Danone warns of price rise February 15, 2011 FRENCH food group Danone is planning to raise some of its prices this year as well as making productivity gains to help combat an expected rise of up to nine per cent rise in raw material costs, it said yesterday. The world’s largest yoghurt maker with brands like Actimel and Activia, forecast the price of [...]
Kremlin kicks off sale with VTB offering February 14, 2011 RUSSIA has kicked off a massive $60bn?(£37.4bn) privatisation drive with the sale of part of its stake in the country’s second biggest bank VTB, raising $3.26bn. The Kremlin sold a ten per cent stake in the lender, which it stepped in to rescue at the height of the financial crisis. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin [...]
Funds target emerging markets February 14, 2011 ECONOMIC recovery in different global regions is happening at varying speeds, leading asset managers to invest in a wide range of emerging markets for growth, a new survey found yesterday. Fund managers are cautiously optimistic that indebted western economies will deal with sovereign debt, but are targeting Asia for returns, a survey by RBC Capital [...]
Rusal predicts 2011 growth in China and rebound in US February 14, 2011 RUSSIA’S United Company Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium producer, said yesterday it sees steady output growth in 2011, driven by strong demand from China and a rebound in North America. Hong Kong and Paris-listed Rusal said aluminium production was expected to grow two per cent in 2011, roughly steady with last year’s three per cent [...]
What the other papers say this morning February 13, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES SIEMENS EYES BIG NETWORK PURCHASES Siemens is looking out for large acquisitions to expand its power networks and plant automation businesses, in a fundamental strategic shift by the German industrial conglomerate. Joe Kaeser, Siemens’ chief financial officer, said Europe’s largest engineering group by sales had reached the “management maturity” to pursue significant takeovers. [...]
Russian iron firm plans London IPO February 13, 2011 RUSSIA’S biggest iron ore producer is planning to sell 20 per cent of its shares on the London Stock Exchange, valuing the company at £12.3bn. Metalloinvest, which is half-owned by oligarch Alisher Usmanov, could be launched into the FTSE 100 by the listing. The company has appointed Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse to [...]
London snubbed by Russian Papa John’s February 13, 2011 THE RUSSIAN franchise of Papa John’s, the global pizza chain, has snubbed London to list on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Worldwide Papa’s, which operates four outlets in St. Petersburg under the American brand Papa John’s, will today begin trading in Germany. The development comes after a slew of Russian companies pulled plans to list in [...]
Total’s 2010 profits jump on higher oil prices February 11, 2011 French oil major Total reported bumper earnings on Friday thanks to higher oil prices, and unveiled plans to spend $20bn (£12.43bn) this year mainly on new oil and gas projects to boost flagging production. Europe’s third-largest oil group, which spent billions of dollars in 2010 on Canadian oil sands and Australian offshore gas, said it [...]
BP offers TNK-BP a role in Rosneft deal February 11, 2011 BP has offered its Russian venture TNK-BP a chance to join its partnership with Rosneft, TNK-BP’s deputy CEO has told reporters, signalling a possible resolution to a row. “We had an offer from BP … about its agreements with Rosneft. For the company, obviously, the partnership would be interesting,” Maxim Barsky told reporters on a [...]
L’Oreal shares fall after sales disappoint February 11, 2011 L’Oreal shares fell back, returning some of their recent gains, after the world’s biggest cosmetics group posted fourth-quarter sales and margins that were below expectations. The French maker of Yves Saint Laurent lipstick and Garnier shampoo said it expected to beat global cosmetics market growth seen at 3-4 per cent for 2011. “We expect to [...]