September, 2009
BTA creditors offer $4.9bn debt reduction
Creditors to BTA, Kazakhstan’s biggest bank, have offered to write off $4.9bn in debt, about 60% of what the bank itself had proposed, the company said on Wednesday. While BTA wants creditors to write off $8.2bn of their debt claims as part of a restructuring of its $10.3bn debts,
JAL weighs break-up
Japan Airlines will consider a breakup of the company along with a range of other options, as the ailing carrier faces pressure from lenders and the government to turn around its operations, reports the WSJ.
Japan’s Aiful warns of $3.4bn loss
Struggling Japanese consumer lender Aiful Corp said on Thursday it would halve its workforce and slash branch numbers as it warned of a $3.4bn loss for the year to March 2010, reports Reuters. Shares of Aiful,
Ernst & Young settles Akai case
Ernst & Young on Wednesday agreed to make an undisclosed “substantial payment” to liquidators of Hong Kong’s biggest ever bankruptcy, after admitting that certain audit documents were no longer reliable.
Canwest to sell A$680m Ten stake
Canwest Global Communications, Canada’s biggest media company, plans to sell its 50% stake in Ten Network Holdings for A$680m ($592m) to help pay off debt, reports Bloomberg. The sale will probably be completed by Oct 1,
Chile’s CMPC eyes Aracruz unit
Chilean forestry group CMPC said it is in talks to buy a unit of Brazilian pulp maker Aracruz for $1.4bn, which would give it access to the world’s cheapest pulp-producing market, reports Reuters. CMPC said that it had signed an MoU with Aracruz to buy the Guaiba unit.
Dell insider trading allegation
The US SEC on Wednesday accused an employee of companies affiliated with Ross Perot, a former US presidential candidate, of profiting from insider trading ahead of Dell’s $3.9bn cash offer to buy Perot Systems on Monday.
SocGen reshuffle ahead of foreign push
Société Générale has appointed a prominent French retailer to spearhead the group’s international growth. Bernardo Sanchez Incera, until this week chief executive of the Monoprix supermarket chain,
Overnight markets: Mostly down
Asian stocks mostly fell on Thursday as Japan’s markets reopened after a three-day holiday. In New York, futures on the S&P500 Index added 0.1% after the gauge lost 1% on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve signalled it will use fewer tools to bolster growth.
Fed keeps rates on hold
As widely expected, the US Federal Reserve left benchmark interest rates unchanged on Wednesday.
But in memory of a time when steady interest rates were far from a given, here, courtesy of Manoj Pradhan and colleagues at Morgan Stanley,
Oh, the boldness of Kazakh bankers
Just when Kazakh banks had fallen somewhat out of the limelight, AFP reminds us why investors should be wary of those particular institutions (beyond the usual suspects):
From an AFP report on Wednesday:
And now for a Chinese real estate crash?
Back in 2007 a UK television documentary fronted by quick-witted comic Paul Merton, made the rather astute observation — for the time — that Chinese residential real-estate investors tended to keep their properties unoccupied.
CDS report: Market still on a roll
Markit’s Gavan Nolan wrote this CDS report
European credit indices continued to tighten following Monday’s roll. However, they came off their tight levels after the US stock market opened down ahead of the Fed’s rate decision later today.
China’s looming credit crisis
From Dylan Grice — Albert Edward’s new alarmist colleague at Societe Generale — on the subject of Chinese bank lending…
The guy’s a natural – a worthy member of the Edwards’ school.
Grice
Eyeing cash-and-carry bond issues
As has been duly noted by analysts, newspapers and commentators in the last few weeks — the dollar is emerging as the world’s new favourite ‘carry-trade’ currency. (Although, some have suggested it should really be the Great British Kroner.)
With that in mind,
Santander’s Brazilian job
Details of Banco Santander’s IPO of its Brazilian unit serves as a further reminder that its 74 year-old chairman Emilio Botin is a bit of a shrewdie.
While RBS and Fortis blew themselves up with their ill-timed acquisition of ABN AMRO,
Did he really say that? Part II
Earlier on Wednesday, FT Alphaville noted an intriguing series of Reuters headlines, which suggested Cadbury chief executive Todd Stitzer may have revealed more than he intended regarding Kraft’s approach to the British confectioner.
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville Wednesday morning,
- Land of the eternal ATM.
- Did the Cadbury CEO really say that?
- Lloyds as leverage-leader.
- Privyet privatisation.
- Lord Turner’s Mansion House adventures.
Lloyds as leverage-leader?
Wowzers – Execution’s new banking analyst is certainly making an exciting debut.
Having moved to the brokerage from Citadel last month, Joseph Dickerson is sinking his teeth into UK banks with a giant `buy’ on Lloyds and a `sell’ on RBS,
Markets live transcript 23 Sep 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:15 on 23 Sep 2009. Participants in this chat were: Neil Hume, FT (NH) Bryce Elder (BE) NH:Good morning NH:and welcome to Markets Live
Did he really say that?
There are very strict rules governing what you can and can’t say during an offer period in the UK, so we were intrigued to see these flashes appear on Wednesday morning.
All the more so because the Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference that Todd Stitzer has been speaking at is supposed to be off limits to the press and all the investor meetings are private one-on-one affairs.
Privyet privatisation
Just as Russian coffers look set to receive a bundle of assets via distressed corporate equity swaps from companies fallen upon hard times, it appears the Russians may also be simultaneously preparing for a large wave of new privatisation.
Oh no! Dan Brown to the rescue…
Has it come to this? Dan Brown the ubiquitous author of The Da Vinci Code and now, the record-breaking The Lost Symbol among other offerings, is being exalted as the saviour of the publishing industry and the champion driver of fledgling e-book sales.
Kiwi surprise
The Kiwi dollar was doing quite nicely, climbing steady but with no great dramas, until New Zealand’s unexpected emergence from recession – as per data issued Wednesday – put a rocket under it, driving the Kiwi to a 13-month high against the US dollar.
Land of the eternal ATM
Wednesday, as FT Alphaville warned, has kicked off with a conga line of UK companies launching cash calls.
Barratt Developments, Yell, Redrow and Liberty are together set to tap the City of London ATM for just under ₤1.5bn.
Adventures at Mansion House
LORD TURNER KEEPS HEAT ON BANKERS WITH FURTHER ATTACK
… Scream the headlines of Wednesday morning’s papers, on the FSA chairman’s Tuesday night speech at Mansion House.
Unfortunately, given the newspaper practice of pre-writing news (in order to make their print deadlines,
Annals of unintended QE consequences, ETF edition
What, what… QE negatively affecting retail holders of bond exchange-traded funds?
Dare we say, fund issuers might not have been prepared for that sort of eventuality.
In any case, some at least are taking precautions.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Wednesday,
- G20 think: ‘In the medium run, we are all retired’.
- Recession winners and losers.
- Which bank could implode next?
- Rally at risk.
- Supermassive (investment-banking) black hole.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Wednesday’s FT,
Martin Wolf: Why China must do more to rebalance its economy
China has had a good crisis. That became obvious at the “summer Davos” of the World Economic Forum,