HK financier Francis Leung joins CVC as adviser

(Reuters) - Leung, a long-time banker to Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing with close China ties, was with Citigroup Global Markets as chairman of Asia until last year focusing on developing Citigroup's Greater China investment banking business, CVC said.




CVC, which is a major shareholder in global motor racing business Formula 1, owns interest in Australia's media group PBL Media, Japan's restaurant chain Skylark, Singapore's precision metals stamping firm Amtek, Malaysia's largest paper packaging firm GS Paper and Packaging, and Chinese wood fibreboards maker Plantation Timber Products.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

July job growth slowest in five months

(Reuters) - In another sign of slowing growth, the Institute for Supply Management reported the service sector grew more slowly in July as its index fell to 55.8 from 60.7 in June.




There were indications that problems in the housing sector, where lenders face rising mortgage defaults and prices are declining in many metro markets, appeared to be spreading into hiring as construction businesses cut 12,000 jobs last month.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Marsh completes Putnam sale; acquisitions ahead?

(Reuters) - Marsh & McLennan said in a statement that it would discuss the use of the money at its earnings conference call on Aug. 7, immediately after announcing second-quarter earnings.



But Chief Executive Michael Cherkasky has already indicated his first priority will be acquisitions to boost the broker's current businesses and add to earnings within the next 18 month.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

FTSE up as miners support but credit fears remain

(Reuters) - The FTSE 100 index of Britain's leading shares edged up on Friday after U.S. stocks climbed overnight as robust earnings tempered nervousness about more weakness in credit conditions.

Such worries were heightened after Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. -- a subprime lender in the process of being sold -- which raised concern about its ability to stay in business. For details, see.


Read more at Reuters Africa

UPDATE 1-Weyerhaeuser 2nd-qtr results beat expectations

(Reuters) - Excluding items, the No. 2 U.S. timber and forest products
company earned 48 cents a share in the latest quarter, well
above Wall Street's expectations of 40 cents a share, according
to Reuters Estimates.




However, Weyerhaeuser's second-quarter net earnings tumbled
to $32 million, or 15 cents a share, from $298 million, or
$1.19, a year earlier on weak prices for lumber products and a
lower profit margin from its real estate business.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Google wary of behavioral targeting in online ads

(Reuters) - Susan Wojcicki, Google vice president of product management
for advertising, said on Tuesday Google was shying away from
the industry race to deliver tools for advertisers that stitch
together a user's various online actions into one profile.




The world's Web search leader has built its business around
ads tied to words typed into its search box, which are expected
to earn it upward of $16 billion in revenue this year.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

SAP says Germany head resigns for personal reasons

(Reuters) - In the interim, Ferri Abolhassan, executive vice president
for SAP large enterprise business in Europe, the Middle East and
Africa, will run the German operations.




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Botswana June credit growth slows, still over target

(Reuters) - Botswana credit demand growth slowed to 17.5 percent year-on-year in June, but remained above the central bank's target range, official data showed on Tuesday.

The central bank said growth in commercial bank credit eased from 20.6 percent year-on-year in May, largely due to a sharp decline in credit growth to the business sector.


Read more at Reuters Africa

URPT-PDATE 1-Alcatel-Lucent Q2 net loss wider than forecast

(Reuters) - The Franco-American telecoms equipment provider on Tuesday
reported a net loss of 336 million euros for
the three months to June 30 against a profit of 302 million
euros the previous year and compared with expectations of a
147.1 million loss, based on a Reuters poll of 10 analysts.
The company, which also confirmed its full-year sales growth
expectations, added the outcome included a negative impact of
176 million euros which included a mix of exceptional gains and
charges.
The company said the net loss included an impairment charge
of 298 million euros related to a re-evaluation of its W-CDMA
mobile assets which analysts did not expect.




Alcatel of France and Lucent of the United States started
operating as a combined business on Dec. 1 last year.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Dow Jones, Graham, Ingersoll and Rural Cellular: U.S. Equity Movers Final

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares had unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges. Stock
symbols are in parentheses after company names. Share prices are
as of 4 p.m. in New York.

Some mortgage lenders fell after American Home Mortgage
Investment Corp. (AHM US) delayed its quarterly dividend and
raised doubts about whether it has enough cash to stay in
business. Shares of American Home were halted.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Alberto-Culver profit falls, still eyeing deals

(Reuters) - The company, which makes such products as Alberto VO5 shampoo, is still looking for acquisitions, particularly in skin care and possibly beauty care, Chief Executive V. James Marino told Reuters.




Alberto-Culver is a smaller company focused on consumer products after spinning off Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. , its retail arm and the larger of its two businesses, in November. The company announced a restructuring plan in December.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

New York Mortgage confirms trust preferred dividend payment

(Reuters) - The real estate investment trust said it has no outstanding warehouse lines, and it exited the mortgage lending business in March.



On July 3, the company had said it will not pay a dividend in the second quarter.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

ADM quarterly profit rises, ethanol volume down

(Reuters) - The largest U.S. food processor and ethanol producer, ADM said earnings rose to $954.8 million, or $1.47 per share, in the fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30, from $410.3 million, or 62 cents per share, a year earlier.




The quarter included after-tax gains on asset sales of $616 million. Part of the gain was $440 million for the exchange of stakes in certain Chinese joint ventures for shares in Wilmar International Ltd. , the largest agriculture processing business in Asia.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Russneft owners confirm sale talks with Deripaska

(Reuters) - "The owners of Russneft have transferred control in the
company to a number of investment structures, which were holding
talks with a number of contenders," president of bank BIN,
Mikhail Shishkhanov, said through a spokesman.




"We would be happy if Basel becomes the new owner," said
Shishkhanov, who is a business partner of Mikhail Gutseriyev,
the founder of Russneft and BIN.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

WRAPUP 1-U.S. economic growth rebounds in second quarter

(Reuters) - Gross domestic product that measures total output within
U.S. borders gained at a 3.4 percent annual rate -- the fastest
since 4.8 percent in the first quarter of 2006 -- after barely
growing at a downwardly revised 0.6 percent pace in the first
quarter. Previously the government had reported that
first-quarter growth was at a 0.7 percent rate.




Second-quarter growth exceeded Wall Street economists'
forecasts for a 3.2 percent rate of increase and showed the
business sector picking up some of the slack left by consumers
who cut back on their spending.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Bernanke's Forecast of Stronger Growth Is Under Threat by Market Turmoil

(Bloomberg) -- The week's turmoil in financial
markets casts doubt on the Federal Reserve's forecast of a
gradual U.S. economic recovery in the second half, raising the
odds it will need to shift its focus to spurring growth from
fighting inflation.

The turbulence, as stocks suffered their worst drop in five
months while corporate borrowing costs soared, threatens a triple
whammy for the economy. It robs investors of spending power,
makes business investment more expensive and may prolong the
housing recession.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

UPDATE 1-MicroStrategy <MSTR.O Q2 earnings fall

(Reuters) - Shares of the company were down nearly 7 percent at $79.90
in early electronic trade after closing at $85.58 Thursday on
the Nasdaq.




The business software maker said it was considering
strategic alternatives for its Alarm.com and Angel.com
businesses. Revenue from these units were $8.3 million, or
about 10 percent of its total revenue in the latest quarter.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

EU says Intel tried to squeeze out Advanced Micro

(Reuters) - The two companies make all the chips at the processing heart of the world's one billion personal computers and servers, but Intel has about 80 percent of the business.




The European Commission, in its latest antitrust case to involve a technology giant, alleged Intel broke EU law "with the aim of excluding its main rival, AMD, from the x86 computer processing units market." X86 is the designation for the chips.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Toshiba operating profit up, eyes steady prices

(Reuters) - Analysts expect earnings at Toshiba, which also competes with General Electric in nuclear reactors, to beat the company's current full-year outlook of an operating profit of 260 billion yen , short of a consensus estimate of 277.1 billion yen by 14 analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.




The average price of Toshiba's NAND-type flash memory remained level in April-June from the previous quarter. Toshiba may need to revise up its expectation for a 50 percent annual fall in prices of NAND for the business year, said Executive Vice President Fumio Muraoka.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

ING's LatAm pension buys to be accretive from 2009

(Reuters) - Asked about the impact in 2008, McInerney said it would be
"neutral".




ING is paying $1.3 billion for the Latin American pension
businesses, which will make it the second-largest pension fund
manager in Latin America, ING said earlier in a statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News