F&N’s Bondholders Potential Barrier to Property Unit Spin Off; Risking a default should bondholders not accept its proposal would be short-sighted and may damage F&N’s ability to raise funds in the future; F&N won’t enforce clause on Heineken competition

F&N’s Bondholders Potential Barrier to Property Unit Spin Off

Fraser & Neave Ltd. (FNN), seeking to amend default conditions on S$808.25 million ($650 million) of debt to spin off a property unit, faces its first test with early bondholder votes due today, consent solicitation documents show. The beverages and property conglomerate, controlled by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, asked debt holders to waive certain default clauses and allow the company to buy back the securities on or before June 30, 2014 for a fee, according to Oct. 28 announcements to the Singapore stock exchange. The company is offering to pay 100 cents on the dollar and a fee worth half of the note’s coupon and the accrued interest at the so-called call-option, the documents show. Read more of this post

Onion crisis in India after tiny bulk reaches all-time high of 100 rupees ($1.62) per kilogram in some areas

News From the Onion in India

Politicians are humbled by a tiny bulb, and market forces.

Updated Nov. 6, 2013 6:36 p.m. ET

Ample monsoon rains helped most Indian crops this year, and one might think that’s good news for the governments of the five states holding assembly elections over the next two months. However, onions grow better in dry weather. And when the price of this staple food rises, as it has recently to an all-time high of 100 rupees ($1.62) per kilogram in some areas, Indian voters are known to toss the incumbents out. For example, an onion shortage helped the Congress Party take back the Delhi state government from the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1998. This year it could be the BJP’s turn to make Congress cry over their onions. Read more of this post

Peter Woo’s Harbour Centre Buys Former Government Building in H.K. City Center for HK$4.4 Billion For Conversion Into a Hotel; The conversion will give its second hotel in HK after Maroc Polo HK Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui

Harbour Centre Buys Building in H.K. for HK$4.4 Billion

Harbour Centre Development Ltd. (51), controlled by the family of billionaire Peter Woo, bought a former government office tower in Hong Kong’s city center for HK$4.4 billion ($568 million) for conversion into a hotel. The Hong Kong-based real estate company, a listed unit of Wheelock & Co. (20), has until the end of 2018 to convert the 27-level, 325,073-square-foot 1960s-era Murray building into a hotel, while preserving its exterior, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing yesterday evening. The conversion will give Harbour Centre its second hotel in Hong Kong; it also owns the Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel in the Tsim Sha Tsui district. The city government is selling some of its older office space after erecting a new headquarters for itself on the waterfront. Woo, chairman of Wheelock, is Hong Kong’s seventh-richest person with a fortune estimated at $7.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He’s the son-in-law of deceased shipping tycoon Pao Yue-Kong. Separately, Swire Properties Ltd. (1972) bought a commercial site in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Bay district from the government for HK$2.64 billion and Sino Land Co. (83) bought a residential site in the Sai Kung area for HK$850 million, according to a statement posted on the government’s website yesterday. Both buyers are Hong Kong-based real estate developers.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joshua Fellman in New York at jfellman@bloomberg.net

E-Cigs Wafting Into Workplace 25 Years After Smoking Ban

E-Cigs Wafting Into Workplace 25 Years After Smoking Ban

When John Castellano feels like a smoke, he simply heads to the break room at Kraft Foods Group Inc. (KRFT)’s Garland, Texas, factory. The 39-year-old technician has been able to indulge his habit in common areas at work since he started using electronic cigarettes, which emit vapor rather than smoke. E-cigs are “very liberating,” said Castellano, who used to join the other nicotine addicts at the factory’s designated smoking area. Read more of this post

Oil Industry May Invoke Trade Law to Challenge Export Ban

Oil Industry May Invoke Trade Law to Challenge Export Ban

The U.S. oil industry, riding a domestic energy boom, is preparing to challenge restrictions on crude exports, possibly by arguing that limits designed to keep petroleum in America may violate international trade rules. “Export issues are something we’re going to have to address,” John Felmy, the chief economist for the American Petroleum Institute trade group said in an interview. “It’s a debate we have to have.” Read more of this post

Toyota Raises Profit Forecast After Abe Helps Weaken Yen

Toyota Raises Profit Forecast After Abe Helps Weaken Yen

Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), the world’s largest automaker, raised its full-year profit forecast by 13 percent as the weaker yen boosted earnings from Prius and Lexus vehicles exported from Japan. Net income will probably rise to 1.67 trillion yen ($16.9 billion) in the year ending March 31, the Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker said in a statement today. That compares with the previous forecast of 1.48 trillion yen and the 1.82-trillion-yen average of 22 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Read more of this post

Japan mis-labelling scandal spreads to luxury food

Japan mis-labelling scandal spreads to luxury food

Wednesday, November 6, 2013 – 19:06

AFP

TOKYO – Japan’s hotels, restaurants and food shops were being warned Wednesday over dishonest labelling amid a growing scandal that is threatening to undermine the country’s reputation for safe, high-quality produce. The direction comes as top department stores became the latest Japanese firms to admit they had been selling food with labels falsely claiming high-quality or expensive ingredients. “It’s extremely regrettable as it seriously undermines consumer confidence,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular press conference, speaking about the widening scandal. Read more of this post

Abe Risks Ire of Rice Farmers, Consumers With Latest Proposals; Japan Leader Intensifies Campaign to Push Through Politically Difficult Economic Change

Abe Risks Ire of Rice Farmers, Consumers With Latest Proposals

Japan Leader Intensifies Campaign to Push Through Politically Difficult Economic Change

TOKO SEKIGUCHI and MITSURU OBE

Nov. 6, 2013 11:52 a.m. ET

TOKYO—As Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe intensifies his campaign to push through politically difficult economic change, he took one step forward and one step back Wednesday, proposing a reduction in long-standing protections for rice farmers while watering down a pledge to liberalize online sales of medication. In a surprise move, Mr. Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party approved a plan that called for ending production rationing and across-the-board cash handouts to farmers in five years, curbing support for a key bloc that has kept the party in power for most of the postwar period. Read more of this post

Indonesian village no longer grape paradise

Indonesian village no longer grape paradise

Wednesday, November 6, 2013 – 10:27

The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network

INDONESIA – Two decades ago, I Nyoman Mudita was one of the most prolific grape farmers in Banjar Tegeha village in Banjar district, some two kilometers northwest of Singaraja, the capital of Buleleng regency in north Bali. It was the time when the village, with its rich volcanic soil, was renowned as Buleleng’s black grape centre, a variety of grape originating from Probolinggo, East Java. In France, this black table grape variety is called “Alphonse Lavallee”. Read more of this post

Colleges Cut Alternative Investments to Recoup Losses

Colleges Cut Alternative Investments to Recoup Losses

U.S. college endowments are cutting holdings of alternative investments, such as private equity, as many seek to recoup record losses from four years ago. Colleges on average allocated 47 percent of their investment portfolios to alternative assets in the 12 months ended in June, down from 54 percent the year before, according to a preliminary report from the National Association of College and University Business Officers and the Commonfund Institute. Read more of this post

The Bharti-Walmart Breakup: Where Does FDI in India Go Next?

The Bharti-Walmart Breakup: Where Does FDI in India Go Next?

Nov 01, 2013 Law and Public Policy Strategic Management Asia-Pacific India

After a seven-year partnership, Walmart and Indian retail partner Bharti Enterprises last month issued a terse joint message saying they were ending the 50/50 joint venture launched by the two firms in 2006 and had reached an agreement to independently own their business interests in India. The move wasn’t entirely unexpected. Days before the statement was released, Walmart Asia CEO Scott Price told the media during an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Bali that “the existing franchise to Bharti is not tenable as the base” for Walmart in India. Both sides were looking at the best way to move forward, he added. Read more of this post

British army of 1.7m entrepreneurial sole traders appear to be thriving with a quarter generating turnover of more than £51,000

1.7m Britons are ‘one-man band’ firms

November 5, 2013

Nicole Blackmore

British sole traders appear to be thriving with a quarter generating turnover of more than £51,000. Britain’s army of entrepreneurial sole traders is thriving despite the current tough economic conditions, according to new research. Insurer LV= found there are 1.7 million “one-man-bands” operating in the UK. Some 27pc of these generate an annual turnover in excess of £51,000 and 5pc earn in excess of £150,000. Read more of this post

London’s ‘Great Smog’ Provides Lessons for China

London’s ‘Great Smog’ Provides Lessons for China

Fall may be in the air, but in China, it’s the pollution that’s most visible. This is the time of year when many northern industrial cities switch on coal-fired heating plants to provide warmth to urban dwellers. When combined with copious quantities of industrial pollution from factories dependent on coal, entire cities shut down, as Harbin did a couple of weeks ago. Read more of this post

Europe’s Top Fund Managers Find Ways to Overcome Weak Economy

Europe’s Top Fund Managers Find Ways to Overcome Weak Economy

05 NOV 2013 – TOM BUERKLE

It was the shock felt round the world. Ben Bernanke’s suggestion earlier this year that the Federal Reserve Board might begin to reduce its bond purchases roiled emerging markets. Currencies and stock prices fell sharply from Brazil to Indonesia as the prospect of tighter global liquidity prompted panicky investors to withdraw massive amounts of funds from those countries’ securities markets. Read more of this post

In a Turnaround, Thai Government Promises Amnesty Bill Will Die

November 6, 2013, 9:08 PM

In a Turnaround, Thai Government Promises Amnesty Bill Will Die

WARANGKANA CHOMCHUEN

BANGKOK – Thailand’s government rushed to reaffirm that it would kill a contentious amnesty bill that would absolve former leader Thaksin Shinawatra of criminal charges, as protests against the bill and skepticism over its fate continue unabated on Wednesday. A lawmaker from the ruling Pheu Thai Party first proposed the bill back in August, but on Wednesday the party officially announced that it would not revive it if it’s turned down, as expected, by the country’s Senate in a meeting scheduled for next week. Read more of this post

AirAsia co-founders to take more control of budget carrier to cut costs

AirAsia co-founders to take more control of budget carrier to cut costs

7:56am EST

By Niluksi Koswanage

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – The co-founders of Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd (AIRA.KL: Quote, Profile,Research, Stock Buzz) said on Wednesday they will take more control of running Asia’s largest budget carrier by passenger volume and push on with cutting costs that have been a drag on profit. Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun, who started up AirAsia in 1993, had shifted their base to Indonesia and set up a regional office to focus on spearheading the company’s expansion in Southeast Asia and further afield. Read more of this post

Return of Cash Sparks Big Stock Rallies; Investors Judged on Annual Performance Are Eager to Act Before Year-End

Return of Cash Sparks Big Stock Rallies

Investors Judged on Annual Performance Are Eager to Act Before Year-End

ANJANI TRIVEDI, BEN EDWARDS and JAKE LEE

Nov. 6, 2013 1:06 a.m. ET

Cash is returning to emerging markets, sparking big stock rallies and a surge in fundraising, as calm in the U.S., combined with low interest rates, spurs global investors to try to juice up returns before the end of the year. Yield-hungry investors are venturing far into risky territory. Investors snapped up $1.8 billion worth of stock sold by Chinese banks in Hong Kong over the past two weeks, while India’s stock market has climbed to record highs. Brazil sold $3.25 billion of debt, its biggest dollar-denominated offering on record, and Pakistan said Monday it plans to sell debt overseas for the first time in six years. Read more of this post

Bitcoin Climbs to Record on Wider Acceptance, China Trade

Bitcoin Climbs to Record on Wider Acceptance, China Trade

Bitcoin’s price hit a record at $261 on the Bitstamp online exchange, driven by wider acceptance of the virtual currency. The digital money, which can be used to pay for goods and services on the Internet, has risen 20-fold so far this year, as trading activity has increased. Bitcoins were trading at $259.02 apiece at 1:17 p.m. in New York on Bitstamp, one of the more active Web-based exchanges where Bitcoins are traded for dollars, euros and other currencies. Read more of this post

Fukushima Debris “Island” The Size Of Texas Near US West Coast

Fukushima Debris “Island” The Size Of Texas Near US West Coast

Tyler Durden on 11/06/2013 07:59 -0500

While it took Japan over two years to admit the Fukushima situation on the ground is “out of control“, a development many had predicted for years, a just as important topic is what are the implications of this uncontrolled radioactive disaster on not only the local environment and society but also globally, particularly Japan’s neighbor across the Pacific – the US. To be sure, there has been much speculation, much of it unjustified, in the past two years debating when, how substantial and how acute any potential debris from Fukushima would be on the US. Which is why it was somewhat surprising to see the NOAA come out with its own modeling effort, which shows that not only “some buoyant items first reached the Pacific Northwest coast during winter 2011-2012” but to openly confirm that a debris field weighing over 1 million tons, and larger than Texas is now on the verge of hitting the American coastline, just west off the state of California. Read more of this post

The uncomfortable truth in China’s property market: government is one of the biggest obstacles to the success of taming the market. State income is so entwined in the need for rising land prices that policy efforts to try to curb the house market create an inherent conflict of interest. Homes in cities such as Beijing are more expensive by some measures than Britain or Japan

The uncomfortable truth in China’s property market

5:09am EST

By Xiaoyi Shao and Koh Gui Qing

BEIJING (Reuters) – In defying four years of official cooling efforts, China’s soaring house prices reveal an uncomfortable truth: government is one of the biggest obstacles to the success of taming the market. State income is so entwined in the need for rising land prices that policy efforts to try to curb the house market create an inherent conflict of interest. With one hand on a patchwork of controls aimed at taming record house prices, governments with their other hand are at the same time selling land to developers at rising prices. Homes in cities such as Beijing are more expensive by some measures than Britain or Japan, a dismal outcome for a central government campaign aimed at making homes more affordable to Chinese. House prices in September rose nationwide at their fastest pace in three years. Read more of this post

Singapore Condos for Mainland Rich Funded by Bonds: China Credit

Singapore Condos for Mainland Rich Funded by Bonds: China Credit

Faced with curbs on luxury residences and fundraising at home, China’s biggest mainland-listed property developer is building apartments for wealthy Chinese in Singapore and raising debt in the city’s currency. China Vanke Co., which also plans developments in San Francisco and Hong Kong, sold S$140 million ($113 million) of four-year notes with a 3.275 percent coupon on Oct. 31, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s a premium on the average 1.8 percent coupon for Chinese bonds in the currency. The yield on the company’s five-year U.S. dollar bonds fell 54 basis points since June, to 4.14 percent on Nov. 5, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Read more of this post

Cracks start to show in frontier markets

Cracks start to show in frontier markets

4:40am EST

By Carolyn Cohn

LONDON (Reuters) – Three years ago, a trip to the Southern Kenya production facilities of Canadian company Africa Oil attracted only seven potential investors. Two months ago, 60 boarded the flight. The investor trip, described by sales staff at Citi following a recent client conference, is just one illustration of the swelling interest in the most esoteric frontier markets. In a world of low yields and paltry growth, the attraction of frontier markets – the lesser developed emerging markets in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America – is pretty clear. Juicy returns, often huge natural resources and young populations provide a stark contrast to the ageing economic profile in the West. Read more of this post

China cuts gas supply to industry as shortages hit

China cuts gas supply to industry as shortages hit

1:55am EST

By David Stanway

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s top natural gas producers have begun to cut supplies to industrial consumers in a bid to make sure that homes and users of transport are not left short as demand surges over the winter. Chemical fertilizer makers and other industrial users are likely to bear the brunt of Beijing’s latest efforts to ration scarce gas supplies, but they are also victims of a long-term strategy to discourage the use of gas as a feedstock. Read more of this post