam-madoff-in-court-news.html

Galleon Group LLC co-founder Raj Rajaratnam, at the center of largest crackdown on hedge-fund insider trading in U.S. history, didn’t take the witness stand as jurors heard one last wiretapped recording in his trial. Prosecutors’ brief rebuttal of Rajaratnam’s weeklong defense included playing a recording of a phone call between Rajaratnam and former New Castle Funds LLC analyst Danielle Chiesi. During the Sept. 30, 2008, call, Chiesi asked Rajaratnam if he had bought 1 million shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) , calling the purchase “a very bold move unless you know what we know.” Prosecutors, who are scheduled to begin their closing arguments to the jury today, have said Rajaratnam got a tip from Anil Kumar, a former McKinsey & Co. director, that Sunnyvale, California-based AMD was about to announce the sale of a manufacturing entity to Mubadala Development Co., a sovereign wealth company operated by Abu Dhabi. The close of evidence yesterday came six weeks into a trial that might send Rajaratnam to prison for 20 years. Rajaratnam, 53, is accused of gaining $63.8 million from tips leaked by corporate insiders and hedge-fund traders about a dozen stocks, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) , Intel Corp. (INTC) , Clearwire Corp. and Akamai Technologies Inc. The Sri Lankan-born money manager denies wrongdoing, saying he based his trades on research. After prosecutors and Rajaratnam’s lawyers complete their closing arguments, the jury will begin its deliberations. The defense case focused on the testimony of former Galleon U.S. President Richard Schutte and of Gregg Jarrell, the top economist for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 1984 to 1987. They told jurors that stock trading trends, analyst reports and news accounts circulating in the marketplace gave Rajaratnam a lawful basis to make the stock trades that prosecutors say were corrupt. The case is U.S. v. Rajaratnam, 1:09-cr-01184, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York ( Manhattan ). For more, click here. U.S. Makes Final Arguments to Jury in Taylor Bean Fraud Case The case against Lee Farkas , the ex-chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. and accused mastermind in a $1.9 billion fraud, ended with U.S. prosecutors saying he stole millions of dollars out of greed and his lawyer saying Farkas is innocent while others made mistakes. Farkas and the government made final arguments to the jury yesterday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema gave the jurors instructions on the law yesterday and had them begin deliberations on whether Farkas is guilty of 14 counts of conspiracy and bank, wire and securities fraud. Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Connolly told the jury that Farkas used his employees, Taylor Bean and the defunct Colonial Bank to carry out “one of the largest and longest-running bank fraud schemes in the country.” “He did it out of greed,” said Connolly, adding that Farkas took more than $30 million from Taylor Bean for his own use. “Without TBW, Lee Farkas couldn’t live the lifestyle he wanted.” Farkas, 58, is charged with orchestrating a fraud involving fake mortgage assets that duped some of the country’s largest financial institutions, targeted the federal bank bailout program and contributed to the failure of Montgomery, Alabama- based Colonial Bank. If convicted of the single conspiracy charge, Farkas faces as many as 30 years in prison. Bruce Rogow, one of Farkas’s lawyers, said in his closing argument that those who pleaded guilty “believed in their heart of hearts that they didn’t do anything wrong” and were under pressure from the government to plead. “When you take a look, the only common sense conclusion is that all of these people were working together, not on a criminal conspiracy, but working together with Colonial Bank to have Taylor Bean succeed,” Rogow said. The case is U.S. v. Farkas, 10-cr-00200, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria). For more, click here. J&J Asks Risperdal Judge for ‘Small Penalty,’ Not ‘Billions’ Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) lawyers urged a South Carolina judge to impose a “small penalty” after jurors found the company violated consumer-protection laws, not the “billions of dollars” sought by the state. The judge heard arguments yesterday over what penalties he should impose after a state court jury in Spartanburg ruled March 22 that J&J sent doctors a misleading letter in 2003 on the safety and effectiveness of its antipsychotic drug Risperdal. Lawyers for Attorney General Alan Wilson urged Circuit Judge Roger Couch to impose penalties of $5,000 for each of hundreds of thousands of violations of the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act, potentially billions of dollars. J&J said the state vastly overstated the impact of the violations. “We have a case here where nobody has been deceived and nobody has been harmed,” attorney Edward Posner argued on behalf of New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J, in the Court of Common Pleas. “At most a small penalty should be imposed.” Lawyers representing Wilson, John White and Donald Coggins, argued J&J should be penalized for the 2003 letter that its Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit sent to 7,194 doctors in South Carolina. The letter went to 700,000 doctors across the U.S. J&J corrected the missive after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent a warning letter saying J&J made false and misleading claims that minimized the potentially fatal risks of diabetes and overstated the drug’s superiority to competitors. White and Coggins said J&J should pay $5,000 for each of as many as 722,000 Risperdal prescriptions written, 183,144 calls on doctors by J&J sales representatives, and 496,565 sample boxes distributed. Most of those violations, they argued, spanned 1998 to 2008. Coggins said they chose not to request a specific dollar amount, preferring to let Couch decide. The case is State of South Carolina v. Janssen Pharmaceuticals, 2007-CP-42-1438, Circuit Court for Spartanburg County, South Carolina (Spartanburg). For more, click here. Winklevoss Twins Seek Again to Re-Open Facebook Settlement Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are seeking review of an April 11 court ruling they lost enforcing a $65 million settlement with Facebook Inc. over their claims that company founder Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea for the social networking site. A three-judge appeals court panel in San Francisco erred when it rejected the Winklevoss brothers’ claims that the 2008 settlement should be voided because it was procured with fraud, the twins’ attorney said in a court filing yesterday. The brothers want a rehearing before a larger panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The Winkelvosses, former Harvard University classmates of Zuckerberg’s, allege that Facebook didn’t disclose an accurate valuation of its shares before they agreed to the cash and stock settlement. The appeals court ruled that the accord, now worth $100 million more than its original amount, barred any future lawsuits and was “quite favorable” to the twins. Whether the Winklevosses “would be better off financially keeping the proceeds of the settlement rather than rescinding and proceeding with their lawsuit against Facebook is a personal judgment for them -- not an appellate court -- to make,” Jerome Falk, their attorney, said in the court filing. The twins hired Zuckerberg to help build dating website ConnectU Inc. while they were students at Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 2003. The Winklevosses and a partner, Divya Narendra, originally accused Zuckerberg in a lawsuit of stealing their idea and delaying the ConnectU project while secretly building Facebook. The case is The Facebook Inc. v. ConnectU Inc., 08-16745, 9th U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (San Francisco). For more, click here. U.S. High Court Defers Action on Virginia Health-Care Bid The U.S. Supreme Court deferred taking action on a bid by Virginia’s attorney general for fast-track consideration of the state’s challenge to President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul. Virginia, one of 27 states that say the measure is unconstitutional, is urging the justices to take the unusual step of scheduling arguments without waiting for rulings by the four appeals courts that are poised to consider the law. The case was on a list of petitions for review the justices were scheduled to consider at a private conference last week. The justices resolved most of those cases in a list of orders released yesterday in Washington. They will release more orders a week from yesterday. Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli of Virginia said in an interview last week that the petition was a long shot. He argued in court papers that the dispute “is of imperative national importance requiring immediate determination in this court.” The states say Congress overstepped its authority by requiring Americans to either obtain insurance or pay a penalty. The step sought by Virginia, known as certiorari before judgment, is one the court has taken only a handful of times, including its 1974 decision ordering President Richard Nixon to turn over Oval Office tape recordings and its 1952 ruling blocking President Harry S Truman from seizing the nation’s steel mills. The Obama administration argued that the health-care dispute doesn’t rise to that level of urgency, in part because the disputed provision doesn’t take effect until 2014. “The constitutionality of the minimum coverage provision is undoubtedly an issue of great public importance,” acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal argued in court papers. “This case is not, however, one of the rare cases that justifies deviation from normal appellate practice and requires immediate determination in this court.” Another appeals court, based in Cincinnati, will consider the issue June 1, and a third, based in Atlanta, will hear arguments June 8 in a case involving the other 26 states challenging the law. An appeals court in Washington will consider the matter later this year. The Supreme Court case is Virginia ex rel. Cuccinelli v. Sebelius, 10-1014. For more, click here. Deutsche Bank Said to Reject $1.1 Billion Kirch Settlement Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) rejected a 775 million-euro ($1.1 billion) settlement proposed last month by a Munich court that may have ended a nine-year dispute with Leo Kirch over the collapse of his media group, two people familiar with the case said. The March 24 proposal by the Munich appeals court was made a day before Kirch testified in the case, said the people, who declined to be identified because the negotiations were private. The bank spurned the offer because the amount was too high, one of the people said. Kirch has filed suits against the Frankfurt-based bank over a 2002 Bloomberg television interview by Rolf Breuer , the bank’s chief executive officer at the time. In the interview, Breuer said “everything that you can read and hear” is that “the financial sector isn’t prepared to provide further” loans or equity to Kirch. Four months later Kirch Holding GmbH filed the country’s biggest bankruptcy since World War II. The settlement would have ended all the litigation. Kirch has filed two separate damages suits against the lender and Breuer seeking a total of 3.3 billion euros. He has also filed criminal complaints and civil suits challenging votes at shareholder meetings. The bank and Breuer deny wrongdoing. Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann is scheduled to testify May 19 at the Munich court in a hearing over one of the lawsuits, court spokesman Wilhelm Schneider said in an interview yesterday. The bank’s chairman, Clemens Boersig, and management- board members Juergen Fitschen and Hermann-Josef Lamberti are also testifying. The court summoned the men at Deutsche Bank’s request. In the case, Kirch is seeking 2 billion euros, claiming Deutsche Bank had a secret plan to cause difficulties for his media company and then force him to hire the bank to help restructure the firm. The Munich appeals case is OLG Muenchen, 5 U 2472/09. For more, click here. For the latest trial and appeals news, click here. Verdicts/Settlements Citigroup, Morgan Stanley Cleared in Parmalat Case Citigroup Inc. (C) , Deutsche Bank AG, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and bankers at the firms were acquitted by a Milan court in a market-abuse case relating to the 2003 collapse of Parmalat Finanziaria SpA, Italy’s biggest dairy company. “The detailed examination of evidence in court brought a clear view of the facts,” Francesco Isolabella, a lawyer for Deutsche Bank, said after Judge Gabriella Manfrin read out the ruling in Milan yesterday. Milan prosecutors had claimed the banks knew Parmalat’s true financial situation when they sold bonds and carried out transactions on behalf of the food maker. The company, now called Parmalat SpA (PLT) , failed in Italy’s biggest bankruptcy and its founder Calisto Tanzi has been convicted of misleading investors. Parmalat’s collapse left the maker of juices and long-life milk with 14 billion euros ($20 billion) in debt, about eight times the amount reported to investors. The bankers didn’t commit the alleged crimes, the court ruled. The three judges will publish the reasoning behind yesterday’s ruling within 90 days. Citigroup, the third-biggest U.S. bank, said in a statement that the ruling confirms the bank and its employees had no involvement. Deutsche Bank said its employees acted professionally and abided by Italian law, according to a statement. Morgan Stanley (MS) in a statement said the firm was “pleased” with the court’s decision. Parmalat was brought down by “some of its executives and some of its auditors,” Bank of America said in a statement. The ruling confirms that “none of Bank of America’s employees were aware of Parmalat’s fraud.” For the latest verdict and settlement news, click here. New Suits Investment Funds Allege Banks Conspired to Manipulate Libor Three investment funds accused banks including Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) , HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) , Barclays Bank Plc and Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) of conspiring to manipulate the London interbank offered rate. The lawsuit was filed April 15 in New York federal court. The banks allegedly sold Libor-based futures, options, swaps and derivative instruments “at artificial prices that defendants caused,” thereby harming investors, FTC Capital GmbH of Vienna, FTC Futures Fund SICAV of Luxembourg and FTC Futures Fund PCC Ltd. of Gibraltar contend in the complaint. Between 2006 and 2009, the banks “collectively agreed to artificially suppress the Libor rate and, in early 2008, ‘‘during the most significant financial crisis since the great depression,’’ the rate remained steady when it ‘‘should have increased significantly,’’ the funds contend in court papers. Last month a person close to an investigation on possible Libor manipulation said regulators in the U.S. and U.K. were cooperating in the probe. The U.S. Justice Department, Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are working together with the U.K.’s Financial Services Authority on the probe, according to two people familiar with developments. ‘‘We believe the suit is without merit,’’ said Danielle Romero-Apsilos, a spokeswoman for Citigroup. Lawrence Grayson, a spokesman for Bank of America, declined to comment. Deutsche Bank spokesman Ronald Weichert said he couldn’t immediately comment. Eberhard Roll and Walter Hillebrand-Droste, spokesmen for defendant WestLB AG in Dusseldorf, weren’t immediately reachable for a comment. Officials at Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY) and HSBC Holdings Plc weren’t immediately available to comment. A spokeswoman at Barclays Plc (BARC) in London declined to comment. Counts in the civil complaint include fraudulent concealment, violation of the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act, antitrust violations, and unjust enrichment. Jennifer Zuccarelli , a JPMorgan spokeswoman, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Credit Suisse in London declined to comment. The case is FTC Capital v. Credit Suisse, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). American Indian Tribe Sues BP for Oil Spill Damages BP Plc (BP/) was sued by the Pointe Au Chien tribe over claims the Indian group’s ancestral lands and fishing grounds in southern Louisiana were devastated by the 2010 oil spill. The tribe ‘‘has suffered loss of use of its historical and cultural lands, including tribal cemeteries, Indian mounds, shell middens and traditional fisheries,” according to the complaint, filed in federal court in New Orleans on April 15. “Use of these lands has been lost from April 20, 2010, to the present,” the complaint alleged, citing the date the Deepwater Horizon rig blew up while drilling an offshore well for BP. The tribe said it has an “an aboriginal land title claim” to the damaged areas. The Pointe Au Chien case is the first oil-spill damages suit filed by any of Louisiana’s American Indian tribes. BP faces thousands of claims and more than 350 lawsuits seeking damages from individuals and businesses harmed by oil that gushed from its damaged subsea well last year. The Pointe Au Chien tribe numbers roughly 680 members and isn’t one of four federally recognized tribal nations in Louisiana, according to its lawyer in the case, Joel Waltzer. The Pointe Au Chien, which has settled the reedy coastal marshlands for centuries, are recognized by the state of Louisiana. The tribe seeks compensation for lost tax revenue and income, decline in property values, spill cleanup costs, restoration of its damaged natural resources, and punitive damages. BP spokesman Daren Beaudo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the tribe’s lawsuit. The case is In Re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” Local Government Entities, 2:10-cv-09999, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans). For more, click here. For the latest new suits news, click here. For copies of recent civil complaints, click here. Lawsuits/Pretrial Cameron Says Gulf Blast Wasn’t Caused by Faulty Blowout Device Cameron International Corp. (CAM) said the Deepwater Horizon explosion wasn’t its fault because oil and gas were already surging toward the rig when workers tried to activate blowout- prevention equipment the company made. “Time does not go in reverse,” Cameron said in an April 15 filing in New Orleans federal court. “The simple chronology of events” detailed in a post-accident report undercuts claims that Cameron’s blowout preventer, or BOP, malfunctioned and failed to prevent the explosion, the company said. Cameron, along with BP Plc and other companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster, faces hundreds of spill-related lawsuits over personal and economic injuries caused by the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Eleven workers were killed by the April 20, 2010, rig explosion. Plaintiffs suing the companies over the spill have claimed Houston-based Cameron’s BOP wasn’t designed to handle the extreme environment and thicker drill pipes found in ultra-deep wells like the one the Deepwater Horizon was drilling for BP in the Gulf of Mexico. Government forensic examiners who studied the Deepwater Horizon’s recovered BOP determined that its pincers failed to completely sever and seal a slightly off-center drill pipe that got jammed in the preventer by the uncontrolled flow of oil and gas in the well. Cameron cited findings by a U.S. presidential commission that investigated the Deepwater Horizon blowout, as well as a court filing by spill victims, that it says support Cameron’s claim the BOP didn’t cause the explosion. The case is In re Oil Spill by the Oil Rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, MDL-2179, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans). For more, click here. Apple Asks Judge to Dismiss Case Claiming ITunes Monopoly Apple Inc. (AAPL) asked a federal judge to dismiss a consumer antitrust lawsuit claiming the company limited choice by linking iPod music downloading to its iTunes music store. Robert Mittelstaedt, an attorney for the Cupertino, California-based company, yesterday told U.S. District Judge James Ware in San Jose, California , that blocking iPod music downloads that used competitors’ software was intended to improve downloading quality for iTunes customers. Changes that Apple made in 2004, just days after Internet music software company RealNetworks Inc. (RNWK) announced a technology allowing songs from its online store to be played on iPods, weren’t anticompetitive, he said. “Apple’s view is that iPods work better when consumers use the iTunes jukebox rather than third party software that can cause corruption or other problems,” Mittelstaedt said at a hearing. Apple co-founder and chief executive officer Steve Jobs, ordered by a separate judge to answer questions in the case, met with plaintiff attorneys for a deposition on April 12, Bonny Sweeney, a lawyer representing iTunes customers who sued, said yesterday. She declined to comment further. Jobs took a medical leave from the company starting Jan. 17. The CEO, who has battled a rare form of cancer, has taken time off for medical reasons three times in the past seven years. The case is Apple iPod, iTunes Antitrust Litigation , C05-0037JW, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose). U.S. Attorney Seeks Dismissal of Madoff Investor’s Claim U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan seeks to dismiss a claim by an investor in Bernard Madoff’s defunct investment company to part of a $7.2 billion settlement. U.S. prosecutors and the trustee liquidating Madoff’s firm settled a suit against the estate of billionaire Jeffry Picower for $7.2 billion in December. Asking a Manhattan judge to dismiss the investor’s claim, Bharara said he was seeking a final order of forfeiture to close the case. The investor holding up closure of the case, Adele Fox, has no “property interest” in the Picower funds and hasn’t yet proved her “victimhood,” Bharara said in the April 15 filing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. “Her attempt to have the court mandate the allocation of forfeited funds among victims in advance of that determination is a naked end-run around” legal limitations, he said in the filing. Investors seeking to recoup money from the Madoff fraud unsuccessfully challenged a $220 million settlement between trustee Irving Picard and the family of Norman F. Levy. A bankruptcy judge ruled on March 30 that the deal will stand. The main case is Securities Investor Protection Corp. v. Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, 08-01789, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). Foreclosure Probe Talks Said to Yield Agreements With Banks Attorneys general negotiating a settlement of a 50-state investigation of foreclosure practices have reached agreements with lenders on some terms while failing so far to reach an accord on potential monetary payments by the banks, said a person familiar with the talks. The probe was triggered by claims of faulty foreclosure practices following the housing collapse which law enforcement officials said may violate state law. Significant progress has been made on a deal with lenders, which include Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., with agreements in principle reached on several issues, said the person, who didn’t specify the areas of accord as they may change as talks proceed. It may take at least two months to reach a final agreement, said the person, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. An accord remains out of reach because states want principal reductions for borrowers, which is more than banks agreed to in deals reached with U.S. regulators last week, said Allison Schoenthal, a lawyer at Hogan Lovells in New York. “Principal reductions I don’t think are going to be agreed to by banks, and I don’t think the banks see a need for a penalty when, in their view, they haven’t done anything wrong,” said Schoenthal, who represents lenders and servicers and isn’t involved in the talks. Geoff Greenwood, a spokesman for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who leads the negotiations for the states, declined to comment. Dan Frahm , a spokesman for Charlotte, North Carolina- based Bank of America, and Thomas Kelly, a spokesman for New York-based JPMorgan, didn’t respond to e-mails seeking comment. For more, click here. For the latest lawsuits news, click here. On the Docket Rambus Antitrust Trial Against Micron, Hynix Set for June 7 A trial over Rambus Inc. (RMBS) ’s antitrust lawsuit against Micron Technology Inc. (MU) and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. (000660) claiming $4.3 billion in alleged damages was scheduled for June 7. The trial date was posted yesterday on the electronic docket for the case in state court in San Francisco. Rambus, based in Sunnyvale, California, alleges that Micron and Hynix artificially inflated the price of Rambus-designed dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips to drive Rambus technology out of the computer memory market. Samsung Electronics Co. agreed to pay $900 million in a settlement that removed it from the case. A May 2 trial date for a separate patent-infringement lawsuit by Rambus against Hynix and two other chipmakers in federal court in San Jose, California, was vacated last month. The judge in that case said March 25 that the trial should wait until after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington has decided related cases. Linda Ashmore, a Rambus spokeswoman, didn’t return a message seeking comment. The case is Rambus Inc. v. Micron Technology Inc., 04-431105, Superior Court of California (San Francisco County). To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Amon in Brooklyn, New York, at eamon2@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net

USDA Montana Spot Grain Closing Prices for April 19

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/usda-montana-spot-grain-closing-prices-for-april-19-table-.html

April 19 (Bloomberg) -- This table displays the latest daily spot or bid prices for durum wheat. Prices are in dollars a bushel Information is supplied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. *Montana cash prices* US 1 Hard Red Winter Wheat US 1 Durum Ordinary 11 pct 12 pct 13 pct 13pct Billings Area 6.63-7.84 7.53-8.34 8.26-8.84 8.88-9.14 Golden Triangle 7.04-7.31 7.84-8.11 8.59-8.81 9.29-9.56 8.75 Great Falls Area 7.15-7.33 7.95-8.13 8.70-8.88 9.40-9.58 Northcentral Mt 7.41-7.57 8.11-8.27 8.46-9.02 9.27-9.36 Northeast Mt 6.76-6.96 7.56-7.76 8.25-8.46 8.86-9.06 8.55-9.00 Southeast Mt 6.71-6.96 7.46-7.76 7.61-8.46 7.91-9.06 Southwest Mt na na na na US 1 Dark Northern Spring Wheat US 1 Soft White 13 pct 14 pct 15 pct Wheat Billings Area 8.70-9.71 10.30-11.51 11.70-13.11 Golden Triangle 8.94-9.21 10.76-11.01 12.36-12.68 Great Falls Area 9.10-9.23 10.90-11.03 12.30-12.62 Northcentral Mt 9.18-9.69 11.18-11.49 12.58-13.09 Northeast Mt 8.49-8.95 10.29-10.75 11.89-12.35 Southeast Mt 8.58-8.74 10.34-10.49 11.34-12.09 Southwest Mt na na na US 1 Malt Barley US 2 Feed US 2 Harr/cwt Barley/cwt Oats/cwt Billings Area na na na Golden Triangle 11.00 10.00 Great Falls Area 11.00 10.00 Northcentral Mt nb 9.00 Northeast Mt 11.00 9.75 Southeast Mt na Southwest Mt na *Prices not necessarily representative of all terminals within MT. nb û no bid na û not available Prices are determined by a USDA survey of grain purchasers with elevators located in seven regions of Montana. Prices are displayed as a "low-high" range, or as a "single" price depending upon the degree of consensus among the purchasers. Durum wheat is the hardest wheat. The test weight is at least 60 pounds a bushel. Durum averages 15 percent protein and is mainly used in the making of pasta.

Rosneft Plans to Buy Back as Much as $200 Million in Shares

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/rosneft-announces-plan-to-buy-back-200-million-of-own-shares.html

OAO Rosneft will buy back as much as $200 million of its shares in the “coming months,” the company said in an e-mailed statement today. Rosneft said its RN-Development unit bought $104 million of shares on April 13. The shares Rosneft is acquiring will probably be used for its management compensation program, Luis Saenz , the London- based director of international sales at Otkritie Securities Ltd., which has a "buy" recommendation on Rosneft stock, said in an e-mail. Rosneft increased its holding of own shares to 9.5 percent from 9.4 percent on April 13, it said today in a regulatory filing. That was a a day before it extended the deadline on a stalled share swap with BP Plc to May 16. The Moscow-based oil producer agreed in January to swap 9.5 percent of its stock for 5 percent of BP stock. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Nicholson at anicholson6@bloomberg.net

Madoff Trustee Says He's Recovered $7.6 Billion, for $175 Million in Fees

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/madoff-trustee-says-he-recovered-7-6-billion-in-losses-not-10-billion.html

The trustee liquidating Bernard L. Madoff’s defunct investment firm said he has recovered more than $7.6 billion for investors in the Ponzi scheme against fees of $175.5 million requested since Madoff’s arrest. Irving Picard , who has filed more than 1,000 suits seeking money for the con man’s investors, said in February he was halfway to recovering the $20 billion in principal lost when Madoff was arrested in 2008. In a court filing April 18, he put the recovery $2.4 billion lower, at about 44 percent of principal lost. Most of the difference is the amount of forfeited funds held by the U.S. Attorney, which has been disputed in court. Picard gave the new numbers as part of a fee request to a bankruptcy judge, seeking approval for $43.2 million for four months’ work by himself and his law firm, Baker & Hostetler LLP. Amanda Remus, a spokeswoman for Picard, declined to comment. Picard’s biggest recovery was a $7.2 billion settlement he and U.S. prosecutors reached in December with the estate of Jeffry Picower, a Madoff investor who died in 2009. Of that amount, about $5 billion went to Picard, and $2.2 billion to the U.S., he said in the filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. Picard said in March he had recovered $2.6 billion for Madoff customers, with $5 billion to be added from his share of the Picower settlement as well as the money forfeited to the government, pending the outcome of court challenges to both agreements. Unpaid Money “We anticipate that our position will ultimately prevail,” Picard said. Counting all those amounts, he said he had recovered “approximately one-half of the monies that we estimate were stolen in the Madoff fraud and remain unpaid.” Recoveries could rise if Picard’s suits against feeder funds succeed, the trustee said in March. A settlement with Boston philanthropist Carl Shapiro brought in $550 million, and a deal with Switzerland ’s Union Bancaire Privee fetched $470 million. Picard’s law firm said it spent 7,086 hours on investigations at a cost of $3.1 million from Oct. 1 to Jan. 31. Administration consumed 7,033 hours, and cost $2.1 million. The trustee’s case against JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) took 1,971 hours, while a case against the owners of the New York Mets required 1,660 hours and customer claims took 4,837 hours, according to the filing. In all, the Madoff case took almost 955 hours of Picard’s time during the period, charged at $748 an hour, and 116,399 hours of his firm’s time at $371 an hour, according to the filing. The main case is Securities Investor Protection Corp. v. Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, 08-ap-1789, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). To contact the reporter on this story: Linda Sandler in New York at lsandler@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Pickering at jpickering@bloomberg.net

Japan’s Exports Slump a More-Than-Expected 2.2% After March 11 Earthquake

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/japan-s-exports-slump-a-more-than-expected-2-2-after-march-11-earthquake.html

Japan ’s exports fell more than economists expected in March as shipments of automobiles tumbled, declines analysts said may worsen as companies struggle to restore facilities and output in the wake of a record earthquake. Overseas shipments declined 2.2 percent from a year earlier, the first drop since November 2009, the Finance Ministry said in Tokyo today. The median estimate of 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 1.1 percent drop. Car exports fell 28 percent from a year earlier and shipments for electronic devices also slid as the disaster prevented companies from transporting goods. Automakers including Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. were forced to reduce production after the March 11 disaster. “We’ll definitely see a deeper drop in exports this month given that the damage to the supply chain will become more apparent,” said Yoshiki Shinke , a senior economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo. “Overseas demand is still solid but overcoming the supply constraints hinges on how quickly companies can restore facilities.” The Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average rose for the first time in four days as investors focused on signs of a rebound in the U.S. economy , Japan’s second-largest overseas customer, rather than the trade figures. The Nikkei gained 1.5 percent and the yen traded at 82.77 per dollar as of 10:13 a.m. in Tokyo. Disaster Damage The earthquake and tsunami killed or left missing more than 27,000 people. The government estimated the damage from the disaster may swell to as much as 25 trillion yen ($302 billion). Toyota President Akio Toyoda said on April 1 that all vehicles at Sendai port in the stricken northern region were swallowed by last month’s tsunami. The catastrophe also damaged a nuclear plant northeast of Tokyo and disrupted supply chains and power supply. Honda Motor will need two to three months to restore its production at Japan auto plants back to normal levels, Chief Executive Officer Takanobu Ito said on April 8. Reports since the temblor have shown consumer and corporate sentiment have slumped and economists forecast the economy will shrink this quarter. The drop in overseas shipments, the driver of the nation’s expansion, will accelerate, according to economist Yoshimasa Maruyama. “The year-on-year drop will be a double-digit figure” in April, said Maruyama, a senior economist at Itochu Corp. in Tokyo. “The plunge in exports is going to depress the economy considerably.” ‘Downward Pressure’ Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said on April 11 that the economy will face “strong downward pressure” after the quake because of a slowdown in corporate output. His board this month unveiled a 1 trillion yen, one-year loan program to banks aimed at getting funds to companies hit by the quake. A report yesterday showed consumer confidence fell by the most since comparable figures were made available in 2007, an indication that households may start paring back spending following the earthquake. Prime Minister Naoto Kan plans to unveil what he says may be the first of multiple supplementary budgets this month. While Kan has yet to detail how the spending will be paid for, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano indicated yesterday the government may consider using taxes to fund projects. Even if Japan’s economy contracts in the second quarter, it may start bouncing back from the third quarter, supported by reconstruction demand and overseas demand, economists say. Today’s report showed shipments to China rose 3.8 percent despite the disaster, an indication of resilient demand in Japan’s largest market. Shipments to Europe rose 4.3 percent. Shipments to the U.S. slid 3.4 percent and those to Asia were unchanged. “A recovery in production and exports may get underway faster than a rebound in consumer spending , as long as overseas demand is strong and supply constraints are resolved,” said Junko Nishioka , chief Japan economist at RBS in Tokyo. To contact the reporter on this story: Keiko Ujikane in Tokyo at kujikane@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Panckhurst at ppanckhurst@bloomberg.net

U.S. Supreme Court Signals Rejection of State Climate-Emissions Lawsuits

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/u-s-supreme-court-signals-rejection-of-state-climate-emissions-lawsuits.html

The U.S. Supreme Court signaled skepticism about a lawsuit by six states seeking to force five companies including American Electric Power Co. to cut their emissions of the gases that contribute to climate change. Hearing arguments today in Washington, justices across the ideological spectrum said the Environmental Protection Agency was better equipped than a federal court to sort through the costs and benefits of reducing carbon emissions. “Congress set up the EPA to promulgate standards for emissions,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told the lawyer representing the six suing states. “The relief you’re seeking seems to me to set up a district judge, who does not have the resources, the expertise, as a kind of super EPA.” The Obama administration joined the power industry in urging rejection of the suit, along with a related one being pressed by three land trusts. The other defendants include Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL) , Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) and Southern Co. (SO) , and the government-owned Tennessee Valley Authority. A ruling against the states would be a boost to companies beyond the power industry. Trade groups representing automakers, oil companies , farmers, mining companies, chemical companies and manufacturers all are urging the court to dismiss the suits, in some cases saying their members might face similar claims. EPA Rules The states, whose ranks include New York and California , sued in 2004, invoking both state and federal law. The Supreme Court case focuses on the federal law claim. The states say the EPA still hasn’t taken action to reduce carbon emissions from the plants that are the subject of the suit. The EPA began regulating greenhouse gases from vehicles and industrial polluters in January. So far its rules affect only new and modified plants, not the existing ones targeted by the states. “There is no federal statute or regulation that currently regulates the emission of greenhouse gases by existing unmodified power plants,” said Barbara Underwood, New York’s solicitor general. She said the suit “rests on the longstanding, fundamental authority of the states to protect their land, their natural resources and their citizens from air pollution emitted in other states.” Without Sotomayor None of the eight justices hearing the case -- Justice Sonia Sotomayor isn’t taking part -- today gave any indication they agreed with her. Ginsburg said the EPA could reasonably address climate change “incrementally.” Justice Elena Kagan said regulating emissions “sounds like the paradigmatic thing that administrative agencies do rather than courts.” Several justices joined Ginsburg in questioning whether a trial judge would have the expertise to fashion an order addressing climate change. “You have to determine how much you want to readjust the world economy to address global warming, and I think that’s a pretty big burden to impose on a district judge,” Chief Justice John Roberts said. The Obama administration and the companies urged the court to reject the suit on a potentially broader ground that the states and land trusts lack the legal right, or standing, to sue. Acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal said the states can’t show enough of a connection between their interests and the actions of the five defendants. Potential Victims “There are billions of emitters of greenhouse gases on the planet and billions of potential victims as well,” Katyal said. The companies’ lawyer, Peter Keisler, said the courts “are being asked to perform a legislative and regulatory function.” Justice Antonin Scalia pointed to other possible contributors to global warming -- including cows, mobile telephones and people -- and asked Underwood whether they too would be subject to climate-change suits. “Suppose you lump together all the cows in the country,” he said. “Would that allow you to sue all those farmers?” When Underwood responded that courts often consider claims involving multiple polluters, Scalia then asked whether people could be sued for emitting carbon dioxide when they breathe. The case marks the Supreme Court’s second foray into the debate over climate change. In a 2007 case decided 5-4, the court ordered the EPA to consider regulating greenhouse-gas emissions. Public Nuisance The states and land trusts contend that carbon emissions are a “public nuisance,” a legal theory more typically used in cases of localized pollution. In letting the suits proceed, a federal appeals court in New York overturned a judge who concluded the dispute belonged in the political arena, not the courts. Should the Supreme Court side with the power companies, states and environmental advocates will press ahead with claims under state law, said David Doniger, a lawyer at the Natural Resources Defense Council , which is representing the three land trusts. He said global warming is “eating away at the coastal property” and “destroying our snow packs.” The suits are part of a multifaceted battle over climate change. Opponents -- including businesses, Republicans and some Democrats -- say the EPA’s new carbon emission limits will destroy jobs and increase electricity bills without any environmental benefit. The case is American Electric Power v. Connecticut , 10-174. To contact the reporters on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net ; William McQuillen in Washington at bmcquillen@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net .

South Africa's Zuma Condemns Police's Killing of Protester, Star Reports

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/south-africa-s-zuma-condemns-police-s-killing-of-protester-star-reports.html

South Africa ’s President Jacob Zuma condemned the killing of a protestor, Andries Tatane, by police in the town of Ficksburg, Johannesburg’s Star newspaper reported. “The fact that they even kill the person, so many of them beating one person, it indicates a very strange mentality in terms of the police force,” Zuma said in an interview, the Star reported. Residents of Ficksburg demonstrated yesterday as six police officers appeared in court for the killing of the protestor, the Star said. Tatane’s death was filmed and broadcast on national television, stoking condemnation from groups incluluding opposition parties. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net

Peabody Quarterly Profit Rises 32% on Higher Coal Prices

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/peabody-quarterly-profit-rises-32-on-higher-coal-prices-1-.html

Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) , the largest U.S. coal producer, said first-quarter profit rose 32 percent on higher prices for the utility-plant fuel and steelmaking component. Net income climbed to $176.5 million, or 65 cents a share, from $133.7 million, or 50 cents, a year earlier, St. Louis- based Peabody said today in a statement. The company was expected to earn 61 cents a share, according to the median of seven analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose 15 percent to $1.74 billion from $1.52 billion. Peabody, led by Chief Executive Officer Gregory Boyce, 56, benefitted from rising metallurgical coal prices and an increase in shipments. The company’s Australia operations were helped by higher prices that partly offset the effects of record rains. Metallurgical prices surged 74 percent to $225 a ton from a year earlier, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “Everyone’s got some impact from the floods, but the flip- side is that on a year-over-year basis, pricing is still better,” said Jim Rollyson, an analyst in Houston at Raymond James Financial Inc. Peabody fell $1.65, or 2.5 percent, to $63.92 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have fallen 0.1 percent this year. Metallurgical coal is used to produce steel, while the thermal form of the fuel is consumed by utilities to generate electricity. Earnings Forecast Peabody expects to ship between 245 million and 265 million tons of coal, 28 million to 30 million of which will come from Australia , and 195 million to 205 million tons from its U.S. mines, it said. The remainder will come from its trading and brokerage operation. The company said it encountered “difficult geology” at its Twentymile operation in Colorado that reduced output and that it’s working with the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration to develop a new operating plan. “The range of options could lead to significantly reduced longwall production from the mine in the quarter,” Peabody said. Second-quarter Ebitda will be in a range of $525 million to $625 million, and adjusted diluted earnings per share may range between 85 cents and $1.10, according to the statement. For the full year, Peabody said it expects Ebitda to be $2.1 billion to $2.5 billion, with adjusted diluted earnings per share of $3.50 to $4.50. (Peabody scheduled a conference call with analysts and investors to discuss results at 11 a.m. in New York. To listen, go to the company’s Web site at http://www.peabodyenergy.com .) To contact the reporters on this story: Mario Parker in Chicago at mparker22@bloomberg.net ; To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net

Japan, China, Malaysia, India, Thailand: Asia Bonds and Currency Preview

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The following events and economic reports may influence trading in Asia ’s bonds and currencies today. Bond yields and exchange rates are from the previous trading session unless stated otherwise. Japan: Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano will hold media briefings at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. in Tokyo. The Ministry of Finance will release at 8:50 a.m. in Tokyo the merchandise trade balance data for March. The trade surplus was 645.4 billion yen ($7.8 billion) last month, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Trade Ministry is forecast to report that Japan’s tertiary industry advanced 0.1 percent in February from January, when it gained 2.1 percent, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The report is due at 8:50 a.m. The yield on the 1.3 percent government bond due March 2021 was 1.24 percent, according to Japan Bond Trading Co., the nation’s largest interdealer debt broker. The yen traded at 82.59 per dollar as of 6:41 a.m. in Tokyo. Thailand : Exports increased 18 percent in March from a year earlier, compared with a 31 percent gain in February, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists before the data due today. Imports rose 20 percent from a year ago, the slowest pace in three months, according to another Bloomberg survey before a report due today. The yield on the 3.125 percent debt due December 2015 was 3.21 percent. The baht was at 30.09. Taiwan: Export orders gained 4.7 percent from a year earlier last month, the smallest increase since October 2009, economists forecast in a Bloomberg survey before data due today. The yield on the 1.375 percent bond due March 2021 was 1.36 percent, according to Gretai Securities Market. The Taiwan dollar was at NT$29.125. Malaysia: Inflation accelerated to 3.1 percent last month from a year ago, the fastest pace since April 2009, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey before a report today. The central bank will sell 1 billion ringgit ($330 million) of 126-day Islamic notes. The yield on the 4.16 percent bond due July 2021 was at 4.09 percent. The ringgit was at 3.0265 per dollar. India : The government will sell a combined 80 billion rupees ($1.8 billion) of 91- and 364-day bills. The yield on the 7.8 percent bond due May 2020 was 8.08 percent. The rupee was at 44.539 per dollar. China : China Development Bank will sell 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) of 10-year bonds and the same amount of 10-year floaters. The government will sell 30 billion yuan of three-year bonds. The yield on the 3.83 percent bond due March 2021 was 3.87 percent, according to Chinabond, the nation’s biggest debt- clearing house. The yuan was at 6.5305. To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Wong in Taipei at awong268@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry at shendry@bloomberg.net

Halliburton, Cameron Unlikely to Face Spill Fines, Moody’s Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/halliburton-cameron-unlikely-to-face-spill-fines-moody-s-says.html

Halliburton Co. (HAL) and Cameron International Corp. (CAM) , which provided cement work and equipment involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, are less likely to face fines than other companies, Moody’s Investors Service said. BP Plc (BP/) and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) , stake-owners in the blown-out Macondo well, as well as Transocean Ltd. (RIG) , which owned the drilling rig, may face “severe monetary penalties,” the ratings agency said today in a report. The legal cases surrounding the spill will last at least another year, it said. The credit implications from the spill are still “uncertain” a year after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 workers and started the worst U.S. spill, Moody’s said. BP, the operator of the well, has provisioned $41 billion for the spill and has yet to receive payment from its partners for clean-up costs. “Authorities have yet to determine and apportion blame or impose legal and financial penalties,” said Steven Wood , managing director for oil and gas at Moody’s. “Our analysis suggests that the accident may result in financial penalties of between $40 and $60 billion.” To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Swint in London at bswint@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net

Euro Rises Versus Yen on Rate Bets Before Germany's Producer-Price Report

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The euro gained verus the yen before data forecast to show German producer prices rose, fueling speculation the European Central Bank will raise interest rates. The euro advanced to 118.72 yen at 8:37 a.m. in Tokyo from 118.39 in New York yesterday. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Naoto Hosoda at nhosoda@bloomberg.net

Crude Oil Advances as Speculation on ECB Rate Increase Weakens Dollar

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/oil-falls-for-a-second-day-as-economic-outlook-prompts-fuel-demand-concern.html

Oil increased for the fourth time in five days as speculation that the European Central Bank will further raise interest rates strengthened the euro against the dollar, boosting commodities’ appeal as an alternate investment. Oil rose 1 percent as the dollar tumbled a day after S&P Ratings Service cut the nation’s long-term credit outlook to negative. The Energy Department will probably report tomorrow that U.S. oil supplies jumped for a seventh week. Crude and equities fell yesterday on the ratings cut and after Saudi Arabia said the market was oversupplied. “We’re seeing a bit of a rebound on the weaker dollar and a little bit of confidence because the stock market isn’t falling apart and because of the ongoing risk in the Middle East, which is still strong,” said Phil Flynn , vice president of research at PFGBest in Chicago. Crude oil for May delivery gained $1.03 to settle at $108.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures have risen 33 percent in the past year. The May contract expired at the close of Nymex floor trading. The more actively traded June futures rose 59 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $108.28. June prices were little changed from the settlement after the American Petroleum Institute reported at 4:30 p.m. that U.S. crude-oil stockpiles increased 667,000 barrels to 356.1 million. June oil rose 64 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $108.33 a barrel in electronic trading at 4:33 p.m. ’Fishing for Stops’ Prices extended their advance after the June contract broke through $108 and $108.20 a barrel, said Carl Larry, president of Oil Outlook & Opinions LLC in Houston. The market is “just fishing for stops,” he said, referring to standing orders to buy or sell when a specified price is reached. Oil is volatile because of expiration and since many traders are off for Passover or before Easter, he said. “It’s weeks like this when people can go ahead and fish for levels to trigger more buying and more selling.” ECB governing council member Nout Wellink said in Toronto late yesterday that the central bank’s April 7 interest-rate increase sent an “extremely important” signal to investors aimed at preventing expectations of higher inflation. The dollar fell 0.8 percent to $1.4343 per euro at 3:25 p.m. in New York. It reached $1.452 in intraday trading on April 12 and April 13, the lowest levels since January 2010. Standard & Poor’s said yesterday that the U.S. government may lose its AAA credit rating unless policy makers agree on a plan to cut budget deficits and the national debt. Equities Edge Up U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said the administration and Congress need to work together over the “next couple months” to agree on a framework for cutting budget deficits with “enforceable limits” on accumulating debt. He told Bloomberg Television there is an emerging consensus on “how much we have to do.” The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.6 percent to 1,312.62. The benchmark gauge for American equities dropped 1.1 percent yesterday, the most since March 16, on the S&P ratings cut. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 65.16 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,266.75. The foreign minister of Bahrain, an island nation off the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia , said today that troops from Persian Gulf countries will remain in Bahrain as a counter to Iran. The country declared a three-month state of emergency March 15 after troops from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states arrived to help quell protests led by majority Shiite Muslims. “They are there for a mission protecting our vital institutions against foreign threat,” Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa told reporters yesterday in Dubai. His remarks about the troops staying were made in a posting on Twitter. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter. Reversing Early Decline Earlier, oil tumbled 1.5 percent amid signals that prices at their highest levels since 2008 may hurt fuel demand. OPEC Secretary General Abdalla el-Badri said there is “no shortage of oil anywhere in the world,” even after supply curtailments in Libya. Iran ’s OPEC Governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi said the group is unlikely to alter output targets when it meets in June. “The bears appear to have been checked after a big day yesterday,” said Peter Beutel , president of Cameron Hanover Inc., an energy-advisory company in New Canaan , Connecticut. “If we get a big crude oil drop tomorrow that could give the bears some leverage to move the market yet lower.” U.S. oil inventories increased 1.3 million barrels in the seven days ended April 15 from 359.3 million a week earlier, according to the median of 13 analyst estimates before an Energy Department report tomorrow. Brent crude oil for June settlement slipped 28 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $121.33 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London. Oil volume in electronic trading on the Nymex was 517,320 contracts as of 4:38 p.m. in New York. Volume totaled 574,331 contracts yesterday, 27 percent below the average of the past three months. Open interest was 1.55 million contracts. To contact the reporter on this story: Margot Habiby in Dallas at mhabiby@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bill Banker at bbanker@bloomberg.net .

Fire Forces 1,500 Tourists Out of Sagrada Familia, Pais Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/fire-forces-1-500-tourists-out-of-sagrada-familia-pais-says.html

A fire at the crypt of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia church prompted the evacuation of 1,500 tourists today, El Pais reported. A man started the fire in the sacristy of the crypt, forcing the tourists out of the church designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, the newspaper said. No one was injured, according to the report. To contact the reporter on this story: Manuel Baigorri in Madrid at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at acullen8@bloomberg.net

U.S. FAA Suspends Two Controllers Over Movie-Watching, WSJ Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/u-s-faa-suspends-two-controllers-over-movie-watching-wsj-says.html

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration suspended an air traffic controller and his supervisor after the controller broke contact with aircraft by inadvertently playing the soundtrack of a movie he was watching while on duty, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing the FAA. The controller, based in Cleveland, was using a portable DVD player to watch the film and the soundtrack went out over the airwaves after he mistakenly activated his microphone, blocking radio transmissions from aircraft on his frequency for more than two minutes, the newspaper reported. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Peterson at cpeterson@bloomberg.net

Data Theft From Computer Security Breaches Declines, Report Says

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The number of compromised data records in computer security breaches declined last year as thieves shifted their sights to smaller, non-financial businesses, according to a report by Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) The research, conducted with the U.S. Secret Service and the Dutch National High Tech Crime unit, analyzed 761 security breaches and found 4 million accessed data records, Wade Baker, director of risk intelligence at Verizon Communications, said in an interview. That compares with 144 million compromised data records stemming from 141 examined data breaches in 2009. The report showed a higher proportion of breaches affecting hotels, restaurants and retailers, with the highest number at enterprises employing 100 workers or fewer. A reason may be that many smaller companies don’t have the resources to defend themselves and can often be hit by non-selective, broad attacks, Baker said. “The huge reduction in the amount of data stolen doesn’t mean a green light for the financial sector, because it’s still a targeted industry,” Baker said. “Nothing that I’ve seen tells me that financials have done so much that they’re now immune. It’s less that than a case of the criminals changing direction.” Cybercrime costs large U.S. companies an average of $3.8 million each annually, and about 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year, a group of U.S. senators said Jan. 26 after introducing a bill aimed at tightening Web security. Last year, a Miami computer hacker was sentenced to 20 years in prison for leading the largest U.S. identity-theft ring, stealing 130 million credit- and debit-card records from Heartland Payment Systems Inc. (HPY) and other companies. Low-Risk Targets “If you look at the largest breaches in recent years, the perpetrators are in jail or on the run now,” said Baker, who’s based in Ashburn, Virginia. “Key arrests of the kingpins may have taken some skill out of the scene, and could have acted as a deterrent and made the rest of the community shift to more low-risk targets.” The report, which was released today and mostly captured security breaches in the U.S. and in Europe , showed the highest incidence of records compromised in 2008, when 361 million pieces of data were compromised. Verizon, the second-largest U.S. phone company, used data captured by security services that it provides to third parties. A separate report by TrustWave Corp. said that 57 percent of evaluated breaches affected the food and beverage industry in 2010, with retail and hospitality following at 18 percent and 10 percent respectively. About 85 percent of data compromised related to payment cards, according to that study, with sensitive company data and trade secrets following in second and third places with 8 percent and 3 percent. Fraud Schemes The U.S. Justice Department said April 14 that it disabled a “massive fraud scheme” that infected more than 2 million computers worldwide with malicious software called Coreflood. The program gathers passwords and financial information that was used by criminals, spreading from one vulnerable computer to another and creating a so-called botnet. In a case of targeting governments, WikiLeaks.org last year released 75,000 records from the Afghan war, 400,000 Army field reports from Iraq and 250,000 cables from U.S. embassies around the world. The website, whose stated goal is to make government more open, prompted the Pentagon and the U.S. State Department to reduce internal information sharing. To contact the reporter on this story: Cornelius Rahn in Frankfurt at crahn2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong in Berlin at kwong11@bloomberg.net

Gold Futures Top $1,500 on Outlook for Escalating U.S. Debt, Dollar Slump

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/gold-futures-top-1-500-on-outlook-for-escalating-u-s-debt-dollar-slump.html

Gold futures rose to a record $1,500.50 an ounce as U.S. debt concerns weighed on the dollar, boosting demand for the precious metal as an alternative investment. Silver surged to a 1980 high. The greenback dropped against the euro on speculation that the European Central Bank will continue to raise borrowing costs as some nations struggle to contain sovereign debt. Standard & Poor’s yesterday revised its long-term outlook on U.S. debt to negative from stable. Gold has climbed 32 percent in the past year, and silver prices have more than doubled. “The U.S. credit rating will undoubtedly be lowered in the next few years,” said Michael Pento , a senior economist at Euro Pacific Capital in New York. “This will mean much higher borrowing costs and a much lower currency. International investors have been using gold and silver as an alternative currency and an alternative to the dollar, and this will only exacerbate and accelerate that process.” Gold futures for June delivery rose $2.20, or 0.1 percent, to settle at $1,495.10 at 1:38 p.m. on the Comex in New York. Earlier, the price climbed as much as 0.5 percent to the record. Gold for immediately delivery rose $1.97 to $1,497.27 at 3:49 p.m. New York time. Earlier, the price gained as much as 0.3 percent to an all-time high of $1,499.32. Silver Climbs Silver climbed as much as 2.8 percent to $44.175 in after- hours trading. The most-active contract settled up 95.7 cents, or 2.2 percent, to close at $43.913 an ounce. “Silver is like gold on steroids,” said Jon Nadler, an analyst at Kitco Inc. in Montreal. Euro Pacific’s Pento, who correctly predicted gold’s rally in the past three years, said the metal will reach $1,600 in 2011. The commodity has gained every year since 2001 on increased investment demand for raw materials. “The bullish trend becomes pronounced as more and more people get out of the dollar to buy hard assets,” said Lim Chae Myung, a Seoul-based trader with Hyundai Futures Co. The Treasury Department projected that the government may reach the $14.3 trillion debt-ceiling limit as soon as mid-May and run out of options for avoiding default by early July. The Federal Reserve has kept its benchmark interest rate at zero percent to 0.25 percent since December 2008 and has pledged to buy $600 billion in Treasuries through June to stimulate growth. The ECB this month raised its main rate to 1.25 percent from a record 1 percent to stem inflation. The Fed probably won’t risk damping economic growth by raising borrowing costs rapidly, Pento said. S&P changed its long-term rating, citing “material risk” that policy makers won’t reach an accord on “medium- and long- term budgetary challenges.” “There certainly has always been that lingering concern over U.S. debt and the S&P people are finally identifying the threat,” said Stephen Platt, an analyst at Archer Financial in Chicago. “The world is awash in liquidity. Gold’s slow, grinding action upward shows the deterioration in the dollar, excess liquidity and deficit problems are still in force.” To contact the reporter on this story: Pham-Duy Nguyen in Seattle at pnguyen@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net .

Goldman Sachs First-Quarter Profit Tops Analysts’ Estimates

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/goldman-sachs-net-income-beats-analysts-estimates-on-trading-revenue.html

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) , the fifth-biggest U.S. bank , posted a 21 percent drop in first- quarter profit, a smaller decline than analysts estimated, as fixed-income trading revenue more than doubled from a weak fourth quarter. Net income fell to $2.74 billion from $3.46 billion a year earlier, the New York-based firm said today in a statement. Earnings per share, which includes the cost of preferred dividend payments to Warren Buffett ’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., dropped to $1.56 from $5.59. The average estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for 81 cents. Under Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein, 56, Goldman Sachs has relied on fixed-income, currencies and commodities trading for the biggest piece of its revenue. After reaching a record in 2009, earnings failed to attain their year-earlier mark in the last four quarters as competition and regulation increased. Wall Street’s fixed-income trading revenue in the fourth quarter dropped to the lowest level since the financial crisis. “Trading was good this quarter, not bad,” Brad Hintz, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. who recommends buying Goldman Sachs shares, said before the earnings were reported. “There’s been a lot of concern in the marketplace about whether what we saw in the fourth quarter was an early warning of a continuing slowdown in fixed income.” Share Performance Goldman Sachs rose to $155.80 at 8:15 a.m. in New York trading, from $153.78 at the close yesterday. The stock has performed worse this year than rivals including New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Morgan Stanley (MS) and Zurich-based Credit Suisse Group AG. (CSGN) Net revenue fell 7 percent to $11.9 billion, the statement showed. Compared with last year’s fourth quarter, revenue increased 38 percent. Annualized return on average common shareholders’ equity , a measure of how well the firm reinvests earnings, decreased to 12.2 percent from 20.1 percent in the first quarter of 2010. First-quarter revenue from trading fixed-income, currencies and commodities dropped 28 percent to $4.33 billion from $6.02 billion a year earlier, and jumped 164 percent from $1.64 billion in the fourth quarter. “Looking ahead, we continue to see encouraging indications for economic activity globally,” Blankfein said in the statement. JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan, the second-biggest U.S. bank by assets, reported last week that its fixed-income trading revenue fell 4 percent to $5.24 billion from a year earlier, and was up 82 percent from the fourth quarter. Equities-trading revenue at Goldman Sachs fell 7 percent to $2.32 billion from $2.49 billion a year earlier and was up from $2 billion in the fourth quarter. Revenue from investing and lending, the firm’s second- biggest segment after trading last year, climbed 37 percent to $2.71 billion from $1.97 billion a year earlier and compared with $1.99 billion in the fourth quarter. Investing and lending includes Goldman Sachs’s holding in Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (1398) Ltd. as well as stakes in companies and other assets held by units like the Special Situations Group or Principal Investment Area. Compensation and benefits, the company’s largest expense, fell 5 percent to $5.23 billion from $5.49 billion a year earlier and accounted for 44 percent of revenue. Litton Business Non-compensation expenses rose 23 percent to $2.62 billion, driven in part by an impairment charge of about $220 million on assets held for sale, the firm said. The primary cost related to the firm’s Litton Loan Servicing LP unit, a residential mortgage-servicing company that the firm has said it is trying to sell. Investment-banking revenue increased 5 percent to $1.27 billion from $1.2 billion. Advisory revenue, which includes fees for takeover advice, declined 23 percent to $357 million from $464 million a year earlier, while fees from debt underwriting climbed 32 percent to $486 million and equity underwriting revenue advanced 15 percent to $426 million. The firm ranks third this year among advisers on announced mergers, down from the top spot at the same point last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Goldman Sachs tops underwriters of equity and equity-linked offerings globally so far this year and is fifth among managers of high-yield debt sales worldwide, up from seventh at the same point last year, Bloomberg data show. Backlog Grows Goldman Sachs’s backlog of investment-banking transactions increased compared with the end of 2010, the company said. Revenue from investment management rose 16 percent to $1.27 billion from $1.1 billion a year earlier. Assets under management were unchanged at $840 billion. Blankfein, who is approaching his fifth anniversary as Goldman Sachs’s chairman and CEO, is grappling with new capital requirements drawn up by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision along with limits on the firm’s proprietary trading and investments in hedge funds and private-equity funds imposed by the U.S.’s Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul law. In a filing on March 1, Goldman Sachs estimated its “reasonably possible” losses from legal claims could reach $3.4 billion as the firm faces suits related to its activities before, during and after the financial crisis. Last week, Senator Carl M. Levin, the Michigan Democrat who leads the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, issued a report based on two years of investigation into the financial crisis and accused Goldman Sachs of misleading clients and Congress. Goldman Sachs has denied that it misled anyone. To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Harper in New York at charper@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scheer at dscheer@bloomberg.net .

Basci Says Price, Financial Stability Remain Turkish Goals

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/basci-says-price-financial-stability-remain-turkish-goals-1-.html

Erdem Basci, Turkey ’s new central bank governor, said he shared the goals of securing price and financial stability with his predecessor. “Your vision is our vision,” Basci told outgoing Governor Durmus Yilmaz during a handover ceremony today in Ankara. Basci said he aimed to make the bank a leading monetary authority globally. Basci, a 44-year-old school friend of Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan , is trying to arrest a boom in lending and domestic demand without increases in the benchmark interest rate, which the central bank has held steady since cutting it to a record low of 6.25 percent in January. Bank lending is fueling demand for imports, which may push the current-account deficit to 8 percent of economic output this year, according to an International Monetary Fund estimate. Central bank governors are appointed by governments and need to “do our work without letting gratitude turn to subservience,” Yilmaz said at the ceremony. “Otherwise we damage the aims of those who appointed us.” The bank’s rate-setting committee meets under Basci on April 21 and is likely to keep the benchmark one-week repo rate unchanged, according to all 11 economists in a Bloomberg survey. To slow loan growth, the bank has increased the reserve requirements banks must set aside against their liabilities to as much as 15 percent from 6 percent for short-term deposits. It has also stopped paying interest on the reserves to banks. The policy is starting to work, Basci said last week in Washington , according to a paper posted on the bank’s website at the weekend. To contact the reporters on this story: Steve Bryant in Ankara at sbryant5@bloomberg.net ; Ali Berat Meric in Ankara at americ@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net .

Belle Delays Opening of Manila Casino to Second Quarter 2012, Ocier Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/belle-delays-opening-of-manila-casino-to-second-quarter-2012-ocier-says.html

Belle Corp. (BEL) has delayed the opening of its casino in Manila because it decided to increase the gaming center’s floor area by 35 percent and to build more facilities, Vice Chairman Willy Ocier said. “We decided to upgrade our plans in light of positive performance levels” of casinos in Singapore and “its tourism industry,” Ocier said in a mobile phone text message. The new target is the second quarter of 2012 instead of the fourth quarter this year, he said. Belle shares fell 1.4 percent to 5.52 pesos, set for the lowest close since April 5. Leisure & Resorts World Corp. (LR) , which will operate the casino, decreased 1.8 percent to 10.82 pesos, bound for the lowest close since April 8. The delay in the opening of the casino was reported earlier by BusinessWorld, ManilaStandardToday and BusinessMirror. To contact the reporter on this story: Ian Sayson in Manila at isayson@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reinie Booysen at rbooysen@bloomberg.net

Indonesia May Increase Wheat Imports, Cut Corn, USDA Agency Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/indonesia-may-increase-wheat-imports-cut-corn-usda-agency-says.html

Indonesia may increase wheat imports to 6.3 million metric tons in the year that begins July 1, up from an estimated 5.9 million this season, a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report today. Corn imports may fall to 1.5 million tons in the year that begins Oct. 1, down from an estimated 2.5 million a year earlier, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report. To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Wilson in Chicago at jwilson29@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net .

Japanese Consumer Confidence Plunges on Record Earthquake

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/japanese-consumer-confidence-plunges-on-record-earthquake-1-.html

Japan’s consumer confidence tumbled last month after a record earthquake, adding to signs the world’s third-largest economy may contract this quarter. The household sentiment index dropped to 38.6 in March from 41.2 in February, according to seasonally adjusted figures released by the Cabinet Office today in Tokyo. Retailers including Seven & I Holdings Co. forecast a slump in profits as the nation reels in the aftermath of the magnitude-9 temblor and tsunami, which crimped power supply and led to a nuclear crisis on par with Chernobyl. The risk is that a slump in sentiment precipitates a “downward spiral” where spending cuts weigh on the economy, in turn reducing incomes and jobs, according to economist David Rea. “It is important not to overlook the intangible effects of the disaster on ‘animal spirits,’” Rea, Japan economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London , said before the report. “The bias towards austerity will not lift any time soon.” Today’s report echoes the result of the merchant sentiment report from April 8, which showed confidence slumped at the fastest pace on record since the Cabinet Office began that survey in 2000. Seven & I, owner of the 7-Eleven convenience-store brand, said net income may drop 22 percent because of the March 11 temblor. Fast Retailing Co., Asia ’s biggest apparel chain, said sales at its Uniqlo stores in Japan fell 12 percent last month. Respect for Victims Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano urged households outside the disaster regions to return to their normal lives, warning that cutting back out of respect for the quake’s victims would damage the economy. That reluctance to spend, in addition to supply disruptions that may crimp exports, is prompting economists to downgrade their projections for Japanese gross domestic product. The economy may shrink at an annual 3 percent pace in the three months ending June, according to the median estimate of 18 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The Cabinet Office today started releasing monthly seasonally adjusted figures for the confidence index. Previously, adjusted figures were provided only every quarter. To contact the reporter on this story: Aki Ito in Tokyo at aito16@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Panckhurst at ppanckhurst@bloomberg.net

Acer Names Jim Wong as President to Replace Lanci Who Quit

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/acer-names-jim-wong-as-president-to-replace-lanci-who-quit-1-.html

Acer Inc. (2353) appointed Jim Wong as president with immediate effect, replacing Gianfranco Lanci, who quit as chief executive officer and president last month after clashing with board members over the company’s strategy. The 52-year-old Wong, who headed the company’s information technology products division, will also lead a new group that includes the tablet personal computer and smartphone teams, the company said in an e-mailed statement. Chairman J.T. Wang will continue as CEO. Lanci resigned on March 31, less than a week after the world’s second-largest notebook maker lowered its sales forecast that led to a four-day, 18 percent rout of the stock. The Taipei-based company said today it estimates PC shipments to decline 10 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months because of the company’s reorganization, inventory adjustment and a seasonal slowdown in the PC industry. “The IT industry is encountering a profound change,” Wong, who joined Acer in 1986 at the company’s Latin American region’s sales division, said in the statement. “We are ready with a clear set of goals and action plans,” said the executive, who was president of the company’s IT Products Global Operations from 2001. As part of the reshuffle, Campbell Kan, former vice president of the company’s smart handheld business, will lead a new group that includes the main PC products business. Acer’s shares have slumped 42 percent this year on the Taiwan Stock Exchange , compared with a 3.7 percent decline in the benchmark Taiex index. “A shipment decline is bad news,” said Calvin Lu, an analyst at Mega Securities Co. in Taipei, who has a “neutral” rating on the shares. “It’s a tough time for Acer now, and the stock will see more correction in the near future.” The operating margin for the current quarter is expected to be similar to the first quarter, Acer said today. To contact the reporters on this story: Janet Ong at jong3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net

U.K. Coal Slumps Most Since July After Reporting Third Loss

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/u-k-coal-slumps-most-since-july-after-reporting-third-loss.html

U.K. Coal Plc, Britain’s biggest producer of the fuel, fell the most in nine months in London trading after reporting a third full-year loss in a row. U.K. Coal slumped 11 percent, the most since July 19, to 34.5 pence at the 4:30 p.m. close of trade. The stock led declines in the 624-company FTSE All-Share Index. (ASX) The net loss for the year ended Dec. 25 came to 125.1 million pounds, compared with a year-earlier loss of 127.5 million pounds, Doncaster, England-based U.K. Coal said today in a statement. “The board is in the course of a strategic recovery review to tackle the deep-rooted problems in U.K. Coal,” Chairman Jonson Cox said in the statement. “Success for U.K. Coal will need difficult changes.” To contact the reporter on this story: Amanda Jordan in London at ajordan11@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amanda Jordan at ajordan11@bloomberg.net

Farmers Get Rich as Wheat Drives Deere Profits: Freight Markets

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/farmers-get-rich-as-wheat-trade-gives-deere-record-profit-freight-markets.html

The biggest U.S. wheat shipments in a generation mean record income for farmers, the most profit ever for Deere & Co. (DE) and the nation’s lowest jobless rate in North Dakota, the largest grower. The U.S. will control 28 percent of global wheat exports this year, up from 18 percent in 2010, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. With prices averaging about $8 a bushel this quarter and the next, the most in three years, farms will earn $94.7 billion, according to analysts’ forecasts compiled by Bloomberg and a USDA estimate. North Dakota’s jobless rate was 3.6 percent in March, compared with 8.8 percent nationally. The surge in income is spurring lawmakers to propose farm- subsidy cuts and aiding President Barack Obama in his goal of doubling exports in five years. It also means Deere, the largest farm-equipment maker, will report a 42 percent rise in profit this year, and Monsanto Co. (MON) , the biggest seed producer, will earn 38 percent more. Shipping lines may benefit the least because the U.S. is replacing lost supply from Russia and Ukraine, and global exports will drop 8.6 percent in 2011, the USDA says. “We’re the supplier of last resort,” said Jerry Fruin, an agricultural economist at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, specializing in logistics. “The U.S. generally has stuff in the bins, and we have the logistics system to get it to you, since we face both oceans.” Wheat rose 71 percent in the past 12 months to $8.21 on the Chicago Board of Trade, as flooding from Canada to Australia last year hurt crops. Russia , once the second-biggest exporter, banned shipments in August and Ukraine followed with curbs in October. That gave the U.S. an opportunity to expand in markets across northern Africa and the Middle East, traditional buyers of grain from the Black Sea region. Middle East Protests U.S. shipments to Egypt , the world’s biggest wheat buyer, reached 3.27 million metric tons in the marketing year that began in June, seven times more than a year earlier, USDA data show. Countries including Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia , Oman, Libya and Syria have purchased U.S. wheat this year, after buying none at the same time last year, the data show. Buyers in the Middle East and northern Africa accelerated purchases this year to bolster stockpiles and damp prices that contributed to protests across the region. “Russia has hurt its image of reliability as a supplier,” said Dan Manternach, a wheat economist with Doane Advisory Services, an agricultural research company in St. Louis. “The countries that had been dependent on Black Sea-region wheat will no longer allow themselves to stay dependent, so they’ll diversify sources. Even if Russia has a monster crop this year, I expect we’ll lose some market share, but not all of it.” Ban on Sales The U.S. will ship 34.7 million tons of wheat in the crop year ending May 31, compared with almost 24 million tons a year earlier and the most since 1993, USDA estimates show. Russian exports slumped to 4 million tons, from 18.6 million tons, and the government said March 25 it would maintain the ban on sales until after the harvest that begins in September. That means more opportunities for U.S. growers. Agriculture accounted for 8.3 percent of North Dakota ’s economy in 2009, more than any other state, the most recent government data show. Agriculture employs more than 29,000 people, compared with about 7,000 in natural resources such as oil and gas production, according to the state Commerce Department. Wheat generated almost $7 billion for North Dakota last year, according to Erica Olson, a marketing specialist with the Bismarck-based North Dakota Wheat Commission. About half of the state’s wheat crop is exported, with 25 percent of that going by rail to ports in the Pacific Northwest, where it’s loaded onto vessels bound mostly for Asia , she said. Equipment Dealers “The farm economy has been strong, and equipment dealers are having a good year because producers are updating equipment,” said Harlan Klein, who farms 15,000 acres of wheat, canola, sunflowers and corn in Elgin, North Dakota. “Probably the biggest place we’re seeing competition is in labor. It’s to the point where it’s difficult to find people to work.” Cargill, the Minneapolis-based grain exporter that’s the largest closely held U.S. company, reported a 30 percent jump in third-quarter profit April 13. Deere, based in Moline, Illinois , will report record earnings of $6.21 a share in its fiscal year ending in October, compared with $4.35 a year earlier, according to the mean of 10 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Monsanto, based in St. Louis, will make $2.83 a share in the year ending in August, up from $2.01, the mean of six estimates shows. Growing profit for agricultural producers contrasts with slumping earnings for the shippers companies that haul the wheat. Grains are most commonly carried on panamaxes, the largest vessels able to transit the Panama Canal. Daily Rates Returns on the carriers fell 21 percent this year to $11,666 a day because of a glut of vessels, according to data from the Baltic Exchange in London , which publishes daily rates for more than 50 maritime routes. Rates are volatile, moving 34 percent or more in 10 of the last 11 years. The surge in U.S. wheat exports “helps a bit, but if you look into what’s driving the bus, it’s iron ore , then coal,” said Steve Rodley, co-managing director of M2M Management Ltd., a hedge fund that operates vessels and trades freight derivatives used to bet on or hedge future transport costs. Global grain and soybean shipments will advance 3.5 percent to a record 355 million tons this year, according to Clarkson Plc (CKN) , the world’s largest shipbroker. Iron-ore cargoes will rise 7.4 percent to 1.06 billion tons, with coal gaining 6 percent to 954 million tons, the London-based company estimates. About 90 percent of global trade moves by sea, according to the Round Table of International Shipping Associations. Shipping Shares The 12-member Bloomberg Dry Ships Index, in which Seoul- based STX Pan Ocean Co. has the biggest weighting, fell 9.8 percent this year. That compares with a 6.6 percent advance in the Bloomberg World Agriculture Index of 32 companies. Almost 40 percent of last year’s U.S. wheat shipments moved through ports on the Columbia River, including the Port of Portland , Oregon , which handled the most grain since 1995, USDA data show. The Port of South Louisiana, located in LaPlace, ships grains and soybeans carried from the Midwest on the Mississippi River. In North Dakota, the state government is forecasting a $122 million budget surplus for the two-year cycle ending in June, more than the $79.6 million anticipated in November. The Congressional Budget Office is projecting a federal budget deficit of $1.5 trillion for this year. Higher commodity prices “really extend all throughout the state,” said the North Dakota Wheat Commission’s Olson. “The local elevator companies work directly with exports, so the increase is beneficial for them, and that creates jobs. Even with the trade part aside, the farm economy is going to produce a lot of jobs.” To contact the reporter on this story: Whitney McFerron in Chicago at wmcferron1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net

Mexican Stocks: America Movil, Bolsa Mexicana, Grupo Mexico Drop

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/mexican-stocks-america-movil-bolsa-mexicana-grupo-mexico-drop.html

The following companies are having unusual price changes in Mexico trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and prices are as of 12:36 p.m. New York time. The IPC index fell 0.4 percent to 36,194.66. America Movil SAB (AMXL MM): The wireless carrier controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim declined 1.4 percent to 32.88 pesos, extending its 2-day loss to 3.3 percent after Mexico’s antitrust agency levied a fine of 12 billion pesos ($1.02 billion) for anticompetitive practices. Bolsa Mexicana de Valores SAB (BOLSAA MM) slipped 0.1 percent to 23.80 pesos. The operator of Mexico’s securities exchange had its recommendation cut to “neutral” from “buy” at UBS AG by analyst Alcir Freitas, who cited lower earnings per share projections. Grupo Mexico SAB (GMEXICOB MM), the country’s largest mining company, declined 1.2 percent to 37.47 pesos. The company posted 6.2 billion pesos in first-quarter profit. To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan J. Levin in Mexico City at jlevin20@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net

Ghana Central Bank to Sell $212 Million in 3-Year Bonds for Debt Payment

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/ghana-central-bank-to-sell-212-million-in-3-year-bonds-for-debt-payment.html

Ghana ’s central bank will sell its second three-year bond of 2011 as it seeks to raise funds to pay off maturing debt, said Collins Antwi, assistant director at the Bank of Ghana ’s treasury department. The Accra-based bank will offer 320 million cedis ($212 million) in an auction April 27, according to a statement published on its website. “As much as 200 million cedis worth of existing bonds will mature in the early week of May,” Antwi said by phone today. “The excess will be used for government payments.” Sales of the cedi-denominated bond, the shortest duration of domestic-currency issues open to investors outside the world’s second-biggest cocoa producer, will settle on May 2, the central bank said on its website. The last sale of the same duration, on Feb. 16, sold 401.2 million cedis at a 13.45 percent yield and was oversubscribed by 88 percent, the Bank of Ghana said. The cedi strengthened for the first day in three, trading at 1.5090 per dollar at 4:36 p.m. local time, from a close yesterday of 1.5150, as foreign investors brought dollars into the country to convert to cedis before the bond sale, according to Chris Nettey, a currency trader at Stanbic Bank Ghana Ltd. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net .

Mining Firms Meet on Australia Carbon Plan amid Voter Backlash

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/mining-firms-meet-on-australia-carbon-plan-amid-voter-backlash.html

Australia ’s government said a group of mining companies including BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) and Rio Tinto Group will meet today to suggest changes to Prime Minister Julia Gillard ’s plan to introduce carbon trading. The discussions come amid industry and voter opposition to the proposal to begin an emissions trading system next July. Support for the ruling Labor party fell to a 15-year low in a Nielsen opinion survey published in the Age newspaper yesterday, which showed 59 percent of voters oppose carbon trading. Under the system, companies would be charged a fixed cost per ton of carbon for the first three to five years before trading begins. The government, which is yet to announce the starting price, has said more than 50 percent of the carbon revenue would be used to assist households, with the rest to help companies adjust and to fund clean energy projects. A Multiparty Climate Change Committee, proposed by the Australian Greens, will also meet today in Canberra as Gillard tries to get support for climate laws. The committee includes Greens leader Bob Brown and his deputy Christine Milne along with government lawmakers and independents Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott. The government needs support from four non-party lawmakers, including the independents and Greens, to pass laws in parliament. Windsor told Sky News today he still needed to be convinced to support the plan. To contact the reporter on this story: Gemma Daley in Canberra at gdaley@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg at phirschberg@bloomberg.net

South Africa’s Jacob Zuma Says May Take Action on Shiceka, Star Reports

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/south-africa-s-jacob-zuma-says-may-take-action-on-shiceka-star-reports.html

South Africa ’s President Jacob Zuma said allegations reported in the media that Sicelo Shiceka, minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, misused public funds are “too serious,” Johannesburg’s Star newspaper reported. “There will be no hesitation if these things that are being said are true,” he said in an interview with the newspaper. “Here there is going to be action.” Vuyelwa Qinga, a spokeswoman for Shiceka, didn’t immediately respond to a message left on her mobile phone by Bloomberg. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net

Vanke’s First-Quarter Profit Rises 7% on More Home Sales in Smaller Cities

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/china-vanke-posts-7-gain-in-profit-on-sales-in-smaller-cities.html

China Vanke Co., the country’s biggest developer by market value, posted a 7 percent increase in first-quarter profit as it sold more homes in smaller cities that were shielded from the effects of government curbs. Net income climbed to 1.21 billion yuan ($185 million), or 0.11 yuan a share, in the three months ended March 31, from 1.13 billion yuan, or 0.1 yuan, a year earlier, the company said in a Shenzhen stock exchange filing yesterday. Revenue gained 6 percent to 7.97 billion yuan. “I’m not worried about big companies such as Vanke, even if the government measures continued,” said Danny Bao, a Hong Kong-based analyst for Daiwa Securities Capital Markets Ltd., who rates the stock “outperform.” “The company may get more market share if it cuts prices.” Vanke, which said it will adopt a “flexible” sales strategy, recorded higher earnings as China’s property curbs were aimed at speculators who mainly invest in larger cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. In the past three months, the government intensified its measures to rein in prices, raising the minimum down payment for second-home purchases and levied taxes on residences in Shanghai and Chongqing. Beijing and Guangzhou imposed restrictions on housing purchases in February, while the central bank raised interest rates twice this year. “Vanke will focus on new home sales and keep up the sales pace,” Board Secretary Tan Huajie said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday. “The impact from the property curbs is clear in the market as transactions have slowed down.” Shares Fall Vanke fell 1.7 to 8.63 yuan at the close of Shenzhen trading, the lowest since March 24. The stock gained 5 percent this year, compared with a 5.4 percent advance in the broader CSI 300 Index (SHSZ300) and a 13 percent increase in the gauge of property stocks on the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index. “The current market changes haven’t yet exceeded the company’s expectations,” Tan said. “We will keep a quick and flexible sales strategy.” Vanke entered smaller cities such as the central cities of Qinhuangdao and Taiyuan in the first quarter, it said. Premier Wen Jiabao said last week in a cabinet meeting that the country faces challenges including rising property prices in many cities even as real estate transactions shrink. Slowing Price Gains China’s new home price growth slowed in Beijing and Shanghai in March as the government intensified property curbs. New home prices in the capital of Beijing rose 4.9 percent in March from a year earlier, easing from a 6.8 percent gain in February, the statistics bureau said on its website on April 18. In Shanghai, the country’s financial hub, prices climbed 1.7 percent last month, down from 2.3 percent growth in February. Of the 70 cities monitored by the government, 67 cities posted gains, down from 68 in the first two months, the data showed. “Against the background of property curbs, the whole sector will be affected, but Vanke will do better than other competitors because they have better exposure in third-tier cities,” said Du Jinsong , a Hong Kong-based analyst for Credit Suisse Group AG. Vanke’s contracted sales, based on bookings of apartments before they are built, more than doubled to 35.5 billion yuan in the first three months from a year earlier. Developers typically sell their homes before construction begins and book earnings from the sales progressively. Vanke has no plans to lower its annual construction target, Tan said. --Bonnie Cao. Editors: Linus Chua, Janet Ong To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Bonnie Cao in Shanghai at +86-21-6104-3035 or bcao4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andreea Papuc at apapuc1@bloomberg.net

European April Consumer Confidence Weakens More Than Forecast

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/european-april-consumer-confidence-weakens-more-than-forecast.html

European consumer confidence weakened more than economists forecast in April as surging energy costs sapped households’ spending power and countries from Ireland to Spain cut spending to lower budget deficits. An index of household sentiment in the 17-nation euro area fell for a second month to minus 11.4 from minus 10.6 in March, the Brussels-based European Commission said in an initial estimate today. That’s the lowest since August. Economists forecast a drop to minus 11, the median of 22 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey showed. The commission is scheduled to publish its monthly report on euro-area economic confidence, which includes the consumer- confidence gauge, on April 29. To contact the reporter on this story: Simone Meier in Zurich at smeier@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net

Valero Corpus Christi West Restarting After Power Outage

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/valero-corpus-christi-west-restarting-after-power-outage-1-.html

Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) said it’s restarting units after a power outage at the Corpus Christi West refinery in Texas. “Units have power again and are restarting, so there should be no material impact on production,” Steve Lee, a San Antonio-based spokesman for the company, said in an e-mail today. The outage was caused by a problem with an off-site electrical provider, he said. Flaring associated with the restart was expected to start today at 4 p.m. local time and last for 24 hours, the company said in a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Flaring associated with the outage began at 2:30 p.m., according to a separate filing. The refinery consists of east and west plants a mile apart, which have a combined capacity of about 315,000 barrels a day, according to the company’s website. To contact the reporters on this story: Paul Burkhardt in New York at pburkhardt@bloomberg.net ; Leela Landress in Houston at llandress@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bill Banker at bbanker@bloomberg.net .

Bank Zachodni’s Bujak Says Polish Rate Decision Is ‘Close Call’

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/bank-zachodni-s-bujak-says-polish-rate-decision-is-close-call-.html

Piotr Bujak, an economist at Bank Zachodni WBK in Warsaw, comments on Polish industrial output and production price data, released today in Warsaw. Industrial output rose an annual 7 percent in March, the slowest since October 2009 and below the median estimate of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg for an increase of 9.6 percent. Producer prices increased by percent from the year-earlier period, compared with a median estimate of 8.3 percent. “This is a pretty significant slowdown -- and we’ll have to expect further weakening in the output figures as the economies of our main trading partners slow. German growth is likely to be weaker, for example, which will hurt our exports. “The disappointing output figures will be an argument for Monetary Policy Council members who want to wait with the next rate increase. “On the other hand, PPI was very strong, which could raise fears this will transfer to retail prices. The price pressures are an argument for the hawks in the central bank. “The May rate-setting meeting could be a very close call. I don’t expect a rate hike next month, though. The central bank won’t want to give the impression that it’s just reacting to current data.” To contact the reporter on this story: Katya Andrusz in Warsaw at kandrusz@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net

Kingdom First-Quarter Profit Rises 20% on Investment Gains

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/kingdom-first-quarter-profit-rises-20-on-investment-gains-1-.html

Kingdom Holding Co. (KINGDOM) , the investment company controlled by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, said first-quarter profit advanced 20 percent because of investment gains and a decline in expenses. Net income rose to 90.6 million riyals ($24 million), from 75.2 million riyals a year earlier, the Riyadh-based company said in a statement to the Saudi bourse today. Profit gained as the company “sold Swissotel Kunshan in China and a piece of land in Riyadh,” Kingdom said. On April 10 Kingdom completed the sale of Kunshan for $60.6 million. Net income rose also because of “a drop in general and administrative expenses,” the company said. Performance worsened at some affiliated companies and international hotel managing companies because of unrest in the Middle East, Kingdom said. More than four months of protests have rocked the Middle East and North Africa as citizens demand civil rights, better living standards and the ouster of entrenched autocratic regimes. Operational profit rose 59 percent to 103.9 million riyals. Earnings per share were 0.02 riyals, unchanged from the year- earlier period, the company said. “I’m confident that the outlook for the company’s continuing profitability is very promising,” especially in real estate in Saudi Arabia , Shadi Sanbar, Chief Financial Officer, said in a separate e-mailed statement. On March 18, Saudi King Abdullah announced a plan to spend $67 billion to build 500,000 homes and turned the country’s housing authority into a ministry with a budget of 15 billion riyals. Three weeks earlier, he pledged to increase funding for housing by $15 billion. Kingdom’s shares dropped 1.8 percent to 8.35 riyals before the earnings were released, giving the company a market value of 30.9 billion riyals. The stock has gained 1.8 percent this year. To contact the reporter on this story: Mourad Haroutunian in Riyadh at mharoutunian@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net

EnBW to Spend $11 Billion on Renewable Energy Amid Germany's Nuclear Exit

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/enbw-to-spend-11-billion-on-renewable-energy-amid-germany-s-nuclear-exit.html

EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG (EBK) plans to spend about 8 billion euros ($11 billion) on renewable energy by 2020 to help plug a shortfall as Germany phases out nuclear power. The country’s third-largest utility will add about 3 gigawatts of renewable capacity to its 3.1 gigawatts in the next 10 years, Chief Executive Officer Hans-Peter Villis said today in a copy of speech handed to reporters in Karlsruhe, Germany, where shareholders are attending their annual meeting. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on April 15 that the country plans to exit nuclear power as quickly as possible after explosions at Japanese reactors stoked safety concerns. EnBW faces added incentives to invest in alternative energy after the anti-nuclear Green party won an election in the state of Baden- Wuerttemberg, which holds 46.5 percent of the utility. “We recognize that after the events in Japan , the majority of Germans oppose nuclear power,” Villis said in the statement. “The coming weeks will show until when and in what form nuclear power will be politically desired. Naturally, a new framework for the overhaul of Germany’s energy supply can’t be politically decided today, just five weeks after the events in Japan.” EnBW plans to partner with local utilities, municipalities and mid-sized companies on decentralized renewable energy projects, Villis said. The company may also cooperate with municipal utilities on its Baltic 2 offshore wind park, he said. Investment Plans While EnBW plans to cut costs to boost earnings by a figure in the “mid-three-digit million-euro range” starting in 2013, changes to the target are “likely given the current energy policy debate,” the company said. Last month, Merkel ordered the idling of the country’s seven oldest reactors, including two operated by EnBW, for a three-month safety review after the partial meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima plant. The company has a total of four reactors. Neckarpri GmbH, Baden-Wuerttemberg’s investment vehicle, and OEW, a group of municipalities, each own 46.5 percent of EnBW. The southwest German state bought an initial 45 percent stake from Electricite de France SA for 4.7 billion euros in February. The Greens are poised to enter the regional government in Baden-Wuerttemberg after March 27 state elections conducted after the Fukushima accident. The party is set to lead its first state administration, ejecting Merkel’s Christian Democrats , who’ve held power in Stuttgart for 58 years. To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Comfort in Frankfurt at ncomfort1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net

Galleon Ex-Trader Zvi Goffer, Brother Plead Not Guilty to New Indictment

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/former-galleon-trader-goffer-pleads-not-guilty-to-latest-insider-charges.html

Galleon Group LLC trader Zvi Goffer , accused of leading one of three insider-trading rings that are the subject of a U.S. probe, pleaded not guilty to new federal charges in an amended indictment. Goffer and his brother Emanuel Goffer, along with Craig Drimal and Michael Kimelman, today entered not guilty pleas to the new indictment filed by the U.S. on April 7. U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan in New York granted defense lawyers’ request for a one-week delay in the trial, which was originally set to begin May 9. The attorneys said they needed time to review evidence because of the new charges. “I’m not persuaded that a lengthy adjournment is appropriate,” Sullivan told the lawyers, some whom asked for a two-month delay. “It seems an awful lot of what happens in trial preparation happens in the month before trial.” Prosecutors filed a superseding indictment against five defendants. All the defendants were traders, except for Jason Goldfarb, who is a lawyer. Sullivan said Goldfarb wasn’t in court today because of a religious observance. New Charges The indictment added new charges of securities fraud against Zvi Goffer, who now faces two counts of conspiracy and 12 counts of securities fraud. It also removed as defendants David Plate , a former trader at Schottenfeld Group LLC, and Arthur Cutillo, who was a lawyer at the firm Ropes & Gray LLP. Plate pleaded guilty in July while Cutillo pleaded guilty Jan. 14. Sullivan today rejected a bid by defense lawyers to dismiss the new indictment. “I don’t think that the superseding indictment, no matter how much people don’t like it, there’s virtually no authorization to do that,” the judge said. Prosecutors said the Goffer ring traded on stock tips originating from lawyers at Ropes & Gray in New York and from Gautham Shankar, an ex-trader at New York-based Schottenfeld. Zvi Goffer, the founder of Incremental Capital LLC, was part of the second wave of cases made by the FBI and Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in 2009 after Galleon co-founder Raj Rajaratnam’s arrest on insider-trading charges. The U.S. placed Zvi Goffer at the center of the scheme and claimed his accomplices called him “Octopussy,” a reference to the 1983 James Bond movie, because of his many sources of information. Zvi Goffer’s lawyers dispute the characterization. Attended Trial Zvi Goffer has frequently attended the Manhattan Federal Court trial of Galleon’s Rajaratnam. Closing arguments are scheduled to begin in that case tomorrow. Rajaratnam has pleaded not guilty, claiming his stock purchases were the result of legitimate research. The case is U.S. v. Goffer, 10-cr-00056, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York ( Manhattan ). To contact the reporter on this story: Patricia Hurtado in New York at pathurtado@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net .