Hassad Food buys stake in Indian Basmati rice firm ... - Qatar Tribune

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22 Thursday, April 4, 2013 In The Pipeline AFRICAN ENERGY SECTOR Samoan airline launches ‘pay by weight’ plan Employees spray water at a PetroChina oil storage facility, in Suijing, recently. (REUTERS) CNPC, Petronas eye stake in Marathon’s Angola oilfields REUTERS HONG KONG/SINGAPORE CHINA National Petroleum Corp and Malaysia’s Petronas are considering bids for Marathon Oil Corp’s stakes in two Angolan offshore oil and gasfields, people familiar with the matter said. This would be potentially the third major energy deal in Africa this year, a major new front for Asian state energy firms looking to fuel fast growing economies. Reuters estimates that at least $6 billion worth of oil and gas blocks are being sold by US independent companies, under pressure from shareholders and taking advantage of Asian interest to sell out of non-core assets. In total about $16 billion of oil and gas blocks are being sold globally, with $11 billion of that in Africa. It also signals another banner year for oil and gas M&A, after a record $345.9 billion last year. Asian firms’ share has more than doubled in a decade, according to Thomson Reuters data, to 19.6 percent in 2012 from 7.6 percent in 2003. Sanjeev Gupta, an Ernst & Young partner and co-author of a report on oil and gas M&A, told Reuters affordability is not an issue for these large state companies because they have access to cheap government-backed funding. “The Asian national oil companies are expected to pursue overseas acquisition opportunities despite substantial economic worries and geopolitical uncertainty,” said Gupta. CNPC, China’s largest oil and gas company by production and the parent of listed company PetroChina Co Ltd, last month agreed to buy a $4.2 billion stake in a Mozambique offshore natural gas field. US oil explorer Anadarko has also put up a stake in a Mozambique field that could fetch $4.5 billion. Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Malaysia’s state oil company, has also been stepping up its overseas purchases. Last year, it paid C$5.2 billion ($5.1 billion) to buy Canada’s Progress Energy Resources Corp. Houston-based Marathon first laid out plans in late 2011 to divest up to $3 billion worth of assets to plough money back into other operations. Marathon has put its entire 10 percent stake each in Blocks 31 and 32 offshore Angola up for sale, the people said. The two Asian energy companies are working with advisors to place bids, though no deal was imminent, they added. BP, Total SA and Angolan state energy company Sonangol are among Marathon’s partners. Marathon, CNPC and Petronas declined to comment. Sources declined to be identified as the sale process is confidential. Marathon’s sale of Angolan blocks is tricky as Sonangol has the first right of refusal on the blocks. In 2009, Sonangol blocked a $1.3 billion deal to sell a 20 percent interest in the 32 block to China’s Cnooc and Sinopec by exercising this right. Marathon had already sold its Alaskan assets last month and its production levels in Libya remain uncertain following the conflict in the region. It also has operations in Canada, Norway, Poland and Indonesia. Marathon’s Angolan sale comes as other US independent oil majors are preparing for asset sales. REUTERS SYDNEY A SAMOAN airline that says it is the world’s first carrier to charge passengers by their weight rather than per seat defends the plan as the fairest way to fly, in some cases actually ending up cheaper than conventional tickets. Samoa Air, which opened in 2012, asks passengers to declare their personal weight during booking, which is then charged per kilogram (2.2 lb) at a rate dependent on flight length. The customers will also be weighed at the check-in counter. “The industry has this concept that all people throughout the world are the same size,” Samoa Air CEO Chris Langton told Reuters. “Aeroplanes always run on weight, irrespective of seats.” “There is no doubt in my mind that this is the concept of the future. This is the fairest way of you travelling with your family, or yourself.” Though the airline instituted the plan last November, it caught attention last week when the carrier began international flights to neighbouring American Samoa and coincided with the publication of a report by a Norwegian economist suggesting that airlines should charge obese passengers more. The Pacific Islands contain some of the world’s most prevalent countries for obesity, many ranking in the top 10, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Samoa is ranked number four, with 59.6 percent of the population considered obese, said the most recent 2008 WHO report. According to Samoa Air’s latest schedule, the airline charges up to WS$1.32 per kg for domestic flights and WS$2.40 per kg for its only international flight to American Samoa, around 250 miles (402 km). A 150 kg person flying one-way internationally would be charged $154.50. Children under 12 are charged 75 percent of the adult rate, with fares also based on weight. Any overweight baggage is calculated at the same rate as the passenger’s personal weight. The plan could actually prove cheaper in some cases, such as for families travelling with small children, and Langton said customer feedback has mainly been “amazingly positive”. “When the initial shock has worn off, there’s been nothing but support,” said Langton. “People who are up around 200 kg recognise...they’re paying (for) 200 kg, so they deserve to get 200 kg of comfort,” he added. Bahrain halts telecom spectrum auction REUTERS DUBAI BAHRAIN has halted an auction to sell radio spectrum for next-generation telecom networks after a wireless broadband operator appealed against its exclusion from the sale, delaying improvements in the kingdom’s communications infrastructure. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) was due to auction 12 lots of spectrum primarily for longterm evolution (LTE), or 4G, networks from March 31 and the winners were expected to be announced in mid-April. But the regulator, which previously described the country’s communications infrastructure as inadequate, has now halted the process “pending further notice” following an appeal by menatelecom, according to a statement on its website. LTE potentially allows data speeds to more than double and is likely to be used in many markets as an alternative to building out expensive fixedline fibre-to-the-building networks. The spectrum auction was originally open to all bidders, potentially allowing new entrants into an already crowded market. The three mobile operators - Bahrain Telecommunica-tions Co (Batelco), Kuwait’s Zain and Viva Bahrain, an affiliate of Saudi Telecom Co - all opposed this and they appeared to get their wish when the TRA last month issued a notice saying the government had decided to limit the auction to this trio. But menatelecom, which uses WiMax technology to provide long-distance wireless broadband, has filed three related cases in Bahraini courts, the TRA told Reuters, which appeal against this decision and also request that the auction be delayed. Bahrain’s 1.3 million population is also served by about 10 Internet providers in arguably the most liberalised telecoms market in the Gulf. The next court hearing is on Thursday, the TRA said. The passengers are asked to declare their personal weight during booking. BP puts US wind farm arm up for sale to meet oil spill losses REUTERS LONDON BP HAS put its US wind farm operation, one of the largest in the country, up for sale, marking the continued retreat of big oil companies from renewable energy investments while oil and gas projects offer them better returns. The British oil company has already sold or earmarked for sale some $38 billion worth of assets, partly to raise funds to pay for its 2010 US oil spill liabilities, but also to reposition itself as a smaller, leaner company with an emphasis on high-margin oil production and exploration. Reports said the sale could raise a further $1.5 billion. BP would not put a value on any sale, but said in a statement it expected “attractive offers” for the BP has already sold some $38 billion worth of assets. assets. They include interests in 16 operating wind farms in nine states with a combined generating capacity of around 2,600 megawatts of renewable power, as well as a portfolio of projects in various stages of development. Over a decade ago, big oil companies including BP and Shell began to ramp up investment in renewable energy. But the uncertain outlook for government subsidies and prices in solar, wind and other clean energy areas, along with the reemergence of strong prices for oil and opportunities to develop large gas fields, have since distracted their attention. BP, which under former chief executive John Browne once named itself “Beyond Petroleum”, still has a substantial interest in Brazilian biofuels, but has invested only about $1 billion a year in renewables since 2005 from a total capital spending budget of well over $20 billion annually. It has no specific investment plans for the sector in the years ahead.
Global Economy Thursday, April 4, 2013 23 Singapore’s factory output up in March REUTERS SINGAPORE Singapore’s industrial output fell 8.6 percent in January and February compared with the first two months of 2012, hurt by a sharp drop in the production of electronics and pharmaceuticals. MANUFACTURING activity in Singapore recovered in March as orders expanded, reversing from a slowdown in February, as the city-state’s factories continued to post a choppy performance. The Purchasing Managers’ index (PMI) rose to 50.6 points last month from 49.4 points in February, rising above the key 50-point level that separates expansion from contraction, the Singapore Institute of Purchasing & Materials Management (SIPMM) said on Wednesday. “The increase in the overall PMI was attributed to further expansion in new orders,” the institute said in a statement. SIPMM said sub-indexes for new export orders and production output turned positive in March after contracting in February, while the sub-index for employment stayed below the 50- point level for the second straight month. A separate PMI for Singapore’s electronics sector dipped slightly, falling to 51.9 points from 52.1 points in January although remaining in positive territory, the institute added, affirming the view held by many economists that the sector has bottomed out and will recover later this year. Singapore’s industrial output fell 8.6 percent in January and February compared with the first two months of 2012, hurt by a sharp drop in the production of electronics and pharmaceuticals. But electronic exports rose month-on-month in February after adjusting for seasonal factors such as the Lunar New Year holidays falling in February this year and January last year, trade agency International Enterprise Singapore said. The improvement in Singapore’s manufacturing PMI for March is consistent with the global trend, as seen from the rise in the JPMorgan Global Manufacturing PMI to 51.2 in March from 50.9 in February. Singapore, whose trade is around three times GDP, has been badly hit by the weakness in Western economies that has crimped demand for many of its exports. Its electronics manufacturers have also not been as successful in tapping surging demand for smartphones as their rivals in South Korea and Taiwan, although investment in the sector remained healthy. Chairman of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises Dimitris Daskalopoulos (centre) during a news conference on the consequences of the Cypriot crisis for Greece and Europe, at the Foreign Press Association, in Athens, on Wednesday. (EPA) Cyprus crisis could derail Greek recovery, industry lobby warns AFP ATHENS THE economic crisis in Cyprus and the “violent” solution imposed on banks could derail Greece’s fragile economic recovery and undermine European cohesion, the head of the country’s industry lobby warned on Wednesday. “The Cyprus crisis and European uncertainty could cost Greece dearly,” Dimitris Daskalopoulos, head of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) told a news conference. “The success of the Greek recovery programme was already hanging by a thread... the recession is getting deeper in 2013 and recovery will not come in 2014,” he said. Cyprus absorbs some 9.0 percent of Greek exports and there are fears that the neighbouring island’s brush with bankruptcy last month will hamper efforts in Greece to pull the economy out of a five-year recession. “According to certain calculations (the Cyprus crisis) could remove up to a percentage point of (Greek) output,” Daskalopoulos said. In an interview on Monday, Bank of Greece Governor George Provopoulos had said the economy is expected to contract by up to 4.5 percent of “The success of the Greek recovery programme was already hanging by a thread... “ output this year, with some 0.35 percent owing to the crisis in Cyprus. The Greek industry chief also warned on Wednesday that “ad hoc” reactions to the PTI NEW DELHI IN a significant message to the private sector, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said government’s relevance in growth story cannot be discounted as was talked about in 2007 and asked the industry to have faith in the executive. Singh conceded that the government is not the “prime driver” of growth in the private sector led economy, but the sector needs an environment in which enterprise can flourish. “In 2007, I often heard it said that government had European economic crisis dimmed the bloc’s appeal to its own people. “Berlin — and by extension the EU — appear to be reacting on an ad hoc basis every time a crisis breaks out, mainly persisting on austerity policies,” Daskalopoulos said. “This feeds euro-scepticism... and erodes the European ideal. Austerity is not an alternative vision for European people,” he said. In Greece, four unbroken years of cutbacks have increased anti-German sentiment but also swelled the ranks of a neo-Nazi and antiimmigrant group, Golden Dawn, that promises to end political corruption by mainstream parties. “From 2009 onwards we are supposed to have given everything to safeguard our European future,” Daskalopoulos said. “But now, this future is an uncharted territory. Neither Germany, nor France, nor Italy really know what will happen from now on.” “The north must give and the south must change,” Daskalopoulos said. “Otherwise, Europe’s historic demons will find room to act again.” become irrelevant because India will grow at 9 per cent whatever the government does. “The consensus today is that unless the government acts swiftly, our growth, which has already decelerated, will be perennially stuck at 5 per cent. Naturally, I welcome the rediscovery on the part of business of the importance of government!,” Singh said at CII annual general meeting. Recalling his last address at CII’s AGM, which was seven years ago, Singh said he had chosen to strike a contrarian note even as everything seemed to be going exceptionally well. “I struck a note EU, IMF to resume Greek reforms audit AFP ATHENS AUDITORS from the EU and IMF will resume an inspection of Greek reforms this week that was suspended just days before the banking crisis erupted in Cyprus. The mission from the socalled troika of creditors — the EU, IMF and the European Central Bank — interrupted their audit in March to allow the government to work on “a few outstanding issues” believed to include civil service job cuts and a revised property tax. Attention then turned to the economic meltdown in Cyprus, where the government on Tuesday concluded talks with the troika on a €10 billion ($12.8-billion) bailout after a narrow brush with bankruptcy. Greece’s own bailout, initiated in 2010, is over 20 times higher. An audit report from the troika, which resumes meetings with Greek officials on Thursday, is required to release a €2.8 billion loan slice delayed since last month. Another €6.0 billion euros was also originally scheduled for the first quarter of this year but will now have to wait at least until mid-April. Greece in April must repay €3.6 billion euros in maturing treasury bills, followed by another €3.2 billion in May. But a finance ministry source insisted on Wednesday: “We do not have a problem (with payments).” Conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is under pressure from his coalition partners, the socialists and moderate leftists, to alleviate the tax burden on a nation groaning under a fourth year of austerity and a sixth year of recession. Under the bailout conditions adopted last year, Greece needs to cut public sector workers by 25,000 in 2013 and a total of 150,000 by the end of 2015. Greece must also speed up privatisation plans and recapitalise its top banks. Indian PM exhorts industry to have faith in govt of caution. Some of my friends later told me that my remarks seemed unnecessarily downbeat at that time, but you will agree that these are precisely the issues that began to receive global attention in the aftermath of the global economic crisis. “I propose to strike a contrarian note once again. If the business mood was unduly optimistic in 2007, I think it is unduly pessimistic today. This needs correction”. The private sector, he said, needs an environment in which enterprise can flourish and create both jobs and stimulate growth to ensure that it remains inclusive. Iraqi economy booms, capital flight remains substantial REUTERS BAGHDAD WHEN a recent lecture for a group of Baghdad university students started with the question, “What is the Iraq Stock Exchange?”, only one young participant put up her hand to respond, and got the answer wrong. Last month’s scene at the headquarters of the Baghdad bourse revealed the struggle which Iraq faces to modernise its financial system: it must overcome primitive, ultra-conservative savings habits born of decades of war and political instability. Thanks to a partial improvement of security and an oil boom, Iraqis’ average incomes are rising sharply, and they are able to save more. But many of these savings are not being channelled into the stock market, where they could earn returns, or even into bank deposits, where they could be lent on to companies for fresh investment. Instead, they are going into real estate, where a large proportion of the money becomes tied up unproductively, or being hidden in people’s homes in the form of cash - sometimes hard currencies such as US dollars - or jewellery. “Other countries have political and security stability but we do not,” said local economist Majid al Souri. “So people tend to put their money under the pillow.” Iraqis’ average incomes are rising sharply, and they are able to save more. Iraq’s economy grew about 8 percent last year and is projected to exceed that performance in the next five years, the International Monetary Fund says. Such growth is supporting a big, if uneven, rise of incomes. Since the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraqi government salaries have jumped from the equivalent of a few US dollars a month to a minimum of around $200 - though some of that increase is due to appreciation of the local currency against the dollar. Government figures show the per capita annual income in Iraq is now about $4,000. Official, comprehensive data are not available, but the IMF estimates Iraqis will save about a third of their national income this year - a rate about 10 percentage points higher than many wealthy countries in Europe, and 20 points higher than the United States and Britain. Iraq’s gross domestic product was about $130 billion last year. But guiding the savings into productive investments within the country is proving difficult. The political and security situation is one big obstacle. Although Iraq is much safer than it was during the sectarian bloodletting that killed tens of thousands in 2006- 2007, Sunni insurgents tied to Al Qaeda still carry out major attacks. Bombs hit Shiite Muslim mosques in Baghdad and the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk last week, killing at least 19 people.
Page 1: THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2013 SAMOAN AIRLI
Page 5 and 6: Bulls & Bears Thursday, April 4, 20
Page 7 and 8: Market Matrix Thursday, April 4, 20

Hassad Food buys stake in Indian Basmati rice firm ... - Qatar Tribune

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