Msia’s GST collectors seek to dethrone cash

Updated: Thursday October 31, 2013 MYT 2:31:07 PM

Msia’s GST collectors seek to dethrone cash

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s new consumption tax is a boon to IT companies that stand to win infrastructure contracts and fees – provided they can convince people to switch to electronic payments in a country where 91% of transactions are in cash. The 6% goods and services tax (GST) that Prime Minister Najib Razak announced in his annual budget speech on Friday is aimed at narrowing a budget gap that is expected to hit 4% of gross domestic product this year. Read more of this post

Stop Subsidizing Colleges’ 100-Year Debt Binge

Stop Subsidizing Colleges’ 100-Year Debt Binge

The Barack Obama administration and Congress purport to care about the rising costs of college. Yet the government’s policies are only fueling the higher-education arms race. I have written before on how the expansion of federal student-loan programs has encouraged colleges to simply raise their costs. Students are left to pile up more debt while colleges indulge in their Edifice Complex — building luxury dorms and gyms and stadiums (all “sustainable,” of course) at the expense of poorer students. There is another, related government subsidy that also has perverse effects and needs reform: the tax-exempt debt binge by universities. Read more of this post

IMF warns of financial shock risk to Africa

Last updated: October 31, 2013 11:20 am

IMF warns of financial shock risk to Africa

By Javier Blas, Africa Editor

The International Monetary Fund has for the first time warned that sub-Saharan African countries are becoming “increasingly vulnerable to global financial shocks” as they intensify their reliance on foreign investors. The warning in its twice yearly review of the region comes as African frontier markets such as Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya fret about the side-effects of tighter monetary policy in the US. Read more of this post

Funds of hedge funds recast dismal model

October 30, 2013 12:34 pm

Funds of hedge funds recast dismal model

By Sam Jones

How many investments have yet to recover from 2008? Many major equity markets are approaching or have moved beyond their pre-crash peaks, at least in absolute terms. Most investment strategies too, have bounced back. Five years on, the idea that anyone should have failed to recover from the collapse of Lehman, and its attendant crises, is almost absurd, even given the volatile and difficult conditions in the years since. Read more of this post

EM investors shun state-controlled stocks

October 31, 2013 9:39 am

EM investors shun state-controlled stocks

By Robin Wigglesworth

Asset managers always fear the heavy hand of the state tampering with their investments. But rarely have they shunned government-controlled companies in thedeveloping world quite so fervently. In contrast, money has largely continued to gush into companies that are geared towards consumer spending in emerging markets – whether staples like rice crackers and beer, or more discretionary areas such as television sets and cars. Read more of this post

Banks and insurers are urging the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to give them a break when it comes to dealing with write downs of bad debt, particularly mortgage-backed securities that have little or no value

Bankers Join Insurers Asking IRS for Bad-Debt Flexibility: Taxes

Banks and insurers are urging the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to give them a break when it comes to dealing with write downs of bad debt, particularly mortgage-backed securities that have little or no value. At issue is when a financial institution can count a written-off debt as a tax loss. Currently, accounting rules stipulate the point at which a debt must be discounted for bookkeeping purposes, while IRS rules on timing aren’t as clear. Read more of this post

Ongoing legal disputes with the Korean government will put more pressure on the performance of local builders possibly for years to come

2013-10-30 16:46

Major builders in deeper trouble

By Choi Kyong-ae
Ongoing legal disputes with the government will put more pressure on the performance of local builders possibly for years to come, experts and companies said Wednesday.
Adding further woes to a construction sector still struggling with sluggish sales, two government agencies recently banned dozens of firms from bidding for construction projects placed by public firms for up to 15 months. Read more of this post

KDB to aid Hyosung Group in financial woes

KDB to aid Hyosung Group in financial woes

Ahn Jung-hoon

The Korea Development Bank (KDB) decided to provide a massive financial aid for Hyonsung Group in trouble due to the latest tax inspection. The move came from the bank’s judgment that the Group’s operations are normal apart from the tax issue. The KDB finalized its plan to provide 220 billion won ($207 million) for the project of expanding Hyosung Ulsan plant’s propylene production capacity to 500,000 tons which costs a total of 280 billion won, according to sources in the financial industry Thursday. Hyosung has been in financial woes after being slapped with a penalty of 365.2 billion won from the National Tax Service’s tax probe. This makes the group hard to secure funds from other financial institutions. However, the KDB decided to support Hyosung assuming that its operations are normal. The KDB, as a state policy financing agency, came forward to support the embattled Hyosung Group. The group leads the world’s spandex and tire cord market with the highest market share and produces continuous outcomes in the textile, chemical and industrial materials areas. Of its total sales, over 70 percent comes from the overseas market. An official at the KDB said, “Hyosung is financially sound and is steadily generating profits from the related industry,” adding “aside from the tax issue, we will provide assistance for normal business activities.”

Hyundai Design Guru Invokes Spirit of Jimi Hendrix

October 31, 2013, 6:15 PM

Hyundai Design Guru Invokes Spirit of Jimi Hendrix

By In-Soo Nam

Hyundai Motor Group Chief Design Officer Peter Shreyer at a lecture on auto design in Seoul on Wednesday.

Quick, what’s Kia’s brand image? Hyundai’s? If you didn’t get past “Korean” or “relatively inexpensive,” you’ll probably see why Hyundai Motor Group’s Chairman Chung Mong-koo says the company needs to urgently build up car buyers’ awarenessof its two brands. Read more of this post

FTC to tighten control on chaebol’s overseas units

2013-10-31 17:03

FTC to tighten control on chaebol’s overseas units

By Kim Tae-jong
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is considering regulating conglomerates’ intra-affiliate deals involving overseas units amid growing criticisms of a loophole in the nation’s anti-trust law. The move came about after lawmakers criticized the nation’s anti-trust watchdog. So far it has strengthened rules against inter-affiliate deals taking place domestically, although there are growing intra-group transactions through offshore affiliates. Read more of this post

Japan Salaries Extend Fall as Abe Urges Companies to Raise Wages

Japan Salaries Extend Fall as Abe Urges Companies to Raise Wages

Japan’s salaries extended the longest slide since 2010, even as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urges companies to raise workers’ wages as part of his bid to reflate the world’s third-largest economy. Regular wages excluding overtime and bonuses fell 0.3 percent in September from a year earlier, marking a 16th straight month of decline, according to labor ministry data released today. Total cash earnings rose 0.1 percent. Read more of this post

Indonesians stage nationwide strike over pay

Indonesians stage nationwide strike over pay

POSTED: 31 Oct 2013 06:20
Workers across Indonesia begin a two-day strike on Thursday to demand higher salaries, the latest industrial action in Southeast Asia’s top economy as people push for a greater share of the profits from stellar growth.

JAKARTA: Workers across Indonesia begin a two-day strike on Thursday to demand higher salaries, the latest industrial action in Southeast Asia’s top economy as people push for a greater share of the profits from stellar growth. Calls have been growing in recent months for a hike in the minimum wage as the cost of living skyrockets due to high inflation. Read more of this post

As costs rise, Indonesian construction firms seek force majeure on govt contracts

As costs rise, Indonesian construction firms seek force majeure on govt contracts

Wed, Oct 30 2013

By Randy Fabi and Fathiya Dahrul

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Work on billions of dollars worth of new roads, bridges, dams and power plants in Indonesia could soon come to a standstill unless the government takes emergency action to help construction firms cover rising production costs, an industry trade group said. In an unprecedented step, the Indonesian Contractors Association this month asked the finance ministry to declare force majeure on all rupiah-based government infrastructure projects after federal and state agencies refused to pay more for the cost of labor and raw materials. Government-funded public projects this year are estimated to be worth more than $12 billion. Read more of this post

Coffee drinkers treated to more arabica as prices sink

Coffee drinkers treated to more arabica as prices sink

Wed, Oct 30 2013

By Sarah McFarlane

LONDON (Reuters) – Coffee drinkers in Brazil, America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East are expected to down more arabica beans in their brew in the coming year as cheap prices attract additional demand for the higher spec product. A surplus from top grower Brazil after two successive bumper crops helped drag arabica prices to a four-and-a-half-year low this week, which is likely to prompt roasters to increase the use of the bean in their blends. Read more of this post

Chocolate Factory, Trade War Victim; From the Baltic to the Black Sea, a chocolate wall has descended across the continent of Europe

October 29, 2013

Chocolate Factory, Trade War Victim

By ANDREW E. KRAMER

KIEV, Ukraine — From the Baltic to the Black Sea, a chocolate wall has descended across the continent of Europe. The output of the sprawling brick factory, formerly known as the Karl Marx chocolate works, has never before been so hard to sell in Russia. Since July, when Russian regulators banned all chocolate, cake, cookie and candy imports from its Ukrainian parent company, Roshen, ostensibly over health concerns, production at the plant here has plummeted 14 percent. Read more of this post

Oil Gambit Helps India Mining Billionaire Lead Rio: Commodities

Oil Gambit Helps India Mining Billionaire Lead Rio: Commodities

Until three years ago, Anil Agarwal never thought he should branch into oil. Today the business helps the Indian mining magnate keep his place among billionaires. Agarwal’s $8.7 billion purchase of Cairn India Ltd. (CAIR), the country’s biggest onshore oil producer, diversified investors in his Sesa Sterlite Ltd. (SSLT) metals group against a slump in mining stocks. Sesa jumped in recent months, bringing its gain to about 5 percent since the 2011 deal to Oct. 29, while BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) rose 0.9 percent and Rio Tinto Group (RIO) fell 6 percent. Read more of this post

Family Feud Fells Newspaper Editor in India

Family Feud Fells Newspaper Editor in India

In India, “Hindu” signifies a vast religious universe, “The Hindu” the vast journalistic one — 1.5 million copies sold every day — of one of the nation’s oldest and best English newspapers. In a time of widespread journalistic dilettantism, the Hindu is renowned for its commitment to public-spirited journalism and editorial integrity, merits that compensate for the tepidity of its presentation, the fustiness of its prose style and the rigidity of its left-wing orientation. Read more of this post

Can the Indian government curb the country’s insatiable appetite for gold?

October 30, 2013 6:07 pm

India: Part of the fabric

By Avantika Chilkoti and James Crabtree

Can the government curb the country’s insatiable appetite for gold? Amid the rush of Mumbai’s chaotic international airport, customs officers beckon a passenger to step aside. A cardboard box held together by a large number of tiny staples catches their attention. Closer inspection reveals the joins are made of gold, moulded and coloured to resemble steel stationery. Read more of this post

Ruchir Sharma: China’s Illusory Growth Numbers; Huge new flows of credit and public investment are delaying needed reforms and inflating a real estate bubble

Ruchir Sharma: China’s Illusory Growth Numbers

Huge new flows of credit and public investment are delaying needed reforms and inflating a real estate bubble.

RUCHIR SHARMA

Oct. 30, 2013 7:09 p.m. ET

Beijing appears to be on track, yet again, to hit its official growth target. According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, gross domestic product rose 7.8% in the third quarter of 2013, well on its way toward hitting the official target of 7.5% GDP growth for the year. But can these numbers be trusted? Beijing has a long tradition of setting and then claiming to exceed high growth targets, which makes growth appear both rapid and stable. For years, China reported much less volatile economic growth than other developing nations, but lately volatility has all but disappeared. Since the start of 2012, China has reported a GDP growth rate within a few decimal points of the official target—every quarter. Read more of this post

Top Chinese Banks Post Biggest Bad-Loan Surge Since 2010

Top Chinese Banks Post Biggest Bad-Loan Surge Since 2010

China’s top four banks posted their biggest increase in soured loans since at least 2010 as a five-year credit spree left companies with excess manufacturing capacity and slower profit growth amid an economic slowdown. Nonperforming loans at Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (601398), China Construction Bank Corp. (939), Agricultural Bank (1288) of China Ltd. and Bank of China Ltd. (3988) rose 3.5 percent in the three months to Sept. 30 from June to a combined 329.4 billion yuan ($54 billion), according to data compiled by Bloomberg News based on third-quarter results. Profit rose to 209 billion yuan. Read more of this post

It’s Time for Chinese Firms to Play Offense Against the Shorts; Boosting transparency from the start can keep investors from questioning the books

It’s Time for Chinese Firms to Play Offense Against the Shorts

Boosting transparency from the start can keep investors from questioning the books.

MATT FORNEY AND PAUL GILLISMatt Forney

Oct. 30, 2013 12:55 p.m. ET

Once again, China has New York on edge. Despite renewed faith in China’s economy, a sudden shock among investors has reversed a steady climb in the share prices Chinese companies listed in the U.S., and rising fears of Chinese firms may even imperil the pending initial public offerings of four Chinese firms that have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The sudden volatility of Chinese stocks comes from one source: short-side attacks. The most prominent shorter, U.S.-based Muddy Waters, struck again last week with its 81-page skewering of NQ Mobile, NQ +11.26% a Chinese maker of mobile-phone security software. The report says the company’s cash balances are misstated, revenues are inflated and customers are non-existent. NQ Mobile denies the allegations and has released information on its bank accounts and taken the extraordinary step of transferring some of its cash to another bank. Read more of this post

China’s talk of reform leaves investors cool toward state giants

China’s talk of reform leaves investors cool toward state giants

5:02pm EDT

By Umesh Desai and Vikram Subhedar

HONG KONG (Reuters) – For all the grand talk of far-reaching reforms when China’s leadership meets early next month, foreign investors have refused to become carried away, with most choosing to shun the country’s mammoth state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The new leadership has been in place for a year, and investors are keen to see its strategy to keep the world’s second largest economy growing, as it enters a more mature phase of slower expansion. Read more of this post

China Companies Line Up for U.S. IPOs

China Companies Line Up for U.S. IPOs

Debut of 58.com Thursday Will Show Market’s Appetite

PAUL MOZUR in Beijing, DANIEL INMAN in Hong Kong and TELIS DEMOS in New York

Oct. 30, 2013 3:45 p.m. ET

When China’s equivalent of Craigslist sells shares in New York on Thursday, it will offer the best indicator yet of whether U.S. investors have found a taste for Chinese stocks again after a two-year case of indigestion. 58.com Inc. is set to list on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, the first in a string of Chinese Internet companies looking to debut in the U.S. in coming months. A strong reception for 58.com would indicate that investors have become more comfortable with Chinese shares after alleged accounting fraud at a handful of companies hammered some of these stocks two years ago and led to a broad retreat by U.S. investors. Read more of this post

In the Global Movie Business, China Aims for a Starring Role

In the Global Movie Business, China Aims for a Starring Role

Oct 29, 2013 Strategic Management Asia-Pacific China

“Chinese Titan Takes Aim at Hollywood,” said a New York Times report last month, referring to the plans of Wang Jianlin, China’s wealthiest investor and founder of the $30 billion real estate group Dalian Wanda, to build a movie-themed real estate project in the upscale seaside town of Qingdao. Price tag: 50 billion Yuan ($8 billion). “It is estimated that China’s film box office revenue will surpass North America’s by 2018 and will double it by 2023 — that is why I believe the future of the world’s film industry is in China,” the Times quoted Wang as saying. Read more of this post

Peter Zaldivar’s Hotel Shilla Pitch at Invest For Kids Chicago

Peter Zaldivar’s Hotel Shilla Pitch at Invest For Kids Chicago

Posted: 29 Oct 2013 11:24 PM PDT

Peter Zaldivar’s Presentation at Invest For Kids Chicago

•    International focus; looks for smaller underloved companies
•    Hotel Shilla (008770) 
•    $2.4 billion market cap
•    2 hotels in Korea (10% of sales) and duty free shops (90% of sales)
•    6 locations generate $6 billion of sales
•    Duopoly – 35% versus 50% Lotte (private)
•    Fast growth of 15% and accelerating
•    Barriers to entry are scale and government licenses
•    Chinese are getting richer – number of rich Chinese are growing substantially
•    Korea wants tourism and China is only 90 min away
•    Cosmetic surgery – world center for plastic surgery
•    Most important thing is that they sell luxury brands for less (as in 40% less than in mainland China)
•    South Korea has a tourist police force that verify authenticity
•    Chinese half of customer base and growing at 30% per year
•    More Chinese are getting passports – still less than 10%
•    Yet Hotel Shilla is trading at 17.2x 2014E earnings
•    28% upside in a base case
•    69% upside implied by a slight premium to comps
•    Same P/E as European counterparts would imply a 60% gain

Asian consortium including Korea’s E-Land in exclusive talks to buy Italy’s luxury leather goods brand Bruno Magli

Asian consortium in exclusive talks to buy Italy’s Bruno Magli

2:25pm EDT

MILAN (Reuters) – Italian luxury leather goods brand Bruno Magli said on Tuesday its hedge fund owner Fortelus has begun exclusive talks to sell the entire company to a consortium of Asian investors. Bruno Magli said London-based Fortelus is expected to close the deal with a group of investors including South Korean retailer E-Land and Hong Kong-based private equity firm CDIB Capital in November. The luxury shoe and handbag brand dates back to the early 1900s when two brothers and their sister set up a workshop in their basement with a share capital of 35 old Italian lira, according to the company. E-Land has been acquiring outlets, leisure holdings and fashion brands since 2009, and already owns upmarket Italian bag and wallet maker Mandarina Duck. CDIB Capital is owned by Taiwan-based investment and merchant banking group China Development Financial (2883.TW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Coffee drinkers treated to more arabica as prices sink

Coffee drinkers treated to more arabica as prices sink

1:17pm EDT

By Sarah McFarlane

LONDON (Reuters) – Coffee drinkers in Brazil, America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East are expected to down more arabica beans in their brew in the coming year as cheap prices attract additional demand for the higher spec product. A surplus from top grower Brazil after two successive bumper crops helped drag arabica prices to a four-and-a-half-year low this week, which is likely to prompt roasters to increase the use of the bean in their blends. Read more of this post

Trick or Treat? Grain hedgers haunted by the ghost of MF Global

Trick or Treat? Grain hedgers haunted by the ghost of MF Global

6:05pm EDT

By Christine Stebbins

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Two years ago on Halloween thousands of U.S. grain farmers got the scare of their lives when broker MF Global collapsed and more than a billion dollars of their money went missing. MF Global customers have now, through a court-appointed trustee, recovered about 98 percent of the money, which had been in supposedly “safe” margin accounts. The balance is expected by year’s end. Read more of this post

PwC gobbles up Booz & Co as Big 4 rebuild in consulting

PwC gobbles up Booz & Co as Big 4 rebuild in consulting

4:15pm EDT

By Dena Aubin and Kevin Drawbaugh

(Reuters) – PricewaterhouseCoopers said on Wednesday it agreed to buy Booz & Co., ratcheting up an aggressive move by large audit firms back into the lucrative consulting business more than 10 years after U.S. regulators tried to tease apart the two sectors. PwC PWC.UL, one of the world’s Big Four audit firms, said it will buy corporate consultancy Booz for undisclosed terms. Subject to approval by Booz’s partners, the transaction was the latest in a string of similar acquisitions. Read more of this post