Category: Business

MOSCOW Russian state development bank VEB will post a loss of 130 billion roubles ($2.14 billion) this year, its chairman Sergei Gorkov said on Monday, less than an expected loss of 200 billion roubles.Speaking to reporters, Gorkov said VEB's sale of American depository receipts, or ADRs, in Russian state gas company Gazprom GAZPI.UL this year had contributed 118 billion roubles to the overall loss.

FRANKFURT European Central Bank policymaker Jens Weidmann said plans for a state bailout of Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI) should be weighed carefully as many questions remain to be answered, according to German newspaper Bild."For the measures planned by the Italian government the bank has to be financially healthy at its core. The money cannot be used to cover losses that are already expected," Bild quoted Weidmann as saying in a summary of an article due to

MILAN/LONDON On the morning of July 29, former Italian Industry Minister Corrado Passera was traveling in a high-speed train toward the medieval city of Siena, racing to meet the directors of the world's oldest bank to present them with a rescue plan.Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Italy's third-largest lender, was destined to be wound down within months unless it could raise billions of euros and pull itself out of a swamp of bad loans that threatened to swallow up its

SEOUL Headed for a fourth straight annual profit decline, Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) is trimming its cost fat; scaling back on business class flights and annual family home trips for overseas employees, executives told Reuters.The South Korean automaker has been hit by its exposure to weak emerging markets, and a product line-up that features more sedans than sport utility vehicles, just as SUVs have become more popular across many global markets.The belt-tightening - which also includes cutting back on printing and

By Jake Spring | NINGDE, China NINGDE, China A dusty village on the outskirts of Ningde, a third-tier city in China's southeast, seems an unlikely place for the headquarters of a potential global leader in future automotive technology.Yet China's top-down industrial policy diktats - move up the value chain, clean up polluted urban skies, and shift to plug-in cars - have

TEL AVIV Messaging app Snapchat is buying Israeli augmented reality startup Cimagine Media for an estimated $30-$40 million, marking Snapchat's first acquisition in Israel, the Calcalist financial daily reported on Sunday.Cimagine developed True Marketless Augmented Reality – technology that allows users to virtually place furniture and appliances they wish to purchase in the space of their home, on their mobile devices, at the click of a button.Cimagine will become Snapchat's research and development center in Israel and is expected to

BEIJING China needs to keep financial market liquidity stable and regulate its "money gates" to prevent asset bubbles, but it also needs to ensure a lack of liquidity doesn't cause financial stress, according to a commentary in a newspaper owned by the People's Bank of China.Chinese policymakers face a dilemma as they need to tighten credit to contain debt and speculative investment without triggering a wave of defaults that could destabilize the financial system.The country's leaders have called for a

DUBAI Iran said on Sunday it had negotiated to pay only about half the announced price for 80 new Boeing (BA.N) airliners in an order that the American planemaker had said was worth $16.6 billion.Boeing and its European rival Airbus (AIR.PA) have both signed huge contracts this month to supply airliners to Iran, the first such deals since international sanctions were lifted under a deal to curb Tehran's nuclear program.Replacing Iran's antiquated civil aviation fleet is one of the biggest

By Lucia Mutikani | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON New U.S. single-family home sales rose more than expected in November and consumer sentiment hovered near a 13-year high this month, strengthening the view that the economy will gain further momentum next year.President-elect Donald Trump's plan to cut taxes and increase infrastructure spending is expected to boost economic growth, though it already has sparked a

By Tracy Rucinski | CHICAGO CHICAGO Caesars Entertainment Corp's (CZR.O) bankrupt operating unit resolved a dispute with its lenders on Friday, paving the way for a consensual plan to push the casino group out of its $18 billion Chapter 11.In filings with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago, bank lenders said they had reached an agreement over their recovery terms and

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T)said on Saturday that a new chief executive officer will lead its Brazil operations beginning Jan. 2. The Japanese carmaker said Rafael Chang would take over the company's largest South American operation. He will replace Koji Kondo, whom the company praised as leading Toyota through difficult years as demand for autos in Brazil has fallen by half in the last four years.Toyota, Brazil's fifth-largest automaker by units sold, said Chang, after a stint of leading the carmaker's

DUBAI Iran plans to ask international oil companies to bid for the second phase of development of its Yadavaran and North Azadegan oilfields, a senior official said on Saturday.That means Chinese firms China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) [CNPET.UL] and Sinopec (0386.HK), which have played a leading role in developing the fields until now, will have to compete with other firms if they want to maintain that position."CNPC would like to extend its North Azadegan contract, but we have announced that

By Lawrence Delevingne | NEW YORK NEW YORK When six executives of Platinum Partners, including founder Mark Nordlicht, were arrested on Monday on federal charges of running a more than $1 billion hedge fund fraud, people who had long alleged they were harmed by the New York-based firm felt some vindication.But the possibility that each defendant might face prison terms has

MOSCOW Rosneft's (ROSN.MM) plans for next year allow it to be flexible with production volumes, Russia's top oil producer said on Saturday, after Moscow clinched a deal with OPEC to cut production to bolster weak oil prices.State-controlled Rosneft, which accounts for over 40 percent of Russian oil production, said its board has looked into plans for 2017-2018. "The plan is formed on the basis of actual long-term development program and takes into account changes in Russia's fiscal law and a

By Rodrigo Campos | NEW YORK NEW YORK The year-end stocks rally on the heels of the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president was built on expectations of reduced regulations, big tax cuts and a large fiscal stimulus. Now signs are emerging from the Trump camp that harsher trade policies that could jeopardize the honeymoon are likely in the offing,

The chief executive of Lockheed Martin Corp told President-elect Donald Trump on Friday that she was committed to driving down the cost of the company's F-35 fighter jet, a day after Trump took aim at the cost of the F-35 in a Twitter post.CEO Marillyn Hewson said she spoke with Trump on Friday afternoon and assured him that she had heard his message "loud and clear" about reducing the cost of the F-35.Trump, in a tweet posted late on Thursday,

By Jeffrey Dastin | ALLENTOWN, Pa. ALLENTOWN, Pa. A cargo plane emblazoned with "Prime Air" descended from an empty sky at Lehigh Valley International Airport on Tuesday, ninety minutes from the bustle of New York City, loaded with crates of goods during the peak holiday shopping season.It's one of 40 jets leased by Amazon.com Inc for a new cargo service to

The U.S. Department of Justice has subpoenaed a high-profile whistleblower in its criminal investigation into Wells Fargo & Co's (WFC.N) opening of accounts without customer permission.U.S. prosecutors in San Francisco have asked Wells Fargo banker Yesenia Guitron, who lost a private lawsuit against the fourth-largest lender, to testify before a grand jury in San Francisco on Tuesday, according to a subpoena dated Dec. 12, which was seen by Reuters.A Wells Fargo spokesman declined to comment.Guitron is among at least five

Wall Street treaded water in light pre-holiday trading on Friday, with the three major indexes on track to post weekly gains.The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which came within spitting distance of the historic 20,000 mark earlier this week, looked set to record its seventh straight weekly gains."There's really nothing to move the market one way or another," said Mohannad Aama, managing director at Beam Capital Management in New York."We are in a holding pattern after the Trump rally and there's

MOSCOW Russia's economic contraction is slowing, capital flight is fading and real wages are starting to recover, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.Speaking at an annual end-of-year news conference, Putin said the Russian economy was on track to contract by 0.5-0.6 percent this year, while inflation for the whole of 2016 was likely to reach 5.5 percent.

By Michael Shields and Arno Schuetze | ZURICH/FRANKFURT ZURICH/FRANKFURT Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank have been hit with a combined penalty of more than $12 billion over the sale of U.S. toxic debt, further hampering two of Europe's leading investment banks as they grapple with falling profits. The penalty puts them at a further disadvantage to larger U.S. rivals.Credit Suisse (CSGN.S)

By Karen Freifeld and Arno Schuetze | NEW YORK/FRANKFURT NEW YORK/FRANKFURT Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) has agreed to a $7.2 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over its sale and pooling of toxic mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.The agreement in principle, announced by Deutsche Bank's Frankfurt headquarters early Friday morning, offers some relief to the

By David Shepardson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON A federal judge said on Thursday that Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) has reached an agreement in principle to provide "substantial compensation" to the owners of about 80,000 3.0-liter polluting diesel vehicles, a key hurdle to resolve the German automaker's emissions scandal.U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer did not disclose the amount of owner compensation, which is not

By Lucia Mutikani | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. consumer spending increased modestly in November as household income failed to rise for the first time in nine months, suggesting the economy slowed in the fourth quarter after growing briskly in the prior period.The economy, however, remains on solid footing as other data on Thursday showed new orders for capital goods rising last month

Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA.TA) (TEVA.N), said on Thursday it had agreed to pay $519 million to settle charges it violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.The settlement with the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission relates to conduct in Ukraine, Mexico and a guilty plea by a subsidiary in Russia, and followed a voluntary investigation, Teva said.Details of the misconduct, which Teva said ended several years ago, were not disclosed.The SEC's complaint had alleged

By Claire Milhench | LONDON LONDON Global investors' equity holdings rose to six-month highs in December on bets that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's promised fiscal splurge would spur higher growth and inflation, a Reuters monthly poll showed on Thursday. Trump's plans to cut taxes and boost spending have sent Wall Street .DJI .IXIC to record highs in December as investors pile

By Lawrence Delevingne and Olivia Oran | NEW YORK NEW YORK Wall Street holiday parties this year took place in luxury venues like the Waldorf Astoria, featured women dressed as glowing angels, and had fine wine, scotch and bourbon on hand.But organizers of the soirées, conscious of tighter budgets and public scrutiny, are not eager to discuss the merriment.Big financial firms

ZURICH Swiss biotech group Actelion's (ATLN.S) shares rose by more than 3 percent on Wednesday following a report that talks with Sanofi (SASY.PA) are making progress, increasing optimism that the two will strike a deal.Reuters reported late on Tuesday that discussions between the Swiss and French companies are progressing, despite investors' fears that the Swiss biotech firm's chief executive and founder might not want to sell.Analysts at Basler Kantonalbank and Thurguaer Kantonalbank cited the Reuters report as the reason for

SYDNEY The U.S. dollar held near 14-year peaks on Wednesday as global yield spreads moved inexorably in its favor, while a falling yen lifted Japanese shares to a one-year top.The Nikkei .N225 added 0.3 percent in thin trade, while Australia's main index climbed 0.6 percent to its highest in 17 months after Wall Street racked up more records.Japan's government upgraded its overall assessment of the economy on Wednesday, echoing a more upbeat view from the Bank of Japan's delivered

By Henning Gloystein | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices nudged higher on Wednesday on expectations of a U.S. crude inventory draw, although trading activity was muted as markets start to wind down ahead of the Christmas weekend.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures CLc1 were trading at $53.58 per barrel at 0105 GMT, up 28 cents from their last settlement.International Brent

Nike Inc (NKE.N), the world's No. 1 footwear maker, reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue, helped by higher demand from Western Europe, Greater China and emerging markets. The company's shares were up 4 percent at $53.89 in after-market trading on Tuesday. Nike's net income rose to $842 million, or 50 cents per share, in the second quarter ended Nov. 30, from $785 million, or 45 cents per share, a year earlier.

The Dow and the Nasdaq hit record highs on Tuesday, with the blue-chip index just 13 points shy of the 20,000 mark, a level it has never scaled.Goldman Sachs (GS.N), which was up about 1 percent, gave the biggest boost to the Dow.U.S. stocks have been on a tear since the Nov. 8 presidential election, with the Dow up 9 percent and S&P more than 6 percent on bets that President-elect Donald Trump's plans for deregulation and infrastructure spending will

By Alastair Sharp and Allison Martell | TORONTO TORONTO BlackBerry Ltd (BB.TO)(BBRY.O) on Tuesday posted an adjusted profit that beat expectations even as revenue dropped sharply, as the software growth it is relying on failed to fully make up for its retreat from handsets and lost service fees.The Canadian smartphone pioneer has gone through a wrenching transition in recent years featuring

MUMBAI Apple Inc is in talks with India's government to explore making products locally, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, as the U.S. firm aims to make deeper inroads in the world's second-largest mobile phone market by users.Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to boost technology manufacturing in the country through his 'Make in India' initiative. His government in June exempted foreign retailers for three years from a requirement to locally source 30 percent of goods sold in their