Rosneft shares nosedive after BP deal blocked

AFP, Moscow, March 25: Rosneft shares opened sharply lower on Friday after an arbitration tribunal blocked British energy giant BP's Arctic oil tie-up with Russia's largest oil company. The state-held firm's shares were down about 1.5 percent in early trading on Moscow's MICEX exchange while those of BP's Russian joint venture TNK-BP opened the day higher by 0.9 percent. The broader market was down as traders digested the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal's Thursday...

Disgraced ex-David Jones boss lands new top job

AFP, Sydney, March 25: The disgraced former chief of Australia's upmarket department store chain David Jones landed another high-profile job Friday less than a year after quitting amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Mark McInnes was appointed chief executive of Premier Retail, which owns Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Portmans, Jacqui E, and Peter Alexander with about 950 stores throughout Australia and New Zealand. 'In my previous role as CEO, I did make an error in judgement,'...

German Ifo indicator falls for first time since May

AFP, Berlin, March 25: Germany's Ifo indicator of business confidence in Europe's top economy fell in March for the first time since May, the Ifo institute said Friday. The closely watched index inched down to 111.1 points from 111.3 in February after nine consecutive monthly rises. The fall was however not as steep as feared by economists, who had forecast on average a drop to 110.5 points....

Brazil airplane giant posts $341 mln 2010 profit

AFP, Sao Paulo, March 25: Brazil's Embraer, the world's third largest commercial airplane manufacturer, on Thursday announced over $340 million in profits in 2010. The company said in a statement that it had posted profits of 600.2 million reals, or $341 million according to the average 2010 exchange rate, with a total benefit for shareholders of 573.6 million reals, or $326 million. During the past year the company delivered 101 commercial aircraft and 145 business...

Australia extends deadline for broadband network

AFP, Sydney, March 25: Australian senators have extended by two-and-a-half years the deadline for completion of the country's national broadband network in order to connect an extra million homes. The company building the Aus$36 billion ($36 billion) system, NBN Co, now has until December 2020 to build the infrastructure across the vast continent, instead of the original June 2018 date. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said more time was needed to wire up 93...

BHP to invest billions in Australian iron ore, coal

AFP, Sydney, March 25: Mining giant BHP Billiton said Friday it will pour almost $13 billion into expanding its coal and iron ore operations in Australia, key commodities that are driving the boom in Asian economies. The cashed-up resource giant's huge spending spree will see investment in mine and rail projects across the country as well as new equipment as it moves to meet ever growing demand from key markets in China and India. Anglo-Australian BHP said $7.4 billion...

Eurozone private sector lending stronger in February

AFP, Frankfurt, March 25: The rate of growth in eurozone bank loans to the private sector rose again in February, the European Central bank said Friday, signalling more support for growth across the 17-nation bloc. Lending expanded by 2.6 percent from the same month a year earlier, up from 2.4 percent in January, an ECB spokesman said, reinforcing an upward trend that had been interrupted in December. The central bank also said that eurozone money supply as measured...

Malaysian car production may face Japan hitch

AP, Kuala Lumpur, March 25: Malaysia's auto sales are on track to grow 2 percent to a record 618,000 vehicles this year, although production could be disrupted in coming months by parts shortages following Japan's earthquake and tsunami. Sales last year in Southeast Asia's largest passenger car market rose 12.7 percent to 605,156 vehicles. For the first two months of this year, sales were up 4 percent, Malaysian Automotive Association president Aishah Ahmad said Friday....

Big queues for iPad 2 in Australia

AFP, Sydney, March 25: Hundreds of people queued for up to two days to get their hands on the iPad 2 which went on sale in Australia on Friday for the first time. Apple's latest touchscreen tablet computer hit stores in the United States on March 11 but only went on sale here at 5:00pm (0600 GMT) and fans snaked round the company's flagship store in central Sydney. First in line was Canadian backpacker Alex Lee who headed to the store straight from the airport after...

Apple’s iPad 2 hits overseas stores after US sell-out

Reuters, Wellington/Sydney, March 25: Hundreds of customers lined up outside Apple stores in Australia and New Zealand on Friday for the international launch of the iPad 2, which has flown off the shelves in the United States leaving the company struggling to meet demand. Analysts forecast some 1 million devices may have been sold in the first weekend of the launch in the United States, but many warn that it's not clear how supply constraints will affect availability...

Power outages could hamper Japanese recovery: IMF

AFP, Washington, March 25: Restoring power and government reconstruction spending are crucial to Japan's economy resuming growth, the IMF said Thursday, after Tokyo put the damage of the March 11 earthquake at $309 billion. International Monetary Fund officials said they expected a short-term slowdown, but growth would "rebound" to pre-quake levels and more. But unlike natural disasters in other countries, the potential of sustained power shortages due to the...

Global crises to soften M&A near-term after strong Q1

Reuters, Philadelphia/London, March 25: This year is set to be a blockbuster for deals, exemplified by mega acquisitions such as T-Mobile USA or Genzyme, with turmoil in the Middle East and Japan causing just a temporary slowdown. Worldwide mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have risen 58 percent so far this year, according to preliminary data from Thomson Reuters, marking the best start to a year since 2007 and building on last year's tentative recovery. A doubling...