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Tesco Full-Year Profit Rises Less Than Estimated as Quarterly Sales Drop

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/tesco-full-year-profit-gains-7-8-as-overseas-growth-offsets-u-k-weakness.html

Tesco Plc (TSCO) , the U.K.’s largest supermarket company, reported full-year earnings that missed analysts’ estimates and said it expects the domestic market to remain “challenging” after a drop in fourth-quarter sales. So-called trading profit rose 7.8 percent to 3.68 billion pounds ($6 billion) in the year ended Feb. 26, the Cheshunt, England-based retailer said today. The average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was 3.74 billion pounds. Asia and Europe contributed almost 70 percent of the profit growth, while losses widened at the U.S. Fresh & Easy chain, Tesco said. Chief Executive Officer Philip Clarke , who took over from Terry Leahy in March, faces a stagnant grocery market in the U.K., the retailer’s largest by revenue, where growth is being driven mostly by inflation. Tesco said it plans to give more space to non-food items and add new general-merchandise ranges. More than three-quarters of store openings in the coming year will be in international markets such as China. “The headline numbers are slightly disappointing, particularly in the U.K., where Tesco’s non-food offer clearly needs some work,” Philip Dorgan, an analyst at Panmure Gordon, said by e-mail. “The shares are too cheap if Tesco can execute better in the U.K., drive higher international returns and generate cash.” Dorgan has a “buy” rating on the shares. Shares Drop Tesco fell 4.35 pence, or 1.1 percent, to 395.65 pence at 8:21 a.m. in London trading. The stock has fallen 6.8 percent this year, compared with rival J Sainsbury Plc (SBRY) ’s 9.9 percent decline and a 1.9 percent fall at Carrefour SA. (CA) Sales at U.K. stores open at least a year fell 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter, excluding value-added tax and gasoline, said Tesco, whose domestic market share has hovered around 30 percent for more than five years. “Customers are looking for value, they’re eating out less, they’re using their car less,” CEO Clarke said on a conference call. “That’s why we’re saying specific steps include a greater level of innovation, much more effort on food, and a big push to reallocate space and bring new ranges in general merchandise, into home, into non-food.” The retailer said Asia, Europe and the U.S. should benefit from the improvements in the global economy. Tesco will add 11 million square feet (1.02 million square meters) of new space this year, a similar level to last year, Finance Director Laurie McIlwee said on the call. About 8.4 million square feet of that will be outside the U.K. 5,000 Stores Tesco, which has more than 5,000 stores in 14 countries, plans to sell and lease back up to 1 billion pounds of property including assets in U.S. and China annually to fund expansion. “This could be an opportunity for Philip Clarke to make his mark,” Execution Noble analyst Caroline Gulliver said before the release. “We do not think Tesco’s performance has been significantly worse than its competitors in the U.K. and we think the international growth opportunity is excellent.” Gulliver has a “buy” recommendation on the shares. The trading loss at the U.S. Fresh & Easy chain widened to 186 million pounds in the year as the unit bought two suppliers. Trading profit in Asia climbed 30 percent to 570 million pounds, boosted by sales in Thailand and South Korea. China, where the retailer is opening five-storey shopping malls, failed to make a profit in the second half, weighed down by “slower consumer demand growth” and fewer store openings than planned. Total revenue for the year rose 7.1 percent to 60.9 billion pounds, excluding value-added taxes. Tesco plans to pay a total dividend for the year of 14.46 pence a share, a 10.8 percent increase on the previous year. Net income for the year rose to 2.66 billion pounds, or 32.94 pence a share, from 2.33 billion pounds, or 29.19 pence, a year earlier, the retailer said. To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Shannon in London at sshannon4@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net .

Man Group Will Close GLG Fund Once Assets Exceed $1 Billion

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/man-group-will-close-glg-fund-once-assets-exceed-1-billion.html

Man Group Plc (EMG) , the world’s biggest publicly traded hedge fund, plans to close its GLG Market Neutral Fund to new investors after concluding producing good returns will be easier if assets are capped at about $1 billion. GLG portfolio manager Steve Roth decided that limiting the size of the fund will make it easier to get in and out of trading positions, Man Group spokesman David Waller said today. The market neutral fund invests in convertible-arbitrage strategies, which involves purchasing bonds that can be swapped for equity when shares of an issuer reach a preset level. Hedge fund managers and investors have become increasingly focused on size since 2008, when industry losses and a global credit crunch triggered a rush by clients to withdraw money. Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP last year closed its $25 billion master fund and Paul Jones ’s Tudor Investment Corp. restricted investments into its $9.5 billion BVI Global Fund. GLG suspended client redemptions from the market neutral fund in 2008. The fund’s investment performance was down 54 percent that year and assets under management fell from a peak of about $3 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Market Neutral fund has since rebounded, gaining 82 percent in 2009 and 34 percent last year. The fund oversaw about $920 million at the end of February, the data show. London-based Man Group acquired GLG last year. The decision to close the fund was reported earlier today by the Financial Times. To contact the reporter on this story: in London at jwestbrook1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Edward Evans at eevans3@bloomberg.net

Athens Bus Driver Suspended After Taking Unscheduled Break

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/athens-bus-driver-suspended-after-taking-unscheduled-break.html

An Athens city bus driver was suspended after he took an unscheduled break yesterday forcing passengers to disembark. “Such behavior is incomprehensible particularly at a time when passengers need public transport to overcome the long crisis that has plagued them,” according to an e-mailed statement from Greece’s Transport Ministry. Greece’s economy contracted 4.5 percent in 2010 and unemployment hit a record 15.1 percent in January as the government cut wages and raised taxes in exchange for a 110 billion-euro ($157.5 billion) bailout last year from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Stoukas in Athens at astoukas@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at acullen8@bloomberg.net .

Vedanta May Use $1.5 Billion Cairn India Stake as Offer Hedge

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/vedanta-may-use-1-5-billion-cairn-india-deal-as-hedge-for-offer.html

Vedanta Resources Plc (VED) ’s $1.5 billion purchase of a stake in Cairn India Ltd. (CAIR) from Petroliam Nasional Bhd. may provide a hedge against any shortfall in take- up for a broader offer for the oil explorer, investors said. Vedanta’s Sesa Goa Ltd. (SESA) unit bought 10.4 percent of Cairn India for 331 rupees a share, the London-based parent said in a statement yesterday. That’s 6.8 percent lower than the price proposed by Sesa Goa in an open offer for as much as 20 percent of Cairn India, and 3.8 percent below yesterday’s closing price. Vedanta’s purchase from the Malaysian company known as Petronas, on top of the open offer, may result in it holding 51 percent to 70.4 percent of Cairn India , according to the statement. Sesa Goa’s offer is part of Vedanta’s $9.6 billion bid announced in August for the operator of India’s largest onshore oilfield. The government is yet to approve the takeover. “With this 10.4 percent stake now secured below the offer price, Vedanta could acquire a 51 percent stake for up to $318 million less, marking a 4 percent discount,” Liberum Capital Ltd. wrote in a note to investors today. The transaction may encourage other minority shareholders, who were previously undecided, to sell their stakes, Liberum said. Cairn India rose 1.4 percent to 348.85 rupees at the close of trade in Mumbai, while Sesa Goa gained 0.4 percent to 308.45 rupees. Vedanta advanced 3.1 percent to 2,338 pence at the close in London. Shareholder Uncertainty “Probably the reason for the Petronas deal is to make up for the shortfall from the open offer,” D.K. Aggarwal, chairman of SMC Wealth Management Services Ltd., said by phone from New Delhi. “There’s a lot of uncertainty about the deal still, and shareholders may not be willing to tender their shares. If the deal fails, the value of the shares will fall significantly.” The Petronas deal increases the minimum acceptance ratio in the open offer to 75 percent from 53 percent, Harshad Katkar and Amit Murarka, analysts at Deutsche Bank AG, said in a report. “This underscores Vedanta’s seriousness in acquiring a majority shareholding in Cairn India,” they said. Sesa Goa hasn’t disclosed how many shares have been tendered so far. Sesa Goa was forced to delay its offer to Cairn India’s minority investors this month and extend a deadline to complete the transaction to May 20 from April 15 after India’s cabinet asked ministers to study the proposal. Oil Minister Jaipal Reddy said yesterday the panel of ministers hasn’t fixed a date to meet. “I am not in a position to give a timeframe for a decision,” Reddy told reporters in New Delhi. Win Control “Petronas’s exit is probably part of the overall strategy for Vedanta to get control of Cairn India,” said Walter Rossini, who manages a 250 million-euro ($358 million) equity fund at Aletti Gestielle SGR SpA in Milan and doesn’t plan to sell Cairn India shares in the open offer. “The open offer price is okay at $90 crude. At above $100, it is not so interesting.” Crude oil has gained more than 45 percent since Vedanta’s Aug. 16 announcement to buy a majority stake in Cairn India. Oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange traded at an average $94.60 a barrel last quarter, and touched $113.46 on April 11. Vedanta, controlled by billionaire Chairman Anil Agarwal , is offering Cairn India’s majority shareholder Cairn Energy Plc (CNE) 405 rupees a share, including a non-compete fee of 50 rupees. Cairn Energy will sell 40 percent to 51 percent of its holding to Vedanta, depending on the result of Sesa Goa’s open offer. ‘Upbeat’ Oil “As the hangover of the open offer goes off we expect Cairn India stock to normalize and move beyond the 370-rupee levels if crude prices continue to remain upbeat,” said Yogesh Radke, head of quantitative research at Edelweiss Securities. Cairn India produces about 125,000 barrels a day from the Mangala field in the Rajasthan block, the nation’s biggest oil deposit on land. The company may start Rajasthan’s Bhagyam field in the second half and reach peak output of 40,000 barrels a day by the end of the year, according to a Feb. 10 statement. Petronas sold its entire 14.9 percent holding in Cairn India for $2.1 billion, Malaysia ’s state oil and gas producer said in a statement yesterday, without identifying the buyers. Bank of America Corp. (BAC) helped sell the shares, said two people with knowledge of the transaction, who declined to be identified because the information is private. Mona Kwatra, a spokeswoman for Bank of America, and Manu Kapoor, a spokesman for Cairn India, declined to comment. Pavan Kaushik, a spokesman for Vedanta in India, didn’t answer six calls to his mobile phone. Emily Dimmock, a spokeswoman for the company in London, declined to comment. Bank Rankings Bank of America is ranked sixth in managing domestic share sales by Indian companies this year, with SBI Capital Markets Ltd. ranked first, followed by HSBC Bank Plc, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Indian companies have raised 83 billion rupees ($1.87 billion) in local share sales in 2011, a fifth of the amount in the same period last year, the data show. Petronas acquired 10 percent of Cairn India at 176.48 rupees a share before the explorer’s December 2006 initial public offering. The Kuala Lumpur-based company bought more shares at 224.30 rupees each in a preferential allotment in March 2008 and paid about $240 million for a further 2.3 percent stake in October 2009, taking its total holding to 14.9 percent. Shamsul Azhar Abbas ordered a review of Petronas’s global investment portfolio after taking over as chief executive officer in February 2010 as he sought to invest more at home to boost the country’s oil and gas reserves, he said in November. To contact the reporters on this story: Rakteem Katakey in New Delhi at rkatakey@bloomberg.net ; Ruth David in Mumbai Serviced at rdavid9@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amit Prakash at aprakash1@bloomberg.net .

Andy Murray Withdraws From This Week's Barcelona Event With Elbow Injury

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/andy-murray-withdraws-from-this-week-s-barcelona-event-with-elbow-injury.html

Andy Murray , the fourth-ranked men’s tennis player, withdrew from this week’s clay-court tournament in Barcelona because of an elbow injury, he said on his website. The Scot was given a cortisone injection during his semifinal loss against top-ranked Rafael Nadal at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters three days ago. He will now take four to five days’ rest following advice from medical experts. Murray had reached the last four on the clay courts of Monte Carlo following a slump in form after losing to second- ranked Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the final of the Australian Open in January. The 23-year-old lost his opening rounds in tournaments in Rotterdam, Indian Wells , California , and Miami, all to lower- ranked players. His form improved in Monte Carlo, where Murray took a set off eventual seven-time champion Nadal. To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Rossingh in London at drossingh@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Elser in London at celser@bloomberg.net

Brazil’s OGX Rebounds From Its Biggest Decline in Two Years

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/brazil-s-ogx-rebounds-from-its-biggest-decline-in-two-years-1-.html

OGX Petroleo & Gas Participacoes SA, the oil company controlled by billionaire Eike Batista , advanced today in Sao Paulo on speculation that yesterday’s 17 percent plunge was overdone. OGX gained 4.8 percent to 17.05 reais at the close of Sao Paulo trading at 4:15 p.m. New York time, the most since March 22. Yesterday’s losses, which wiped out $6.9 billion in market value and were the biggest in two years, followed a report showing the company’s oil reserves trailed estimates. “The market overshot on OGX,” Max Bueno, an analyst at Spinelli SA in Sao Paulo, said in an interview. “The report takes into account the data collected through 2010. It doesn’t take into account the production tests carried out this year.” The company reported April 15 it had contingent resources of 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent and prospective resources of 6.5 billion barrels. Deutsche Bank AG, Banco BTG Pactual SA, Banco Santander SA and Citigroup Inc. each cut their recommendations on OGX to “hold” from “buy” yesterday. BTG analysts led by Gustavo Gattass said in a note to clients they expected OGX to report contingent resources of about 4 billion barrels. Merrill Lynch analysts led by Frank McGann said the estimate came in “at the low end” of their expectations. To contact the reporter on this story: Ney Hayashi in Sao Paulo at ncruz4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos in New York at papadopoulous@bloomberg.net

EDF Acquires Two Mexico Wind Projects Amounting to 324 Megawatts

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/edf-acquires-two-mexico-wind-projects-amounting-to-324-megawatts.html

EDF Energies Nouvelles SA (EEN) , a French renewable energy developer, has agreed to buy two wind projects totaling 324 megawatts in the south of Mexico as it seeks to expand into the Americas. The first project, Eoliatec del Istmo, will have a capacity of 164 megawatts, and the second, Eoliatec del Pacifico, will have a capacity of 160 megawatts, the Paris-based company said in a statement distributed by Business Wire today. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed. EDF Energies Nouvelles generated 34 percent of its revenue from power plants in the Americas and 66 percent from Europe in 2010, according to information compiled by Bloomberg. “This operation strengthens EDF EN Group’s position in North America and accelerates its development in Mexico , a country with abundant wind resources and promising future for solar,” according to the statement. The company already operates a 67.5-megawatt wind farm in Oaxaca, the same state where the projects will be built, EDF Energies Nouvelles said. Bought from Madrid, Spain-based wind and solar developer Eolia Renovables de Inversiones through EDF’s Mexican unit, the projects are expected to start generating power by 2013, 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

Hungary to Raise Tax on Drugmakers to 20%, Vilaggazdasag Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/hungary-to-raise-tax-on-drugmakers-to-20-vilaggazdasag-says.html

Hungary plans to raise a special tax on drugmakers to 20 percent from 12 percent, Vilaggazdasag reported, without saying how it obtained the information. Economy Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy said last week the levy would be increased to 18 percent from next year, the newspaper reported. The higher tax is needed to cover gaps in the drug budget, Vilaggazdasag said. To contact the reporters on this story: Edith Balazs in Budapest at ebalazs1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net

EU Sees Possible Restart of Turkish Talks After One-Year Pause

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/eu-sees-possible-restart-of-turkish-talks-after-one-year-pause.html

The European Union said Turkey ’s entry talks may restart in June after a one-year pause, as Turkey faulted the EU’s dominant governments for putting the brakes on the process. Turkey has a chance to start negotiations on adopting European antitrust and state-aid policies in June, EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule said. “If Turkey takes the few remaining steps in time, the competition chapter can hopefully still be opened,” Fule told reporters after an EU-Turkey meeting in Brussels today. “It is in everybody’s interest to give the negotiations a new momentum.” Turkey and Croatia started the EU entry marathon on the same day, in October 2005. Croatia today moved closer to wrapping up its talks, while opposition by leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy has held Turkey back. “Nobody can blame Turkey” for the deadlock, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. “There is a need for strategic political will by all member countries of the EU.” While Turkey has started negotiations in 13 of 35 EU policy areas, it has completed them in only one. On merits, Turkey should have been allowed to open 29 and complete 13, said Egemen Bagis, Turkey’s EU entry negotiator. With elections set for June 12, the Turkish officials also faulted the EU for not moving fast enough to grant Turkish citizens visa-free access to European countries. Fule said Turkey must guarantee “genuine, substantive debate” during the election campaign, while declining to intervene in an uproar over the ineligibility of 12 pro-Kurdish candidates. To contact the reporter on this story: James G. Neuger in Brussels at jneuger@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Extend Gains After Housing Starts Top Estimates

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/u-s-stock-index-futures-extend-gains-after-housing-starts-top-estimates.html

U.S. stock-index futures extended gains after housing starts exceeded estimates, building on an earlier advance spurred by higher-than-estimated earnings at companies from Johnson & Johnson to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in June rose 0.3 percent to 1,304.4 at 8:44 a.m. in New York , after the benchmark gauge dropped 1.1 percent yesterday. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 0.3 percent to 12,179 today and Nasdaq-100 Index futures gained 0.2 percent to 2,295.25. Work began on 549,000 houses at an annual pace, up 7.2 percent from the prior month and exceeding the 520,000 median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Starts fell 19 percent in February to the lowest level in almost two years. Building permits, a proxy for future construction, rose 11 percent to a 594,000 pace. They were projected to rise 1.1 percent to a 540,000 annual pace. U.S. stocks tumbled yesterday after Standard & Poor’s cut the nation’s long-term sovereign credit outlook to negative from stable, citing rising budget deficits and debt. The S&P 500 had rallied 4.9 percent from the start of this year through April 15, boosted by higher-than-estimated corporate earnings and government stimulus measures. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may keep reinvesting the proceeds of maturing debt into Treasuries to maintain record stimulus even after pledging to complete $600 billion in bond purchases by the end of June. Bernanke’s top two lieutenants said this month that the economy and inflation are too weak to start reversing monetary policy. Investors and economists including David Kelly at JPMorgan Funds see that as a signal the Fed will keep its balance sheet at current levels by replacing about $17 billion a month in maturing mortgage debt with Treasuries. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Regan at mregan12@bloomberg.net

Indonesia Must Change Anti-Terror Strategies, Crisis Group Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/indonesia-must-change-anti-terror-strategies-crisis-group-says.html

Indonesia ’s government must adopt new strategies to target terrorist acts carried out by individuals after authorities dismantled or disrupted larger organizations, the International Crisis Group said. The country’s National Anti-Terrorism Agency should “immediately” take measures such as creating a database of schools and mosques whose attendees have been arrested for terrorism, the Brussels-based group said in a report released today. Authorities should also compile examples of communities that have rejected extremist preachings, the report said. “A database is critical because if you look at the pattern of radicalization and recruitment, it tends to concentrate in certain areas,” Sidney Jones, a senior adviser with Crisis Group in Jakarta, said by e-mail today. “One mosque in Laweyan, Solo, Central Java, for example, has been producing extremists for the last decade.” The actions are necessary as individuals without clear ties to larger groups have carried out bombings over the last two years in isolated acts of religious intolerance, the group said. Examples include a suicide attack in a mosque in Cirebon, West Java that killed the bomber and wounded 30 people on April 15 and bombs concealed in books delivered in Jakarta in March. “With 800,000 mosques across the country, it would be a huge waste of time and money to try and reach them all. You have to target the programs where the problem is,” Jones said. The formation of small groups acting independently of larger jihadist organizations is in part the result of the weakening of the Jemaah Islamiyah, Jama’ah Anshorut Tauhid and other groups, the report said. The October 2002 attacks on a Bali nightclub that killed 202 people including 88 Australians are blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaeda linked group. To contact the reporter on this story: Femi Adi in Jakarta at fadi1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg at phirschberg@bloomberg.net ; Greg Ahlstrand at gahlstrand@bloomberg.net .

Japan Domestic Steel Demand to Fall as Carmakers Cut Operations

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/japan-domestic-steel-demand-to-fall-as-carmakers-cut-operations.html

Demand for steel in Japan , the world’s second-largest producer, will likely fall this fiscal year as customers including carmakers slash production following the nation’s worst earthquake, an industry chief said. “The earthquake has had a serious impact on Japanese manufacturers,” Japan Iron and Steel Federation Chairman Eiji Hayashida told reporters in Tokyo today. “Even if there’s demand for restoration and reconstruction, domestic demand will likely fall.” The 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 prompted automakers and electronics companies to shut plants, delaying steel sales to customers. New car sales in Japan decreased 37 percent in March from a year earlier, the biggest drop for the month, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. The industry has yet to give an updated forecast for steel production after the quake, Hayashida said today. In December, the federation said domestic steelmakers will produce about 110 million metric tons of crude steel for the financial year through March 2012, little changed from the year earlier. While the disaster created an emergency demand for steel used in temporary houses for evacuees, the amount is not significant, Hayashida said. Steelmakers expect demand for steel used in reconstruction of areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami will increase after the summer, the industry group chief said. He is also the president of JFE Holdings Inc. (5411) ’s steel unit, Japan’s largest mill after Nippon Steel Corp. (5401) Steelmakers will also unveil a plan by the end of this month on how the industry can save electricity, Hayashida said. The earthquake prompted Tokyo Electric Power Co. to shut power plants including the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear facility. The government wants companies to reduce power use by as much as 25 percent this summer to avoid large-scale blackouts. To contact the reporter on this story: Masumi Suga in Tokyo at msuga@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Hobbs at ahobbs4@bloomberg.net

Turkish Doctors Stage Two-Day Healthcare Protest, Milliyet Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/turkish-doctors-stage-two-day-healthcare-protest-milliyet-says.html

Turkish doctors will work reduced hours today and tomorrow to protest against the changes the government is making in the country’s healthcare system, Milliyet newspaper reported. The Turkish Medical Association, the biggest group of doctors, will cover emergency services and no more, reducing their level of service to that of a public holiday, the Istanbul-based newspaper said, citing association head Eris Bilaloglu. The government’s new health system deprives doctors of job and wage security, sufficient training, and professional independence, Bilaloglu said, according to the newspaper. Doctors aren’t given enough protection against violence at work, he said. Click here for web link To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Bryant at sbryant5@bloomberg.net

Continental Reinsurance Nigeria Rises to 9-Week High

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/continental-reinsurance-nigeria-rises-to-9-week-high-on-profit.html

Continental Reinsurance Plc (CONTINSU) , a Nigerian company, rose to a nine-week high after saying full- year profit surged 36 percent and that it plans to pay a dividend of 7.5 kobo per share. The stock gained 2 kobo, or 1.8 percent, to 1.12 naira, its highest since Feb. 14, by the 2:30 p.m. close in Lagos. Net income climbed to 1.23 billion naira ($7.95 million) in the year through December from 905.2 million naira, the company said in a statement on the Lagos-based Nigerian Stock Exchange’s website today. Revenue increased to 10.3 billion naira from 6.5 billion naira. Continental Reinsurance shares have risen 12 percent this year, compared with a 3 percent increase in the Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index over the same period. To contact the reporter on this story: Vincent Nwanma in Lagos at vnwanma@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net .

Polish Stocks: KGHM Polska Miedz, PBG Were Active in Warsaw

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/polish-stocks-kghm-polska-miedz-orlen-shares-move-in-warsaw.html

Poland ’s WIG20 Index increased 15.39, or 0.5 percent, to 2,888.09 in Warsaw, extending this month’s gain to 2.5 percent. The following were among the most active stocks on the Warsaw Stock Exchange today. Stock symbols follow company names. KGHM Polska Miedz SA (KGH) , the copper producer with the biggest European mine output, advanced 1.8 zloty, or 1 percent, to 190 zloty, climbing from an almost two-week low. Copper rose after Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. halted underground mining at an Indonesian site, adding to concern supplies will be hurt. PBG SA (PBG) dropped 3 zloty, or 1.7 percent, to 169 zloty, closing at the lowest level since September 2006. Erste Group Bank AG cut its share-price estimate for Poland’s third- largest construction company to 167 zloty and maintained its “reduce” recommendation. To contact the reporter on this story: Pawel Kozlowski in Warsaw pkozlowski@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net

Connect Group, Euronav, Heineken: Benelux Equity Market Preview

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/connect-group-euronav-heineken-benelux-equity-market-preview.html

The following companies may have unusual price changes in Benelux markets. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and prices are from the previous close. The AEX-Index (AEX) in Amsterdam advanced 0.49, or 0.1 percent, to 353.17. Belgium ’s Bel20 Index added 17.15, or 0.6 percent, to 2,692.45. Luxembourg’s LuxX Index rose 0.9 percent to 1,413.13. Dutch stocks: Heineken NV (HEIA) : The world’s third-biggest brewer may say quarterly sales rose to 3.6 billion euros ($5.2 billion), the average of 12 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg, from 2.94 billion euros in the same period a year earlier. Heineken gained 1.2 percent to 40.21 euros. Nederlandsche Apparatenfabriek Nedap NV (NEDAP NA): The Dutch maker of surveillance and security systems said profit increased “markedly” during the first months of 2011, without giving figures. Nedap advanced 0.2 percent to 23.92 euros. Royal Wessanen NV (WES NA): Investors in the Dutch maker of Beckers croquettes rejected a motion at the annual meeting to extend the executive board’s designation as competent body to issue shares. Wessanen rose 0.5 percent to 2.75 euros. Belgian stocks: Connect Group (CONN) NV: The Belgian contract maker of electronics for customers including Barco NV said QuaeroQ CVBA exchanged 2.9 million euros of convertible notes for stock at a rate of 1.49 euros a share. Connect Group dropped 0.5 percent to 1.95 euros. Euronav NV (EURN) : The Belgian oil-tanker owner reported first-quarter profit declined to $19.2 million, which included a $22.1 million gain from the sale of a supertanker, and said its very large crude carriers operating in the single-voyage market earned an average $31,700 a day in the current quarter. Euronav retreated 0.3 percent to 11.14 euros. To contact the reporters on this story: John Martens in Brussels at jmartens1@bloomberg.net ; Martijn van der Starre in Amsterdam at vanderstarre@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at acullen8@bloomberg.net

ECB Raising Rates May Turn Into Mistake Weakening Euro, Standard Life Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/ecb-raising-rates-may-turn-into-mistake-weakening-euro-standard-life-says.html

The European Central Bank ’s policy of raising interest rates may not be “appropriate” and could drive the euro down 16 percent or more as the region’s fiscal crisis persists, according to Standard Life Investments. The currency may weaken below its “fair value” of $1.20 to $1.25, said Ken Dickson, investment director for currencies at the Edinburgh-based company, which oversees about 157 billion pounds ($256 billion). “The euro is a particularly risky currency at these levels because the increasingly restrictive policy and the financial conditions are not really appropriate,” Dickson said in an interview. A series of rate increases “is not appropriate for the conditions or economics of Europe as a whole,” he said. Investment strategists at Standard Life, Aberdeen Asset Management Plc and Scottish Widows Investment Partnership said last month that the biggest risk to markets was the possibility of policy makers getting decisions wrong. While ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said this month’s quarter-percentage-point increase in the main refinancing rate wasn’t necessarily the start of a series, colleagues signaled more are to come. Ewald Nowotny, an ECB governing council member and governor of Austria’s central bank, told Bloomberg News in Washington on April 16 that investor expectations that the rate will rise an extra 50 basis points in 2011 are “well-founded.” Belgian counterpart Luc Coene said on April 17 that monetary “conditions are still too accommodative.” Yo-Yo Rates Dickson said at his office on April 18 it was “feasible” the ECB may raise the cost of borrowing by more than is justified by the outlook for the economy and inflation, and then be forced to cut rates again. The ECB in Frankfurt lifted its main rate to 1.25 percent on April 7, the first increase since July 2008, as it sought to contain an inflation rate that exceeded its 2 percent target. The central bank is trying to balance the need for tighter policy in countries including Germany , whose economy is booming, against the risk of exacerbating the debt crisis afflicting Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Inflation accelerated to 2.7 percent in March, the fastest since October 2008. The euro has declined 0.2 percent against its nine most- actively traded peers since April 7, trimming this year’s gains to 3.4 percent, Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted indexes show. The euro traded at $1.4507 as of 11:43 a.m. in London , up 8.3 percent against the dollar since Dec. 31. Policy ‘Fear’ Strategists in Scotland said at a discussion in Bloomberg’s Edinburgh office on March 23 that the timing of rate increases in developed economies, China ’s accelerating inflation, the European debt crisis and the U.S. fiscal deficit all posed bigger threats to markets than higher oil prices. “Our fear is that tightening policy, both from interest rates and through further appreciation in the euro is not the right economic formula for Europe at this time,” Dickson said. “We expect the euro to move to an undervalued position. It’s feasible that it could take longer than this year but we think the end of this year the clear direction of travel would be for the euro to weaken.” Dickson advises Standard Life money managers on currency investments. The company boosted assets under management by 13 percent last year, while Aberdeen Asset Management Plc, the largest fund company in Scotland , increased its funds 27 percent to 183.3 billion pounds. Scottish Widows Investment Partnership lifted assets 3.2 percent to 146 billion pounds. To contact the reporters on this story: Lukanyo Mnyanda in Edinburgh at at lmnyanda@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rodney Jefferson at at r.jefferson@bloomberg.net

Goldman Sachs Shares Fall on Concern Profits Rely on Unpredictable Revenue

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/goldman-sachs-shares-decline-on-concern-earnings-growth-can-t-be-sustained.html

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) declined in New York trading after first-quarter profit fell 21 percent and analysts said the fifth-biggest U.S. bank relied on unpredictable investment gains to beat estimates. Goldman Sachs dropped $1.92, or 1.3 percent, to $151.86 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the lowest closing price since Oct. 15. Net income slid to $2.74 billion, the New York-based company said today in a statement. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein, 56, depended on trading and investments with the firm’s own money to generate 79 percent of first-quarter revenue. The investing and lending segment, which accounted for 23 percent of revenue, is unreliable because results are tied to market moves and because regulators might add restrictions to the business, said some analysts and investors. “A large part of that beat was driven by larger-than- expected investment gains, which are volatile and could easily fall sharply into the next quarter,” said Richard Staite, an analyst at Atlantic Equities LLP in London who rates the stock “neutral.” “It is still unclear under the new regulations just how much proprietary trading and investing Goldman can do.” Earnings per common share, which includes the cost of preferred dividend payments to Warren Buffett ’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., dropped to $1.56 from $5.59, beating the 81-cent average estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Basel, Dodd-Frank Goldman Sachs’s biggest businesses, trading and investing, are the ones most affected by new capital requirements drawn up by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and by 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. Results from the other main businesses, investment banking and asset management, were disappointing, according to analysts including Glenn Schorr at Nomura Holdings Inc. and Richard Bove at Rochdale Securities LLC. The results show “solid trading, better-than-expected Investing & Lending, and some softness in investment banking and asset management,” Schorr, who rates the company’s shares a buy, said in a note to investors. “Some may question the sustainability of some of the gains in Investing & Lending.” Bove cut his rating on Goldman Sachs stock to “neutral” from “buy” even as he raised his earnings estimates. ‘Particularly Disappointing’ “Particularly disappointing were the advisory results,” Bove wrote in a note to investors, referring to Goldman Sachs’s revenue from providing takeover advice. “ Investment management activity was weak.” Goldman Sachs’s overall net revenue fell 7 percent to $11.9 billion, the company said. 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, the firm’s biggest source of revenue, dropped 28 percent to $4.33 billion from $6.02 billion a year earlier, and more than doubled 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 Chase & Co. (JPM) , 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. The business 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. David A. Viniar, Goldman Sachs’s chief financial officer, told analysts on a conference call that about 20 percent to 25 percent of the investing and lending segment’s revenue is from interest on loans. “So that is going to be recurring, but that’s a small part of it,” he said. Trading, Investing Without the better-than-expected trading and investing lines, Goldman Sachs wouldn’t have been able to exceed estimates, said Benjamin Wallace, analyst at Grimes & Co. in Westborough, Massachusetts. “The beat that was delivered was from things people look at as less predictable,” said Wallace, whose firm manages about $1 billion and doesn’t own Goldman Sachs stock. “It goes back to the grand point that Goldman still relies on its trading operations.” 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. 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. Advisory Revenue 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’s advisory revenue fell short of JPMorgan’s $429 million in the quarter. 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 as clients withdrew $12 billion from Goldman Sachs’s funds and market gains increased the value of the assets by an identical amount, the firm said. “That’s going to be a business where they don’t have the kind of competitive advantage that they do in the others,” said David Trone , head of U.S. banks and brokerage research for JMP Securities LLC in New York , who recommends buying Goldman Sachs shares. “You’re as good as your last performance, not your brand name.” 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 .

Denmark to Sell Amagerbanken Assets for Under DK1b, Borsen Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/denmark-to-sell-amagerbanken-assets-for-under-dk1b-borsen-says.html

Denmark plans to sell the best- placed branches and a 6 billion kroner ($1.14 billion) portfolio of healthy loans from failed lender Amagerbanken A/S for less than 1 billion kroner, Borsen reported on Tuesday. Amagerbanken will not be able to sell a 12 billion kroner loan portfolio in which all loans are either in default or have owners unable to make payments, Chairman Niels Heering said, according to Copenhagen-based Borsen. Several Danish banks, foreign banks and private equity funds are interested in buying parts of Amagerbanken, Heering said, according to Borsen. Click here for web link To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gelu Sulugiuc at gsulugiuc@bloomberg.net

U.S. Crude Oil Supplies Rose Last Week, API Report Shows

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/u-s-crude-oil-supplies-increased-last-week-api-report-shows.html

Crude oil inventories rose 4.91 million barrels last week to 361 million, the American Petroleum Institute said today. Gasoline stockpiles fell 2.09 million barrels to 210.6 million, the report showed. The Energy Department is scheduled to release its inventory report tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. in Washington. Analysts expect the government report to show stockpiles of crude oil increased over the period. Supplies probably advanced 1.7 million barrels, according to the median of 13 responses in a Bloomberg News survey. Gasoline inventories fell 1 million barrels, the survey showed. API collects stockpile information on a voluntary basis from operators of refineries, bulk terminals and pipelines. The government requires that reports be filed with the Energy Department for its weekly survey. Crude oil for June delivery fell 50 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $111.78 a barrel at 4:33 p.m. in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract traded at $112.10 before release of the report at 4:30 p.m. To contact the reporter on this story: Margot Habiby in Dallas at mhabiby@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net .

Gold May Climb to Record $1,520, Barclays's Sarin Says: Technical Analysis

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/gold-may-reach-record-1-520-sarin-of-barclays-says-technical-analysis.html

Gold may climb 1.6 percent to a record $1,520 an ounce in two to four weeks, according to technical analysis from Barclays Capital. The level is an initial resistance area and prices may pause there before extending gains to $1,560 to $1,600 an ounce in three to six months, Dhiren Sarin, an analyst with Barclays, said by phone from Singapore today. “If you look across different markets right now, investor sentiment is such that they are a little bit risk-averse, so in that environment gold catches a safe-haven bid,” Sarin said. “Inflationary expectations” helped push gold higher since the third quarter of last year, he said. Gold futures climbed to a record $1,498.60 an ounce yesterday as Standard & Poor’s revised its U.S. credit-rating outlook to negative, boosting the metal’s lure as an alternative to the dollar. Gold jumped 32 percent in the past year and silver has more than doubled on concern that global inflation will accelerate and Europe ’s sovereign-debt crisis worsen. Bullion for June delivery gained 0.2 percent to $1,495.8 an ounce at 6 p.m. Singapore time today on the Comex in New York. Support levels are at $1,430 and $1,440 an ounce, Sarin said. In technical analysis, investors and analysts study charts of trading patterns and prices to predict changes in a security, commodity, currency or index. A resistance level is where sell orders may be clustered. To contact the reporter on this story: Ranjeetha Pakiam in Kuala Lumpur at rpakiam@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

DRDGold of South Africa Says Plans to Sell its Blyvooruitzicht Gold Mine

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/drdgold-of-south-africa-says-plans-to-sell-its-blyvooruitzicht-gold-mine.html

DRDGold Ltd. (DRD) , a producer of the metal in South Africa , said it plans to sell its Blyvooruitzicht mine near Johannesburg after a review of operations. “Blyvoor no longer fits the core strategic focus of the company,” Johannesburg-based DRDGold said in a statement today. “It has therefore resolved to sell the mine and has appointed Royal Bank of Canada as well as Beijing Axis to advise on the transaction.” Blyvooruitzicht accounted for about half of DRD’s total production in the quarter ended March 31, yielding 30,511 ounces of the total output of 67,387 ounces, DRD said today. DRD snapped three days of gains, falling 6 cents, or 1.6 percent, to 3.60 rand in Johannesburg yesterday. To contact the reporter on this story: Carli Lourens in Johannesburg at clourens@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amanda Jordan at ajordan11@bloomberg.net .

Kurdish Protests Turn Violent in Turkey as Politicians Barred

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/kurdish-protests-turn-violent-in-turkey-as-politicians-barred.html

Kurdish protesters clashed with police in Turkey ’s southeast and thousands gathered in Istanbul and Ankara after 12 pro-Kurdish politicians were banned from running in elections in two months time. Kurds threw Molotov cocktails at police in the southeastern cities of Van and Hakkari, television footage published by news channels including NTV showed. Police fought back with tear gas and water cannons. In Istanbul, riot police were sent to the central Taksim Square, where protesters had gathered. Turkey’s High Election Board ruled yesterday that the 12 Kurdish candidates were ineligible to run in the June 12 election due to previous criminal convictions. The ruling meant the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party may boycott the vote, party official Selahattin Demirtas said, according to the state- run Anatolia news agency. A boycott would raise the probability that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ’s Justice and Development Party may win a two-thirds majority in parliament at the election, allowing it to pass legislation including constitutional amendments unopposed, Inan Demir , chief economist at Istanbul-based Finansbank AS, said in an e-mailed report today. ‘Tensions’ The election board’s decision “will lead to heightened tensions in the long-troubled southeastern region, with a likely end to a ceasefire” by militant Kurdish separatists affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Demir said. Peace and Democracy is the only serious challenger to the governing party in the mainly-Kurdish southeast, Erdogan said in an interview, Milliyet newspaper reported yesterday. Parliament speaker and ruling party member Mehmet Ali Sahin said today that the election board’s ruling “weakens parliament’s mission” and should be reviewed, Anatolia reported. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party , called for an emergency session in parliament to find a solution and to debate the 10 percent vote threshold for parties to win seats in parliament, according to televised comments from Ankara. The banned politicians, who are allied to Peace and Democracy, were running as independent candidates to circumvent the 10 percent threshold. The politicians won’t be able to name substitutes, Hasan Gerceker, head of Turkey’s Supreme Court , told Anatolia. “If they were running for a party, then maybe they could run a new candidate,” he said. “Because they’re running as independents, I don’t think that’s possible.” To contact the reporter on this story: Benjamin Harvey in Istanbul at bharvey11@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net .

Kenyan Shilling Gains After Central Bank Withdraws Liquidity

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/kenyan-shilling-gains-after-central-bank-withdraws-liquidity.html

Kenya ’s shilling gained against the dollar after the central bank drained excess liquidity from the market by selling repurchase agreements. The currency of East Africa’s biggest economy strengthened to 83.80 shillings at 2:23 p.m. in Nairobi, the capital, from 83.85 at the close yesterday. The shilling initially weakened as much as 0.3 percent today amid “a bit of demand” from oil importers purchasing dollars, said Joel Mbuvi, head of Treasury at African Banking Corp. “On the supply side, people have created short positions on the dollar because of the tight liquidity in the market,” Mbuvi said. A short position is a bet a currency will depreciate. “We expect the shilling to remain steady, but more skewed toward a strengthening on the back of the tight liquidity. By the close of the week, we expect it to be at around 83.50.” The Central Bank of Kenya yesterday accepted 1 billion shillings ($12 million) of bids for eight-day repurchase agreements after offering 8 billion shillings. In these transactions, Kenya’s central bank sells securities to banks to withdraw excess funds from the financial system. To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Richardson in Nairobi at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net .

Canadian Dollar Rallies the Most in Two Months After Inflation Increases

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/canadian-dollar-rises-as-consumer-prices-gain-in-march-more-than-forecast.html

Canada ’s dollar advanced the most against its U.S. counterpart in two months and its debt declined as inflation accelerated the most since September 2008, spurring bets the Bank of Canada may resume raising borrowing costs. The loonie, as the currency is nicknamed, strengthened against most of its major peers after the consumer price index advanced 3.3 percent in March from a year earlier and compares 2.2 percent the previous month, Statistics Canada reported. The median forecast of 25 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 2.8 percent annual rate. “The market’s going to be behind the Bank of Canada potentially raising rates this summer,” said Shane Enright , executive director at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce’s CIBC World Markets unit in Toronto. “There was some of that priced in already, but this is only going to solidify things.” The Canadian dollar appreciated 0.8 percent to 95.61 cents versus the U.S. dollar at 5:00 p.m. in Toronto, from 96.42 yesterday. The Canadian currency had the biggest intraday gain since Feb. 1. One Canadian dollar buys $1.0459. The loonie reached 95.27 cent on April 8, the strongest since November 2007. Canadian government bonds due in two years fell, snapping a five day rally. Yields on the 1.75 percent securities due in March 2013 rose eight basis points, or 0.08 percentage point, the biggest increase since March 21, to 1.77 percent. Shorter- maturity securities are typically the most sensitive to changes in interest rates. The central bank has held its benchmark interest rate at 1 percent since September, when it increased it for the third time last year. The Bank of Canada will hold the target rate for overnight loans between commercial banks at 1 percent during the second quarter and boost it to 1.5 percent during the third quarter, according to a Bloomberg News survey. BOC Views The one-year overnight index swap rate, a measure of the average overnight rate expected by investors during that period, climbed to 1.38 percent after touching 1.4 percent, the biggest jump since September. “Recent economic activity in Canada has been stronger than the Bank had anticipated,” BOC Governor Mark Carney and his five deputies said in a statement from Ottawa April 12. “Any further reduction in monetary policy stimulus would need to be carefully considered,” the bank said, echoing the language used in the last two decisions. The next BOC policy meeting is May 31. “There is still quite a bit of strength in the Canadian dollar,” said C.J. Gavsie, managing director for foreign- exchange trading at Bank of Montreal’s BMO Capital Markets unit in Toronto. “This CPI number is going to add fuel to that fire.” Credit Notice Standard & Poor’s put the U.S. on notice yesterday that it risks losing its AAA credit rating unless policy makers agree on a plan by 2013 to reduce budget deficits and the national debt. The U.S. is Canada’s biggest trading partner. “People are looking for quality currencies, so they head back to the Canadian dollar and Australian dollar,” said John Curran , a senior vice president in Toronto at CanadianForex Ltd., an online foreign-exchange dealer. Australia ’s dollar gain 0.2 percent against its U.S. counterpart to 1.0526, almost the record high of 1.0584 per U.S. dollar reached April 8. The loonie is little changed this year, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Currency Indexes, a measure of 10 developed-nation currencies. That compares with losses of 1.5 percent for the Australian dollar and 4.6 percent for the U.S. dollar. To contact the reporters for this story: Catarina Saraiva in New York at asaraiva5@bloomberg.net ; John Detrixhe in New York at jdetrixhe1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Robert Burgess at bburgess@bloomberg.net

EDF Advances After France Sets Nuclear Power Price at Level Utility Wanted

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/edf-advances-after-france-sets-nuclear-power-price-at-level-utility-wanted.html

Electricite de France SA shares jumped after the French government matched the price requested by the utility for the sale of its nuclear power to competitors. EDF climbed 1.03 cents, or 3.9 percent, to 27.66 euros in Paris. The stock has fallen 11 percent this year, valuing the company at 51.1 billion euros ($73.2 billion). The company will be able to sell nuclear power to competitors at a wholesale price of 42 euros a megawatt-hour starting Jan. 1, 2012, Industry Minister Eric Besson said in a statement today. The price, fixed by the government under a law aimed at overhauling the French power market, Europe ’s biggest after Germany , is higher than a rate of 35 euros a megawatt-hour wanted by GDF Suez (GSZ) SA, the atomic utility’s biggest rival. “This is not about favoring EDF or penalizing GDF,” Besson said in an interview on Europe 1 radio. “It’s about securing supplies for the French and easing things for EDF, which is a major company for French electricity, and takes into account preemptively the work EDF will need to undertake following Fukushima.” The law, known as Nome and passed by parliament last year, aims to open up the power market by forcing EDF, operator of the country’s 58 reactors and the dominant power supplier, to sell as much as a quarter of its output to competitors such as GDF Suez. The wholesale price will determine whether rivals can compete in France’s regulated market. Not Competitive The new prices “won’t permit, contrary to the commitments France made to the European Commission, the establishment of efficient competition on electricity supply in France,” GDF said in an e-mailed statement today. “We expect EDF’s share price to react fairly positively on the back of this news,” UniCredit analyst Vincent Ayral said in a note to investors today. “The market has been concerned about the possibility of a postponement or cancellation of the Nome reform.” The law is due to take effect July 1, when EDF can charge rivals 40 euros a megawatt-hour, before it’s raised to 42 euros. The legislation was aimed at avoiding European Commission sanctions that could have resulted in fines for EDF. The French government asked for a report by Paul Champsaur, architect of the overhaul, to determine how to set the wholesale price. The Champsaur report had recommended a range of between 38 euros and 40 euros a megawatt-hour. Production Costs EDF Chief Executive Officer Henri Proglio has said the company’s production costs are 45 euros a megawatt-hour and the utility based 2011 financial targets on obtaining government approval to sell wholesale nuclear power at 42 euros a megawatt- hour. The country’s energy regulator said at the start of the year the price could range from 38.50 euros a megawatt-hour to more than 42 euros. Proglio has repeatedly warned that a price lower than 42 euros a megawatt-hour would amount to a “fire sale” and the “pillage” of EDF. GDF Suez Chief Executive Officer Gerard Mestrallet has said this level would open France up to sanctions from the European Commission. EDF’s share price fell to a two-year low this month following a government announcement to cap electricity price increases and uncertainty about the planned market overhaul. The utility’s shares have also been hurt by the possibility that the Japanese nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant will curtail atomic expansion worldwide and force EDF to make expensive safety modifications to existing reactors. To contact the reporters on this story: Tara Patel in Paris at tpatel2@bloomberg.net ; Kari Lundgren in London at klundgren2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net

TNK-BP Doesn’t Seek Failure of BP, Rosneft Deal, Director Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/tnk-bp-doesn-t-seek-failure-of-bp-rosneft-deal-director-says.html

TNK-BP, BP Plc (BP/) ’s Russian oil venture, sees the collapse of the U.K. company’s Arctic exploration deal with state-run OAO Rosneft as the “least interesting outcome,” said Alexander Shokhin, an independent director on TNK-BP’s board. TNK-BP, equally owned by BP and a Russian group of billionaires, wants an opportunity to expand into the Arctic offshore, Shokhin said today in an interview in Moscow. TNK-BP has little chance of developing such a project on its own because it lacks the technology, he said. The billionaire partners have held up BP’s plan to swap 5 percent of its stock for about 9.5 percent in Rosneft and to explore for resources in the Kara Sea, claiming TNK-BP has exclusive rights to pursue opportunities in Russia for BP. BP asked arbitrators to allow it to carry out the share swap on its own, and Rosneft extended the deadline by a month to May 16. TNK-BP wants to either join the alliance or seek as much as $10 billion in compensation from BP, Shokhin said. No resolution to the dispute has been found yet, he said. AAR rejected a $27 billion buyout offer from BP last week, a person with knowledge of the proposal said at the time. To contact the reporter on this story: Anton Doroshev in Moscow at adoroshev@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Sweetman at msweetman@bloomberg.net

AB InBev’s Long-Term Ratings Raised One Step to A- at S&P

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/ab-inbev-s-long-term-ratings-raised-one-step-to-a-at-s-p-1-.html

Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI) , the world’s largest brewer, had its long-term debt ratings raised one step to A- at Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, which cited the company’s cash generation and debt reduction. AB InBev’s corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings were increased to A-, the fourth-lowest investment grade, from BBB+ and the outlook on the rating is stable, S&P said today in a statement. Moody’s Investors Service rates the senior unsecured debt of Leuven, Belgium-based AB InBev at Baa1, the third-lowest investment grade. The brewer of Bud Light and Stella Artois cut net debt by $5.47 billion to $39.7 billion last year, or about three times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization based on S&P metrics. The brewer last year also refinanced the final portion of the $54.8 billion in bank loans it obtained in 2008 to fund its purchase of Anheuser-Busch Cos. for $52.5 billion in cash. “The stable outlook reflects our view that ABI will continue to use its strong earnings to moderate its debt leverage over the short to medium term,” Anna Overton, a credit analyst at S&P in London , said in the statement. “Further rating upside is conditional, in our view, on the group’s willingness to maintain a ratio of fully adjusted debt to Ebitda of close to two times.” AB InBev’s 750 million euros ($1.07 billion) of 4 percent notes due in April 2018 fell 0.29 cent to 100.41 cents on the euro as of 1:46 p.m. in Brussels. The bonds traded as high as 106.92 cents on the euro on Aug. 30, 2010. To contact the reporter on this story: John Martens in Brussels at jmartens1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at acullen8@bloomberg.net

Bahrain Minister Says Gulf Troops to Stay as Counter to Iran

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/bahrain-minister-says-gulf-troops-to-stay-as-counter-to-iran-1-.html

Troops from Persian Gulf nations will remain in Bahrain as a counter to Iran, the Bahraini foreign minister, Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, said in a posting on Twitter. Bahrain declared a three-month state of emergency on March 15 after troops from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states arrived to help quell protests led by majority Shiite Muslims, who are calling for more democracy and civil rights. “They are there for a mission protecting our vital institutions against foreign threat,” Sheikh Khalid told reporters yesterday in Dubai when asked about how long the Gulf troops would stay. “I cannot give you a timetable but indefinite is not in the picture now.” Some groups have escalated their demands since protests began two months ago to include the overthrow of the Sunni Muslim rulers, the Al-Khalifa family, and the creation of a republic. “The situation is developing positively, that may not require an extension,” the minister said yesterday when asked whether a state of emergency would continue. The law stands for three months before an extension is needed. The minister also said yesterday that he has sent a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon regarding Iran ’s involvement in the country’s unrest. Iran is ruled by Shiite Muslims. To contact the reporters on this story: Vivian Salama in Abu Dhabi at vsalama@bloomberg.net ; Camilla Hall in Dubai at chall24@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net .

Areva to Deliver Water-Treatment Unit to Tepco's Crippled Fukushima Plant

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/areva-to-deliver-water-treatment-unit-to-tepco-s-crippled-fukushima-plant.html

Areva SA (CEI) will deliver a decontamination unit to Japan ’s crippled nuclear power plant, where Tokyo Electric Power Co. is removing radioactive water so it can start repairing cooling pumps and power systems. Areva will set up the water treatment plant, which separates and recovers radioactive particles, at the Fukushima site, the French nuclear operator said today in a statement. Tepco, as the Japanese company is called, wants to start using the unit by June, Junichi Matsumoto, a general manager, said at a press briefing in Tokyo. The Fukushima plant was damaged by explosions in the days after a magnitude-9 quake and tsunami on March 11 knocked out cooling equipment, sparking the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. Tepco today started pumping contaminated water out of trenches near one of the reactor buildings that were damaged by the blasts. “The contaminated water must be treated rapidly as it is preventing Tepco from repairing the power plant’s power supply and cooling systems,” Areva said in the statement. The unit “will sharply reduce the radioactivity levels of the treated water, which could be reused in the power plant’s cooling systems.” The treatment unit, which will be provided by Veolia Water, can process 50,000 liters (13,200 gallons) of water per hour, Areva Chief Executive Officer Anne Lauvergeon said today at a briefing in Tokyo. She said Areva hasn’t proposed a plan for decommissioning the reactors, which have been spewing radiation into the air and sea for more than five weeks Pouring Water The Fukushima plant, 220 kilometers (137 miles) north of Tokyo, has six reactors, three of which were shut for maintenance when the earthquake and tsunami struck, leaving almost 28,000 people dead or missing. Tepco has been pouring millions of liters of water to cool the reactors and spent fuel after the accident, which has flooded basements and trenches near the reactors. Some highly contaminated water leaked into the sea and the utility has dumped less toxic fluids into the ocean. Tepco started draining highly radioactive water from trenches around the No. 2 reactor at about 10 a.m. today, spokesman Osamu Yokokura said. The power utility aims to move 10 million liters (2.6 million gallons) of the contaminated water to a waste treatment unit and expects to complete the transfer in 26 days, Matsumoto told reporters at an earlier briefing today. Filling Vessels In the next three months, Tepco plans to fill the reactor containment vessels at the No. 1 and No. 3 units with water, the company said in its statement on April 17 outlining its plan for bringing the situation under control. The utility will seal the vessel of the No. 2 reactor, which is likely damaged, before flooding it. “If we flood the damaged vessel, the leak of contaminated water will increase,” Tepco Vice President Sakae Muto told reporters. “We will continue injecting water with care and monitor the volume of water leaked.” Two iRobot Corp. (IRBT) robots sent into reactor buildings on April 17 to check whether humans can reenter them found radiation levels as high as 49 millisieverts per hour inside the No. 1 unit, and up to 57 millisieverts in the No. 3 unit, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said. The cumulative maximum level for nuclear workers was raised to 250 millisieverts from 100 millisieverts by Japan’s health ministry on March 15. Exposure totaling 100 millisieverts over a year is the lowest level at which any increase in cancer is evident, according to the World Nuclear Association in London. Judging Limits Another robot was sent into the reactor No. 2 building yesterday and recorded levels of 4.1 millisieverts per hour, spokesman Tetsuya Terasawa told reporters today. That level wouldn’t prevent workers going into the building, another spokesman said. “We judge the radiation limit by the amount, importance and hours of the work, as well as accumulated exposure of each worker,” spokesman Shogo Fukuda said. “We wouldn’t hesitate to send workers in at a level of 4.1 millisieverts per hour.” Fuel pellets in the No. 1, 2 and 3 reactors may have melted at the plant, the nuclear safety agency said today, in the first official confirmation of damage to the cores. “It is believed that the fuel pellets in the reactors have melted,” the agency said in a report. “The extent of the melting cannot be confirmed until the fuel rods have been removed.” A sustained drop in radiation at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi station may be achieved within three months, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said in the statement laying out its plans. Cold Shutdown Following that, a cold shutdown, where core reactor temperatures fall below 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit), may be achieved within six months, it said. “Tepco needs to be faster than it has outlined on two particular areas: circulating the radioactive water back into the pressure vessels and covering the reactor buildings to prevent radiation releases,” Tadashi Narabayashi, a professor of nuclear engineering at Hokkaido University , said today. Shares of Tepco fell 4.3 percent to 447 yen today in Tokyo. The stock is down about 80 percent since the quake and tsunami. Three to six months after the initial phase of its plan, Tepco will attempt a cold shutdown of reactors No. 1, 2 and 3, the company said. Reactors 4, 5 and 6 were shut at the time of the disaster. The utility will also cover the No. 1, 3 and 4 reactor buildings as a temporary measure to reduce radiation emissions after the structures were damaged by hydrogen blasts last month, according to the statement. To contact the reporters on this story: Yuji Okada in Tokyo at yokada6@bloomberg.net ; Michio Nakayama in Tokyo at mnakayama4@bloomberg.net ; Tsuyoshi Inajima in Tokyo at tinajima@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amit Prakash at aprakash1@bloomberg.net

Hedge-Fund Gods Meet Sexpot Killer in Vonnegut Thriller: Books

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/hedge-fund-gods-meet-sexpot-killer-in-thriller-by-morgan-s-vonnegut-books.html

It’s December 2007, markets are dancing into a Grand Canyon, and Jimmy Cusack’s lead investor has just uttered the four scariest words in Hedgistan: “I want my money,” he says. Norb Vonnegut’s second thriller, “The Gods of Greenwich,” is off to a thumping start. The demand amounts to financial defenestration for Jimmy, who’s locked into a lease in the Empire State Building and a $3 million mortgage on a condo in Manhattan ’s Meatpacking District. There goes $120 million -- 85 percent of the money managed by the Irish Catholic kid who left Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) to start his own fund. Jimmy’s troubles are just beginning. As markets flip from mean to life-threatening, he folds the fund, puts on his crooked grin and lands a job with Cyrus Leeser of LeeWell Capital in hedgehog heaven, Greenwich, Connecticut. With his winning streak, hush-hush hedges and shoulder-length black hair, Cy is a legend in the making. What Jimmy doesn’t know is that Cy has placed a pair of massive wagers -- one betting that shares in an Icelandic bank will plunge, the other assuming that alternative energy company Bentwing (ticker: BEG) will fly. What neither knows is that the Icelanders have wealthy friends in Qatar. Seductress With Syringe As the book opens, everyone is hiding something, not least Rachel Whittier, a sultry 27-year-old nurse to a Park Avenue plastic surgeon. She has a mysterious scar on one hand, a Texas twang and a taste for murder -- a seductress with a syringe and no scruples. Has Vonnegut, a former Morgan Stanley (MS) wealth manager, written himself into a corner? No chance: The pieces of this plot mesh as smoothly as a well executed trade. Vonnegut, a distant relation to Kurt Vonnegut Jr., has matured since his debut novel, “Top Producer.” His characters have become less cartoonish -- not as realistic as I would like, yet convincing enough to make me suspend my disbelief and enjoy the ride. They arrive in Dickensian quantities, too. There’s Siggi Stefansson, a Reykjavik art dealer with a craggy face. And Cy’s trophy wife, Bianca Santiago, a best- selling romance novelist with “latte-cream skin.” Jimmy’s daddy-in-law, Caleb Digby Phelps III, is a Harvard man (and Porcellian Club member) who has become a big wheel in New England business. Alpha Dogs As in “Top Producer,” Vonnegut uses alpha-dog patter to good effect, as in this warning from LeeWell’s head trader: “Just remember, Cusack. There are two kinds of people in the world. The ones who make money.” “And?” “Oxygen thieves.” Vonnegut also displays his penchant for over-the-top similes. Sometimes this works, as with the trader who, pigging out a cheeseburger, makes guttural sounds that could be “mistaken for walrus sex.” Elsewhere, you wish his editor had taken a firmer hand. Can Jimmy’s wife Emi, a herpetologist, really “hibernate through heavy metal concerts”? Emi isn’t deaf, though she does suffer from a disorder that screams “plot point.” She has prosopagnosia, meaning her ability to recognize faces is impaired. Though the foreshadowing lacks subtlety, the plot keeps you going. In “Top Producer,” the solution became obvious after a few chapters. This time around, the biggest piece of the puzzle remains hidden even as Jimmy hurtles toward the final showdown in a decrepit BMW belching smoke. “The Gods of Greenwich” is from Minotaur (322 pages, $24.99). To buy this book in North America , click here. (James Pressley is a book critic for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.) To contact the writer on the story: James Pressley in Brussels at jpressley@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Beech at mbeech@bloomberg.net .

Bankrupt Satmex Bonds to Yield Above 10% in Restructuring: Mexico Credit

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/bankrupt-satmex-bonds-to-yield-above-10-in-restructuring-mexico-credit.html

Satelites Mexicanos SA may pay the highest yield on a dollar bond offering by a Mexican company in almost two years as the satellite operator seeks to emerge from bankruptcy protection for the second time since 2006. Investors will demand a yield as high as 12 percent on the overseas bonds, said Roberto Sanchez-Dahl, who oversees $1 billion of emerging-market debt at Federated Investment Management Co. in Pittsburgh. The yield, which would be the highest for a Mexican company since Servicios Corporativos Javer SAPI paid 13 percent in July 2009, compares with average corporate dollar borrowing costs of 6.29 percent, according to data compiled by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bloomberg. Satmex, as the Mexico City-based company is known, is seeking to persuade investors to buy the bonds after its failure to sell itself to EchoStar Corp. (SATS) and difficulty adding customers that pushed the company into bankruptcy in April. The company, which also filed for bankruptcy protection in 2006, plans to sell $325 million of five-year bonds abroad, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Similar-maturity dollar notes from Intelsat Jackson Holding, a Luxembourg-based satellite operator, yield 8.17 percent. “The short-term problems can be reduced, but the operating outlook continues to be a problem and there are too many unresolved questions,” Sanchez-Dahl said in a telephone interview. “A yield that compensates investors for all their risk is negative for the company.” 9% - 9.5% Satmex is seeking a yield of 9 percent to 9.5 percent, said a person familiar with the terms of the sale who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. The company plans to use proceeds to repay creditors as part of a U.S. bankruptcy court-approved restructuring plan and to launch a new satellite. The company’s 10.125 percent dollar bonds due in 2013 fell 1 cent on the dollar to 49 cents when it last traded on April 13, according to Bloomberg data. The bonds have returned 24 percent this year. The Mexican government sold its stake in Satmex earlier this year and said it may hire Boeing Co. (BA) , Loral Space & Communications Inc. or Thales SA to build two satellites for its new space agency. Satmex sells video and data transmission capacity to phone and Internet companies and satellite network capacity to government security agencies. Satmex may struggle to generate cash to boost solvency after customers migrated to competitors, said Jose Otero, an analyst at Signals Telecom Consulting in Montevideo, Uruguay. Annual Profits “All they have left of value are the orbits, and if they don’t meet their obligations, they could lose them too,” Otero said in a telephone interview, referring to the company’s license to position its satellites. “If you don’t use your orbits, it’s easy for them to take them away.” Satmex Chief Financial Officer Luis Stein was traveling yesterday and couldn’t be reached for comment. Chief Executive Officer Patricio Northland didn’t return a phone message left with an assistant. Satmex has failed to turn an annual profit since emerging from bankruptcy in 2006, hampered by an inability to boost sales enough to cover its interest expenses. Creditors approved the company’s debt sale and an equity offering of the reorganized equity of about $96.25 million as part of the pre-approved restructuring. Satmex also filed bankruptcy in August 2006 in New York and exited that December after it won approval from the court to repay creditors that were owed about $743 million with new debt and equity. The extra yield investors demand to own Mexican government dollar bonds instead of U.S. Treasuries narrowed 2 basis points today to 138, according to JPMorgan. Ratings Outlook The cost to protect Mexican debt against non-payment for five years fell 1 basis point to 102, according to CMA. Credit- default swaps pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or cash equivalent if the issuer fails to comply with debt agreements. The peso rose 0.6 percent to 11.6792 per U.S. dollar at 5 p.m. New York time. Yields on the interbank rate futures contract due in September rose 2 basis points to 5.03 percent, indicating traders expect a rate increase that month. In the past five years, the gap between the 28-day TIIE and the overnight rate has averaged 36 basis points. The central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of 4.5 percent on April 15. Moody’s may boost Satmex’s credit ratings if the company gains new customers amid rising demand for satellite services, according to analyst Nymia Almeida. Satmex is rated B3, six levels below investment grade. Chapter 11 “The demand is there for satellites,” Almeida said in a telephone interview from Mexico City. “If everything goes well in the next two or three years, there could even be a possible upgrade.” Satmex has $441.6 million in assets and $531.6 million of debt as of March 23, according to Chapter 11 documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. The company will use proceeds of the bond sale to repay first-priority note holders, who have $238.2 million in debt, and fund completion of a satellite set to launch in 2012. “Right now they can’t generate enough revenue or Ebitda to cover this,” Federated Investment’s Sanchez-Dahl said. “We got out of the bonds because the situation is just too complicated.” To contact the reporters on this story: Andres R. Martinez in Mexico City at amartinez28@bloomberg.net ; Jonathan J. Levin in Mexico City at jlevin20@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net

Ukraine Raises $790 Million to Seal Chernobyl, Below Its $1 Billion Target

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/ukraine-raises-820-million-to-seal-chernobyl-below-its-1-billion-target.html

Ukraine failed to raise the $1 billion to seal Chernobyl , the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, as budget concerns and the accident at Fukushima in Japan caused some governments to balk at further spending. The former Soviet republic, which hosted a donor conference in Kiev today, raised about 550 million euros ($790 million) from countries including the U.S., the U.K., France, Russia and Germany , the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said today in Kiev. Japan declined to offer a donation, as did Spain, Italy and Saudi Arabia. Japan’s battle to contain leaks at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant reignited the debate about nuclear safety 25 years after Chernobyl’s No. 4 reactor exploded and spewed radiation across Europe. Even so, cash-strapped governments, still recovering from the global crisis, were wary of new expenditures to make Chernobyl safe, President Viktor Yanukovych said. “We all realize the resources are far beyond the limits that any individual country can potentially provide,” Yanukovych told reporters today. The conference was held as part of commemorations for the accident on April 26, 1986. “Without overstating, the successful solution to Chernobyl’s problems has a global dimension,” he said. EBRD, EU Pledges Of the sum pledged today, the European Commission promised 110 million euros and the EBRD pledged at least 120 million euros. The EBRD and the commission will work to get more funding, European Commission President Jose Barroso said. “Chernobyl is a stark reminder that nuclear risks do not stop at our borders,” Barroso said. “Our responsibility and solidarity should not stop at our borders either.” Barroso said he hopes to other countries will donate later on. Italy , Brazil , Bulgaria, Canada and Mexico may announce donations at another time, Yanukovych said. The U.S. delegation, led by Zbigniew Brzezinski, the former national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter , donated $123 million, the most by any one country. Brzezinski said nations need to work together to help improve nuclear safety in Ukraine and “stands shoulder to shoulder” with Japan. “Twenty-five years after that terrible day, the U.S., in concert with our G-8 partners and the international community, remains committed to helping the Ukrainian people clean up Chernobyl,” Brzezinski said. Measure of Cooperation The outcome of the conference will be a measure of willingness to improve safety and keep the accidents in Ukraine and Japan under control, Vince Novak, the EBRD’s director of nuclear safety, said in an interview before the event. The London-based EBRD is the broker for the fundraising effort. Tokyo Electric Power Co. is the operator of the Fukushima plant, which was damaged by the March earthquake and tsunami. Workers are still struggling to contain radiation at Fukushima and prevent further damage to the plant’s four reactors. The 1986 meltdown killed at least 31 plant workers and firefighters in three months and forced the evacuation of a quarter of a million people. The Chernobyl project involves a 105-meter high arched roof that, once assembled on a field next to the damaged reactor, will be rolled into place and sealed for 100 years. After that, workers will be able to dismantle the old structure from inside the protective cowl. Novarka, a joint venture of units of French engineering companies Vinci SA (DG) and Bouygues SA (EN) , has already begun work on pouring the concrete base. Makeshift Sarcophagus The new shelter can proceed because it won’t be completed until 2015 and the Ukrainian government has three years to find the remainder of the financing, Novak said. The current concrete-and-steel cover was built in a rush as emergency personnel scrambled to clean up deadly radioactive debris that killed the adjacent forest and forced dozens of villages in the area to be abandoned forever. The western wall started collapsing, requiring Chernobyl workers to erect two scaffolding towers in 2008 to prop the unstable structure. To contact the reporters on this story James M. Gomez in Prague at jagomez@bloomberg.net Daryna Krasnolutska in Kiev at dkrasnolutsk@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Hellmuth Tromm at htromm@bloomberg.net

Russian Sugar-Beet Sowing Plunges 49% on Rainfall, IKAR Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/russian-sugar-beet-sowing-plunges-49-on-rainfall-ikar-says.html

Russia sugar-beet planting fell 49 percent from a year earlier after rainfall complicated sowing in 2011, the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies said. Beets were planted on 194,700 hectares (481,114 acres) as of yesterday, IKAR, as the Moscow-based institute is known, said in an e-mailed statement today. That compares with 378,700 hectares as of April 18, 2010, it said, citing data from Russia’s Sugar Producers’ Union. To contact the reporter on this story: Marina Sysoyeva in Moscow msysoyeva@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

UN Aid Arrives in Western Libya After Accord With Regime

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/un-food-aid-arrives-in-western-libya-after-accord-with-regime.html

The World Food Program has moved wheat, flour and other food aid into western Libya for the first time since conflict erupted in the nation in February. The Rome-based United Nations agency said eight trucks crossed into Libya from Tunisia yesterday and that the Libyan Red Crescent would deliver the supplies to the “crisis-affected population, particularly women and children,” in Tripoli, Zintan, Yefrin, Nalut, Mezda, Al Reiba and Al Zawia. The trucks carried enough food to feed 50,000 people for 30 days, the WFP said today. The opening of what the agency called a “humanitarian corridor” into western Libya was made possible by the agreement on April 17 between the UN and the regime of Muammar Qaddafi to allow access to Tripoli and other areas under government control. “Securing this humanitarian corridor is a first vital step in reaching thousands of hungry people affected by the conflict, in particular women, children and elderly people, whose food supplies are running alarmingly short,” WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said in a statement. Unicef, the UN Children’s Fund, said a ship carrying first aid kits, drinking water and hygiene material for up to 25,000 people would arrive in Misrata tomorrow. “Fifty days into the fighting in Misrata, the full picture of the toll on children was emerging,” the UN said in a summary of a briefing to reporters in Geneva. “It was far worse than Unicef had feared and certain to get worse unless there was a cease-fire.” The World Health Organization said Misrata Hospital was “overwhelmed” with patients needing emergency surgery and that 120 require immediate evacuation. To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Varner at the United Nations at wvarner@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva in Washington at msilva34@bloomberg.net

Toyota Extends N. American, China Output Cuts to June

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/toyota-plans-to-adjust-production-in-may-due-to-parts-available.html

(Corrects the date of production in fourth paragraph of story originally published on April 20.) Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) , the world’s largest automaker, extended production cuts at its North American and Chinese plants because of a shortage of parts after Japan’s record earthquake and tsunami last month. The company’s North American unit said today that plants in the region will continue to be closed on Mondays and Fridays and run at 50 percent on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays through June 3. Toyota will also shut U.S. plants for one week starting May 30 and in Canada from May 23. In China , the utilization rate at factories will generally be 50 percent of normal levels and may fall as low as 30 percent from April 21 to June 3, it said in a statement. “This is not going to be over soon,” said Jesse Toprak , an analyst for Truecar.com, an automotive pricing and data website based in Santa Monica , California. “The impact of reduced production could mean that Toyota’s sales in the U.S. are impacted as much as 10 percent this year.” Toyota lost production of 150,000 units in North America and 80,000 units in China from March 11 to June 3, said Paul Nolasco , a spokesman for the carmaker. In 2010, Toyota made 1,458,000 units at its plants in North America and 770,000 in China. Toyota, Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. are working to restore full plant operations in Japan and at factories abroad that are running short of parts. Toyota estimates it lost production of 260,000 units in Japan from March 14 to April 8 and 35,000 units of North American auto production this month due to quake-related shutdowns. Shares in Toyota rose 1.4 percent to 3,170 yen in Tokyo. The stock has dropped 12 percent since the March 11 temblor. ‘Plant Improvement’ Employees at Toyota’s North American plants won’t be laid off because of the production cutbacks, the company said. Workers will use the “non-production time for training and plant-improvement activities,” Toyota said. “We are trying to continue production as much as possible and keep our workforce intact in order to facilitate a smooth transition back to full production when all parts are available,” Steve St. Angelo, executive vice president for North American production, said in a statement today. Toyota, which canceled five days of North American output, from April 15 through April 25, said its production plans after June 3 will be decided later. The company’s U.S. sales unit is based in Torrance, California. “No one knows how long production will remain at about 30 to 40 percent of the usual level,” said Koji Endo , an analyst at Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo. “Customers who are not willing to wait for Japanese vehicles may switch to buying American, Korean and European cars instead.” To contact the reporters on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net ; Bill Koenig in Detroit at wkoenig@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kae Inoue at kinoue@bloomberg.net

Tesco to Create 24,000 Jobs Globally This Year, CEO Tells Sky

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/tesco-to-create-24-000-jobs-globally-this-year-ceo-tells-sky.html

Tesco Plc (TSCO) Chief Executive Officer Philip Clarke told Sky News in an interview he expects the retailer will create 24,000 jobs globally this year, about one- third of which will be in the U.K. The U.K. jobs will be created across the company’s operations in the country, Clarke said, adding that 8,000 is a realistic prediction because it includes “banking services, online businesses and our stores, and we’re opening new stores that will create new jobs.” To contact the reporter on this story: Blanche Gatt in London at bgatt@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Colin Keatinge at ckeatinge@bloomberg.net .

Disney to Supply Films for Lovefilm Online Service in U.K.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/disney-to-supply-films-for-lovefilm-online-service-in-u-k-.html

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) agreed to supply films online to U.K. customers of Lovefilm, the Amazon.com Inc (AMZN) .- owned company that operates a subscription-based movie-rental service in Europe. Lovefilm will add more than 50 Disney titles including “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” and “Dead Poets Society” to movies it offers online to U.K. subscribers paying 5.99 pounds ($9.74) and up per month, according to a statement today. The company, which claims 1.6 million customers, also offers DVDs by mail, like Netflix Inc. (NFLX) in the U.S., as well as video games. The Disney agreement also provides Lovefilm with newer movies like “Tron: Legacy” to offer for a pay-per-view fee, the company said. Seattle-based Amazon, which acquired Lovefilm in January, started a U.S. service to compete with Netflix in February with 5,000 movies and TV shows. The subscription service is an add-on to Amazon Instant Video, which offers more than 90,000 movies and TV shows to buy or rent. Lovefilm’s U.K. subscribers pay as much as 19.39 pounds a month for unlimited mail and streaming viewing of films, TV shows and games. The company also operates in Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, fell $1.67 to $178.34 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have lost less than 1 percent this year. Disney, based in Burbank, California, declined 32 cents to $41.20 on the New York Stock Exchange and has added 9.8 percent in 2011. To contact the reporter on this story: Ronald Grover in Los Angeles at rgrover5@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net

Vale Names Government Official to Board After CEO Ouster

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/vale-names-government-official-to-board-after-ceo-ouster-1-.html

Vale SA (VALE5) , the world’s largest iron- ore producer, named Brazil’s Deputy Finance Minister Nelson Barbosa as a member of its board after announcing earlier this month the replacement of its chief executive officer. Barbosa, 41, will be one of four new members joining Vale ’s board, the Rio de Janeiro-based company said in a regulatory filing after a shareholders meeting today. Seven other board members had their mandates renewed until 2013, Vale said. The announcement comes two weeks after Murilo Ferreira was nominated to replace Chief Executive Officer Roger Agnelli following two years of government calls for the company to invest more in domestic steel output and fertilizers. Ferreira, who was president of Vale’s Canadian operations until 2008, will take over May 22 after Angelli’s mandate expires, Vale said April 4. Barbosa, an economist trained at the New School for Social Research in New York , occupied several positions at Brazil’s Finance Ministry since 2006 until being named deputy finance minister by President Dilma Rousseff. Barbosa is also chairman of state-controlled Banco do Brasil, Latin America’s biggest bank by assets, and a director at insurance company Brasilveiculos Cia de Seguros SA, according to an earlier regulatory filing by Vale. Vale gained 53 centavos, or 1.2 percent, to 45.73 reais in Sao Paulo trading today. Before today, Vale shares lost 6.8 since since the start of the year, more than the 5.6 percent decline for the benchmark Bovespa index. To contact the reporter on this story: Juan Pablo Spinetto in Rio De Janeiro at jspinetto@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net

Deutsche Bahn Aims for Four-Fold Growth in Five Years, FT Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/deutsche-bahn-aims-for-four-fold-growth-in-five-years-ft-says.html

Deutsche Bahn AG, which bought Arriva Plc for 1.5 billion pounds a year ago, may spend 2 billion pounds ($3.3 billion) on acquisitions and contracts in the next three years and aims to grow to “three or four times” its present size in five years, the Financial Times reported, citing Arriva Chief Executive Officer David Martin. The group may be interested in bidding for five U.K. rail franchises in the next 18 months, including the state-owned East Coast service, as well as for contracts in Europe and the Middle East, the FT said, citing Martin, who is responsible for the combined group’s expansion outside Germany. To contact the reporter on this story: Blanche Gatt in London at bgatt@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Colin Keatinge at ckeatinge@bloomberg.net .

Poker ‘World Series’ to Air in July as Scheduled After Sponsors Indicted

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/poker-world-series-to-air-in-july-after-sponsors-indicted.html

The “ World Series of Poker ” on ESPN and “World Poker Tour” on Fox Sports Net will air as scheduled following the indictments of gambling websites that spent almost $27 million on TV ads last year. Walt Disney Co. (DIS) ’s ESPN will carry the “World Series of Poker” in July, Chris LaPlaca, a spokesman, said today in an e- mail. The network pre-empted last night’s “North American Poker Tour Presented by PokerStars.net.” News Corp.’s Fox Sports Net has pulled PokerStars.net ads from “World Poker Tour,” said Lou D’Ermilio, a New York-based spokesman. “There is no direct sponsorship connection between the indicted websites and ‘World Poker Tour,’” D'Ermilio said in an e-mail. “But PokerStars had purchased advertising time, which has been pulled as a result of the indictments. At present we have no plans to change policy as it relates to promotional clothing players choose to wear.” ESPN, based in Bristol, Connecticut , won’t air the 10 hours of “PokerStars,” the network said. FullTiltPoker.net and PokerStars.net, two sites charged with fraud and money- laundering by the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, spent $26.8 million in 2010 on TV advertising, researcher Kantar Media said. PokerStars spent another $8.3 million on Web and magazine ads. Many of poker’s best-known players have endorsement agreements with the indicted companies. They don hats and shirts displaying the logos on the programs to promote the websites. Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) ’s NBC airs the “ National Heads Up Championship ” and “Poker After Dark,” while the Game Show Network, owned by DirecTV (DTV) and Sony Corp. (6758) , broadcasts “ High Stakes Poker .” ‘High Stakes Poker’ Chris McCloskey, a spokesman for NBC Sports in New York , didn’t respond to requests for comment. Sean Jennings, a spokesman for Santa Monica , California-based Game Show Network, couldn’t comment. The seventh season of “High Stakes Poker,” hosted by comedian Norm MacDonald, started Feb. 26, the channel said on its website. Disney, based in Burbank , California , gained 15 cents to $41.35 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have climbed 10 percent this year. News Corp. (NWSA) , located in New York, fell 11 cents to $16.88 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading and the Class A stock has increased 16 percent this year. Caesars Entertainment Corp., the closely held casino company, owns the World Series of Poker. The U.S. froze bank accounts in 14 countries and seized websites, sidelining PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker -- major sponsors of televised tournaments. ESPN, NBC, Fox Sports and the Game Show Network have made poker a TV staple, with 47 programs, including reruns, scheduled this week, Cardplayer.com said. U.S. Indictments U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan announced on April 15 a revised indictment against the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker. PokerStars , based on the Isle of Man, Ireland’s Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker of Costa Rica are the leading online poker sites doing business with U.S. customers, according to prosecutors. Five sites displayed notices yesterday that the FBI had seized the domain names. The indictment names two principals from each company and others who allegedly worked with them to illegally process payments. Five domains were seized, according to Carly Sullivan, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan. They are: Pokerstars.com, Fulltiltpoker.com, Absolutepoker.com, Ultimatebet.com and UB.com. About 76 bank accounts have been frozen, preventing players from accessing balances held by the online betting companies, said Kelly Langmesser , an FBI spokeswoman in New York. Out in the Cold T.C. Sun, 27, who works for Princess Cruises in Valencia , California, was among the players who couldn’t get his money from PokerStars.net last weekend. “When I first heard about black Friday, I wasn’t too worried about it, and then on Saturday night I tried to withdraw my funds,” Sun said in an interview. “It let me process the withdrawal. Right now it shows I have zero money in my account, but I’m checking my bank account daily to see if it comes through. As of last night, no it has not.” Players who use the sites can’t be prosecuted under federal law and U.S. states that have laws against making bets rarely use them against “mere customers,” said I. Nelson Rose, an Encino, California-based consultant to governments and industry on gambling laws. “I’d say there’s probably a better chance that they’ll win the World Series of Poker than that they will be arrested,” Rose, who doesn’t work for any of the companies named in the indictment, said today in a phone interview. The case is U.S. v. Scheinberg, 10-cr00336, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). To contact the reporter on this story: Andy Fixmer in Los Angeles at afixmer@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net

Exxon Joliet, Illinois, Refinery Has Catalytic Cracker Upset

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/exxon-reports-unit-goes-offline-at-joliet-refinery.html

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) reported that a fluid catalytic cracker at its Joliet refinery in Illinois had an upset yesterday. A mechanical failure caused the unit to trip, according to a filing with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. Workers were investigating what caused the incident at the time of the filing, late yesterday. Kevin Allexon, an Exxon spokesman, said in an e-mail that in a filing to the National Response Center the company identified the unit as a fluid catalytic cracker and that the unit was involved in an operational upset. “There is no impact on production,” he said. The discount for conventional, 87-octane gasoline in Chicago narrowed 1.5 cents to 3.75 cents a gallon versus futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:50 p.m., according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Prompt delivery fell 1.39 cents to $3.1864 a gallon. The 248,000-barrel-a-day refinery processes Canadian crude delivered by pipeline by Enbridge Energy Partners LP. The refinery produces gasoline, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas and asphalt among other products, according to Exxon Mobil. The Joliet refinery is 42 miles (68 kilometers) southwest of Chicago on the Des Plaines River. To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Clark in New York at aclark27@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net

Japan Voices Support for Treasuries After S&P Cuts U.S.'s Credit Outlook

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/japan-voices-support-for-treasuries-after-s-p-cuts-u-s-s-credit-outlook.html

Japanese policy makers signaled their commitment to holding Treasuries after Standard & Poor’s lowered its outlook for the U.S.’s AAA credit rating to “negative” for the first time yesterday. “We continue to see U.S. debt as an attractive investment,” Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said at a press conference in Tokyo today. Treasuries would still be “extremely good-quality securities” even if the grade was lowered, Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano said. Japan is the world’s second-largest holder of U.S. Treasuries after China , with $890.3 billion investment as of February, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. S&P yesterday said the outlook change indicates that there’s a one-in-three chance that the rating might be cut within two years. The Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average slid 1.5 percent to 9,417.28 as of 12:39 p.m. in Tokyo , and the yen rose against the dollar as investors flocked to safer assets after the S&P announcement. Japan’s currency traded at 82.50 per dollar. Japan, which has the largest debt burden in the industrialized world, had its own sovereign rating lowered to AA- by S&P in January. It lost the AAA grade in 2001. Debt constraints in the aftermath of a record March 11 earthquake prompted Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano to signal today the government may consider raising taxes to pay for rebuilding efforts. ‘Including’ Taxes The ruling Democratic Party of Japan “is considering various measures including this,” Edano told reporters today in Tokyo. “The government hasn’t reached the stage where we’re considering specific means for revenue.” Prime Minister Naoto Kan may raise the 5 percent consumption tax to 8 percent for three years starting in 2012 to help finance rebuilding, the Yomiuri newspaper reported today, without citing anyone. When asked about a possible tax increase, Noda said the government is focusing on rolling out its first stimulus package by the end of this month. Between 58 percent and 69 percent of voters favor higher taxes to help pay for reconstruction, according to polls released yesterday by the Nikkei, Asahi and Mainichi newspapers. Asked how Japan should finance the effort, 38 percent said tax increases, 13 percent chose bond sales, and 31 percent said a combination of both, according to the Nikkei. To contact the reporter on this story: Toru Fujioka in Tokyo at tfujioka1@bloomberg.net ; Mayumi Otsuma in Tokyo at motsuma@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Panckhurst at ppanckhurst@bloomberg.net

Pirelli, Premuda, Pop. Milano, UniCredit: Italian Equity Preview

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/pirelli-premuda-popolare-milano-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) dropped 636.59, or 2.9 percent, to 21,184.67 in Milan. Amplifon SpA (AMP) : The world’s largest hearing-aid distributor had its price estimate increased to 4.5 euros from 4.4 euros at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The shares dropped 2.7 percent to 3.98 euros. Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl (PMI) : The country’s oldest cooperative bank plans to hold a board meeting to evaluate a possible share sale. Citigroup Inc. said in a note it cannot rule out the possibility that other Italian banks may raise capital. The brokerage calculates a possible capital need for the other banks of up to 10 billion euros ($14.2 billion) -- about 8.5 billion euros for UniCredit SpA (UCG) , about 600 million euros for Popolare di Milano and about 500 million euros for Banco Popolare SC (BP) -- in a worst-case scenario. UniCredit does not need to raise capital to prepare for bank stress tests and still plans to sell some assets, Chief Executive Officer Federico Ghizzoni said in an interview with newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. Popolare di Milano fell 4.5 percent to 2.53 euros. UniCredit dropped 4.2 percent to 1.64 euros. Banco Popolare slid 4.8 percent to 1.96 euros. Dada SpA (DA) : Dada said in a statement today that it agreed to sell its Dada.Net unit to Buongiorno SpA for 28.5 million euros. The shares lost 2.8 percent to 3.91 euros. Enel Green Power SpA (EGPW) : The operator of facilities that generate electricity from renewable resources is developing a plant for solar-energy panels in Catania, Italy, Chief Executive Officer Francesco Starace said. The shares lost 3.9 percent to 1.94 euros. Fiat SpA (F) : European new-car registrations fell 4.7 percent in March to 1.6 million vehicles, the ACEA industry group said in an e-mailed statement today. The shares lost 2.6 percent to 6.18 euros. Pirelli & C. SpA (PC IM): Chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera is scheduled to speak in Parliament. The stock retreated 1.9 percent to 6.36 euros. Premuda SpA (PR) : The shipping company reported 2010 net income of 10.7 million euros compared with a loss a year earlier. The company proposed a dividend of 3 euro cents for ordinary shares. The stock was unchanged at 70.8 cents. Yoox SpA (YOOX) : Goldman Sachs lifted its price estimate on the Italian online retailer to 15 euros from 12.5 euros. The shares fell 0.7 percent to 10.81 euros. 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

South African Central Bank Watching for Second-Round Inflationary Effects

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/south-african-central-bank-watching-for-second-round-inflationary-effects.html

South Africa ’s central bank will watch for second-round inflationary pressures with food and administered prices remaining “significant upside risks” to the outlook, Deputy Governor Daniel Mminele said. While food prices are relatively low due to good corn harvests and exchange rate developments, recent data show an “accelerating trend” at both producer and consumer levels, Mminele said in a speech in Washington on April 16 and published on the Pretoria-based South African Reserve Bank’s website. “While the risks to the inflation outlook are tilted to the upside, they are predominantly of a cost-push nature, but need to be monitored very closely for any second-round effects,” he said. The central bank kept its benchmark rate at 5.5 percent for a second consecutive meeting in March as rising food and oil prices led to an increase in estimated inflation for the next two years. The consumer rate is expected to stay within the bank’s 3 percent to 6 percent target for the bank’s forecast period. Inflation was unchanged at 3.7 percent in February. The economic recovery in Africa ’s biggest economy is progressing and indicators show output is expected to rise, Mminele said. Growth is still insufficient to “meaningfully address unemployment” and consumption spending is unlikely to accelerate to “excessive levels.” The economy is expected to expand 3.7 percent this year and 3.9 percent in 2012, he said. Capital Inflows South Africa studied measures imposed by other emerging- market economies to limit capital inflows that boosted their currencies, and it is doubtful that they would be appropriate for South Africa, given a low savings level and dependence on inflows to finance the current account, Mminele said. The rand’s 37 percent gain against the dollar since the beginning of 2009, the third-biggest advance among 16 major currencies, helped contain imported price increases. The currency has lost 3.2 percent against the U.S. currency this year, trading at 6.8505 by 8:51 a.m. in Johannesburg. To contact the reporter on this story: Gordon Bell in Johannesburg at gbell16@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net

Colombia Stocks: BVC, Ecopetrol, Rubiales Rise; Coltejer Drops

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/colombia-stocks-bvc-ecopetrol-rubiales-rise-coltejer-drops.html

The following companies are having unusual price changes in Bogota trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and prices are as of 4 p.m. New York time. The IGBC Index rose 0.8 percent to 14,052.65, while the Colcap Index gained 0.5 percent to 1,661.23, its biggest gain in two weeks. Bolsa de Valores de Colombia (BVC) SA, the operator of the country’s main securities exchange, rose 0.8 percent to 40 pesos. Colombia’s Finance Minister Juan Carlos Echeverry said in an interview yesterday that a victory by Peruvian presidential candidate Ollanta Humala is unlikely to threaten Colombian assets or a planned merger of the two nations’ stock exchanges. Coltejer SA (COLTEJ) , the Medellin-based clothing maker and exporter, fell 1.2 percent to 86 centavos as Colombia’s peso climbed to an almost three-year high on increased foreign direct investment flows, reducing revenue for exporters. Ecopetrol SA (ECOPETL CB) and Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp (PRE) , the two most weighted stocks on the Colombian bourse, gained as 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. Ecopetrol, Colombia’s largest oil producer, rose 1.8 percent to 3,670 pesos, its largest increase in three weeks. Pacific Rubiales, the Toronto-based oil company with fields in Colombia, rose 2.1 percent to 52,440 pesos, its biggest jump in two weeks. 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

Google Shares' Downward Momentum Takes Time to Run Out: Chart of the Day

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/google-downward-momentum-takes-time-to-run-out-chart-of-the-day.html

The slide in Google Inc. (GOOG) that began after it reported first-quarter earnings may not end until the middle of next month, if history is any guide. The CHART OF THE DAY shows the average decline in Google’s shares starting two days after a profit report is 8.2 percent over 30 days, and it’s another 44 days before it climbs back to the old level, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Birinyi Associates Inc. Birinyi tracked instances when Google fell the day after releasing results. “Buying right after that initial fall, at least historically, hasn’t been the best entry point,” said Kevin Pleines, an analyst at Birinyi, who conducted the study. “When the market reacts negatively to its earnings, it generally continues down a bit.” Google’s price-to-earnings ratio has averaged 45.9 since its initial public offering in August 2004, compared with 16.6 for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The owner of the most-used Internet search engine fell 8.3 percent on April 15, the first session after Google posted earnings that missed the average analyst estimate on the biggest jump in operating expenses in three years. Google’s stock declined 0.7 percent to $526.84 yesterday in New York. The shares would fall to about $487 next month, according to Birinyi’s average. The analysis was based on the average of 10 periods when the stock fell after earnings. To contact the reporter on this story: Whitney Kisling in New York at wkisling@bloomberg.net ; To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net .

SKF Posts Record Profit as Industries Recover Globally

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/skf-posts-record-profit-as-industries-recover-globally-1-.html

SKF AB (SKFB) , the world’s largest maker of ball bearings, reported record quarterly profit that beat analysts’ estimates as sales to industries in all regions grew. SKF rose as much as 6.1 percent, the biggest jump in six months. First-quarter net income rose to 1.57 billion kronor ($249 million), or 3.44 kronor per share, from 1.03 billion kronor, or 2.27 kronor a year ago, Gothenburg, Sweden-based SKF said in a statement today. Profit beat the 1.43 billion-krona average estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 17 analysts. “It’s a good set of numbers,” said Michael Hagmann, an analyst at Nomura International in London. “Volume was much better than expected, compensating for slightly worse currency impact.” Hagmann has a “reduce” rating on the stock. SKF is considered an industry bellwether because its bearings are used in products such as construction cranes and cars. The company has rebounded from a slump that started in 2008 and forced it to cut 6,500 jobs. SKF is the first major Nordic manufacturer to report earnings, and today’s report lifted shares of companies from Atlas Copco AB (ATCOA) to Sandvik AB. (SAND) SKF rose as much as 10.7 kronor to 186.3 kronor, and traded at 185.1 kronor as of 9:47 a.m. in Stockholm. Atlas Copco, the world’s largest maker air compressors, rose as much as 4.1 percent, while Sandvik, the biggest maker of metal-cutting tools, gained as much as 4 percent. Sales climbed 16 percent to 16.7 billion kronor in the quarter. The ball-bearing maker said demand and supply weren’t affected by last month’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Sales to the car industry may decline in the second quarter due to the quake, the company said today. SKF “had a strong start to the year with records in sales, operating profit and operating margin and a good cash flow ,” Chief Executive Officer Tom Johnstone said in the release. “We saw a very positive sales development in all regions and divisions with a similar demand pattern as at the end of last year.” In November, the company said it planned to hire about 1,000 additional employees a year in Asia , boosting its ranks of engineers and sales people. To contact the reporter on this story: Ola Kinnander in Stockholm at okinnander@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net

South Africa Stocks: Astral, Anglo, Murray & Roberts, SABMiller Are Active

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/south-africa-stocks-astral-anglo-murray-roberts-sabmiller-are-active.html

The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index snapped two days of losses, rallying 448.43, or 1.4 percent, to 31,837.06 at the 5 p.m. close of trading in Johannesburg. The following were among the most active stocks in the South African market today. Anglo American Plc (AGL) , the diversified mining company that makes up 11 percent of South Africa ’s benchmark stock index, advanced the most since Feb. 11, rising 9.70 rand, or 2.9 percent, to 342.70 rand. Copper rose in London , rebounding from the longest losing streak since June, as figures indicated manufacturing remains robust in China , the world’s largest consumer of the metal. BHP Billiton Plc (BIL) , the world’s largest mining company, snapped two days of losses, jumping 3.09 rand, or 1.1 percent, to 276.25 rand. Astral Foods Ltd. (ARL) , South Africa’s second-largest chicken producer, rose the most since April 7, gaining 96 cents, or 0.8 percent, to 126.75 rand. Earnings may increase by as much as 33 percent in the first half through March, it said in a regulatory filing. Calgro M3 Holdings Ltd. (CGR) , a housing developer, rallied to the highest level since April 12, gaining 2 cents, or 2.9 percent, to 70 cents. The developer has 5 billion rand ($733.2 million) of projects to be executed during the next six to seven years, taking it outside of its traditional Gauteng province market, it said in a regulatory filing today. Cipla Medpro South Africa Ltd. (CMP) , a generic drugs manufacturer, rose the most since Feb. 14, jumping 19 cents, or 2.8 percent, to 6.98 rand. The company was rated “hold” in new coverage, a price estimate of 7.11 rand by Avior Research. Freeworld Coatings Ltd. (FWD) , a South African paint manufacturer, advanced the most since April 6, rising 30 cents, or 2.6 percent, to 11.80 rand. South Africa’s Competition Commission said it proposed Freeworld’s takeover by Kansai Paint Co. be approved on condition the companies address antitrust concerns arising from the transaction, according to a statement. Murray & Roberts Holdings Ltd. (MUR) , a construction company, extended declines to the lowest level in a month, dropping 20 cents, or 0.8 percent, to 25.08 rand. The company may have transgressed South Africa’s antitrust laws and may face antitrust fines, it said in a regulatory filing yesterday. Pick n Pay Stores Ltd. (PIK) , South Africa’s second- largest grocer, dropped to the lowest since May 25, slipping 1.25 rand, or 3 percent, to 40.55 rand. Fitch Ratings cut its outlook on the company’s credit rating to negative from stable following a drop in annual earnings. Pick n Pay Holdings Ltd. (PWK SJ), the company that controls Pick n Pay Stores, declined the most since September 2009, falling 85 cents, or 4.8 percent, to 17 rand. SABMiller Plc (SAB) , the world’s second-biggest brewer by volume, climbed to the highest April 15, adding 4.29 rand, or 1.8 percent, to 246.80 rand. SABMiller’s fourth-quarter beer sales rose 3 percent, it said in a regulatory filing today. That beat a 1.5 percent median estimate by analysts polled by Bloomberg. To contact the reporter on this story: Sikonathi Mantshantsha in Johannesburg at smantshantsh@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net

Wimbledon Prize Money Growth Outpaces CPI Figure Since 1992: Table

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/wimbledon-prize-money-growth-outpaces-cpi-figure-since-1992-table.html

Following is a table of the prize money offered at Wimbledon from 1968 to 2011 from the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London: NOTE: All figures are in GBP. Percentage changes calculated by Bloomberg News. * = CPI/RPI figures for 2011 are the latest OBR forecasts. SOURCE: The All England Lawn Tennis Club To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Evans in London at mevans8@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Marco Babic at mbabic@bloomberg.net

Nigeria, Namibia and Ghana Stocks Indexes Gain, Scangroup and Oceanic Move

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/sub-sahara-africa-stocks-scangroup-continental-reinsurance.html

The Nigerian Stock Exchange All- Share Index rose for the sixth day, gaining 0.3 percent to 25,384.10 by the 2:30 p.m. close in Lagos, according to a statement on the bourse’s website, the longest winning streak since Jan. 6. Namibia’s FTSE/ Namibia Overall Index (FTN098) gained for the first day in three, adding 1.6 percent to 855.43 by the 4 p.m. close in Windhoek , the most since March 30. The Ghana Stock Exchange Composite Index advanced for a fourth day, rising 0.6 percent to 1,069.43 by the 3 p.m. close in Accra, the longest rally since March 18. Kenya’s All-Share Index slipped for the first day in three, losing 0.3 percent to 74.45 by the 3 p.m. close in Nairobi. Mauritius’s SEMDEX Index dropped for the third day, falling less than 0.1 percent to 2,042.61 by the 1:30 p.m. close in Port Louis. The following shares rose or fell in sub-Saharan Africa , excluding South Africa. Stock symbols are in parentheses. Continental Reinsurance Plc (CONTINSU) , a Nigerian insurer, rose for a second day, gaining 2 kobo, or 1.8 percent, to 1.12 naira, the highest since Feb. 14, after it reported profit rose 36 percent to 1.23 billion naira ($7.9 million) in the year through December as revenue advanced. It plans to pay a dividend of 7.5 kobo per share, according to a company statement published on the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s website today. Oceanic Bank International Plc (OCEANIC) , a Nigerian lender bailed out by the central bank in 2009, lost 10 kobo, or the maximum 5 percent daily limit, to 1.90 naira, its biggest daily decline since Nov. 23, after saying recapitalization talks between it and First Bank of Nigeria Plc had ended. Scangroup Ltd. (SCAN KN), East Africa’s biggest marketing company by sales, increased 4 shillings, or 7.7 percent, to 56 shillings, the biggest jump since Oct. 7. Full-year profit surged 60 percent to 640.6 million shillings ($7.64 million) as revenue surged on growth in advertising spending. Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc (IBTCCB) , a Nigerian lender, added 44 kobo, or 4.6 percent, to 10 naira, the highest since Feb. 10, after saying it would pay a dividend of 39 kobo a share. To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Kay in London at ckay5@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net

Geithner Says U.S. ‘Absolutely’ Will Keep AAA Rating

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/geithner-says-u-s-absolutely-will-keep-aaa-rating-correct-.html

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said the U.S. will “absolutely” keep its AAA rating, in a television interview today on Fox Business Network. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net

Air Lease Surges as Rivals Watch Industry’s Biggest U.S. IPO

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/air-lease-surges-after-raising-802-5-million-in-share-sale.html

Air Lease Corp., the jet-leasing company led by Steven Udvar-Hazy, surged 5.5 percent on its first day of trading after raising $802.5 million in the industry’s largest initial public offering in the U.S. The Los Angeles-based company sold 30.3 million shares at $26.50 each yesterday, after increasing the number 21 percent, according to a prospectus filed today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It had offered 25 million shares at $25 to $28. Udvar-Hazy, 65, commanded a premium as he drew on four decades of experience to recreate some of what he built at American International Group Inc. (AIG) ’s International Lease Finance Corp. Udvar-Hazy, who began leasing jets to airlines while in college, has amassed a new fleet of 49 aircraft with orders for 153 more since founding Air Lease 14 months ago. The Air Lease price of 1.3 times book value “shows that specific business models attached to strong management teams can attract material amounts of equity capital,” Joe Gill , an analyst at Bloxham Securities in Dublin, wrote in a note to investors today. “New jets and a global customer base managed by an experienced management team appears to be a compelling mix for institutional investors.” First-Day Trading Air Lease rose $1.45, or 5.5 percent, to $27.95 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange trading, where it is listed under the symbol AL. The company has a market value of $2.67 billion, higher than its three publicly traded competitors, AerCap Holding NV, Fly Leasing Ltd. (FLY) and Aircastle Ltd. (AYR) “We’re very happy and think it’s a good outcome for the whole airline industry and the aircraft lessors,” Udvar-Hazy said in an interview today before flying to New York, where he will ring the NYSE’s opening bell to start trading. “It establishes again the credibility of the leasing model as an important facet of airlines’ fleet financing,” said Udvar-Hazy, who is Air Lease’s chairman and chief executive officer. Udvar-Hazy founded ILFC in 1973 and built it into the world’s largest aircraft lessor before selling it to AIG in 1990, staying on as CEO. He left in February 2010 after an unsuccessful attempt to buy back part of the unit amid its parent’s financial troubles during the recession. Air Lease’s success “opens the market for other entities to do an IPO that are thinking about it,” said Domhnal Slattery, CEO of Avolon Leasing Group, an Air Lease competitor. Avolon’s Outlook While Avolon has sufficient equity capital to continue growing now, Slattery said he’ll consider an IPO “in due course.” The Dublin-based company has raised $1.1 billion in equity and $1.9 billion in debt since Slattery founded it in May 2010. His company has 25 Boeing Co. (BA) and Airbus SAS jets now, has contractual commitments for 73 and plans to place another order “in the not-too-distant future,” Slattery said. “We will have options now for sure, in terms of where we go next” for funding, Slattery said in an interview today. “The success of what Hazy has achieved today is hugely positive for the broader aircraft-leasing sector.” As chairman and chief executive officer of Air Lease, Udvar-Hazy has built a fleet that he says is unburdened by the “legacy challenges” that saddle competitors. The company’s jets have a weighted average age of 3.5 years, compared with 5.4 years for competitor AerCap’s 350 planes, 8.1 years for Fly Leasing’s 59 and 11 years for Aircastle’s 136 aircraft, according to company filings. Marketable Portfolio A portfolio under 5 years old is “the most marketable and the most financeable,” Avolon’s Slattery said. Aircraft leasing is growing in popularity as airlines seek flexibility within the cyclical air-travel industry as well as a way to avoid burdening their balance sheets with the billions of dollars required to fund plane purchases. In 1990, about 10 percent of the world’s commercial planes were leased, and by 2015 that proportion will reach 35 percent, according to estimates by industry-data providers Ascend and Avitas cited by Air Lease. Lessors are expected to finance about $140 billion of the $350 billion in capital requirements for about 5,000 new jets due to be delivered worldwide by 2015, John Plueger , Air Lease’s president, said in a presentation before the IPO. Still, the three aircraft lessors that went public in the two years before the recession hit -- AerCap, Aircastle and Fly

Christchurch City Center Losing Bankers, Brokers After Quake

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/christchurch-city-center-losing-bankers-brokers-after-quake.html

Bankers and brokers are moving out of downtown Christchurch, six miles from the epicenter of New Zealand’s deadliest earthquake in 80 years. Forsyth Barr Ltd. , the nation’s biggest trader of bonds for retail investors, signed a six-year lease at Hazeldean, an office park two miles southwest of the central business district within days of the magnitude 6.3 earthquake on Feb. 22 which killed more than 170 people, said Managing Director Neil Paviour-Smith. The Dunedin-based company was forced out of its 17-level office tower after its stairwells collapsed. “We’re not going back into the CBD for at least six years,” said Paviour-Smith, who leads a firm of 250 people at 19 locations nationwide. “We’ll have a new fit-out and walking away from that after six years is quite an expensive decision.” Many buildings in New Zealand ’s second-largest city collapsed or were so damaged that they face demolition after the quake struck southeast of the city at 12.51 p.m., when office workers were lunching, shopping or at their desks. Prime Minister John Key has said that rebuilding Christchurch is one of the government’s highest priorities, with an expected price tag of NZ$15 billion ($12 billion). Christchurch office rents are rising as tenants that were in older buildings are forced to pay higher rates for new premises, according to Harry Van Tongeren, managing director of real estate broker Bayleys Canterbury Commercial. Prior incentives to attract new tenants, such as rent-free periods, have disappeared, he said. Staying Central Some businesses still see their future in the city center. Accounting firm Deloitte LLP, which may be out of its building for 12 months or longer and has 100 staff working from a cluster of small buildings, wants to be involved in the rebuild, said Steve Wakefield, managing partner of the Christchurch office. “We bought ourselves time to figure out where we might go,” he said in an interview. “We don’t agree with those who have signed a long lease in the hinterland.” Hazeldean, an office precinct just outside the four avenues that define the center of Christchurch, has 12,000 square meters of space now fully leased and has land for three more offices covering the same area, said Kevin Arthur, development manager of Calder Stewart, a South Island construction company that built the office park Forsyth Barr selected. Foundations for the first new building are finished and there are “advanced discussions” with prospective tenants, he said. ‘Cold Hard Look’ “They’re having a cold hard look at whether they need to be in the CBD,” said Arthur. “Those that have concluded they don’t are certainly talking seriously.” Hazeldean is being built on a former factory site and began leasing last year, attracting tenants including the local unit of Canon Inc. in September. The offices are no more than five levels and the site features a cafe and a car-park building. Developers like Calder Stewart and Goodman Property Trust (GMT) are attracting companies with low-rise buildings as workers and clients are spooked by the damage to the city’s towers. “The days of a 15-story building are probably gone for a while because people don’t have the confidence to go into them,” said Arthur. “It is an emotional response but potential tenants have expressed a desire not to be in buildings more than 4-5 levels high.” Doomed Buildings Civil Defense officials have listed 215 city buildings that need demolition as at April 8, with another 65 needing to be partially cleared and 20 needing to be made safe. The quake death toll is the most since 256 people died after a temblor struck the North Island city of Napier in 1931. Christchurch International Airport Ltd., on the western side of the city, is developing a temporary office park on some of its spare land. The buildings will be carpeted with kitchens and bathrooms, and offered for leases of up to three years, Blair Forgie, general manager of property, said in an interview. Construction of the first 1,000 square meters of space should be completed by late June, and there is interest for another 5,000 square meters, he said. Temporary solutions will allow firms time to assess where new business “hubs” may emerge and what new office developments will be available outside the city center, said Frank Aldridge, managing director of Craigs Investment Partners. “It’s more likely we’ll go into one of the new developments,” he said after the nation’s biggest brokerage had to abandon its Christchurch office. “The team would prefer one of those sites. It’s unlikely we’ll go back into the CBD.” To contact the reporter on this story: Tracy Withers in Wellington at twithers@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Iain Wilson iwilson2@bloomberg.net

U.S. Stocks Erase Gains as Harley-Davidson, Goldman Sachs Shares Decline

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/u-s-stocks-erase-gains-as-harley-davidson-goldman-sachs-shares-decline.html

U.S. stocks erased an early advance as Harley-Davidson Inc. led consumer shares lower after earnings trailed analysts’ estimates and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. slumped as an analyst cut his rating on the shares. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped less than 0.1 percent to 1,304.57 at 11:25 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 4.28 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 12,205.87 after rallying as much as 48 points earlier. Earlier gains came after housing starts increased and earnings beat estimates at companies from Johnson & Johnson to Zions Bancorp. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Regan at mregan12@bloomberg.net

Allied, Freeworld, PBT, Pick n Pay May Move: South African Stocks Preview

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/allied-freeworld-pbt-pick-n-pay-may-move-south-african-stocks-preview.html

The following stocks may rise or fall in South Africa. Symbols are in parenthesis and prices are from the last close. The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index snapped two days of losses, rallying 448.43, or 1.4 percent, to 31,837.06 at the 5 p.m. close of trading in Johannesburg. Allied Technologies Ltd. (ALT) : The maker of television set-top boxes announced the appointment of Jeffrey Hedberg as chief operating officer. The stock rose 6 cents, or 0.1 percent, to 55.21 rand. Freeworld Coatings Ltd. (FWD) : Japan’s Kansai Paint Co. has brought the implementation date for its takeover of the South African paint manufacturer to today, instead of May 9, according to a regulatory statement late yesterday. Freeworld rose 30 cents, or 2.6 percent, to 11.80 rand. PBT Group Ltd. (PBT) : A provider of information management services reported 12.8 million ($1.8 million) in earnings in the first-half through February. PBT declined 6 cents, or 4.6 percent, to 1.26 rand. Pick n Pay Stores Ltd. (PIK) : South Africa’s second- largest grocer was downgraded to a “hold” by Afrifocus Securities analyst Kathryn Robinson, from a “buy” recommendation in January. Citigroup Inc. equities analyst Zaheer Joosub lowered his price estimate on the stock to 49 rand, from 54 rand while maintaining a “buy” recommendation. Pick n Pay dropped 1.25 rand , or 3 percent, to 40.55 rand. To contact the reporter on this story: Sikonathi Mantshantsha in Johannesburg at smantshantsh@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net

Housing Starts in U.S. Increased to 549,000 in March, Exceeding Forecasts

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/housing-starts-in-u-s-climbed-less-than-forecast-in-march-to-549-000-pace.html

A gain in March housing starts failed to make up for ground lost the prior month, as U.S. home builders continue to struggle almost two years into the economic recovery. Work began on 549,000 houses at an annual pace, up 7.2 percent from the prior month and exceeding the 520,000 median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Starts fell 19 percent in February to the lowest level in almost two years. Housing, which pushed the economy into the recession, remains the weak link in the recovery and continues to weigh on consumer spending as home prices fall. The prospect of more foreclosures and joblessness forecast to average 8.7 percent this year means any recovery in housing may take time to develop. “We remain at very low levels,” said Richard DeKaser , an economist at Parthenon Group in Boston , who correctly forecast last month’s increase. “The best description is bumping along the bottom. The underlying trend is one of stability or modest improvement since we hit our low point a couple of years ago.” Stocks rose as earnings at companies from Johnson & Johnson to Steel Dynamics Inc. beat estimates. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.6 percent to 1,312.6 at the 4 p.m. close in New York. Housing starts estimates ranged from 475,000 to 620,000 in the Bloomberg News survey of 77 economists. February Revision The Commerce Department revised February’s total to a 512,000 pace, up from a previously estimated 479,000. It was still the lowest since a 477,000 pace in April 2009 that was the weakest on record. The revisions plus an increase in construction applications made the figures look less dire. Building permits, a proxy for future construction, rose 11 percent to a 594,000 pace. They were projected to rise 1.1 percent to a 540,000 annual pace. Construction of single-family houses increased 7.7 percent to a 422,000 rate in March from the prior month. Work on multifamily homes, such as townhouses and apartments, increased 5.8 percent to an annual rate of 127,000. Starts climbed in three of four regions, led by a 32 percent jump in the Midwest. They fell 3.3 percent in the South. Confidence among U.S. homebuilders fell in April, led by a decline in the outlook for sales. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment index declined to 16 this month from 17 in March, data from the Washington-based group showed yesterday. A measure of sales expectations for the next six months dropped to the lowest level since October. Home Sales New-home sales fell to a record-low annual rate of 250,000 in February, the Commerce Department reported on March 23. The median price dropped to the lowest level since December 2003. Sales of existing homes, which make up more than 90 percent of the market, rose 2.5 percent to a 5 million annual pace in March, economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast the National Association of Realtors may report tomorrow. Existing home sales have been gaining market share from new homes due to increased cash purchases of distressed homes. Lending rates are rising as the broader economy recovers. The average rate on a 30-year fixed loan increased to 4.98 percent the week ended April 8, the highest since Feb. 18, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Borrowing costs have climbed since reaching 4.21 percent in October, the lowest since the group’s records began in 1990. More Foreclosures Even with home seizures currently delayed as banks and state attorneys general struggle to agree on new guidelines, foreclosure filings will climb about 20 percent in 2011, reaching a peak for the housing crisis, RealtyTrac Inc. said Jan. 13. CoreLogic Inc. last month estimated about 1.8 million homes were delinquent or in foreclosure, a so-called “shadow inventory” set to add to the 3.5 million existing homes already on the market. “Activity in the housing market continued to be depressed, held down by the large inventory of foreclosed or distressed properties on the market and by weak demand,” Federal Reserve policy makers said in minutes of their March 15 policy meeting released April 5. Homebuilders aren’t optimistic. KB Home (KBH) , the Los Angeles- based homebuilder that targets first-time buyers, this month reported a bigger-than-expected loss for the quarter ended Feb. 28 as orders plunged. “Today’s consumers remain very cautious, whether they have concerns about home prices falling further, their job status, their ability to qualify for a loan, or general confidence in the economy,” President and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Mezger said during a conference call with analysts on April 5. “A sustained, broad-based housing recovery will not occur until we start to experience material job creation.” To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Willis in Washington at bwillis@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net

Foreign Investors Sell Net 7.91 Billion Rupees of Indian Stocks

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/foreign-investors-sell-net-7-91-billion-rupees-of-indian-stocks.html

Overseas investors sold a net 7.91 billion rupees ($178.6 million) of Indian stocks yesterday, paring their investments in equity this year to 37.3 billion rupees, the nation’s market regulator said. Foreigners purchased 25.5 billion rupees of shares and sold 33.4 billion rupees, the Securities and Exchange Board of India said today. They bought a net 3.37 billion rupees of bonds, taking total purchases in debt this year to 124.5 billion rupees. Overseas funds returned in March, after withdrawing 94 billion rupees in January and February on concern accelerating inflation will prompt further interest rate gains. They bought a record 1.33 trillion rupees of shares in 2010, helping fuel a 17 percent rally in the Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, the best performer among the world’s 10 biggest equity markets last year. The Sensex has fallen about 7 percent this year. The previous record was in 2009 when flows reached 834.2 billion rupees, sparking the biggest advance in 18 years. Funds withdrew a record 530 billion rupees from stocks in 2008, setting off the worst annual slump. Foreign funds have placed 4.51 trillion rupees in equities and 911.2 billion rupees in bonds since they were allowed into the country in 1993. The regulator provides data on shares bought and sold by large investors, including trades in the primary and secondary markets, with a delay of at least a day. To contact the reporter on this story: Paresh Jatakia in Mumbai at pareshj@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Arijit Ghosh at aghosh@bloomberg.net

ABFL and TMFL CP's Issued:India

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/abfl-and-tmfl-cp-s-issued-india.html

Following is a table showing commercial paper reported by Companies.The data has been provided by Mata Securities India Pvt Ltd,SPA Securities Ltd. Trust Financial Consultancy Services and NVS Brokerage Ltd. Generated by Bloomberg Publisher WEB Service Provider ID: 1e9c1b6b323d47f19ddfa12209fb66c4 -0- Apr/19/2011 13:13 GMT

Hong Kong Office Rents, World’s Highest, Jump to Twice London’s; Tokyo 3rd

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/hong-kong-office-rents-jump-to-almost-twice-london-s-level-colliers-says.html

Hong Kong ’s prime office rents, the world’s highest, jumped more than a third in 2010 with tenants paying almost double the cost in the City of London , according to Colliers International Research. Prime office buildings in Hong Kong fetched $2,066.35 per square meter (11 square feet) as of Dec. 31, 2010, compared with $1,523.31 a year ago, Colliers said in its Global Office Real Estate Review. London’s West End was the second-most expensive, costing $1,431.82 a square meter, while the City of London was fifth at $1,073.92 a square meter. Tokyo and Paris were in third and fourth place, at $1,130.21 and $1,099.53 respectively. All of the top 20 cities tracked by Colliers recorded higher office rents in the second half. Office construction is highest in the Asia-Pacific region, accounting for 42 percent of global building, driven by growth in demand, particularly in China , India , Indonesia and the Philippines , Colliers said. “Most regions showed further signs that the worst of the global financial crisis had passed and tenants were back in the market with a renewed appetite for office space,” Ross J. Moore, chief economist of Colliers’ U.S. division, wrote in the report. “The outlook for 2011 is for continued growth, but the recent surge in energy prices and the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and North Africa are reasons for concern.” Crude oil has jumped 30 percent in the past six months as months of conflict in the Middle East, and ongoing tensions in Libya, raised concerns about a possible shortage. Derailing the Recovery Higher oil prices “could derail what appears to be a reasonably strong recovery,” Moore said. “However, because of the usual lags, any future deceleration won’t be apparent until the second half of the year.” While limited building in the U.S. and a pick-up in leasing activity pulled vacancies down 30 basis points to 16.1 percent as of Dec. 31, existing excess supply in many markets continued to push rents down, Colliers said. Construction in Europe , Middle East and Africa was down at the end of the year, partly due to big declines in Dubai and Abu Dhabi , which saw their combined development pipeline falling by 25.8 million square feet, according to the report. Riyadh had the highest vacancy rate, at 40 percent, followed by Dubai at 35 percent. Canada’s Regina had the lowest at 1.3 percent, followed by Rio de Janeiro at 1.6 percent. Hong Kong’s vacancy rate of 3.1 percent is the fifth-lowest among the cities tracked by Colliers. The biggest shortage of prime office space in Central London since at least 1980 will cause rents to jump in the next two years, with the West End seeing a jump to 100 pounds a square foot, London-based property broker Capita Symonds Ltd. said on April 1. Sales London recorded the most sales in 2010, at $15.3 billion, followed by Tokyo at $11.7 billion and New York at $8.5 billion. Office prices rose in the Americas, with yields falling by 131 basis points. In the European region, yields remained little changed, while in the Asia Pacific, property yields climbed 31 basis points, according to the report. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. “A more robust global economy combined with improved financial markets is clearly boosting both transaction volume and also pricing,” Moore said. “While access to debt is still a challenge in certain markets, and much uncertainty remains as to the sustainability of the economic expansion, real estate markets around the world appear to be shaking off the difficulties created by the global financial crisis and are once again on the buy list of investors.” To contact the reporter on this story: Nichola Saminather in Sydney at nsaminather1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andreea Papuc at apapuc1@bloomberg.net

Wynn Resorts First-Quarter Profit Beats Analysts’ Estimates

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/wynn-resorts-first-quarter-profit-beats-analysts-estimates-shares-climb.html

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) , owner of the Wynn and Encore casinos, reported first-quarter profit rose sixfold, beating analysts’ estimates as a second Macau resort and better-than-expected winnings in Las Vegas lifted results. Net income climbed to $173.8 million, or $1.39 a share, from $27 million, or 22 cents, a year ago, Las Vegas-based Wynn said today in a statement. Profit excluding some items topped the 73-cent average of 22 analysts’ estimates. Macau is booming while Wynn bucked an inconsistent recovery its Las Vegas home market. The company opened Encore Macau in April 2010, doubling its presence in the world’s biggest gambling market, where casino betting surged 58 percent last year and 43 percent in the first quarter. The 30 percent win rate at tables in Vegas in the quarter surpassed the expected range of 21 percent to 24 percent. “Business in Las Vegas has improved,” founder and Chief Executive Officer Steve Wynn said today on a conference call. “From time to time the casino gets a little lucky, and that was the case this year during Chinese New Year in Las Vegas.” First-quarter cash flow , measured as adjusted property earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, climbed 67 percent to $405 million, beating the $309.7 million analysts estimated. Macau Ebitda climbed to $272.8 million and Las Vegas, the biggest U.S. casino city, more than doubled to $132.1 million. Wynn Resorts rose 2.7 percent to $142.75 in extended trading. The shares fell $1.57 to $138.93 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. Wynn Macau Ltd. fell 35 Hong Kong cents to HK$27.05 earlier in Asia. Wynn listed part of the Macau unit in October 2009. Macau Results Revenue surged 47 percent in Macau and 24 percent in Las Vegas, boosting total sales 39 percent to $1.26 billion and beating the $1.16 billion analysts projected in a Bloomberg survey. Wynn is ready to begin building a third Macau resort in the Cotai area, and expects government permission to start construction “any day now,” CEO Wynn said today. Gambling in the Chinese territory has surged since the government ended Stanley Ho ’s 40-year monopoly and let other companies, including Wynn, Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) and MGM Resorts International (MGM) , build resorts that attract mainlanders. Las Vegas Strip gambling revenue has declined for four straight months, according to data from the Nevada Gaming Commission. Visitor volume rose 4.8 percent in the first two months of 2011, led by an 11 percent increase in convention attendance, which has increased room rates and occupancy. Wynn said its Las Vegas average daily room rate rose 18 percent in the first quarter, with occupancy down 1.5 percentage points to 87.9 percent. Wynn Resorts today announced a dividend of 50 cents, double the sum declared in July and payable May 17 to shareholders of record May 3. To contact the reporter on this story: Beth Jinks in New York at bjinks1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net

Saab Automobile Aims to Resume Vehicle Production Next Week

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/saab-automobile-aims-to-resume-vehicle-production-next-week.html

Saab Automobile, the carmaker that was forced to halt vehicle assembly amid a payment dispute with suppliers, said it hopes to resume production next week. “Probably next week, that’s what we’re aiming for,” Matthias Seidl, vice president of global sales at Saab, said today in an interview in New York. The Swedish government approved a finance plan, with conditions, for the Trollhaettan, Sweden-based automaker last week, freeing up collateral used by Saab to back a loan from the European Investment Bank. Saab first suspended manufacturing on March 29 after component makers stopped deliveries and demanded payment. Saab Chief Executive Officer Jan-Aake Jonsson said April 4 that the carmaker’s liquidity “became more strained” during the second half of the first quarter. The finance plan still needs to be cleared by the European Investment Bank and faces certain conditions, Maud Olofsson, Sweden’s industry minister, said last week. If approved, it would give Saab some breathing space while it awaits a government decision on whether it can bring in Russian banker Vladimir Antonov as an investor. Saab is talking with its suppliers and hopes to resume receiving parts by the end of the week, said Seidl, who is serving as the interim chief operating officer of Saab’s North America operations. Saab Automobile is owned by Zeewolde, Netherlands-based Spyker Cars NV. (SPYKR) To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Higgins in New York City at thiggins21@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jamie Butters at jbutters@bloomberg.net

Juniper’s First-Quarter Profit Meets Analysts’ Estimates

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/juniper-second-quarter-profit-forecast-misses-estimates-1-.html

Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) , the second- largest maker of Internet networking equipment, reported first- quarter profit that matched analysts’ estimates, a sign that carriers are still spending to support surging Web use. Revenue rose 21 percent to $1.1 billion from $912.6 million in the year-earlier quarter, the Sunnyvale, California-based company said today in a statement. Profit excluding some items was 32 cents a share, matching analysts’ estimates. Juniper is benefiting from Internet and telecommunications service providers buying network gear to handle the flood of data on smartphones and on computers running bandwidth-hungry videos. Concern that spending from one of Juniper’s biggest customers, AT&T Inc. (T) , might decline did not materialize, said Joanna Makris, an analyst at Mizuho Securities USA in New York. “There’s nothing to be concerned about here,” said Makris, an analyst at Mizuho Securities USA in New York. “There was a concern about AT&T and Verizon cutting back on spending. Nothing has changed in terms of their competitive strategy.” Revenue in the current quarter will be $1.13 billion to $1.18 billion, Juniper said in the statement. Profit excluding some items will be as much as 34 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected $1.16 billion in sales and 36 cents a share of profit. Juniper rose $1.18, or 3.1 percent, in late trading on the York Stock Exchange composite trading after closing up 21 cents to $38.47 at 4 p.m. The stock has climbed 23 percent in the last 12 months. Second-Quarter Forecast Juniper forecast second-quarter profit of 31 cents to 34 cents a share, missing the 36 cents estimated by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Since joining Juniper in 2008, Chief Executive Officer Kevin Johnson has expanded the company’s capabilities by introducing security and data-center products and going after larger rival Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) Juniper gets most of its revenue from service providers that buy routers to direct the flow of cell-phone text messages, voice and data over their networks. The company is now pursuing growth by going after the large businesses that have traditionally bought switches from Cisco to manage data centers. The company is continuing to “play offense” as it tries to gain ground on competitors, Johnson said in an interview. “Our performance in the first quarter is consistent with our long-term financial goals,” Johnson said. “We’re on target to meet or exceed those goals.” New Gear Juniper introduced the first product in a new family of data-center gear in February, heightening its rivalry with San Jose , California-based Cisco. The company poured more than $100 million into the QFabric suite of products it spent three years developing. Companies buy Juniper’s switches for their networks, while phone and Internet-service providers such as Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and AT&T typically purchase its more expensive routers. About 70 percent of Juniper’s business is from carriers, according to Sandeep Shyamsukha, an analyst at Auriga USA LLC in San Francisco. At the same time, Juniper faces a slower pace of corporate spending on technology than in 2010 and steeper competition from networking companies in China , including ZTE Corp. (000063) and Huawei Technologies Co., and Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent SA. To contact the reporter on this story: Joseph Galante in San Francisco at jgalante3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

Murray & Roberts Drops to Lowest in Month on Antitrust Breaches

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/murray-roberts-drops-to-lowest-in-month-on-antitrust-breaches.html

Murray & Roberts Holdings Ltd. (MUR) , a construction company, extended declines to the lowest intraday level in a month after saying it may have transgressed South Africa ’s antitrust laws. The shares slipped 44 cents, or 1.7 percent to 24.84 rand at 9:29 a.m. in Johannesburg. That is the lowest level since March 17 and follows yesterday’s 4.4 percent loss. Murray & Roberts identified a “relatively small number” of projects in which its executives transgressed the Competition Act, necessitating an application for leniency with the Competition Commission of South Africa, the company said yesterday in a regulatory statement. The commission may levy fines equivalent to a maximum 10 percent of the revenue in the offending business unit. To contact the reporter on this story: Sikonathi Mantshantsha in Johannesburg at smantshantsh@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net

State Street Operating Income Rises With Markets to $439 Million

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/state-street-operating-income-advances-19-amid-market-rally-acquisitions.html

State Street Corp. (STT) , the third- largest custody bank, said first-quarter net income on an operating basis climbed 19 percent, as rising markets and acquisitions increased the assets it oversees for clients. Profit rose to $439 million, or 88 cents a share, from $369 million, or 75 cents, a year earlier, the Boston-based company said today in statement. Operating profit beat the 86-cent average estimate of 22 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. “The main driver is the rebound in the markets,” Marty Mosby , a Nashville, Tennessee-based analyst for Guggenheim Securities LLC, said in an interview before results were announced. “Markets activity is rising to more normal levels and valuations are moving higher.” The average value of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in the three months ended March 31 rose 16 percent from the first quarter of 2010. Revenue increased 2.8 percent to $2.36 billion. State Street raised its quarterly dividend to 18 cents a share on March 18 and said it would buy back as much as $675 million in common stock this year, a step toward restoring the way it used free cash flow before the financial crisis. The company slashed its dividend from 24 cents a share to 1 cent on Feb. 5, 2009, in an effort to preserve capital as client assets shrank and its own investments plunged in value. Stock Performance Results were announced before the start of regular U.S. trading. State Street has declined 3.6 percent this year. The Standard & Poor’s 17-member index of asset managers and custody banks was little changed. Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., both based in New York, are the two biggest custody banks. Custody banks keep records, track performance and lend securities for institutional investors including mutual funds, pension funds and hedge funds. State Street also manages investments for individuals and institutions. (State Street is scheduled to hold a conference call for investors at 9:00 a.m. New York time. The call can be accessed at http://www.statestreet.com/stockholder and by telephone at 1-706-679-5594 or +1-888-391-4233 (Conference ID # 36962726).) 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

Rodent Droppings ‘Too Numerous to Count’ Found on Delta Jet

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/fda-discovers-rodent-excrement-during-delta-jet-inspection-1-.html

Rodent droppings “too numerous to count” were found by U.S. health inspectors near a Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) jet’s galley where food and drink are stored. The excrement and mammalian urine turned up in inspections from Jan. 26 through Feb. 2 at a Delta hangar at its Atlanta headquarters, the Food and Drug Administration said in an April 13 letter to the airline. Delta said today the plane was cleaned and returned to service within days. Mechanical traps probably would be preferable to chemicals in trying to end a rodent infestation on a plane, said Chad Artimovich, who is the president of pest-control company Atlanta Wildlife Solutions LLC and has exterminated rats in recreational vehicles, mobile homes and a hot tub. “You don’t want to use poison because then you have to go through the process of tracking it down and finding it and maybe tearing the whole airplane apart,” Artimovich said in an interview. “A dead rat stinks to high heaven.” Delta took the rodent case “very seriously” and resolved the issue by temporarily parking the jet and “humanely catching the animal,” said Ashley Black, a spokeswoman for the Atlanta- based carrier. International Plane Black declined to specify the type of plane involved, other than that it was used on international flights. It was returned to service within days after the rodent’s removal, she said. “We believe this was an isolated incident and we cooperated with the FDA immediately to resolve it earlier this year,” Black said. “The health and safety of Delta’s customers and employees are Delta’s top priority.” The FDA said rodent excrement was discovered above the right and left forward galleys and mammalian urine was detected in six areas on ceiling panels over a galley. Delta’s response to the agency didn’t include steps to prevent a recurrence, which is “likely” unless such measures are taken, the FDA said. Federal regulations for transportation companies require that “all places where food is prepared, served, or stored shall be constructed and maintained as to be clean and free from flies, rodents and other vermin,” the FDA said. The animal most likely to be involved in an airplane infestation is a roof rat, a species prevalent in Atlanta, Artimovich said. Those rodents leave as many as 50 droppings a day, and a jetliner provides “everything a rat needs” with spilled nuts and pretzel crumbs and sources of water, he said. “Once it gets in there and gets established, there’s no reason to leave,” he said. “The real concern is if a rat started chewing on wires. Almost every house I go into where there are rats, they’ve chewed on wood and wiring and ornaments. Their teeth are harder than iron and they have to keep them gnawed down.” To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Jane Credeur in Atlanta at mcredeur@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ed Dufner at edufner@bloomberg.net .

Kazakhstan Urges Russia, Belarus to Coordinate Currency Policies

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/kazakhstan-urges-russia-belarus-to-coordinate-currency-policies.html

Kazakhstan urged Russia and Belarus to align currency policies between the three members of a customs union and avoid “sharp, unilateral” devaluations. “If we move toward a joint economic space with Russia and Belarus, we need to form coherent currency policies,” Kazakh central bank Governor Grigori Marchenko told reporters in Almaty today. The central Asian nation was forced to weaken the tenge twice in the past 16 years “not for domestic reasons but as a result of sharp devaluations in neighboring countries.” The three former Soviet republics entered a customs union in July and plan to form common economic space by next year. The adoption of a joint currency would be the “next logical step” after creating a common market, Igor Shuvalov, a Russian first deputy prime minister, said last year. Belarus today abolished restrictions on trading the ruble between banks as it seeks to stem the slide in the nation’s foreign-currency reserves. The decision is “equivalent to a devaluation,” Barbara Nestor , an emerging-markets strategist at Commerzbank AG in London , said by e-mail. The former Soviet republic, which devalued its currency by about a fifth in January 2009, may need to reduce the ruble’s value by as much as 30 percent, Herbert Stepic, chief executive officer of Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) , said on April 11. The comments were echoed in an April 15 interview by German Gref , chief executive officer of OAO Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, who predicted the “government won’t be able to avoid a devaluation.” ‘Rather Complicated’ The customs union will delay steps to synchronize currency policies until Belarus “resolves” its “rather complicated situation,” Marchenko said. The three partners have agreed to work toward integrating currency policies in the union, he said. The National Bank of Kazakhstan devalued the tenge by 63 percent in 1999 and 25 percent in 2009, according to Marchenko. Russia’s central bank drained more than $200 billion, or about a third of its reserves, in the six months through January 2009 as it managed a 35 percent devaluation of the ruble to the dollar. The government defaulted on $40 billion of domestic debt and devalued the ruble in 1998. Marchenko also urged the customs union to coordinate fiscal programs to avoid the euro region’s mismatch between uniform monetary policies and diverse approaches to spending among governments in the currency bloc. To contact the reporters on this story: Nariman Gizitdinov in Almaty at ngizitdinov@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Steve Voss at sev@bloomberg.net .

Rupiah Drops to Two-Week Low on U.S., European Debt Concern

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/rupiah-drops-to-two-week-low-on-u-s-european-debt-concern.html

Indonesia ’s rupiah fell to a two- week low after Standard & Poor’s cut the U.S. long-term credit outlook, sapping demand for emerging-market assets. Benchmark bonds declined. The currency weakened for a second day as the MSCI Asia Pacific Index of regional stocks dropped 1.4 percent. New York- based S&P said there’s a one-in-three chance the AAA credit rating of the U.S. government might be cut within two years unless policy makers agree on a plan to reduce budget deficits and the national debt. The yield on Greece ’s two-year bonds rose to more than 20 percent. “Overnight we had a couple of pieces of bad news; the U.S rating outlook downgrade and ongoing concern about the Greek debt crisis,” said Joanna Tan, a Singapore-based economist at Forecast Singapore Pte. “That led to overall risk aversion in Asia, including Indonesia. Asia is still very much looking toward the major economies for cues.” The rupiah declined 0.2 percent to 8,688 per dollar as of 4:16 p.m. in Jakarta, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It fell to 8,693 earlier, the weakest level since April 1. The currency has advanced 3.3 percent this year. The U.S. was the second largest buyer of Indonesia’s non- oil exports in February, after Japan , according to data from the statistics department. Indonesia’s 10-year government bonds declined for a fourth day. The yield on the 8.25 percent note due July 2021 climbed one basis point to 7.86 percent, according to closing prices from the Inter-Dealer Market Association. The government sold 6.6 trillion rupiah of bonds and bills in an auction today, less than the target of 7 trillion rupiah, the Ministry of Finance’s debt management office said in an e- mailed statement. The sale drew bids of 14.841 trillion rupiah, according to the statement. To contact the reporters on this story: Suryani Omar in Jakarta at somar6@bloomberg.net ; To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry at shendry@bloomberg.net .

Obama Embarks on Tour to Sell Debt Plan, Not Dwell on S&P's U.S. Outlook

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/obama-embarks-on-tour-to-sell-debt-plan-not-dwell-on-s-p-report.html

President Barack Obama began a tour promoting his proposal to cut long-term budget deficits with a new urgency after Standard & Poor’s said the nation’s AAA credit rating is in peril. The divide between Republicans and Democrats in Congress over combating the nation’s debt was spotlighted by Standard & Poor’s lowering of the long-term U.S. credit outlook to “negative,” with each side saying the alert bolsters their competing arguments. At a town hall-style meeting today in Annandale, Virginia, Obama said the nation’s mounting debt posed a threat to the strength of the economic recovery. “Now that the economy has begun to grow again, if we keep on spending more than we take in, it’s going to cause serious damage to our economy,” Obama said at a gymnasium filled with students and faculty at Northern Virginia Community College. Obama’s cross-country campaign-style swing is billed in part as an effort to build support for cuts in popular programs and he didn’t mention yesterday’s S&P report. Administration officials said they don’t expect him to refer to it unless he is asked. Chris Lehane , a Democratic strategist who worked on Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, said any president would prefer to minimize attention to an unfavorable assessment of the nation’s creditworthiness. ‘Political Paralysis’ Local newspapers and television stations would be likely to report “Wall Street questions U.S. long-term credit because of political paralysis in Washington,” Lehane said. “That’s not the headline you want when you’re looking at re-election.” Obama is scheduled to spend three days traveling through states crucial to his 2012 re-election campaign to publicize his plan to reduce cumulative deficits by $4 trillion over 12 years. The plan includes spending cuts on defense and domestic programs and calls for raising taxes on the wealthy. In Virginia , he said he was optimistic the White House could overcome differences with congressional Republicans to reach an agreement on the deficit, citing deals the two parties struck on tax cuts last December and government funding in April. “I believe that Democrats and Republicans can come together to get this done,” Obama said. “Both sides have come together before. I believe we can do it again.” Town-Hall Meetings He will also hold forums on the deficit-reduction plan later this week at Facebook Inc.’s headquarters in Palo Alto , California , and in Reno, Nevada. Democrats say New York-based S&P’s revision in the U.S.’s long-term credit outlook helps make the case for a broad agreement based on the debt-cutting plan Obama outlined last week. Republicans say the ratings firm’s report reinforces their call for deeper spending cuts than the president and other Democrats have been willing to consider. S&P said the government risks losing its AAA credit rating unless policy makers agree on a plan by 2013 to reduce budget deficits and the national debt. The company maintained its top rating on U.S. long-term debt while lowering the outlook to “negative” for the first time. Negative Outlook The White House downplayed the negative outlook, saying it was based on a faulty appraisal of the political climate. Austan Goolsbee , chairman of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, said yesterday that the outlook was based on a “political judgment” of prospects for a deficit-reduction agreement that doesn’t deserve “too much weight.” Charles Schumer of New York , the Senate’s third-ranking Democrat, said bipartisan agreement exists on the need to reduce the debt by $4 trillion over roughly the next decade. “Now we just need to resolve how to do it,” Schumer, who is traveling in Asia during a two-week congressional break, said in a statement. Obama’s “balanced plan -- which relies on shared sacrifice, as opposed to simply ending Medicare -- makes a long-term deal highly possible,” the senator said. Republicans have proposed scaling back entitlement programs such as Medicare and reject Obama’s push for tax increases to help reduce debt. ‘Wake-up Call’ House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Virginia Republican, called the S&P revision “a wake-up call for those in Washington asking Congress to blindly increase the debt limit” without significant spending cuts. The negative outlook on long-term U.S. debt issued by S&P “makes clear that the debt-limit increase proposed by the Obama administration must be accompanied by meaningful fiscal reforms that immediately reduce federal spending and stop our nation from digging itself further into debt,” Cantor said. Congress is facing a vote as early as next month on raising the government’s $14.29 trillion legal debt limit. The Treasury Department projects that it will hit the cap on May 16, though it could use emergency measures to avoid default until about July 8. Obama and members of his economic team have said that failure to approve an increase could have catastrophic consequences for the U.S. economy and financial markets. Reliability Questioned S&P revised the U.S. government’s long-term outlook to negative on concern the White House and Congress will fail to reach agreement on cutting medium- and long-term debt. Some of Obama’s Democratic allies questioned S&P’s reliability, citing the top rating it gave to mortgage-backed securities that later crashed in value and contributed to the 2008 financial crisis. “Given that the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission called the credit rating companies ‘key enablers of the financial meltdown,’ it’s difficult to know how much credibility S&P should be given,” said Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist who helped to run Bill Clinton ’s first presidential campaign in 1992 and served in the Clinton White House as a political adviser. Members of the so-called Gang of Six, a group of six Democratic and Republican senators who are seeking to negotiate a compromise deficit-reduction plan, said the S&P move shows the markets are watching for signs that policy makers will confront the debt. “If we fail to take this seriously, and if our deficit and debt discussions turn into just another game of political brinksmanship, this could result in the most predictable economic crisis in our history,” Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the Democratic leader of the group, said in a statement. ‘Debt Crisis’ Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma , a Republican member of the group, said the S&P’s change should create a sense of urgency for tackling “our debt crisis.” The White House said yesterday that Vice President Joe Biden will open a round of negotiations with members of Congress on long-term deficit reduction with a meeting at Blair House on May 5. The Obama administration has been bracing for the change in outlook for about two months as S&P reviewed its assessment of U.S. debt. During the period, David Beers, the head of the company’s public finance unit, was in touch with Mary Miller, the assistant Treasury secretary for financial markets, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Deficit Plan About 10 days ago, Treasury Department officials gained a stronger sense that S&P would issue a negative outlook, the person said. That was shortly before the April 13 speech in which Obama presented his deficit plan. While Treasury officials sought to persuade the company that Congress and the administration were determined to reduce the deficit, S&P told the Treasury Department of its final outlook on the afternoon of April 15 and of its plan to make an announcement yesterday. White House and Treasury officials prepared their response over the weekend, seeking to convey a message of optimism without appearing to be in denial about the challenges of reaching an agreement on long-term deficits, said the person familiar with the discussions. Less than half an hour after the S&P announcement, Miller released a statement saying the outlook “underestimates the ability of America’s leaders to come together.” First Since 1996 The announcement was the first time the U.S. credit outlook has been questioned since 1995 and 1996, when a dispute between Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Georgia Republican, led to two government shutdowns. Fitch Ratings put U.S. debt on a “negative ratings watch” in November 1995 until spring 1996, and Moody’s Investors Service put some U.S. government bonds on review for a possible downgrade in January 1996. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) rose 0.1 percent to 1,306.46 at 12:29 p.m., after falling 1.1 percent yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 percent to 12,222.29, after a 1.1 percent decline yesterday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note jumped as high as 3.45 percent yesterday in the minutes after the S&P report, then fell back to 3.37 percent as investors focused on speculation that Greece will be unable to avoid a default, driving them to the relative safety of U.S. debt. In trading today, 10-year yields fell 2 basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 3.35 percent at 12:35 p.m. in New York, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices. A gauge of the dollar yesterday advanced the most since November against the currencies of major trading partners on increased demand for a refuge as Europe ’s debt crisis outweighed the negative S&P U.S. credit-rating outlook. IntercontinentalExchange’s Dollar Index increased 0.9 percent to 75.508 at 5 p.m. in New York yesterday, from 74.832 on April 15. The gauge tracks the dollar against the euro, yen, pound, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar and Swedish krona. The index fell 0.5 percent today to 75.115. The euro rose 0.6 percent to $1.4319 as of 12:38 p.m. Yesterday, the dollar appreciated 1.4 percent to $1.4235 per euro in New York from $1.4430 on April 15. To contact the reporters on this story: Mike Dorning in Washington at mdorning@bloomberg.net ; Julie Hirschfeld Davis in Washington at jdavis159@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net

Reliance Fuel Exports Rise 6% on Singapore Gasoline Cargoes

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/reliance-fuel-exports-rise-6-on-gasoline-shipments-to-singapore.html

Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) , India’s largest listed company, raised fuel exports from the world’s biggest refining complex by 6 percent in the first half of April as demand from Southeast Asia boosted shipments to Singapore. The Mumbai-based company, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani , increased shipments of fuel products from its Jamnagar facility to at least 800,000 metric tons from 755,000 tons in the first 15 days of March, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg and vessel fixtures from Clarkson Research Services Ltd. Reliance is exporting more as state-owned rivals such as Indian Oil Corp. and Bharat Petroleum Corp. sell more fuel domestically at government-capped prices while refinery outages in Asia boost demand. Exxon Mobil Corp., the biggest U.S. oil company, shut parts of its Singapore refining complex for nine weeks starting March 9 for maintenance and upgrades, while PT Pertamina stopped fuel production at its Cilacap, Central Java refinery from April 2 to April 8 after a fire broke out at a storage tank. “We are currently in the refinery maintenance season in this region,” said Praveen Kumar , Singapore-based head of South Asia oil and gas at FACTS Global Energy, an industry consultant. “Reliance can bring its products to Singapore, store them and then reship cargoes to other places.” Manoj Warrier, a spokesman for Reliance in Mumbai, didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Gasoline Shipments Reliance exported at least 540,000 tons of gasoline from Jamnagar in western India during the first 15 days this month, compared with 195,000 tons in the first half of March, according to transmissions captured by AISLive on Bloomberg and data from Clarkson Research, a unit of the world’s biggest shipbroker. At least 42 percent of this month’s gasoline shipments went to Singapore, while at least two cargoes went to the U.S. Gasoline demand in the world’s biggest economy typically peaks in the so-called summer driving season, which lasts from the Memorial Day weekend in late May to the Labor Day holiday in early September. The Stena Paris was hired by Mercuria to transport 35,000 tons of gasoline to Singapore from the port of Sikka near Jamnagar, the Clarkson data show. The vessel sailed from near Sikka in early April and was last tracked off the coast of Singapore, according to ship transmissions captured by Bloomberg. Benchmark 92-RON gasoline declined 2.3 percent to $124.95 a barrel on yesterday, Bloomberg data showed. Nord Observer Gasoil, or diesel, shipments dropped 66 percent to at least 168,060 tons. Reliance doubled fuel exports in the first half of March as the European winter boosted demand for diesel. Destinations for diesel cargoes in April included the Middle East and Africa , the data show. The company also shipped 35,000 tons of naphtha to Japan and 57,000 tons of jet fuel to Europe. The Nord Observer sailed from Sikka to the Saudi Arabian port of Jizan earlier this month, according to ship transmissions. The vessel was hired by Cargill Inc. to transport 40,000 tons of gasoil to the Middle East, the Clarkson data show. The tanker was last tracked heading back to Sikka from Jizan. Gasoil with 0.5 percent sulfur fell 1.5 percent to $135.75 a barrel yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. All figures from Clarkson are for single-voyage bookings and exclude long-term charters. Shipbrokers aren’t obliged to report charters so the scope of data capture can vary from month to month. Reliance runs two refineries in the western Indian state of Gujarat, which are capable of processing heavier grades of crude. They have a processing capacity of 1.24 million barrels a day, and account for about 1.6 percent of global refining capacity, according to the company’s website. To contact the reporter on this story: Pratish Narayanan in Mumbai at pnarayanan9@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Clyde Russell at crussell7@bloomberg.net

PNB Bank and OBC Bank CDs Issued:India Money Market

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/pnb-bank-and-obc-bank-cds-issued-india-money-market.html

Following is a table showing certificate of deposits issued by Indian banks.The data has been provided by Trust Financial Consultancy Services,NVS Brokerage Ltd,Derivium Tradition Securities(India)Pvt MATA Securities and SPA Securities Ltd Generated by Bloomberg Publisher WEB Service Provider ID: 340cfa20e4a44bc0afe90f874550e1a2 -0- Apr/19/2011 13:09 GMT

‘Runaway CEO Pay’ Could Support 102,000 Jobs, AFL-CIO Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/-runaway-ceo-pay-could-support-102-000-u-s-jobs-afl-cio-says.html

Chief executive officers at 299 U.S. companies had combined compensation of $3.4 billion in 2010, enough to pay more than 102,000 workers, the AFL-CIO labor federation reported in a study. CEOs at companies including Viacom Inc. (VIA/B) and Oracle Corp. (ORCL) averaged $11.4 million in total compensation in 2010, according to the report, which used data from website salary.com. Viacom’s CEO Philippe P. Dauman earned $84.5 million last year, the highest among the executives, according to the report. “The disparity between CEO and workers’ pay has continued to grow to levels that are completely stunning,” union President Richard Trumka said today at a Washington news conference. He said the U.S. is facing “runaway CEO pay.” The AFL-CIO, with 12.2 million members, has led U.S. labor unions in criticizing the compensation of executives. Trumka was at the head of a march on Wall Street last year to demand taxes on the bonuses of executives at banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) , the fifth-biggest U.S. bank. Trumka, 61, had total compensation of $283,340, including $246,827 in salary, according to a 2010 union filing with the Labor Department. Service Employees International Union President Mary Kay Henry had compensation of $253,660, including $213,801 in salary, according to a separate filing. Trumka said since 1959, labor leaders have had information about their pay available. “My ratio to employees here, it’s 4- to-1,” he said. “That’s not bad.” ‘Say on Pay’ Pay for corporate executives may face limits this year because the law overhauling financial regulations gave shareholders a “say on pay” vote on the amount given to top company management, according to the AFL-CIO report. While the votes aren’t binding, they will encourage boards to enact compensation reforms, it said. The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act requires the compensation committees of a company’s board be composed of independent directors, and the AFL-CIO report said shareholders must be given an advisory vote on the payments made to executives when they are fired or resign. Trumka urged lawmakers to resist Republican efforts aimed at weakening or repealing the law’s pay-disclosure requirements. A Republican proposal would strip a provision that requires publicly traded companies to report the ratio of pay between the CEO and the median pay of their employees. ‘Business As Usual’ Critics are “trying to do everything they can to dilute the law and go back to business as usual for Wall Street ,” he said. The average pay for CEOs of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is enough to cover the salaries of 28 U.S. presidents or more than 700 minimum-wage workers, according to the report. The combined compensation would support 102,325 jobs paying the median wage of all workers, the group said. The AFL-CIO took aim at payments for departing executives called golden parachutes, corporate jet travel, preferential pensions and perks unrelated to performance. Dauman, 54, more than doubled his compensation from $34 million in 2009, based on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules, according to a regulatory filing. The company’s brands include MTV Networks and Paramount Pictures. Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) CEO Ray R. Irani, 76, received compensation valued at $76 million in 2010, followed by Oracle Corp. CEO Lawrence Ellison, 66, who received $70 million. Occidental is an oil and gas exploration and production company, and Oracle provides integrated business software and hardware systems. The union’s website links to a database, letting visitors search for a CEO’s total compensation and compare it to their earnings. The union is urging visitors to write lawmakers in opposition to revising the Dodd-Frank law. To contact the reporter on this story: Stephanie Armour in Washington at sarmour@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Larry Liebert at lliebert@bloomberg.net

Gold Erases Earlier Drop, Advances to $1,496.88 an Ounce in London Trading

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/gold-erases-earlier-drop-advances-to-1-496-88-an-ounce-in-london-trading.html

Gold for immediate delivery gained $1.57, or 0.1 percent, to $1,496.88 an ounce at 10:07 a.m. in London , after falling as much as 0.5 percent in earlier trading. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Maria Kolesnikova at mkolesnikova@bloomberg.net

Berkshire, Buffett Sued by Shareholder Over Sokol's Lubrizol Trading Gains

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/berkshire-hathaway-buffett-sokol-sued-over-lubrizol-profits.html

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) and Chief Executive Officer Warren Buffett were sued by a shareholder over trades in Lubrizol Corp. (LZ) by former Berkshire manager David Sokol. Berkshire investor Mason Kirby, suing to recover damages for the company, contends that Sokol, also a defendant, hurt the firm by taking a stake in Lubrizol before recommending to Buffett that Berkshire buy the company, according to papers made public today in Delaware Chancery Court in Wilmington. “Sokol knew that Buffett would closely consider and likely take his recommendation,” Kirby said. “As a result of Sokol’s unethical behavior, Berkshire suffered significant reputational losses and other damages.” Sokol bought 96,060 shares of Lubrizol in early January before recommending that Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire acquire the company, Buffett said in a March statement announcing Sokol’s resignation. Buffett didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment e-mailed to his assistant, Carrie Kizer. Ann Thelen, a spokeswoman for Berkshire’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., where Sokol remains chairman until April 21, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment from Sokol. Kirby alleges that Buffett and Sokol, “working in concert,” violated duties to shareholders “and put the company at risk for a potential adverse SEC action and negative credit rating.” The case is Kirby v. Sokol, CA6392, Delaware Chancery Court (Wilmington). To contact the reporter on this story: Phil Milford in Wilmington, Delaware, at pmilford@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net .

Congolese Opposition Party Changes Leadership Before Elections

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/congolese-opposition-party-changes-leadership-before-elections.html

The political party led by former Democratic Republic of Congo presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba, who is under indictment at the International Criminal Court , changed its leadership ahead of elections this year. Thomas Luhaka, a lawmaker, took over as secretary-general of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, or MLC, from Francois Mwamba, who ran the party after Bemba’s transfer to The Hague, Luhaka said in a phone interview today. “We need to restructure the party before the upcoming deadlines for the elections,” Luhaka said from Kinshasa, the capital. The MLC hasn’t yet decided whether it will nominate its own presidential candidate or support one from another party in a vote currently scheduled for November, he said. Bemba was runner-up to Joseph Kabila in Congo’s 2006 presidential elections, the country’s first in more than four decades. Supporters of the former rebel leader clashed with Kabila’s soldiers in the streets of Kinshasa in 2007, leaving hundreds dead. Bemba is facing charges at the ICC of leading militias who murdered and raped civilians in neighboring Central African Republic in 2002 and 2003. He has pleaded not guilty. The MLC informed Bemba of the leadership change “and he is in agreement,” Luhaka said. To contact the reporter on this story: Michael J. Kavanagh in Kinshasa at mkavanagh9@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net .

Oilseed Output to Rise 1.2% as Farmers Seed More, Oil World Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/oilseed-output-to-rise-1-2-as-farmers-seed-more-oil-world-says.html

Global oilseed production will rise 1.2 percent this year after farmers expanded planting, mostly in South America , the U.S. and India , on higher prices, according to Oil World, a researcher based in Hamburg. Output of soybeans, cottonseed, ground nuts, sunflower seed, rapeseed, palm kernels and copra from coconuts will total 438.3 million metric tons, Oil World said in a report today. That’s up from 433 million tons a year earlier and last month’s estimate of 435.3 million tons, it said. Soybean output will rise 0.6 percent to a record 261.3 million tons, Oil World said. “Farmers sizably expanded the area under oilseeds,” Oil World said. “Most of the upward revision from our previous estimates occurred in soybeans, primarily in South America.” Soybean futures have gained 37 percent in the past year, partly because of increased demand from China , the biggest consumer of the oilseed. Soybean production in Brazil , the world’s third-biggest shipper behind the U.S. and Argentina , will rise 4.8 percent to 72 million tons in 2011, Oil World said. Southern Hemisphere output will increase 2.2 percent from last month’s estimate to 134.3 million tons, according to the report. Wet Weather Some U.S. farmers who planned to seed more corn after prices more than doubled in the past year rather than soybeans may be hindered by weather, Oil World said. Wet weather in the northern Plains may prevent growers from seeding corn who will then switch to soybeans that can be planted later, it said. “It is now considered possible that farmers will try to plant a larger than intended area with corn at the expense of soybeans,” Oil World said. “This will only be possible if weather conditions improve in the main U.S. growing areas. It was too cold and wet in the first half of April, delaying fieldwork and corn plantings.” Global soybean stockpiles will gain 3.3 percent to 68.6 million tons, Oil World said. Soybean crush, or processing into meal and oil, will surge 9.1 percent to 226.3 million tons through August, according to the report. “World soybean crushings will show an extraordinary increase,” Oil World said. “It should be noted, however, that most of this already occurred in the first half of the season owing to insufficient supplies of other oilseeds and products as well as strong demand.” To contact the reporter on this story: Tony C. Dreibus in London at tdreibus@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter@bloomberg.net .

Nestle Timeline on L’Oreal May Concern Investors, Analyst Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/nestle-timeline-on-l-oreal-may-concern-investors-analyst-says.html

Nestle SA (NESN) ’s intention to wait until 2014 before deciding the future of its L’Oreal SA (OR) stake may cause investors in the world’s largest food company to worry that it will acquire the cosmetics maker, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein said. Nestle said April 14 it will decide what to do with its 30 percent L’Oreal stake in 2014, the year that restrictions on selling the holding to a third party are lifted. Andrew Wood , an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said that makes him “slightly more wary” that Nestle may bid for the remainder, in a note to clients dated yesterday. “The prospect of a value-destroying, risky, strategically inconsistent deal, made against the wishes of most investors, within three years, is hardly going to be forgotten in the meantime,” the New York-based analyst wrote. Nestle Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe said taking three years to decide will give the company time to reflect on its strategy. “Everyone can relax,” Roddy Child-Villiers, head of investor relations at the Vevey, Switzerland-based company, said on April 15. Nestle bought a stake in Paris-based L’Oreal in 1974 from the Bettencourt family, which still owns about 31 percent. The maker of KitKat bars has agreed with L’Oreal’s 88-year-old main shareholder, Liliane Bettencourt, not to raise the stake until six months after her death. L’Oreal has a market value of about 50 billion euros ($71 billion), compared with 181.9 billion Swiss francs ($203 billion) for Nestle. Nestle and the Bettencourt family gave each other a right of first refusal over their stakes that runs through April 29, 2014, according to their agreement. After that, Nestle would be able to sell its stake to a third party without offering it to the Bettencourt family. The food company is probably considering selling the stake or holding it, David Hayes , an analyst at Nomura, wrote in an April 15 note to investors. To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Mulier in Geneva at tmulier@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net .

Record Streak for S&P 500 Earnings May Rest With Momentum Kings Apple, GE

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/record-streak-for-s-p-500-earnings-may-rest-with-momentum-kings-apple-ge.html

Investors counting on a record streak of higher-than-forecast profits to keep driving share prices may get clues from 79 companies reporting this week with the best history of earnings surprises. Apple Inc. (AAPL) , maker of the iPhone, and General Electric Co. (GE) , the world’s biggest builder of jet engines , are among companies that have topped analysts’ projections in the last four quarters and had estimates boosted since February, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index companies will probably report average net income growth of 10 percent in the period, data compiled by Bloomberg show. “You can call it momentum, progress or improvement, but there’s always interest in companies that can do better and better each quarter, come up with something new, pull a rabbit out of the hat,” said John Carey , a Boston-based money manager at Pioneer Investments, which oversees about $250 billion. “At the same time, there were some unusual, striking events in the first quarter that upset and distracted investors.” Companies in the S&P 500 have beaten analyst earnings estimates for eight straight quarters, the most since at least 2006, helping propel the index as much as 99 percent from the market bottom on March 9, 2009, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The benchmark gauge for U.S. stocks has risen 3.8 percent since it fell to its low this year of 1,256.88 on March 16, following Japan ’s biggest earthquake on record and higher oil prices spurred by unrest in Middle East and northern Africa. ‘Challenging’ Earnings Season The 20 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported since April 11 have seen earnings-per-share growth of 11 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They have beaten analyst predictions by 0.7 percent, with 75 percent of the companies announcing positive surprises. Seventy-nine U.S. companies have exceeded estimates for four quarters and had forecasts revised upward, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They all have a market value of greater than $100 million, including restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) , chemical maker DuPont Co. and private-equity firm Blackstone Group LP. (BX) A basket of stocks in the S&P 500 that have met the criteria gained almost twice as much as the benchmark equity measure in the past year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Denver-based Chipotle, Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont and Blackstone, which is based in New York, have all outperformed the S&P 500 by at least 12 percentage points in the past year. Apple Profits Apple’s profit in the quarter ended Dec. 25 jumped 78 percent, as sales increased 71 percent to a record $26.7 billion. Analysts estimate Cupertino, California-based Apple will have adjusted second-quarter profit of $5.39 a share on sales of $23.4 billion when it reports tomorrow, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Profit at GE in Fairfield, Connecticut , rose 5.6 percent to $11.64 billion from $11.03 billion last year. Eleven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg forecast earnings for the first quarter, which ended March 11, will be 28 cents a share on average, compared with a 21-cent profit in the year-ago period. GE reports earnings on April 21. First-quarter earnings may be “challenging” because of rising commodity prices and slowing economic growth, said Michael Holland , who oversees more than $4 billion as chairman of Holland & Co. in New York. Crude oil settled at $112.79 a barrel, a 30-month high, on April 8. Gold rose to a record $1,498.60 an ounce after Standard & Poor’s revised its U.S. credit outlook to negative yesterday. The International Monetary Fund lowered its U.S. growth forecast for 2011 last week to 2.8 percent from 3 percent, citing higher commodity prices and sluggish jobs growth, and downgraded its outlook for Japan. Signals From Alcoa Alcoa Inc. (AA) ’s April 11 quarterly report signaled gains would be harder to come by this year, according to Bespoke Investment Group LLC. Alcoa tumbled 6 percent and the benchmark measure of U.S. shares lost 0.8 percent the day after the biggest U.S. aluminum producer estimated sales that trailed estimates. The S&P 500 has lost an average of 5.1 percent since 2001 over the remainder of earnings seasons when Alcoa slumped 5 percent or more, and the benchmark gauge for U.S. stocks dropped at least 0.5 percent on the same day, according to Harrison, New York-based research firm Bespoke in a report last week. Alcoa, the first company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to publish quarterly results, beat earnings projections for four quarters and had estimates revised higher by analysts before it announced results last week. While the Pittsburgh- based company reported adjusted per-share profit that exceeded predictions for the fifth straight quarter, the stock slumped after sales missed estimates. Metrics “People had their metrics lined up and the company underperformed,” Holland said. “It isn’t simply the earnings- per-share numbers. It’s revenue and guidance too. To a nervous market, if a company underperforms in any of these categories, you see what happens with Alcoa.” The S&P 500 rallied 5.8 percent in the six weeks after Alcoa’s fourth-quarter profit report topped projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show. More than 67 percent of companies in the gauge exceeded estimates in the period, the eighth straight quarter of positive surprises. “There’s no question that in the short-term, current expectations are instrumental in pushing a stock up or down,” said Holland, who oversees more than $4 billion in New York. “If a company exceeds expectations, near-term traders trade off that.” To contact the reporter on this story: Inyoung Hwang at ihwang7@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net .

Northern Irish Tax Cut Would Help Beat Terrorism, Paterson Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/northern-irish-tax-cut-would-help-beat-terrorism-paterson-says.html

Northern Ireland is counting on reducing its company tax rate to the same level as its southern neighbor to help boost the flagging economy and stifle a recurrence of terrorist activity in the province. Cutting the rate to the Republic of Ireland’s 12.5 percent from the U.K.-wide 28 percent is among measures put forward in a consultation paper by Owen Paterson, the secretary of state in the British government who is responsible for Northern Ireland. “We need to do something really radical to help revive the economy,” Paterson said in a telephone interview. Better economic prospects would “take away any incentive for people to join” dissidents, he said. Northern Ireland holds elections on May 5 for its power- sharing assembly after the economy shrank by 5 percent over the past three years and unemployment doubled. Voting takes place amid a growing threat from dissident republicans still using terrorism to push for a united Ireland six years after the Irish Republic Army gave up their weapons. Members of one group killed a policeman, Ronan Kerr, in a car bomb on April 2. Yesterday, police said a bomb left in a wooded area of south Belfast was an attempt to kill officers lured to the area with a hoax call. The device didn’t explode. “Stability will keep them in check but there will always be poor young people,” Peter Shirlow , a politics lecturer at Queen’s University in Belfast , said in an interview. “Reviving the economy shouldn’t be overstated. The dissidents are ideologues, militarists. Their goal is about keeping the flame of republicanism, as they see it, alive.” Northern Squeeze The province is being squeezed by government budget cuts in the rest of the U.K. to the east and the collapse of Ireland’s economy to the south. Northern Ireland is more dependent on public jobs than anywhere else in the U.K., and Paterson said 77.6 percent of spending is derived from the state. “The economy survives here on public spending,” Paterson said on April 13. “That is simply unsustainable.” Last month, Patterson opened a public consultation on reducing company tax further than the U.K. Treasury is currently proposing. It would allow the assembly in Belfast to decide on the level rather than the government in London. “The choice of setting the rate would be in local hands,” Patterson said. The consultation period ends in June and the U.K. government will discuss it afterwards, he said. More Autonomy The U.K.’s corporate tax rate will fall to 26 percent this month and by one percentage point every year for the next three years, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne told parliament in his budget speech on March 23. The Scottish National Party wants to lower Scotland ’s company tax rate further to make the country more competitive, First Minister Alex Salmond said in an interview last month. The SNP runs the devolved government in Edinburgh and is seeking re- election on May 5 to push for more autonomy. “I support Northern Ireland getting control of corporation tax ,” Salmond said at the SNP headquarters in Edinburgh. “Once the principle is conceded of differential rates then it’s very difficult” to say no to Scotland. “If we win the election then this will happen,” he said. Northern Ireland’s assembly was revived in 2007 after the IRA decommissioned its weapons. It is headed by the pro-U.K. Democratic Unionist Party and pro-united Ireland Sinn Fein party, one-time allies of the IRA. Top Priorities First Minister Peter Robinson said boosting the economy and defeating the dissidents are his top priorities. They are trying to reignite a conflict that claimed 3,500 lives before largely ending in 1998 with a peace deal. Terrorists have killed two British soldiers and two policemen since ramping up their campaign in 2009. A week after the murder of policeman Kerr, dissidents left a 500-pound bomb on the border with Ireland. Activity by armed dissident groups soared by 60 percent in 2010 from a year earlier, according to Justice Minister David Ford. They are funded by alcohol and cigarette smuggling, drugs and racketeering, Paterson said. “We are in a very different place from where we were 30 or 40 years ago,” said Patterson. “But we need to rebalance the economy and that will take a generation.” To contact the reporter on this story: Colm Heatley in Belfast at cheatley@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rodney Jefferson at r.jefferson@bloomberg.net

Udvar-Hazy's Air Lease Raises $802.5 Million in Jet Industry's Biggest IPO

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/udvar-hazy-s-air-lease-raises-802-5-million-in-jet-industry-s-biggest-ipo.html

Air Lease Corp., the jet-leasing company led by Steven Udvar-Hazy, raised $802.5 million in the industry’s largest U.S. initial public offering after increasing the number of shares 21 percent. The Los Angeles-based company sold 30.3 million shares at $26.50 each yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It had offered 25 million shares at $25 to $28, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The underwriters may exercise an overallotment option to buy as many as 4.54 million additional shares, Bloomberg data show, compared with the 3.75 million listed in the prospectus. Udvar-Hazy, 65, is drawing on four decades of relationships with airlines, planemakers and bankers to recreate some of what he walked away from in 2010 when he left American International Group Inc. (AIG) As chairman and chief executive officer of Air Lease, he has built a fleet of 49 aircraft, with orders for more than 150 additional planes since founding the company 14 months ago. Air Lease’s fleet doesn’t have the “legacy challenges” that saddle competitors, Udvar-Hazy said in a presentation broadcast online by RetailRoadshow. The company’s jets have a weighted average age of 3.5 years, compared with 5.4 years for competitor AerCap Holding NV’s 350 planes, 8.1 years for Fly Leasing Ltd. (FLY) ’s 59 and 11 years for Aircastle Ltd. (AYR) ’s 136 aircraft, according to company filings. Air Lease doesn’t plan to pay a dividend, according to its prospectus, while Aircastle and Fly do. Industry Growth Aircraft leasing is growing in popularity as airlines seek flexibility within the cyclical air-travel industry as well as a way to avoid burdening their balance sheets with the billions of dollars required to fund plane purchases. In 1990, about 10 percent of the world’s commercial planes were leased, and by 2015 that proportion will reach 35 percent, according to estimates by industry-data providers Ascend and Avitas cited by Air Lease. Still, the three aircraft lessors that went public in the two years before the recession hit -- AerCap, Aircastle and Fly

U.S. Natural Gas Stockpiles Probably Rose 3.2% on Warmer Weather

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/u-s-natural-gas-stockpiles-probably-rose-3-2-on-warmer-weather.html

U.S. natural-gas supplies probably rose 3.2 percent last week as heater use in the North and air conditioning in the South spurred demand, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg before a government report on April 21. Inventories rose 52 billion cubic feet to 1.659 trillion in the week ended April 15, according to the median of seven estimates. The five-year average stockpile change for the week is an increase of 34 billion. Supplies jumped 75 billion cubic feet a year earlier. A storm system that swept across the U.S. North last week brought snow to the Great Plains while temperatures rose in Southern states. The range of temperatures was enough to support prices, said Kyle Cooper , director of research at IAF Advisors in Houston who expects an increase of 52 billion cubic feet. “The overall temperature profile has been relatively bullish,” Cooper said. “From that perspective, I think the prices would have been quite a bit lower if it weren’t for Mother Nature. As long as Mother Nature stays bullish we’ll probably find some support.” The stockpile estimates ranged from increases of 47 billion to 65 billion cubic feet. The Energy Department is scheduled to release its weekly report on gas in storage April 21 at 10:30 a.m. in Washington. Cooling degree days in South Atlantic states in the week ended April 14 were more than double normal levels, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Degree days are used as a measure of demand for power. Temperatures in Houston reached 88 degrees Fahrenheit (31 Celsius) on April 11, 10 degrees higher than normal, according to State College , Pennsylvania-based AccuWeather Inc. Supplies Last Week Stockpiles rose 28 billion cubic feet to 1.607 trillion in the week ended April 8, last week’s report showed. Analysts expected an increase of 35 billion. Gas on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 1.7 percent to $4.212 per million British thermal units on April 14, after last week’s report was released. Prices have risen 1.7 percent since then, gaining 12.4 cents, or 3 percent, to $4.262 today. The number of rigs drilling for natural gas in the U.S. slipped four to 885 last week, according to Houston-based Baker Hughes Inc. The gas rig count has slipped 11 percent since touching 992 in the week ended Aug. 13. A decrease in imports of liquefied natural gas and higher exports to Mexico may pare additions to inventories, said Stephen Smith , an energy analyst and president of Stephen Smith Energy Associates in Natchez, Mississippi , who estimates that stockpiles grew by 47 billion cubic feet last week. “ Japan is sucking up any spare LNG that’s sitting around,” Smith said. “Mexico is also reducing LNG imports while increasing imports of cheaper U.S. pipeline gas.” To contact the reporter on this story: Gene Laverty in Calgary at glaverty@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net .

U.S. Stock Futures Erase Losses; Texas Instruments Decreases on Forecast

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/u-s-stock-futures-erase-losses-texas-instruments-decreases-on-forecast.html

U.S. stock futures pared their losses as investors awaited a report that may show housing starts climbed in March, offsetting Texas Instruments Inc.’s forecast that fell short of some analysts’ estimates. Texas Instruments, the second-biggest U.S. chipmaker, lost 2.3 percent in early New York trading. Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips declined in Germany as crude oil retreated for a second day. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in June rose less than 0.1 percent to 1,301.2 at 10:58 a.m. in London , after the benchmark gauge dropped 1.1 percent yesterday. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 0.1 percent to 12,148 today, while Nasdaq-100 Index futures advanced less than 0.1 percent to 2,290.75. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Hadfield at whadfield@bloomberg.net

EDF Energies Nouvelles, Esker, L’Oreal: French Equity Preview

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/edf-energies-nouvelles-esker-l-oreal-french-equity-preview.html

The following is a list of companies whose shares may have unusual price changes in Paris. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names. Share prices are from the last close. France ’s CAC 40 Index (CAC) gained 0.7 percent to 3,908.58 in Paris. The SBF 120 Index (SBF120) also rose 0.7 percent. Aufeminin.com SA (FEM) : The operator of websites targeted at women said first-quarter sales rose 11 percent to 9 million euros and net income advanced 1.7 percent to 1.9 million euros. The shares rose 2.1 percent to 19.59 euros. EDF Energies Nouvelles SA (EEN) : The power-generation company said its Mexican unit agreed to buy two wind-energy projects with a capacity of 324 megawatts. The shares slipped less than 0.1 percent to 40.17 euros. Esker SA (ALESK) The provider of business software to manage electronic documents said first-quarter sales rose 13 percent to 8.39 million euros. The shares declined 1.2 percent to 6.74 euros. HF Co. (HF) : The maker of television receivers and Internet-access equipment said first-quarter sales rose 0.3 percent to 36 million euros. The shares fell 6.7 percent to 15.54 euros. Linedata Services (LIN) : France’s largest maker of financial software for leasing and credit companies said first- quarter sales fell 7.5 percent to 31.7 million euros. The shares rose 0.7 percent to 12.70 euros. L’Oreal SA (OR) : The world’s largest cosmetics maker, reported first-quarter sales rose 9.3 percent to 5.16 billion euros, beating analysts’ estimates as customers bought more Maybelline makeup and Ralph Lauren fragrances. The shares rose 1.8 percent to 83.20 euros. PCAS SA (PCA FP): The chemical maker said first-quarter sales climbed 6.3 percent to 44.05 million euros. The shares fell 0.4 percent to 2.63 euros. Spir Communication (SPI) : The publisher of free weekly newspapers and real estate magazines said first-quarter sales rose 3.9 percent to 146.7 million euros. The shares gained 0.6 percent to 40.51 euros. Virbac SA (VIRP) : The maker of veterinary vaccines and drugs said first-quarter sales rose 18 percent to 159.9 million euros. The shares rose 1 percent to 117.30 euros. To contact the reporter on this story: Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at rruitenberg@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Vidya Root at vroot@bloomberg.net

Allstate Says Wilson’s Pay Is Justified as Insurer Prepares for Proxy Vote

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/allstate-says-wilson-s-pay-is-justified-as-insurer-prepares-for-proxy-vote.html

Allstate Corp. (ALL) , the biggest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, told a proxy advisory firm that Chief Executive Officer Thomas Wilson ’s pay last year was justified as it braced for a vote on compensation. “Our compensation program is overseen by our independent board members and should be supported,” Northbrook, Illinois- based Allstate said in a letter to Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., disclosed today in a regulatory filing. The methodology used by ISS to value Wilson’s stock options “undermines the credibility of its analysis and vote recommendations and is potentially misleading to investors.” Allstate is giving shareholders a non-binding vote on executive compensation. The company said it followed accounting guidelines of the Securities and Exchange Commission when disclosing Wilson’s pay for last year at $9.3 million, a 12 percent decline from 2009. According to the ISS methodology, his compensation rose 45 percent to $11.9 million, Allstate said. Financial companies are giving shareholders a greater voice in executive compensation after the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform act became law last year. Proxy advisory firms like ISS monitor corporate governance at public companies and make recommendations on how shareholders should vote. “Investors that rely upon ISS may mistakenly believe an increase occurred in our chief executive officer’s compensation when, in fact, it decreased,” Allstate said. Ted Allen, a spokesman for ISS, said that the proxy- advisory service was reviewing the letter and that it would consider Allstate’s concerns when producing its final report. “As a matter of courtesy to any S&P 500 company that wants to review our analysis before it goes out, we will provide them that opportunity,” Allen said in a phone interview. “We generally do this as a means of ensuring factual accuracy.” Allstate is among several companies that requested to see the analysis in advance of publication, he said. To contact the reporters on this story: Andrew Frye in New York at afrye@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Kraut at dkraut2@bloomberg.net

Cerberus's NewPage Said to Work With Restructuring Firms as Apollo Circles

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/cerberus-s-newpage-said-to-work-with-lazard-fti-dewey-on-restructuring.html

NewPage Corp. is working with advisers to help restructure its debt as owner Cerberus Capital Management LP seeks to fend off distressed investors, including Apollo Global Management LLC. Lazard Ltd. (LAZ) , FTI Consulting Inc. (FCN) and law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP are advising Miamisburg, Ohio-based NewPage, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. Leon Black ’s Apollo and Avenue Capital Group, run by Marc Lasry , hold more than $400 million of NewPage’s $806 million of second-lien bonds, which may be converted to equity if the company can’t meet debt payments, two of the people said. NewPage is attempting to cut costs and reduce debt by selling assets after demand for coated-paper declined since 2008. “The second-liens are definitely in distressed territory and indicate a restructuring needs to happen,” said Rahul Gandhi , an analyst at debt-research firm CreditSights Inc. Amber Garwood, a spokeswoman for NewPage, and representatives for Cerberus, Apollo, Avenue, Lazard, FTI and Dewey & LeBoeuf declined to comment. NewPage’s 10 percent second-lien notes due May 2012 fell 0.8 cent to 57.4 cents on the dollar as of 9:55 a.m. in New York , according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The debt has declined 3.6 cents since April 15 when NewPage said it was replacing its chief financial officer. The securities are down from 70 cents in March, Trace data show. Paper Demand The company’s $1.77 billion of 11.375 percent bonds due in December 2014 dropped to 99.4 cents from 100.75 cents on the dollar since NewPage announced the management change, Trace data show. Volatility will continue in the bonds until Apollo “gets its chance to force” NewPage “into a restructuring and gain control of the equity through the process,” London-based Gandhi wrote in an April 19 report. NewPage’s capital structure is “stressed” and about $1 billion over-levered, said Ed Sustar, a credit analyst for Moody’s Investors Service. “The issue is that overall demand for paper dropped in 2008 and there continues to be a long-term sector decline with the migration from print to digital,” said Sustar, who is based in Toronto. “Companies are shutting down mills to keep supply and demand in balance, but prices are not yet at levels to allow them to generate enough money to make a profit.” Cerberus took control of NewPage in 2005 when it bought MeadWestvaco Corp.’s paper business for $2.3 billion. An affiliate of Cerberus provided $415 million to NewPage, according to a statement at the time. “Cerberus may try to preserve value and appease Apollo and Avenue through a rights offering for the second-lien,” said Amer Tiwana, an analyst at CRT Capital Group LLC in Stamford , Connecticut. “Given that their equity is relatively worthless, Cerberus’s only way of keeping control may be through ownership of the second-lien which could be converted into new equity.” To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan Keehner in New York at jkeehner@bloomberg.net ; Krista Giovacco in New York at kgiovacco1@bloomberg.net ; Cristina Alesci in New York at calesci2@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Scheer at dscheer@bloomberg.net ; Faris Khan at fkhan33@bloomberg.net

News Corp. Said to Consider Bid for Formula One Grand Prix Racing Series

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/news-corp-said-to-consider-bid-with-partners-for-formula-1-racing-series.html

News Corp. (NWSA) , the media company controlled by Rupert Murdoch, is considering a bid for the Formula One race car series, according to a person with knowledge the situation. News Corp., owner of cable-television channels including Speed, would only bid for Formula One with partners, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. The New York- based company has held talks with people associated with Formula One car manufacturers, and with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, Sky News reported earlier. Formula One racing includes Grand Prix races in Monaco and Bahrain. News Corp.’s interest is in the early stages and the company has yet to contact Formula One’s owner, the London-based private equity firm CVC Capital Partners , the person said. Julie Henderson , a spokeswoman for News Corp., declined to comment, as did Arturo Elias, a spokesman for Slim. News Corp. declined 11 cents to $16.87 in Nasdaq composite trading today. The class A shares have gained 16 percent this year. To contact the reporter on this story: Ronald Grover in Los Angeles at rgrover5@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net

Royal-Wedding Protest Bid Is Lodged by Muslim Anti-War Group

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/royal-wedding-protest-bid-is-lodged-by-muslim-anti-war-group.html

A Muslim group that campaigns against British military involvement in Afghanistan applied for permission to protest outside Westminster Abbey when Prince William gets married there on April 29, London’s police said. “One of the biggest advocates of British imperialism, Flight Lieutenant Prince William, wishes to enjoy an extravagant wedding ceremony, ironically at the expense of the taxpayer,” Muslims Against Crusades said on its website. “His direct involvement with the murderous British military and eagerness to inherit the reins of a kingdom built on blood and colonialism clearly demonstrate what type of legacy he wishes to leave.” Prince William, the second-in-line to the British throne, will marry Kate Middleton next week in a ceremony that will attract thousands of spectators in the streets between the Abbey and Buckingham Palace , along which the newly-weds will drive in a horse-drawn carriage. The U.K. government says it expects 2 billion people around the world to watch on television. The police are in discussions about preventing demonstrations in London on the day, a spokesman who declined to be identified in line with the force’s rules said by telephone today. All protests along the route of the wedding are banned. The English Defence League , which campaigns against radical Islamism in the U.K., also applied to protest against the Muslim group, the police said. The Metropolitan force said 5,000 officers will be on duty on the day of the royal wedding, the Press Association news wire reported. To contact the reporter on the story: Kitty Donaldson in London at kdonaldson1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net

Grete Waitz, Norway’s Nine-Time Winner of New York Marathon, Dies Aged 57

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/norwegian-marathon-record-setter-grete-waitz-dies-at-57-after-long-illness.html

Grete Waitz, the record nine-time winner of the New York City Marathon , died after a six-year struggle with cancer. She was 57. She died at Oslo’s Ullevaal Hospital at 4:10 a.m. today with her husband, Jack, at her side, said Helle Aanesen, who co- founded Active Against Cancer with Waitz in 2007. Aanesen declined to specify what type of cancer the athlete had died from, as she had chosen not to disclose it to the public. “Grete was a fantastic athlete and someone who paved the way for female runners,” Aanesen said by phone. “She had a will, a talent and led a life that was simply extraordinary. She’ll go down in the history books as one of the greats.” Waitz ran, and won, her first New York City Marathon in 1978, invited by Fred Lebow, then president of the New York Road Runners Club and the founder of the city’s marathon, which runs through all five boroughs and last year attracted more than 45,000 runners from around the world. As she returned to win the New York race eight more times, Waitz and Lebow became friends. Waitz ran her final marathon in 1992 alongside Lebow, who had been diagnosed two years earlier with brain cancer. They crossed the finish line together with their clasped hands held high, registering a time of 5 hours, 32 minutes, 35 seconds. ‘Most Emotional’ Race “It was the most emotional race of my life,” Waitz told the New York Daily News in 2008. “We both ran the last two miles crying.” Lebow, whose cancer had been in remission long enough for him to train for and run the race he created, died in 1994. Waitz, who was born in Oslo as Grete Andersen on Oct. 1, 1953, rose to prominence in her teenage years with national junior titles in the 400 meters and 800 meters, and a European junior record in the 1,500 meters. She set her first of two world records in the 3,000-meters in 1975. Her biggest achievements came in the marathon, including the nine New York wins, from 1978 to 1988, and becoming the first woman to finish in less than 2 1/2 hours. She also took the gold medal at the World Championships in Helsinki in 1983 and an Olympic silver in Los Angeles in 1984. ‘Fairy Tale’ “For a shy Norwegian schoolteacher to grow up and become one of the iconic New York City sports stars is a fairy tale,” said Richard Finn, a spokesman for New York Road Runners. “She was as much New York and synonymous with the marathon as the marathon was synonymous with her,” Finn said. Each October the New York Road Runners hosts a 13.1 mile race around Central Park called “Grete’s Great Gallop,” where Waitz would appear and high-five runners. Waitz attended the 2010 race. “If Grete had to go, it is somehow fitting that she lived until the day after one of the greatest weekends in the sport of marathon running,” Mary Wittenberg, president and chief executive officer of the New York Road Runners, said in a statement, referring to yesterday’s Boston Marathon and the London Marathon on April 17. Cyclist Lance Armstrong , who overcame testicular cancer to win the Tour de France seven times, said he was “sad to hear” of Waitz’s passing, referring to her as a “good friend and an incredible athlete,” in a Twitter posting. ‘Amazing Champion’ “Sad, sad news today as Grete Waitz passed away,” Paula Radcliffe, the fastest women’s marathon runner in history, tweeted. “She was an amazing champion and more amazing person.” Waitz came to New York in 1978 to celebrate her retirement and prepare to have children and a teaching career, Waitz said in a 2008 interview on the New York Road Runner’s website. “But, instead, I quit my job teaching and never had kids. I always got excited when I came to New York for the marathon,” she said. Waitz was appointed a Knight 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 2008 by King Harald V. She also stands as a statue in front of Oslo’s Bislett Stadium and was pictured on Norwegian stamps in 1997. In 1984, she started the annual Grete Waitz run for women in Oslo, which went on until 2003. Waitz’s funeral is expected to be held next week and will be a small private arrangement, according to the wishes of the athlete, Aanesen said. ‘Brightest Flames’ “One of the brightest flames of the modern athletics era has been extinguished,” International Association of Athletics Federations President Lamine Diack said in a statement. “The dedication, perseverance and fortitude with which Grete carved out her athletics career on the track, across the country and on the road is an example to us all, as is the positive way she tackled the illness that beset her life in recent years.” The family of Samuel Rudin, whose name adorns the winners’ trophies at the New York City Marathon, said that it was unlikely that anyone would surpass Waitz’s nine victories in the event. “While she may have been from Norway , Grete Waitz possessed the true New Yorker’s spirit and determination,” the family said today in an e-mailed statement. “She will be greatly missed.” To contact the reporters on this story: Marianne Stigset at mstigset@bloomberg.net Oshrat Carmiel in New York at ocarmiel1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net

Canadian Inflation Accelerates to Highest Rate in Two Years on Jump in Oil

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/canadian-inflation-accelerates-to-highest-rate-in-two-years-on-jump-in-oil.html

Canada ’s inflation rate accelerated in March to the fastest in 2 1/2 years, exceeding all economist forecasts, adding pressure on the Bank of Canada to increase its policy interest rate in the next three months. Consumer prices rose 3.3 percent from a year earlier after a 2.2 percent gain in February, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. Prices were up 1.1 percent on a monthly basis, the fastest since January 1991 when a new federal sales tax was introduced. The gains exceeded all forecasts in Bloomberg surveys of 25 economists, which had median estimates of 2.8 percent for annual inflation and 0.6 percent on a monthly basis. The annual report also exceeded the Bank of Canada ’s April 13 forecast that inflation would reach 3 percent by June, driven by temporary factors such as energy costs and higher provincial sales taxes. The two-year government bond yield jumped the most since December after the report and the Canadian dollar rose the most in seven weeks. “It definitely puts the pressure back on the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates ,” said Sheryl King, head of Canada economics at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Toronto. “It’s not going to be the end” for inflation pressures, she said, adding the economy may already be operating at full capacity, while the central bank predicted last week the economy wouldn’t be running flat out until the middle of next year. Dollar Jumps The Canadian dollar advanced 0.9 percent to 95.56 cents per U.S. dollar at 10:36 a.m. in Toronto, from 96.42 yesterday. One Canadian dollar buys $1.0465. Yields on the two-year Government of Canada bond jumped 9 basis points to 1.78 percent, the biggest one-day gain since Sept. 8. The odds of an increase at the next decision May 31 increased to 14.6 percent, according to a Credit Suisse calculation, from 11 percent yesterday and 9 percent on Apr. 15. “May is still a bit of a stretch” for a move, said David Tulk , chief Canada macro strategist at Toronto-Dominion Bank’s TD Securities unit. “They will need to use that communique to shade the market’s perspective towards a hike in July.” The core inflation rate, which excludes eight volatile items such as gasoline, accelerated to 1.7 percent from a year earlier, from February’s record low 0.9 percent. Monthly core prices accelerated to 0.7 percent from 0.2 percent in February. Economists forecast a core inflation rate of 1.2 percent annually and 0.2 percent on a monthly basis. Core Inflation Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said that “underlying inflation is subdued” at an April 13 press conference , and that core inflation would remain below 2 percent until mid-2012 because of slack in the economy and “modest” wage gains. He also said risks to the inflation outlook were “roughly balanced.” Energy prices rose 13 percent in March from a year earlier, and the cost of fuel oil and other fuels jumped 31 percent, Statistics Canada said today. “In the immediate short term, our top priority is the rising commodity landscape,” Jerry Fowden, chief executive officer of beverage maker Cott Corp. (BCB) said on a March 24 earnings call. “This scale of commodity run up, at the same time as a broadly weak economy, is almost unprecedented.” High gasoline prices were mentioned several times at a French-language leadership debate last week in the campaign for a May 2 election. The average Canadian price of unleaded gasoline was C$1.25 ($1.30) per liter the week of April 8, up 20 percent from three months earlier. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his government’s cut to the federal sales tax has helped consumers cope with higher gasoline prices, while Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe called for tougher enforcement of competition laws. Widespread Increases Today’s report showed price gains accelerated in every major category except for alcohol and tobacco. Clothing and footwear prices rose 0.9 percent in March from a year earlier, the first annual increase since November 2009, as stores offered fewer discounts. Food prices rose 3.3 percent after February’s 2.1 percent gain as poor weather in the U.S. and Mexico cut supplies of fresh vegetables. The central bank sets interest rates to keep inflation at the 2 percent midpoint of a 1 percent to 3 percent target range. Its quarterly survey of businesses published April 4 found the share of executives who predicted inflation would advance by more than 3 percent over the next two years had increased to 15 percent from 3 percent. Statistics Canada also reported today that wholesale sales fell in February for the first time in seven months and growth in the agency’s index of leading economic indicators slowed in March. To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Quinn in Ottawa at gquinn1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net ; Christopher Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net .

SABMiller Fourth-Quarter ‘Organic’ Lager Volume Rises 3%, Beats Estimates

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/sabmiller-fourth-quarter-organic-lager-volume-rises-3-beats-estimates.html

SABMiller Plc (SAB) , the world’s second- largest brewer by volume, reported fourth-quarter beer sales that beat analysts’ estimates, led by growth in Africa and Peru. So-called organic beer volume, which excludes acquisitions and disposals, rose 3 percent, compared with the 1.5 percent median estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Full-year growth on the same basis was 2 percent, the maker of Grolsch and Peroni said today in a statement. “The main area of outperformance is Africa,” Jason Derise, an analyst at UBS AG in London, said today. “They didn’t give the fourth-quarter figure, but it’s pretty big.” SABMiller, which got its start selling beer to gold prospectors in 1895, is among brewers looking to emerging economies to drive growth as sales stagnate in Europe and the U.S. The London-based company reported full-year volume growth of 13 percent in Africa, helped by a “strong final quarter” as sales were boosted by new breweries in Tanzania and Mozambique. Lager volumes in Latin America, where the company gets the largest share of revenue, increased 1 percent even after a Colombian tax increase in February 2010 continued to restrict sales and wet weather stymied growth. Analysts had estimated a 1.5 percent decline. Peru had 10 percent growth for the year. Shares Climb The shares gained as much as 38.5 pence, or 1.8 percent, to 2,229 pence, and traded up 1.4 percent at 2,221.5 pence as of 9:47 a.m. in London , giving the company a market value of about 35.3 billion pounds ($57 billion). Revenue for the year through March 31 rose 5 percent, at constant exchange rates and excluding acquisitions, the company said. Raw-material costs were “marginally lower,” although they increased “moderately” in the second half. Brewers are facing increasing prices for the ingredients to make their beer, including malting barley. SABMiller had said in November that it would benefit from lower raw-material costs this year, albeit at a “more moderate” rate in the second half compared with the first half of the year. Sales in Europe, SABMiller’s second-largest region, rose 2 percent in the fourth quarter, beating estimates for a 1 percent increase. Volume benefited from a “weak comparative period due to prior-year excise increases in Russia and the Czech Republic ,” the company said. Sales jumped 17 percent in Russia in the quarter after a 200 percent tax increase in January 2010 hurt beer sales during the same period a year earlier. South Africa The amount of beer sold in South Africa, including the Castle Lite and Hansa Pilsener brands, was “level” with the year earlier, the company said. SABMiller competes with Brandhouse Ltd., a joint venture between Heineken NV and Diageo Plc, which “continues to make life difficult for SAB in its home market,” analysts including Andy Smith at MF Global wrote in a note yesterday. Brandhouse said yesterday it controls about 14 percent of the beer market in South Africa. SABMiller has apportioned a larger share of its marketing budget to the country, where it has held an average market share of more than 88 percent over the last year, according to company spokesman Nigel Fairbrass , who cited internal estimates including sales in bars, taverns and pubs. The brewer’s sales in South Africa during the same period last year rose 8 percent as consumers bought more beer due to the earlier timing of Easter compared with this year. Sales in Asia rose 8 percent in the fourth quarter, aided by share gains in China , the company said. China represents 20 percent of volume and 2 percent of profit, according to UBS AG. Sales to U.S. retailers by MillerCoors LLC, the company’s joint venture with Molson Coors Brewing Co., slid 1.4 percent “in a market which remains challenging,” the company said. To contact the reporter on this story: Clementine Fletcher in London at cfletcher5@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net

Madoff Trustee Seeks $43.2 Million for Four Months of Liquidation Services

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/madoff-trustee-seeks-43-2-million-for-four-months-of-liquidation-services.html

The trustee liquidating Bernard L. Madoff’s defunct investment firm asked a judge to pay him and his law firm $43.2 million for four months’ work, bringing total fees sought in the case to $175.5 million since Madoff’s arrest. Expenses of $1.1 million were claimed by trustee Irving Picard and Baker & Hostetler LLP from Oct. 1 to Jan. 31, according to a U.S. Bankruptcy Court filing in New York yesterday. 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. High fees in the liquidations of the jailed Ponzi-scheme operator’s firm and the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. brokerage might deplete the $2.5 billion fund of the Securities Investor Protection Corp., according to a March 30 audit report by the Office of the Inspector General at the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC watchdog recommended “systematic” inspections of SIPC by the SEC to ensure cost-effective processing of brokerage customer claims and liquidations. Amanda Remus, a Picard spokeswoman, declined to comment on the report. In the filing, Picard said he and his lawyers bill the Madoff estate, not tapping the fund of customer property. “The payment of fees and expenses to the trustee and any of his counsel has absolutely no impact on recoveries” by Madoff investors, he said. 1,000 Lawsuits Picard, who has filed more than 1,000 suits seeking money for the con man’s investors, has recovered more than $7.6 billion, out of about $17 billion in principal lost, according to his latest calculations. By next month, the trustee will have determined almost every one of 16,518 claims filed in the case, according to the filing. Baker & Hostetler said it spent 7,086 hours on investigations at a cost of $3.1 million in the latest four months. Administration consumed 7,033 hours, and cost $2.1 million. The trustee’s case against JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) took 1,971 hours, while the Mets owners required 1,660 hours and customer claims took 4,837 hours. The biggest single expense was $248,944 for translation costs in the period. Picard has 81 potential international lawsuits and 232 domestic suits, according to the filing. Online research cost $166,611 and out-of-town travel cost $202,468, the law firm reported. Deferred Fees In addition to current fees, Picard asked the judge for permission to claim about $5.5 million in fees deferred since Madoff’s arrest in December 2008. Total deferred fees for Picard and his firm since exceed $23 million, according to the filing. The trustee asked the judge to reduce deferrals to 10 percent, from 15 percent, citing “results achieved for the victims of Madoff’s fraud.” Prior applications for fees since 2008 totaled $132.3 million for Picard and his firm, 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

Cairn India Has 14.8% of Equity Change Hands in 3 Transactions

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/cairn-india-has-14-8-of-equity-change-hands-in-3-transactions.html

Cairn India Ltd. (CAIR) , the operator of the nation’s biggest oil field on land, had about 282.3 million shares, or 14.8 percent of its equity, change hands in three transactions on the Bombay Stock Exchange. A total of 277.27 million shares were traded at 331 rupees ($7.41) apiece in two block deals and 5.07 million changed hands at 335 rupees each, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Cairn India rose as much as 3 percent to 346.15 rupees and were at 343.40 rupees at 9:46 a.m. in Mumbai trading. The stock has increased 3.1 percent this year compared with a 6.9 percent decline in the benchmark Sensitive Index. Sesa Goa Ltd. (SESA) , a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc, started an open offer to Cairn India ’s minority shareholders on April 11, as part of a plan by the mining company to buy a majority stake in Cairn India. The deal is awaiting approval from the Indian government. Petroliam Nasional Bhd., Malaysia’s state oil and gas producer, also known as Petronas, owns 14.9 percent in Cairn India. Petronas may sell its entire holding in the open market, Bloomberg UTV reported April 11, citing unidentified people. Azman Ibrahim, a spokesman for Petronas, and Cairn India spokesman Manu Kapoor declined to comment on the transactions. The buyers and sellers in the block deals weren’t immediately known. To contact the reporter on this story: Rakteem Katakey in New Delhi at rkatakey@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amit Prakash at aprakash1@bloomberg.net

Eastern Europe Day-Ahead Power Falls Amid Increased Production

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/eastern-europe-day-ahead-power-falls-amid-increased-production.html

Day-ahead power prices in eastern Europe decreased as output rose in the Czech Republic and exports from Poland were less profitable. Polish electricity for tomorrow fell 1.7 percent to 219 zloty ($78.66) a megawatt-hour, according to Polish power exchange data compiled by Bloomberg. Czech day-ahead power decreased 3.5 percent to 55 euros ($78.59) a megawatt-hour, according to broker data compiled by Bloomberg, as output increased from the nuclear plant Dukovany which restarted two units after an outage. As result, imports of electricity from Poland were set to drop, data from the power grid showed. Hungarian electricity, traded on the Budapest-based power exchange, lost 2.8 percent to 56.45 euros, according to the bourse’s website. The Czech Republic has 17,625 megawatts of capacity installed, according to Bloomberg data. The country exported 2,246 megawatts of power to Germany from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. local time today, according to Entsoe , the European Transmission System Operators transparency platform. Domestic demand at that time was nearly 8,500 megawatts, while about 1,400 megawatts of solar electricity was generated, according to CEPS AS, the Czech power transmission system operator. Bloomberg tracks power prices from brokers including GFI Group Inc., ICAP Plc, Spectron Group Ltd., Tradition and Tullett Prebon Plc. Brokers handle the majority of trading in Europe’s electricity markets. To contact the reporter on this story: Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw at mstrzelecki1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Voss at sev@bloomberg.net

U.S. 30-Year Yields Decrease to Almost 4-Week Low on Austerity Prospects

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/u-s-30-year-yields-decline-to-almost-4-week-low-on-slow-growth-prospects.html

Treasuries rose, pushing the 30- year bond yield to the lowest level in almost four weeks, on speculation any agreement in Congress to curb the nation’s budget deficit may impede economic growth. Ten-year yields reached a three-week low as Greek bond yields reached euro-era records amid growing speculation the country will need to restructure its debt. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said he’s confident U.S. political leaders will bridge differences on spending. Standard & Poor’s yesterday lowered the U.S. credit-rating outlook, citing fiscal pressures. “People are thinking about the potential for austerity, the impact on growth and the possibility of weaker-than- previously-expected growth numbers in the second half of the year,” said Dan Mulholland, a Treasury trader in New York at Royal Bank of Canada, one of 20 primary dealers that trade with the Federal Reserve. Thirty-year bond yields decreased three basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, to 4.43 percent at 5:01 p.m. in New York, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices. They touched 4.42 percent, the lowest level since March 23, after rising to as high as 4.49 percent. The price of the 4.75 percent security maturing in February 2041 gained 14/32, or $4.38 per $1,000 face amount, to 105 1/4. Ten-year yields fell one basis point to 3.36 percent. They touched 3.34 percent, the lowest since March 24, after earlier rising to 3.41 percent. Treasuries fell earlier as stocks gained after U.S. housing starts increased 7.2 percent in March, Commerce Department data showed. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index ended the day up 0.6 percent after declining 0.1 percent earlier. Fed Purchase U.S. debt has returned 0.65 percent this month, after losing 0.14 percent in the first quarter, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes. They gained 5.9 percent in 2010. Treasury yields have fallen on speculation government budget cuts will slow the economy and encourage the central bank to avoid raising borrowing costs, said Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer at Pacific Investment Management Co. “Fiscal austerity in the short term damps growth,” El- Erian said in a radio interview on “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene. “The market is pricing in what policy makers are going to do. The more fiscal austerity you get, the more likely the Fed will stay on hold.” The central bank has kept the benchmark interest rate at zero to 0.25 percent since December 2008 to support the economy. ‘Wake-Up Call’ “People are viewing the outlook change by S&P as a wake-up call,” said Jason Rogan, director of U.S. government trading at Guggenheim Partners LLC, a New York-based brokerage for institutional investors. “You can’t play political games when it comes to the strength of the economy. It’s too fragile.” Treasuries also rose as Greece ’s fiscal crisis pushed yields on its two-year notes up to a record 20.7 percent today. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble ’s comments on April 14 that Greece may need to restructure its debt sent bonds tumbling in Europe ’s debt-strapped nations. “The market is benefiting more from a safety bid because of what’s going on in Europe,” said Martin Mitchell , head government bond trader at the Baltimore unit of Stifel Nicolaus & Co., a St. Louis-based brokerage firm. “It’s the European peripherals.” The Fed bought $6.68 billion of Treasuries maturing from January 2014 to February 2015 as part of its program to acquire $600 billion of U.S. debt through June to spur economic growth. It will purchase $1 billion to $2 billion of Treasury Inflation Protected Securities tomorrow maturing from April 2013 to February 2041. Still Attractive U.S. two-year notes rose earlier as Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said in Tokyo U.S. debt remains “attractive” even after S&P lowered the country’s credit outlook. The rating company, citing rising U.S. budget deficits and debt, said yesterday there’s “a material risk that U.S. policy makers might not reach an agreement on how to address medium-and long-term budgetary challenges by 2013.” “Equities aren’t doing well today, and people don’t want to make big moves given the shortened week, so Treasuries have remained bid,” said Paul Horrmann, a broker in New York at Tradition Asiel Securities Inc., an interdealer broker. “The market is more worried about equities than Treasuries after the S&P announcement.” The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association recommends that trading in U.S., U.K. and Japanese financial markets cease at 2 p.m. New York time on April 21 and remain closed the following day for the Easter holiday weekend. Volume Slides About $241 billion of Treasuries were traded today as of 5:01 p.m., the least since April 11, according to Icap Plc, the world’s largest interdealer broker. About $347 billion changed hands yesterday. The full-day average this year is $330 billion. Geithner said he “absolutely” didn’t have to reassure overseas buyers of U.S. debt after S&P’s statement yesterday. President Barack Obama began a tour promoting his proposal to cut long-term budget deficits. “We have an opportunity now over the next two months to make some real progress,” Geithner said in an interview on Bloomberg Television today. “What we agree on is putting in place strong targets for savings, deficit reduction over a specific time frame with enforceable limits,” he said. A gauge of inflation expectations that the Fed uses to help determine monetary policy, the five-year, five-year forward break-even rate, was at 3.13 percentage points, compared with 3.28 percentage points on Dec. 15, a 10-month high. The average for the past five years is 2.78 percentage points. To contact the reporters on this story: Susanne Walker in New York at swalker33@bloomberg.net ; Cordell Eddings in New York at ceddings@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Robert Burgess at bburgess@bloomberg.net

Treasury Yields Fall on Austerity View, Pimco's El-Erian Says: Tom Keene

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/treasury-yields-fall-on-austerity-view-pimco-s-el-erian-says-tom-keene.html

Treasury yields are at the lowest level in almost a month on speculation government budget cuts will slow the economy and encourage the Federal Reserve to avoid raising borrowing costs, according to Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer at Pacific Investment Management Co. “Fiscal austerity in the short term damps growth,” El-Erian said in a radio interview on “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene. “The market is pricing in what policy makers are going to do. The more fiscal austerity you get, the more likely the Fed will stay on hold.” Standard & Poor’s has put the U.S. government on notice that it risks losing its AAA credit rating unless politicians agree on a plan by 2013 to reduce budget deficits and the national debt. S&P said yesterday there’s a one-in-three chance the rating may be cut within two years and that its “baseline assumption” is that Congress and President Barack Obama will agree on a plan to contain deficits. “It’s unthinkable that the U.S. triple-A rating could be put on negative outlook,” said El-Erian, 52, whose company in Newport Beach , California, manages the world’s largest bond fund. “It’s putting a lot of focus on the need to start moving on a medium-term fiscal package.” The International Monetary Fund lowered on April 11 its forecast for U.S. growth this year to 2.8 percent from the 3 percent expansion projected in January, reflecting a gain in oil prices and the pace of job gains. Treasury Yields Yields on two- and 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell today to the lowest levels since March 24 on speculation the European sovereign-debt crisis will get worse. Pimco isn’t interested in buying two-year Greek debt even at a record yield of more than 20 percent because it does not offer value, El-Erian said. “This is not yet the time to buy Greece ,” El-Erian said. “You don’t solve a solvency problem with liquidity. That’s what Europe has been doing. That just piles new debt on top of old, and it doesn’t address the issue.” Pimco prefers debt from Brazil and Norway because it continues to have value, El-Erian said. The company eliminated U.S. government-related debt including Treasuries from its Total Return Fund in February. The fund is still not buying Treasuries, El-Erian said today. The $236 billion Total Return Fund has handed investors a gain of about 7.2 percent in the past year, beating more than 80 percent of its peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Treasuries have returned 4.8 percent during that period, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes. To contact the reporters on this story: Susanne Walker in New York at swalker33@bloomberg.net ; Tom Keene in New York at tkeene@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Robert Burgess at bburgess@bloomberg.net

Sartorius First-Quarter Profit Advances to EU10.1 Million

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/sartorius-q1-unadjusted-consolidated-net-eu10-1-mln-correct-.html

Sartorius AG (SRT) , a German maker of laboratory scales and filtering equipment, said first-quarter unadjusted consolidated net profit after minority interests rose to 10.1 million euros ($14.5 million) from 5.1 million euros. The company confirmed in a statement today its full-year targets for the fiscal year 2011, and said sales are expected to grow 6 percent to 8 percent in constant currencies. The operating earnings margin is expected to rise to about 14 percent, Sartorius said. 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

DirecTV Starts Premium Film Rentals at $29.99 for 48 Hours

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/directv-starts-premium-rental-service-on-april-21-with-sony-film.html

DirecTV, the largest satellite-TV operator, will offer a 48-hour rental of Sony Corp. (6758) ’s “Just Go With It” for $29.99 just 10 weeks after the movie’s theatrical release in the first such service on pay television. Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox will also supply films to the service two months after their theatrical release, Jade Ekstedt, a spokeswoman for El Segundo, California-based DirecTV said today in an interview. Studios, which are looking to pay-TV to find new ways to sell movies and counter shrinking DVD sales, risk alienating cinema operators such as AMC Entertainment Inc. that have criticized plans to offer new films so quickly in homes. Regency Theatres, based in Calabasas, California , will pull “Just Go With It” from its second-run theaters, where it was among the top two titles last weekend, said President Lyndon Golin. “We don’t want to show movies that are on TV,” Golin said in a telephone interview. “We want to protect the movie-going experience.” DirecTV (DTV) customers, the first to gain access to the premium offering, will have two weeks to order the movie before it’s replaced by another title, Ekstedt said. “Just Go With It” was still in 326 theaters last weekend, according to Box Office Mojo, an industry website. “Working on an earlier delivery window at a premium price makes sense” Rich Greenfield , an analyst at BTIG LLC in New York , said in an interview. The $30 price may be too high, he said, calling the effort a worthwhile risk in spite of angering some cinema operators. Maximizing Profit “The studios are looking to maximize profitability, not keeping all their friends happy all the time,” Greenfield said. Sun Dee Larson, a spokeswoman for Kansas City , Missouri- based AMC, didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Regal Entertainment Group (RGC) , the largest exhibitor, also didn’t respond. “Just Go With It,” a comedy featuring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, was released on Feb. 11 and has taken in $102.3 million in U.S. theaters, according to Box Office Mojo. Regency, which operates in Southern California and Las Vegas , started showing the movie in second-run locations last weekend, Golin said. He said his company, part of the National Association of theater owners, hasn’t spoken directly with Sony. “It’s very substantial for us,” Golin said. “Will our little company make a difference to Sony? Probably not.” AMC, the second-largest exhibitor behind Knoxville, Tennessee-based Regal, is seeking a bigger share of the box- office split with studios to compensate for the expected loss of sales, said David Joyce, an analyst at Miller Tabak & Co. in New York. Cannibalization Fears “It remains to be seen whether there would be cannibalization of the initial box office releases,” Joyce said in an e-mail. “There would be plenty of ripple effects. Studios get paid from the premium movie channels typically based on box office performance.” DirecTV gained 25 cents to $46.10 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have gained 15 percent this year. U.S. shares of Tokyo-based Sony rose 46 cents to $29.71 on the New York Stock Exchange. In the next few months, DirecTV will offer “The Adjustment Bureau” from Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) ’s Universal Pictures, “Cedar Rapids” from News Corp. (NWSA) ’s Twentieth Century Fox and “Hall Pass” from Time Warner Inc. (TWX) ’s Warner Bros., Ekstedt said. All three are still in cinemas, according to Box Office Mojo. The service will be available only to DirecTV customers with high-definition tuners equipped with digital video recorders, Ekstedt said. Once purchased, the films will begin playing immediately in full HD and surround sound. To contact the reporter on this story: Andy Fixmer in Los Angeles at afixmer@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net

China Stocks: Anhui Conch, Merchants Securities, Shuanghui, ZTE

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/china-stocks-henan-shuanghui-merchants-securities-zte.html

Shares of the following companies had unusual moves in China trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses as of 3 p.m. close. The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger of China’s stock exchanges, fell 58.29 points, or 1.9 percent, to 2,999.04. The CSI 300 Index (SHSZ300) declined 1.9 percent to 3,295.81. Cement stocks: Anhui Conch Cement Co. (600585 CH), China’s biggest cement maker, dropped 1.6 percent to 38.87 yuan. Gansu Qilianshan Cement Group Co. (600720 CH) lost 3.2 percent to 20.12 yuan. Huaxin Cement Co. (600801 CH), the Chinese affiliate of Holcim Ltd., slid 3.2 percent to 48.80 yuan. “There’s concern that the current cement prices won’t be sustained after the off-peak season for cement consumption arrives in the summer,” Zhu Jixiang, an analyst at Capital Securities Corp., said in a phone interview today. China Merchant Securities Co. (600999 CH) slipped 1.9 percent to 19.15 yuan, the most since March 15. The brokerage said net income fell 13.4 percent from a year earlier to 3.23 billion yuan ($494.5 million) last year. COFCO Tunhe Co. (600737 CH), a producer of ketchup and beverages, dropped 2.1 percent to 11.43 yuan, the lowest since April 6. The company reported a net loss of 55.1 million yuan last year, compared with net income of 268 million yuan in 2009. Henan Shuanghui Investment & Development Co. (000895 CH), China’s biggest meat processing company,, plunged the 10 percent daily limit to 70.15 yuan as the stock resumed trading after a monthlong suspension. The company yesterday confirmed a China Central Television report that an affiliate bought pigs fed with a banned additive to induce the growth of lean meat. Jinduicheng Molybdenum Co. (601958 CH), Asia ’s largest producer of the metal used to harden steel, lost 5.8 percent to 23.47 yuan after saying net income for the first quarter fell 30 percent from the same period last year to 172.6 million yuan. Shenzhen Airport Co. (000089) (000089 CH) slid 2.6 percent to 6.04 yuan, the most since Feb 22. The company said first-quarter net income fell 6.4 percent from a year earlier to 173 million yuan. Youngor Group Co. (600177 CH), a shirts and suits manufacturer, dropped 2.3 percent to 12.26 yuan, the most this month. The company said net income last year fell 18 percent from the year earlier to 2.67 billion yuan. ZTE Corp. (000063) (000063 CH), the second-biggest phone-equipment maker, dropped 2 percent to 28.39 yuan after the company had the recommendation on its Hong Kong-listed shares cut to “hold” from “buy” at BNP Paribas, which cited the prospect of slower profit growth. --Zhang Shidong. Editor: Richard Frost To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Zhang Shidong in Shanghai at +86-21-6104-3040 or szhang5@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at dboey@bloomberg.net

Jinan Iron, Laiwu Surge by Daily Limit for Fifth Straight Day

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/jinan-iron-laiwu-surge-by-daily-limit-for-fifth-straight-day.html

Jinan Iron and Steel Co. and Laiwu Steel Corp. (600102) rose by the 10 percent daily limit in Shanghai for a fifth consecutive trading day after the companies announced an amended merger plan. Jinan Iron rose to 5.80 yuan and Laiwu to gained to 12.19 yuan as of 1:31 p.m. local time in Shanghai trading. China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.5 percent. The merger plan announced last week is the third attempt by Jinan Steel to merge with sister company Laiwu Steel after shareholders blocked the previous plans. Jinan Steel and Laiwu Steel’s parents were merged to form Shandong Iron & Steel in March 2008 amid a government push to consolidate steelmakers to help them compete globally and boost their bargaining power for raw materials, including iron ore. --Penny Peng. Editor: John Liu To contact Bloomberg News Staff for this story: Penny Peng in Beijing at +86-10-6649-7577 or ppeng18@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Liu at jliu42@bloomberg.net

Royal Wedding Spoof Photos, Lehman’s Last Paintings on Sale

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/royal-wedding-spoof-photos-lehman-s-last-paintings-up-for-sale-art-buzz.html

London art dealer Ben Brown puts photos of the Royal Wedding up for sale today. In one, Prince William is leading a conga dance, followed by his bride Kate and Elton John. In another, the happy couple cut the cake while Corgi dogs forage for food and Queen Elizabeth looks bored. The spoofs of the April 29 wedding feature lookalikes photographed by Alison Jackson , who has fooled many people with her paparazzi-style photos of celebrity doppelgangers, often in compromising situations. “This is a last-minute pop-up event,” gallery director Brown said. “It’s poignant to exhibit these before the wedding.” Large photographs, from editions of three, will be priced at 15,000 pounds ($24,480). Smaller images, issued in editions of five, will start at 2,500 pounds. The “Up the Aisle” show runs through May 7 at Ben Brown Fine Arts, 12 Brook’s Mews, London W1K 4DG. Information: +44-20- 7734-8888 or http://www.benbrownfinearts.com/ Lehman Art Those looking for souvenirs of the global financial crisis today got one more chance to buy artworks from the corporate collection of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEHMQ) Edinburgh auction house Lyon & Turnbull offered 22 contemporary pieces from the bankrupt bank’s European offices with a total estimate of as much as 47,000 pounds at hammer prices. The sale raised 45,425 pounds with fees. Six of the lots failed to sell. Many of the works on offer were large scale, Nick Curnow, Lyon & Turnbull’s managing director, said. Estimates ranged from 300 pounds to 8,000 pounds. The top lot was the 2006 photographic piece, “Picture Made by Hand With the Assistance of Light,” by the U.K.-born artist Walead Beshty , who now lives in Los Angeles. This sold for 18,750 pounds, beating a high estimate of 8,000 pounds. The work, which is 6 feet (1.8 meters) high, was made by bending photographic paper into a sculpture and then exposing it to light. A 2001 watercolor of a landscape seen through prison bars by the German painter Guenther Foerg sold for 1,875 pounds, below an estimate of 3,000 pounds. Once the world’s fourth-biggest investment bank, New York- based Lehman filed the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history on Sept. 15, 2008, with assets of $639 billion. More than $830 billion in claims have been filed against Lehman, which has said many are duplicates. Sales at Freeman’s Auctioneers in Philadelphia, Sotheby’s (BID) in New York and Christie’s International in London raised $1.35 million, $12.3 million and 1.6 million pounds, respectively, for creditors in 2009 and 2010. Pearson Family Paintings and antiques belonging to members of the family that founded media group Pearson Plc (PSON) are expected to fetch at least 10 million pounds in auctions this summer. Lord Cowdray will be offering five British portraits at Christie’s International’s July 5 London auction of Old Master paintings. Thomas Gainsborough’s “Portrait of Miss Read, Later Mrs. William Villebois,” is estimated at a record 4 million pounds to 6 million pounds. A further 1,000 lots -- including pieces from Dunecht , the Scottish home of Lord Cowdray’s brother, Charles Pearson -- will be auctioned at Cowdray Park, West Sussex, on Sept. 13-15, the London-based auction house said today in an e-mailed statement. A 1611 portrait of the Countess of Hertford may fetch 1.5 million pounds. Lord Cowdray will also be selling silver valued at more than 1 million pounds at Christie’s London on July 7. Cowdray Park , which is now itself up for sale for 25 million pounds, was acquired by Weetman Dickinson Pearson, the first Lord Cowdray, a Yorkshire-born engineer and oil magnate, in 1908. The present family is moving to a more manageable house on the estate, said Christie’s. “This is the most important group of British portraits to come on the market for 50 years,” the London-based dealer Mark Weiss said. “The collection was put together in the 1920s and ’30s when a lot of country houses were being sold and the rich were able to Hoover up the best things.” (Scott Reyburn writes about the art market for Muse, the arts and culture section of Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are his own.) To contact the writer on the story: Scott Reyburn in London at sreyburn@hotmail.com. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Beech at mbeech@bloomberg.net .