China to take part in GDF Suez project August 8, 2011 CHINA’S sovereign wealth fund is to buy a stake in GDF Suez’s gas exploration and production unit and to finance the French utility’s expansion in power-thirsty Asia, sources said yesterday. The multi-billion dollar memorandum of understanding with China Investment Corp (CIC) is the latest bid by the world’s biggest utility to boost its presence in [...]
AirAsia in share swap for stake in Malaysian carrier August 8, 2011 MALAYSIAN Airline System (MAS) and rival AirAsia are planning a share swap that would give AirAsia’s parent a 20 per cent stake in Malaysia’s national airline, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said yesterday. Under the deal, Malaysia’s state investment arm, Khazanah Nasional, which currently owns close to 70 per cent of MAS, [...]
Hannover Re upbeat on 2011 as profits rise August 8, 2011 HANNOVER Re has predicted it will comfortably reach its 2011 profit target, barring extraordinary damage claims and with only limited impact from the US and Eurozone debt crises. The world’s third-biggest reinsurer also unveiled forecast beating second-quarter net profit of €166m (£143.9m) yesterday. This was up about four per cent from a year earlier and [...]
Slowdown is still expected across OECD August 8, 2011 LEADING economies are set for a slowdown, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said yesterday, with the UK faring worse than average. Recovery across the OECD has hit a “possible peak” with growth on course to stutter in the coming months, the group’s composite leading indicators (CLI) revealed. The indicators – which are designed [...]
House prices slip further to mark a year of decline August 8, 2011 UK house prices slipped further in July – with only London bucking the trend with increased sales figures. According to today’s Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ UK housing market survey, 22 per cent more chartered surveyors reported a fall in prices than a rise in July, an improvement on June’s net balance of -26. Figures [...]
Bank gloomy on French outlook August 8, 2011 The Bank of France sees the French economy growing 0.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the three months to September, the same lacklustre pace it has forecast for the second quarter, its July survey showed yesterday – underlining concerns the economy is stuck in a rut following a spurt of 0.9 per cent in the first [...]
Lower spending hits construction August 8, 2011 The slowdown in government spending is finally impacting the construction industry, the Construction Products Association said yesterday. Construction fell during the second quarter, with a small rise in private commercial activity paring sharper falls in non-housing public projects. However, sterling’s attractiveness against the euro and dollar benefited some during the second quarter. A further 18 [...]
Swiss jobs data holds steady August 8, 2011 Swiss unemployment held at three per cent in July, unchanged from the previous month’s two-and-a-half year low. “In view of a slowing down of the Swiss business cycle (due to slower global demand and the strongly appreciating Swiss franc), the Swiss labour market may well have reached a turning point,” warned Thorsten Polleit of BarCap.
Japanese survey springs upward August 8, 2011 Japan’s recovery is underway according to the latest Economy Watcher’s Survey. The measure of activity rose to 52.6 in July, up from 49.6 in June, as the country repairs itself from the horrific earthquake and tsunami in March.
Statoil finds North Sea oil August 8, 2011 NORWAY’S Statoil has announced a “high-impact oil discovery” in the North Sea, suggesting the area may have more life left than generally assumed after 40 years of drilling. “The North Sea is quite a basin – it never stops delivering,” Statoil’s senior vice president for exploration, Gro Haatvedt, said yesterday. “This may not be an [...]
