UPDATE 2-Sony Ericsson shifts to smartphones amid Sony buyout talk
* No comment on reports of Sony taking 100 pct controlBy Simon JohnsonSTOCKHOLM, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Mobile phone maker Sony
Ericsson will focus entirely on the booming smartphone market,
going head to head with rivals like Apple and underlining the
importance of a tie-up with Sony amid reports the electronics
giant is preparing a buyout.The company said it would shift all its production to
smartphones during 2012 as it reported a swing back to profit of
31 million euros, just higher than forecasts.Last week, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told
Reuters Sony was in talks to buy Ericsson’s
50 percent stake in the joint venture. In an
interview with Reuters, Sony Ericsson chief executive Bert
Nordberg declined to comment.Analysts believe the world’s ninth largest handset maker can
only succeed in attracting avid gadget users away from its
rivals by being fully integrated into Sony’s wide portfolio of
devices and getting access to the Japanese electronic giant’s
entertainment assets, like PlayStation and music catalogues.Smartphones currently account for around 80 percent of all
Sony Ericsson’s sales and the company said its share of the
global Android-based smartphone market during the quarter was
approximately 12 percent in volume and 11 percent in value.”Speculation persists that Sony will buy out the JV,” said
Geoff Blaber from CCS Insight.”This is arguably the most desirable end game for a company
that needs full access to Sony content and services.”Controlling Sony Ericsson would help Sony recoup ground in
the battle against Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics
, where it has been hampered by a disjointed strategy
regarding mobile gadgets and online content.For Ericsson, a sale would insulate its profit and loss
account from the volatility Sony Ericsson has brought and allow
it to focus resources on loss-making chip venture ST-Ericsson.A Reuters poll put the price of Ericsson’s 50 percent stake
in Sony Ericsson at around $1.5 billion.SMARTPHONESThe road ahead will be tough for Sony Ericsson as it shifts
fully to smartphones.All handset makers are targeting a bigger share of the
smartphone market and players like Samsung Electronics
and HTC Corp. will be difficult to
dislodge.Sony Ericsson has been losing money for a while, although
its recent focus on smartphones based on Google’s Android
platform pulled the company back into the black.Third quarter pretax profit at the company was 31 million
euros ($42 million), just higher than the mean forecast of 27
million euros in a Reuters poll and a swing back from a loss of
42 million in the previous quarter.”On the sales side it’s actually a pretty strong quarter for
Sony Ericsson,” said Sydbank analyst Morten Imsgaard, who said
that customers like Sony Ericsson’s new product line based
around its Xperia smartphones.”On the earnings side it’s not that strong, and the company
will have to work on that side going forward to lift the
operating margin,” he said.The operating margin was 2 percent, down from 4 percent a
year earlier, indicating that after years of restructuring and
cost cuts, more remains to be done.
$1 = 0.730 Euros)
Foxconn to make iPads in Brazil, eyes $12 billion plan
President Dilma Rousseff first announced the Foxconn proposal to build Apple’s (AAPL.O) hot-selling tablet in Brazil during an official visit to China in April.The lengthy negotiations reflect the country’s sometimes difficult investment climate and the Rousseff administration’s ambiguous stance between a heavy government hand and the need to attract private capital.But Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou and Brazil’s Science and Technology Minister Aloizio Mercadante told reporters on Thursday the company will start assembling the iPad locally in December at its plant in Jundiai in Sao Paulo state.”They’re maintaining the deadline they had announced, which is December. The iPhone is ready for large-scale production and for the iPad they’re working with that deadline,” Mercadante said after a meeting between Gou and Rousseff.Both sides were still negotiating fresh Foxconn investments, including two new factories to assemble touch screens, Mercadante said.”We haven’t finished the process, it’s moving ahead but there’s no date,” said Mercadante, who had trumpeted the announcement back in April as a sign of growing Asian investments and high-tech industries in Brazil.Six state governments were competing to attract the factories, Mercadante said. Logistics, such as the proximity of airports, were key issues, he added.The deal involves local investors, as well as financing from state-owned development bank BNDES, Mercadante added.If all goes well, Foxconn expects to invest up to $12 billion in coming years.”We will be still investing US$12 billion in a (few) years, maybe four years, maybe six years,” Gou told reporters in a separate news conference.Brazil recently granted tax breaks on specific computer components and attracted companies such as Samsung (005930.KS), Motorola (MMI.N) and Positivo Informatica (POSI3.SA) to assemble tablets.
UPDATE 1-Russian watchdog questions Norilsk share buyback
* Norilsk board approved $4.5 bln buyback offer in SeptMOSCOW, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Russia’s anti-trust body has
written to Norilsk Nickel questioning aspects of its
planned share buyback, a development that analysts said may
delay the metals group’s $4.5 billion share purchase.Norilsk said it was proceeding with the buyback and was
preparing a response to the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS).
The FAS could not be reached for comment.”The FAS letter confirms that the buyback is only possible
with the permission of the government commission (on foreign
investments, headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin),” Norilsk
shareholder UC RUSAL said in an e-mailed statement.”Without the permission, all Norilsk deals within the buyback
are null and void.”In a separate press release issued late on Wednesday,
Norilsk Nickel also said it is not breaking the investment law.”The Company believes that completion of the offer to
purchase…will not violate the Strategic Investment Law,” it
said in the statement.Norilsk’s board approved on Sept. 13 a buyback of 7.7 percent
of its shares at $306 each, a total of $4.5 billion.The offer came after the board of the world’s biggest
aluminium producer, RUSAL, rejected an offer for its Norilsk
shares, also at $306 each.Norilsk has been pushing for a buyback to resolve a
long-standing dispute between rival oligarchs Vladimir Potanin,
whose Interros investment company holds about 30 percent of
Norilsk, and Oleg Deripaska, who controls RUSAL.Alfa Bank analysts said the letter referred to an article of
the law on competition.This states a group of investors controlling more than 10
percent of shares, or a foreign investor buying shares in a
strategic company, must first receive approval from the
commission.”The most likely outcome is that the commission will grant
approval, but the process may delay the buyback,” Alfa Bank
said in a note.Norilsk said it was preparing a response to the government
body.”The letter does not contain any demands and is just part of
an exchange of letters between the company and the FAS started
in August 2011, following appeals by RUSAL and Norilsk,” it said
in a statement.”Currently, the (buyback) programme is proceeding at full
speed in accordance with the announced conditions.”RUSAL and Norilsk declined to provide a copy of the letter.
AUDIO SLIDESHOW: Two Decades, One Somalia
In the 20 years since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled, Somalia has faced hunger, flooding, fighting, suicide attacks, piracy and insurgency.
Prevailing violent conflict inside Somalia makes it difficult if not impossible for aid agencies to reach people.
AlertNet brings you special coverage of the country which has struggled without a strong central government ever since.
Here is a selection of Reuters pictures from 1993 to 2011 on this war-torn country and failed state.
Moscow says ‘anti-Russia subtext’ to Tymoshenko saga
“The gas agreements in question were drawn up in strict
compliance with the laws of Russia and Ukraine and the
applicable norms of international law,” Russia’s Foreign
Ministry said in a statement on its website.”In relation to that we cannot help but notice an obvious
anti-Russian subtext to the entire saga.”
Moscow says ‘anti-Russia subtext’ to Tymoshenko saga
“The gas agreements in question were drawn up in strict
compliance with the laws of Russia and Ukraine and the
applicable norms of international law,” Russia’s Foreign
Ministry said in a statement on its website.”In relation to that we cannot help but notice an obvious
anti-Russian subtext to the entire saga.”
Moscow says ‘anti-Russia subtext’ to Tymoshenko saga
“The gas agreements in question were drawn up in strict
compliance with the laws of Russia and Ukraine and the
applicable norms of international law,” Russia’s Foreign
Ministry said in a statement on its website.”In relation to that we cannot help but notice an obvious
anti-Russian subtext to the entire saga.”
