Nuclear fears at Fukushima March 13, 2011 JAPANESE Prime Minister Naoto Kan this morning said the situation at the country’s damaged nuclear power plants remained “worrisome”, although officials said pressure inside a third damaged reactor was falling. The International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) yesterday warned of further hydrogen explosions at Fukushima Daiichi, the site of a blast on Friday that blew the [...]
Bank of Japan injects ¥7trn to soothe markets March 13, 2011 THE Bank of Japan this morning injected a record 7 trillion yen (£53bn) into the money markets to soothe nerves following the devastating effects of the earthquake and tsunami. The meeting’s conclusion was brought forward 24 hours in response to the crisis, in a bid to ensure stability in the markets. The amount, at 7 [...]
Insurers face $35bn payout March 13, 2011 THE insurance industry is braced for a hit worth tens of billions from Japan’s earthquake, as the country digests a tragedy that has likely cost tens of thousands of lives and left millions homeless. But the bulk of the costs could be borne by the Japanese government, which provides insurance to re-insurers for earthquakes up to [...]
Factory and infrastructure damage could hit global supplies for weeks March 13, 2011 MANUFACTURERS worldwide could be hit for weeks to come following Japan’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami. Leading technology firms and car manufacturers in the country have been forced to suspend production and close factories, including microchip producer Toshiba and Japan’s three largest car manufacturers Toyota, Honda and Nissan. Companies with links to Japan could take a [...]
Markets look to oil as well as quake March 13, 2011 INEVITABLY, traders will be keeping an eye on how the Tokyo market closes. The earthquake hit just before the cash equity market on the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed on Friday, but index futures traded in Singapore and then Chicago on Friday rightly indicated the benchmark Nikkei 225 index would open well below 10,000. The Bank [...]
Japanese MPs give Kan time to avert crisis March 13, 2011 Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the disaster facing his country is the worst since the second World War. For the time being he has the support of opposition parties. But the deeply unpopular politician is still living on borrowed time. Just hours before the disaster struck he was fending off calls for his resignation. [...]
Diageo eyes bid for Polish vodka maker March 13, 2011 DRINKS giant Diageo hopes to extend its buying spree by snapping up central European-focused spirits company Stock Spirits for more than $1bn (£622m). Diageo, the world’s biggest spirits maker, is one of several companies in the running to buy Stock Spirits, a source familiar with the company said yesterday. The news comes just weeks after [...]
TNK-BP hits out at BP after Rosneft compromise flops March 13, 2011 BP’S RUSSIAN partners ramped up their dispute over the firm’s Arctic exploration plans yesterday after a TNK-BP board meeting at the weekend failed to reach a compromise. TNK-BP, a 50:50 joint venture between BP and the Russian AAR consortium, criticised BP-nominated directors’ conduct during Saturday’s meeting in Paris as “not representative of constructive and reasonable [...]
In pursuit of the luxury drinker March 13, 2011 WHEN Diageo snapped up Turkish drinks maker Mey Içki for £1.3bn last month, this column welcomed the deal but called for more acquisitions outside the firm’s mature western European and North American markets. “An aperitif is all well and good,” we said. “But Paul Walsh needs to tuck in.” Alas, we can’t claim to have known [...]
EU attack on Irish tax rate March 13, 2011 IRELAND’S newly elected Prime Minister Enda Kenny is facing an assault on Ireland’s sacrosanct 12.5 per cent corporate tax rate by Eurozone leaders, who declared on Friday that they would move to enforce a uniform corporate tax regime across the region. In negotiations intended to resolve the sovereign debt crisis, Eurozone ministers refused to lower [...]
