BUSINESSWednesday 4 April 2018

PAGE | 23PAGE | 22 Texas A&M at Qatar hosts talkon corrosion

Murdoch offers to sell Sky News

to Disney

Qatar soon to enter fresh LNG agreements: IEASATISH KANADY THE PENINSULA

DOHA: With Qatar’s LNG contracts with some critical markets expiring in the next four to five years, the country will be seeking to obtain new deals in the market, with destination flexibility.

The Qatari LNG supply port-folio includes markets which are heavily dependent on LNG, notably Japan, Korea and Chinese Taipei, and these accounts for around 30bcm of

contracts with Qatar. By 2022, around 10bcm of

contracts will expire and most of these are with Japan. Because of Japan’s over-contracted position, it is not sure these con-tracts would be renewed in their current form.

International Energy Agency (IEA), noted in its latest Global Gas Security Review that con-tracts signed by other traditional LNG exporters, such as Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia, totalling around 100bcm per year, will also expire by 2022.

These contract expiries will take place when the global LNG market faces a situation of sig-nificant oversupply in the coming years due to the second big wave of new liquefaction capacities in Australia and the United States.

Therefore, Qatar will be seeking to obtain new deals in a very competitive market and, if it meets customers’ demands for various flexibilities, its new business deals would enhance overall gas security of supply, not only with upward volume

flexibility, but also with desti-nation flexibility.

The IEA document noted that Qatar Petroleum reaffirmed its commitment to invest in a planned expansion of the North Field, announcing plans to ramp up LNG production by 30 percent by 2022-24, reaching total liq-uefaction capacity of around 135bcm per year. In total, Qatar might have around 45 bcm of capacity available in the market.

Qatar has more than 90 percent of its LNG production volumes committed under term

contracts. More than half of its contracted volumes are assigned to Asian importers, such as Japan, Korea, India and Chinese Taipei, and one-third of them are with European countries such as the United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy and France.

More than 90 of Qatar’s LNG production is committed as part of supply purchase arrange-ments signed between 2011 and 2017. Each year since 2011, Qatar has offered significant flexibility to the global LNG market with its uncontracted supply capacity

of around 10 bcm per year and destination-free contracts of around 30bcm per year. Some of these flexible volumes were shipped to meet unexpected demand around the world, as was the case after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

IEA estimates that Qatar has an estimated 25 trillion cubic metres (tcm) of gas reserves, 14 percent of the global total. The country is the world’s largest producer and exporter of LNG, producing around 100 bcm in 2016.

Local firms tighten grip under ‘Moushtarayat’MOHAMMAD SHOEB THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Share of local suppliers in awarded business opportu-nities as part of the Moush-t a r a y a t ( G o v e r n m e n t Procurement and Contracting Conference & Exhibition) initi-ative, is likely to reach up to 90 percent within few years, said a top government official respon-sible for monitoring the procurement tenders of some 57 state-backed agencies.

As part of the government’s Moushtarayat initiative, local suppliers of goods and services, including the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), are given priority in awarding up to 70 percent of the value of job con-tracts with a long term objective to establish a well-diversified, sustainable and vibrant private sector to reduce dependence on volatile oil and gas revenues of the energy-rich economy.

Preparations are in full swing, especially among com-panies and agencies who planning to participate in the third edition of the Moush-tarayat event, which is going to be held in less than three weeks time.

The ‘Moushtarayat 2018’ (to be held at DECC from April 23 to 25) is expected to see business opportunities to the tune of QR60bn.

“The business opportunities available in Qatar are huge. I can say that the share of local sup-plier in government projects can reach up to 90 percent, or even more, in coming years provided they do the networking actively and properly,” Abdulaziz Zeid Rashid Al Taleb (pictured), Director of Department of Gov-ernment Procurement Regula-tions (DGPR) at the Ministry of Finance (MoF) told The

Peninsula on the sidelines of an event recently.

Al Taleb added: “Although we are already communicating with several government and private agencies, including the Ministry of Economy and Com-merce, Qatar Chamber and Qatar Development (QDB), which is very active in sup-porting the SMEs.”

According to reports, since the launch of the previous edition of the ‘Moushtarayat’ ( held in April 2017) till now, business opportunities worth QR28.7bn have already been awarded to local suppliers, including SMEs, accounting for nearly 70 percent of the QR41.3bn total value of the awarded contracts.

He reiterated that the number of job opportunities this year are almost the same or may be more, but local companies and suppliers need to do the networking with government agencies aggressively, and they must get registered with the MoF to get classified and obtain required certificates to partic-ipate in the tenders. Companies should always visit the official website of Moushtarayat and see

the newspapers where tenders are announced twice a week.

To enhance the scale of ben-efits, he also encouraged the remaining entities (which are not part of the 57 listed agencies under the Moushtarayat law) to have some kind of networking system through which infor-mation about tenders can be shared and disseminated with local suppliers.

“Take the instance of oil and gas sector. There are a lot of companies in the industry, but I am not sure how they are oper-ating, or sourcing supplies. They should also encourage and support local suppliers to par-ticipate in the tendering process,” noted Al Taleb.

About the impact of the blockade with regard to the availability of raw materials, and construction process of key projects, he said that every project is running on schedule and no shortage of any raw materials in the country.

“As a matter of fact the blockade has encouraged com-panies and local businesses to deal directly with manufacturers instead of going through third party or intermediaries, which is not only saving time but it is now more cost efficient and effective in terms of price of materials, shipping, logistics and delivery.”

The ‘Moushtarayat 2018,’ to be held at DECC from April 23 to 25, is expected to see business opportunities to the tune of QR60bn. H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani (right), Minister of Economy and Commerce,

with Ron Antevy (centre), President and CEO of e-Builder.

Economy Minister holds bilateral meetings on sidelines of Miami tourTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, Minister of Economy and Commerce, held a series of bilateral meetings on the side-lines of the economic tour of the State of Qatar to the United States, which was launched in Miami.

The minister met with

former US Representative for Florida’s 18th congressional dis-trict Patrick Murphy, President and CEO of E-Builder Ron Antevy, and President and CEO of Dacra Craig Robins.

The meetings reviewed bilateral relations in the eco-nomic, trade and investment fields and discussed means of supporting and enhancing them as well as discussing the

prospects of cooperation in many fields and highlighting the investment opportunities available in the State of Qatar.

E-Builder is responsible for providing electronic solutions for construction project man-agement software, while Dacra specialises in the development of the architecture for com-mercial and residential projects and mixed-use projects.

New York Fed selects Williams as new chiefAFP

NEW YORK: The New York Federal Reserve Bank said yesterday it had selected John Williams to take the helm of the institution that is key to moni-toring financial markets and implementing central bank policy. Williams, who currently heads the San Francisco Fed, will assume the post on June 18.

Opec Q1 oil output hits lowest since start of deal REUTERS

LONDON: Opec’s oil output in the first three months of 2018 has fallen by 425,000 barrels per day (bpd) from its 2017 average, a company which tracks Opec supply forecast yesterday, indicating strong compliance with a pact to reduce production.

The Opec nations agreed to cut output by about 1.2 million

bpd as of January 2017 to reduce inventories and support prices.

The pact has been extended until the end of 2018.

Supply from all 14 Opec countries in the first three months of 2018 averaged 32.27 million bpd, tanker-tracking firm Petro-Logistics said in an email, down 425,000 bpd from Opec’s average daily supply for 2017 as a whole.

8,721.75 -7.40 PTS0.08%

QSE FTSE100 DOW BRENT7,030.46 -26.15 PTS0.37%

23,794.09 +149.90 PTS0.63% Dow & Brent before going to press

$63.45 +0.44

Qatar Chamber hosts Tunisian delegationQatar Chamber Vice-Chairman Mohammed bin Ahmed bin Towar Al Kuwari with a high-level delegation from Tunisa during a meeting , yesterday. The Tunisian delegation was led by Fawzi bin Abdul Rahman, Minister of Vocational Training.

22 WEDNESDAY 4 APRIL 2018BUSINESS

Texas A&M at Qatar hosts talk on corrosionTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: A recent workshop hosted by Texas A&M University at Qatar highlighted Qatar’s ongoing challenges in the area of corrosion as well as recent advances and initiatives to address and combat it.

The workshop, “Material Selection, Reliability and Cor-rosion — Challenges and Oppor-tunities,” was the first of a series of planning workshops that aim to highlight materials selection, reliability and corrosion chal-lenges in Qatar to forge new, interdisciplinary, collaborative research initiatives for 2018 and beyond.

Maintaining critical infra-structures and key oil and gas assets is of strategic importance for Qatar, said Dr. Bilal Mansoor, workshop chair and an assistant professor of mechanical engi-neering at Texas A&M at Qatar.

Dhruv Arora from Qatar Shell said, “Corrosion remains one of the key focus areas for Shell R&D in Qatar. And we always appre-ciate these kinds of workshops that can foster close collabora-tions between industry and academics.”

Co-organised by the Mechanical Engineering Pro-gramme at Texas A&M at Qatar and the National Corrosion and Materials Reliability Laboratory at Texas A&M’s main campus in College Station, Texas (USA), the workshop featured a lineup of scientists and engineers from local industry and subject-matter experts from top universities in the United States who shared their latest discoveries.

The workshop established a platform for communication and knowledge-sharing among experts from academic institu-tions, research centers, industry and government organisations in

Qatar. The National Corrosion and Materials Reliability Labo-ratory (NCMRL) is a world leader in research and technology efforts for materials degradation and reliability. NCMRL’s main focus is research and

development within corrosion science and engineering. Through research, education and training, and testing materials, the lab pro-vides material selection, miti-gation strategies and lifetime pre-diction tools to industry.

Dr César O Malavé, Dean of Texas A&M at Qatar, said, “At

Texas A&M at Qatar, our mission is to play a key role in creating sustainable solutions to real-world challenges by generating new knowledge through research and collaborative partnerships. This event brought together, experts from academic institu-tions, research centers, industry

and government organizations to provide a venue for commu-nication and knowledge-sharing. We hope workshops such as these are successful in providing much-needed synergy to the sci-entific community in Qatar to forge new collaborative research initiatives for the future.”

Dr César O Malavé, Dean of Texas A&M at Qatar speaks with one of the participants at the workshop.

Doha Bank’s third Indian branch opens todayTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Doha Bank has announced the official inaugu-ration of its Chennai Branch, in the southern Indian state, will be held today. This is Doha Bank’s third city in India after its successful establishment of branches in Mumbai and Kochi. The soft launch of the bank’s Chennai Branch was held in February 2018.

This will be followed by a corporate event titled “Bilateral Business opportunities – Tamil Nadu, India and Qatar” at The Leela Palace, Chennai in the presence of VIP guests and reputed corporate houses in Tamil Nadu who would be keen to hear about potential business opportunities amongst Tamil Nadu, India and Qatar. Doha Bank will also host a grand reception in the same evening at The Leela Palace Chennai.

The inauguration ceremony will be attended by several high-profile business delegation including prominent Qatari and Indian Businessmen as well as members of Doha Bank’s Board of Directors.

“The forthcoming opening of our third branch in Chennai highlights the importance of India in our International expansion strategy. The new

branch will help us reach out to a wider segments of customers in the metropolitan city of Chennai while enhancing syn-ergies amongst Tamil Nadu, India and Qatar.” said Dr R Seetharaman, CEO of Doha Bank.

The Chennai branch will assist the bank’s growing cus-tomer base in southern part of India with a wide range of services, including corporate banking, retail banking, treasury, trade finance and foreign exchange services.

The corporate and SME product offerings will include term loans, working capital (INR as well as in permitted foreign currencies), trade finance products, buyers and suppliers credit as well as treasury products and hedging solutions.

On the retail and NRI side, the bank offers the entire range of liability products like savings account (NRE, NRO, and ordinary), current account, term deposits (short term and long term), FCNR (B) deposits, exchange earners foreign cur-rency account (EEFC), and PIS accounts. In addition, for NRIs, through their collaborations, they offer home loans, wealth management, and estate and succession planning services.

The workshop was the first of a series of planning workshops that aim to highlight materials selection, reliability and corrosion challenges in Qatar to forge new, interdisciplinary, collaborative research initiatives for 2018 and beyond.

ASC bags best distributors award for Elf Lubricants in MideastTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Arabian Supply Center (ASC), One of Qatar’s fastest growing automotive and machinery distributors, has been recently awarded by Total Marketing Middle East, as their ‘Best Distributor in the Middle East’ region for 2017 at an event held in Singapore.

ASC has been exponentially growing the lubricants business in the past few years and this award is another testimony to their high standards set in deliv-ering outstanding customer service and professionalism. During 2017, ASC has performed exceedingly well to deserve this award. The award was presented recently during a grand annual distributor conference organised by Total Marketing Middle East (TMME) in Singapore.

TMME was represented by Jean Pepe, the Vice-President, Marketing & Services (Asia Pacific & Middle East), Thibaud de Lisle, Managing Director in Total

Marketing Middle East, Shakilur Rahman, Vice-President Sales in GCC &Yemen and Ketan Kumar, GM-Total Marketing Qatar.

ASC team represented by Praveen Hubli, Divisional Manager and Nidal Elayan, Head of Lubricant Sales were ecstatic

to receive this award in their first year of operation as Elf dis-tributor beating many veteran distributors of Total and Elf lubri-cants from the Middle East.

This award programme is held annually by TMME to rec-ognise the top performing Total

and Elf distributors in the region for their exemplary performance not only in sales, but also including activities like mar-keting, business development, growth in market share, cus-tomer loyalty and comprising varied product mixes.

“It is another milestone in our journey” said ASC’s successful CEO, Hisham Hadid who has been the driving force behind the consistent growth and rapid expansion. Ketan Kumar, GM of Total Marketing Qatar (TMQ) said that, “the partnership between ASC & Elf has promoted Elf lubricants’position as a dominant brand in the Qatari market”.

Praveen Hubli, Divisional Manager of ASC added: “At ASC, we are deeply committed to excellence and we work faith-fully to serve our customers and maintain the leading position”.

ASC is an affiliate of Al Jaber Group in Qatar and was estab-lished in 2008. Today, ASC is a dominant player in the Qatari market in the fields of con-struction, industrial, power gen-eration and material handling equipment, in addition to being market leaders in automotive products like lubricants, tires, batteries and a wide range of quality spare parts for trucks and heavy machinery.

Senior officials of ASC posing with the ‘Best Distributor in the Middle East’ award region for 2017.

Islamic investment megabank to be launched soonANATOLIA

TUNIS: A proposed Islamic investment megabank, which has been in the pipeline for years, is likely to be launched in 2018, according to the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) spokesman on Monday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 43rd annual IDB meeting in capital Tunis, Abdul Hakim Elwaer said: “Discussions are still on going. We very much hope so, we very optimistic that we will see something coming up within 2018.”

The idea for the proposed bank emerged in 2015; a year later, Indonesia, Turkey and the IDB decided to set up committees to look into the proposal.

About the fact that several years have passed since the idea was first pro-posed, Elwaer said it was “normal” that such proposals to create a unique bank took time.

“When you have some-thing of a critical nature like the megabank, countries are expressing interests, either same interests or different i n t e r e s t s … , ” E l w a e r explained.

He said that Turkey and Indonesia remain keen on the bank, adding that a very important issue was to bring the leaders of the countries together.

Intel shares dive on report Apple making own Mac chipsAFP

SAN FRANCISCO: Intel shares dove on Monday after Bloomberg reported that Apple intends to switch to chips of its own for Mac computers in two years.

Intel shares were down more than 7.5 percent to $48.12 in late

afternoon trading on the Nasdaq exchange in New York.

Apple declined to comment on the report, which cited unnamed sources as saying Apple is designing its own chips for Mac computers and could begin using them instead of Intel processors in 2020. Apple has used chips

from Intel, Qualcomm, and others in the industry, but has increas-ingly taken to designing its own computing engines for products.

Apple has a reputation for tightly controlling all aspects of its line-up, from hardware to software, and making its own chips fits into that strategy.

Le Maire visits Cisco HQ in ParisFrench Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire talks with employees at the Paris headquarters of US networks giant Cisco Systems as part of a visit to present an annual report on foreign investment in France, in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France, yesterday.

23WEDNESDAY 4 APRIL 2018 BUSINESS

Turkey’s economy expands 7.4% in ’17BLOOMBERG

ANKARA: Turkey’s economy expanded 7.4 percent in 2017, buoyed by private and government spending, Turkstat reported Thursday.

Gross domestic product grew 7.3 percent in the fourth quarter, beating the median 6.7 percent estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Seasonally adjusted output rose 1.8 percent from the previous three-month period, exceeding the 1.2 percent

median estimate in a separate survey. Turkey’s economic growth has taken off since the government boosted spending to spur the economy following a failed military coup in 2016. The recovery in Europe, Turkey’s largest trade partner, drove up exports and helped full-year growth exceed the government’s 5.5 percent target.

The International Monetary Fund warned last month that the current-account deficit could widen further on strong domestic

demand and higher oil prices this year.

Turkish household con-sumption, which makes up about two-thirds of the economy and has traditionally driven growth, increased 6.6 percent in the fourth quarter compared to a year earlier. Public spending on purchases of goods and services rose 7.4 percent during the same period. Exports of goods and services expanded 9.3 percent in the last three months of the year from a year earlier.

Islamic Development Bank aims to empower womenANATOLIA

TUNIS: The Islamic Devel-opment Bank (IDB) aims to improve women’s access to infrastructure that will offer economic opportunities through Islamic microfinance, Bandar Hajjar, president of the bank, said on Monday.

Speaking at the “Partner-ships for Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment” session at the 43rd annual IDB meeting in Tunis, Hajjar said: “The empowerment of women is at the core of the Bank’s development strategy.”

He said the IDB has been contributing to the empow-erment of women with various interventions to promote its member countries in improving health, food security, economic opportunities and education.

“The IDB aims to do this by strengthening partnership with member countries to improve the status of women in the Muslim World, blended with longer-term economic devel-opment and capacity devel-opment initiatives toward self-development and sustained growth,” he added.

He announced that to achieve this, the bank would launch a new initiative called “SheCan”. “If given the oppor-tunity SheCan transforms her families, communities and

economies resulting in more inclusive, productive and resilient societies,” he said.

He also stressed the bank continued its regular operations to empower women in priority sectors, such as energy, edu-cation, transport, health and Islamic finance.

The IDB was designed to ensure that women have equal access and control over available resources, he underlined.

Mohammad Naciri, director of the Regional Office for the Arab States of the United Nations, said that it would be naive to think of achieving eco-nomic empowerment without partnerships.

“Around 40 percent of women in the Middle East and South Africa regions are not part of the workforce,” he stressed.

Soukeina Bouraoui, exec-utive director of the Center of Arab Women for Training and Research, expressed that women could do more for their society and the IDB could help by strengthening their engagement.

“We are working with the IDB and the Arab Bank for Eco-nomic Development in Africa (BADEA) for instance in Senegal, we have helped 600 women achieve economic inde-pendence,” she said.

Oman central bank eases capital in bid to spur growthREUTERS

DUBAI: Oman’s central bank announced yesterday its biggest package of regulatory reforms for commercial banks in years, relaxing capital and credit exposure rules in an effort to boost economic growth.

In the stock market, which hit a nine-year low this week, shares of the largest banks rose in response, with National Bank of Oman adding 3.8 percent.

Oman’s economy and markets have been pressured by low oil prices and rising US interest rates, so authorities are keen to keep banks liquid and to encourage them to lend.

Oman was the only one of the Gulf’s six wealthy oil exporters where banks’

operating profits shrank last year, Boston Consulting Group found; annual growth in conven-tional banks’ lending fell to 3 percent late last year, the slowest in 12 years.

The package seeks to change this by giving banks more flexi-bility to lend to companies and each other and to borrow from abroad, and by stimulating activity in an undeveloped interbank money market.

The minimum capital ade-quacy ratio, the proportion of capital that banks must hold back from lending, was reduced to 11 percent from 12 percent. That should increase additional credit available to 7.8 billion rials ($20.3 billion) from 5.2 billion rials, the central bank said.

This may do little to boost

lending immediately; Oman’s Ubhar Capital noted actual ade-quacy ratios of all eight listed commercial banks were already several percentage points above the floor.

But it said that including other regulatory demands on banks’ capital, the move would ease future pressure on banks at the lower end of the spectrum to raise additional capital.

Other steps aimed to encourage banks to exchange their excess funds with each other, and therefore use available liquidity in the economy more efficiently, rather than sitting on the money.

Banks can count deposits obtained from other local banks towards their own deposit bases; this should give them more room

to lend while obeying a regu-latory requirement to limit credit they extend to 87.5 percent of deposit bases.

The central bank removed restrictions on how risks related to claims on governments and central banks are weighted in banks’ portfolios.

Ubhar Capital said this would lift banks’ calculations of their

capital adequacy ratios. Pru-dential limits for banks’ exposure in all currencies for various short-term maturities were increased, in order to let banks manage their liquidity gaps more efficiently -- a step which could help to bring down interbank lending rates.

“This would give banks more flexibility to utilise credit lines available to them with their foreign and local correspondents at a reasonable cost,” the central bank said.

The ceiling for banks’ credit exposure to non-residents and placement of their funds abroad was raised to 75 percent of their local net worth from 50 percent to help them better finance “local pro jects of nat ional importance”.

Murdoch offers to sell Sky News to DisneyREUTERS

LONDON: Rupert Murdoch ratcheted up the pressure on Britain to approve his $15bn-plus bid for pay-TV group Sky by offering to sell or legally separate Sky News, aiming to head off objections the deal could give him too much political influence.

Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox said yesterday that Walt Disney Co was interested in buying Sky News. Alterna-tively, Fox said, Sky News could be legally separated within the Sky group.

Even if Fox’s proposals satisfy Britain’s government and competition regulator, however, it may still need to raise its rec-ommended offer for Sky after US cable group Comcast Corp said it intended to make a higher counter-bid.

At 1350 GMT, Sky shares were up 2 percent at 13.24 pounds, the biggest rise on Brit-ain’s FTSE-100 index and above both Fox’s bid and Comcast’s proposed offer, signalling investors expect any suitor will have to pay more.

Loss-making Sky News is the last regulatory hurdle in 87-year-old Murdoch’s long campaign to buy Sky, which has grown from

its UK beginnings to become Europe’s biggest pay-TV group.

“We look forward to con-cluding this acquisition - finally - in a timely and expeditious manner,” Fox senior vice pres-ident Gerson Zweifach said, adding the proposed solutions addressed all concerns about the transaction.

Fox agreed in December 2016 to buy the 61 percent of Sky it does not already own, but the deal has been repeatedly delayed by the UK government and reg-ulators, allowing Comcast to gate crash the deal in February.

Fox had already promised that Sky’s 24-hour news service would remain independent

under the ultimate control of Murdoch, but critics, including some high-profile politicians, remain adamantly opposed due to Murdoch’s record of influence through owning the Sun and the Times newspapers.

As the Sky deal remained in regulatory limbo, Fox separately agreed to sell a string of assets, including its 39 percent stake in Sky, to Disney, potentially taking Murdoch out of the Sky equation.

Some Sky shareholders, frus-trated by the delay, had already said Fox should increase its £10.75 -a-share offer.

Their view appeared vindi-cated when Comcast said it would pay £12.50 a share to buy

Sky, although it has not yet made a formal bid.

Fox said its new concessions went beyond the steps that Brit-ain’s media regulator Ofcom said would mitigate concerns about Murdoch’s influence.

The company, however, needs to persuade another reg-ulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and the government.

A CMA spokeswoman said yesterday it had until May 1 to provide its report on the pro-posed deal to Britain’s minister for digital matters, culture, media and sport. The minister, Matt Hancock, is due to make the final decision by June 13.

Fox said it could sell Sky News to Disney, or legally sep-arate Sky News within the wider Sky group, so it would operate independently with guaranteed funding for 15 years.

One London-based hedge fund said the measures should be sufficient, but that “the price issue is not going away,” sug-gesting Fox would have to raise its bid.

Analysts at Liberum said two factors pointed to Fox coming back with a revised bid to match Comcast. First, Fox must have received approval from Disney

to offer the concession, they said, and second, Sky said its inde-pendent directors remained focused on maximising value for shareholders.

Separate news yesterday that Sky Italia had settled its long-running fight with Mediaset in the Italian pay-TV market also made Sky more valuable, they added.

A group of high-profile British lawmakers, including former Labour party leader Ed

Miliband, called last month for Murdoch to be blocked from buying Sky, despite the promises Fox had already made to ensure the independence of Sky News.

The four said the promises did not go far enough, given Mur-doch’s record of influence.

Fox said yesterday a group of politicians was seeking to influence the CMA, adding they were making “a number of unsupported and fanciful assertions”.

The current Executive Chairman of News Corporation and Executive Co-Chairman of Twenty-First Century Fox, Rupert Murdoch is seen talking on Sky News on television screens in an electrical store in Edinburgh, in this file picture.

Even if Fox’s proposals satisfy Britain’s government and competition regulator, however, it may still need to raise its recommended offer for Sky after US cable group Comcast Corp said it intended to make a higher counter-bid.

Fox said, Sky News could

be legally separated within

the Sky group.

The package will give banks more flexibility to lend to companies and each other and to borrow from abroad.

Russia lookingat joint organisation for ties with OpecREUTERS

ANKARA: Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said yesterday a joint organ-isation for cooperation between Opec and non-Opec countries may be set up once the current deal on oil output curbs expires at the end of this year.

Novak said he and his Saudi counterpart, discussed long-term cooperation and that the current “mechanism of interaction” had proved to be effective.

“We are now thinking about a format for cooper-ation which could be for the longer-term, which would include the possibility of market monitoring, infor-mation exchange and if needed the implementation of some joint actions,” Novak told reporters.

Under an agreement by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries led by Saudi Arabia, and non-Opec pro-ducers, Moscow pledged to cut output by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) from a figure of 11.247 million bpd based on its output in October 2016.

“ O i l p r o d u c t i o n restriction is not a panacea, this is a necessary measure,” Novak said yesterday, adding that broader cooperation with Opec is warranted.

He also said that Russia joining Opec is not on the agenda for discussions.

Novak said there were no concrete plans on long-term cooperation yet, while new proposals for cooper-ation will be discussed during an Opec ministerial committee tasked with monitoring the output cut deal in the Saudi city of Jeddah later in April.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Reuters last month that Saudi Arabia and Russia are working on a long-term pact, possibly 10 to 20 years long, that could extend controls over world crude supplies by major exporters.

Novak is part of a dele-gation of Russian officials led by Putin that arrived in Turkey yesterday for talks.

24 WEDNESDAY 4 APRIL 2018BUSINESS

UK manufacturing growth down to one-year low REUTERS

LONDON: Britain’s buoyant manufacturing industry lost some steam in the first three months of 2018, according to a survey yesterday that suggested the economy remains on a slow but steady course a year ahead of Brexit.

The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Man-ufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) inched up to 55.1 in March from a downwardly revised 55.0 in February, beating the 54.7 consensus forecast in a poll of economists.

But January’s reading was also revised lower and for the first quarter as a whole, the PMI was its

lowest in a year, though above its average since Britain exited recession in the third quarter of 2009 following the financial crisis.

This suggested factory output rose at a quarterly rate of about 0.4 percent to 0.5 percent, slowing from 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, IHS Markit said.

Manufacturing, which accounts for about 10 percent of Britain’s economy, was a relative bright spot late last year, when economic growth was the weakest among the Group of Seven rich nations.

The slowdown was due in large part to weaker consumer demand caused by higher inflation after June 2016’s Brexit vote

knocked sterling lower.A PMI published earlier yes-

terday showed growth in eurozone manufacturers slid to an eight-month low in March, although they continued to outpace their British

peers. Sterling and British gov-ernment bonds were little moved by the figures.

“Despite the resilient March performance, the overall impression is that the manufac-turing sector had a decent first quarter but has lost some momentum compared to the strong performance seen through the second half of 2017,” said Howard Archer (pictured), Chief Economic Adviser to the EY ITEM Club consultancy.

At 55.1, the British factory PMI remains comfortably above its post-financial crisis average of 53.4. “The outlook for manufac-turing looks decent on the foreign demand side, but domestic

conditions could prove challenging over the coming months,” Archer said. The PMI’s new business index hit a nine-month low in March, marked by a tailing-off in growth in export orders -- possibly reflecting sterling’s recent rally.

The pound has gained more than 4 percent against the US dollar since the end of 2017. A Con-federation of British Industry survey last month also suggested growth in manufacturing mod-erated recently. Yesterday’s PMI showed growth in cost pressures for factories and their selling prices cooled in March, something that may reassure Bank of England offi-cials who are keeping an eye on inflation pressures.

US firm Harbour Energy makes bid for Australia’s Santos AFP

SYDNEY: US private investment firm Harbour Energy yesterday made an all-cash bid for Australian energy giant Santos, valuing the company at Aus$13.5bn (US$10.3bn).

Santos, a major oil and natural gas firm with interests notably in Papua New Guinea, said it had received a proposal for US$4.98 per share.

This is equivalent to Aus$6.50, representing a 28 percent premium to its closing price before the Easter break.

“The Santos board con-siders that, based on the indicative offer price of A$6.50 per share, it is in the interests of shareholders to engage further with Harbour,” the company said in a statement.

Harbour, which will now carry out due diligence, is planning to fund the deal with US$7.75bn of under-written debt.

The move comes five months after Santos knocked back an unsolicited Aus$4.55 per share bid by the US investor, saying it under-valued the company.

While Santos has stakes in oil and gas production in several countries, including Indonesia and Vietnam, its main assets include 13.5 percent of Exxon Mobil’s massive liquefied natural gas venture in Papua New Guinea.

It also has operations throughout Australia.

Harbour, an energy investment vehicle formed by EIG to acquire high-quality upstream and mid-stream assets globally, said it had plans to grow Santos by investing further in its existing facilities and adding other assets.

Entrepreneurs gather at the Web Summit at Parque das Nacoes in Lisbon. Portugal, which has bounced back from a 2011-14 debt crisis. Fuelled by a tourist boom and a surge in exports, the Portuguese economy expanded 2.7% in 2017. This helped bring the unemployment rate down to 7.9% in January 2018, down from a record 17.5% in 2013 at the height of the debt crisis.

Trade war fears stalk global stock markets AP

LONDON: Global stock markets fell for a second day yesterday as investors continued to fret over a looming trade war between the US and China and mounting public scrutiny of technology companies.

Stocks have been trending lower for weeks largely because of a series of tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump and the Facebook data privacy scandal, which has raised the prospect of tighter regulation for social media and other tech stocks.

In the last week, Trump has also tweeted repeatedly about his new favourite foe, Amazon,

whose owner also owns The Washington Post, which has been critical of the Trump administration.

Trump has approved possible higher US duties on $50bn of Chinese goods in response to complaints that Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. Those tariffs come on top of previous proposals to raise tariffs on imported steel and aluminium.

In response, China announced it is raising tariffs on $3bn of US goods including pork, apples and steel pipe, increasing the risk of a broader conflict that might depress global trade.

“The mood remains decidedly bearish, and there is certainly no

shortage of reasons to be fearful,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG. “It’s times like this when investors face a choice - whether to sit and await developments or plunge back in.” That was evident in the per-formance of stocks yesterday.

Returning from the long Easter holiday weekend, Europe’s stock markets tracked others lower, though the scale of the losses were diminished by expec-tations of a rebound on Wall Street later.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX fell 0.8 percent to 11,999 while London’s FTSE 100 declined 0.2 percent to 7,037. France’s CAC 40 was 0.5 percent lower at 5,140.

Wall Street was poised for

some solid gains at the open Tuesday with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures up 0.5 percent. On Monday, the S&P posted its worst start to a quarter since October 2011 and saw the index fall below its 200-day moving average for the first time in almost 2 years.

US technology companies are in the spotlight, notably Amazon, which posted hefty losses of around 5 percent Monday after Trump again voiced his concerns about the company on Twitter.

The sector was already in the gaze of investors after Facebook’s data scandal last month that has raised the prospect of heightened regulation. Netflix, Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet have all

seen their share prices decline.“Pressure on the sector

doesn’t appear to be going away in the near-term which will con-tinue to act as a drag on indices,” said Craig Erlam, Senior Market Analyst at OANDA.

Earlier in Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.8 percent to 3,163.63 and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 shed 0.4 percent to 21,292.29. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 declined 0.1 percent to 5,751.90. Else-where, Seoul’s Kospi ended down 27 points at 2,442.43. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng bucked the trend, ending up 0.2 percent at 30,137.49.

Elsewhere, the euro was flat at $1.23 while the dollar rose 0.3 percent to 106.23 yen.

Stocks have been trending lower for weeks largely because of a series of tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump & the Facebook data privacy scandal, which has raised the prospect of tighter regulation for social media & other tech stocks.

Web Summit

RBI allows banks to spread debt losses BLOOMBERG

MUMBAI: India’s sovereign bonds rallied after the central bank allowed lenders to spread out trading losses, a second policy decision in two weeks to revive a debt market that had sold off for seven months.

The Reserve Bank of India said late Monday banks can account for their bond-trading losses, incurred in the past six months, over as long as four quarters.

The move will help bring state-run lenders -- the biggest holders of debt -- back to the market, said Dhawal Dalal, Chief Investment Officer for debt at

Edelweiss Asset Management Ltd. Government banks were staring at a potential mark-to-market loss of Rs200bn ($3bn) in the March quarter, three times more than in the period to December, according to a Credit Suisse Group AG report last month. Hit by the erosion, lenders have remained on the sidelines, contributing to the deepest rout in two decades in the nation’s sovereign bonds.

“The recent set of news are positive for the market and suggest that the authorities are getting proactive in their approach,” said Vivek Rajpal, a rates strategist at Nomura Holdings Inc in Singapore. The rout was ‘largely a

supply-demand issue’. This balance is getting resolved slowly and this should push yields lower with time.” The reprieve came days after the government sur-prised traders by reducing the fiscal first-half borrowing, a move that spurred the first monthly advance since July. With the reduction in debt supply, traders have been calling on the gov-ernment to do more to spur demand.

Spike Guard The benchmark 10-year bond yield dropped as much as nine basis points, and was trading four basis points lower at 7.36 percent at 2:48pm in Mumbai. The rupee strengthened 0.2

percent to 65.0275 per dollar, halting a two-day drop, while bank stocks advanced.

There is a precedent for the central bank’s action. The RBI in 2013 allowed banks to spread their bond-trading losses as the benchmark yield surpassed 9 percent and the rupee fell to a record amid the taper tantrum sell-off. This time, the authority has also asked lenders to set up a so-called Investment Fluctuation Reserve to guard against yield spikes in the future.

Three other factors are driving the shift in sentiment: Sovereign debt worth Rs700bn mature in April.

Sluggish wage growth keeps Australia rates on hold AFP

SYDNEY: Australia’s central bank kept interest rates at a record low yesterday, with the board maintaining a neutral policy bias as wage growth remains stubbornly low and inflation below target.

The Reserve Bank of Aus-tralia has not adjusted rates since August 2016, following a series of cuts from November 2011 that took it to 1.50 percent in a bid to boost non-mining sectors of the economy.

Its decision to stay on hold followed data last month showing that while the economy added 17,500 jobs in February, it was against an expected 20,000 increase.

Policy makers are banking on continued low interest rates and rising investment to drive hir ing and gradual ly encourage wage growth.

“The various forward-looking indicators continue to point to solid growth in employment in the period ahead, with a further gradual reduction in the unem-ployment rate expected,” said Central Bank Governor Philip Lowe (pictured).

“Notwithstanding the improving labour market, wages growth remains low. This is likely to continue for a while yet, although the stronger economy should see some lift in wages growth over time.”

Inflation also remains below target, and the Aus-tralian dollar too high, despite solid business conditions, meaning the decision to not move was widely expected.

“The low level of interest rates is continuing to support the Australian economy,” said Lowe.

“Further progress in reducing unemployment and having inflation return to target is expected, although this progress is likely to be gradual.”

Given this, the board “judged that holding the stance of monetary policy unchanged

at this meeting would be con-sistent with sustainable growth in the economy and achieving the inflation target over time”.

Underlying or core inflation -- which strips out volatile items and is closely watched by the central bank -- is at an annual 1.9 percent, just below the RBA’s target band of 2.0-3.0 percent.

March quarter inflation statistics are due later this month.

The monetary statement was the first since data showed economic growth lifted by 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter last year, down from a revised 0.7 percent in the previous three months.

That gave an annual growth rate of 2.4 percent, slightly below the central bank’s forecasts.

Lowe said the bank expected it to pick up in 2018.

“Business conditions are positive and non-mining business investment is increasing. Higher levels of p u b l i c i n f r a s t r u c t u r e investment are also supporting the economy,” he said.

But a continuing source of uncertainty was the outlook for household consumption, with household incomes growing slowly and debt levels high.

TD Securities’ Annette Beacher said the consensus was that rates would remain at 1.5 percent into 2019 and “hence the tone of these monthly statements are not expected to change for some time”.

US auto sales spring to life in MarchAFP

CHICAGO: The American consumer returned in force to automobile showrooms in March, lifting an industry that had been plodding along in a post-sales boom hangover.

The biggest players in the

North American market all posted gains -- some eye popping -- compared to March 2017. Analysts expected the industry as a whole to report a two to three-percent sales increase. GM was up 16 percent, followed by Fiat Chrysler’s 14 percent sales jump. Ford rose 3.4

percent and Toyota gained 3.5 percent.

“March proved to be a lion for the domestic automakers, with double and even triple-digit sales increases posted for rede-signed SUVs,” Rebecca Lindland, executive analyst at Kelley Blue Book.

25WEDNESDAY 4 APRIL 2018 BUSINESS

S China Sea tension to hurt operations: PetroVietnam

REUTERS

HANOI: Tension in the South China Sea will hurt PetroViet-nam’s offshore exploration and exploitation activities this year, the state-run oil and gas group said yesterday, weeks after the Southeast Asian nation suspended a project under pressure from China.

Vietnam and China have been embroiled in maritime dis-putes in parts of the busy waterway, where China claims 90 percent of the potentially energy-rich maritime territory, which Vietnam calls the East Sea.

“The East Sea is forecast to continue to have uncertainty this

year affecting the company’s efforts to attract foreign investors to invest in its open offshore fields”, PetroVietnam said on its website.

PetroVietnam has rarely openly admitted that the tension has had an adverse impact on its offshore exploration and pro-duction fields, especially those located near the U-shaped ‘nine-dash line’ that marks the vast area claimed by China.

During a trip to Hanoi on Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (pictured) said both nations should settle their dis-putes in the South China Sea through talks and move to jointly use its waters.

The two countries had agreed such a move was “extremely important for the healthy and sustainable devel-opment of bilateral relations,” Wang said.

In its statement, PetroVi-etnam said the dispute with China would add to its struggle to maintain crude oil output amid already declining pro-duction from Vietnam’s key fields.

Last month, it ordered Spanish energy firm Repsol to

suspend its ‘Red Emperor’ project off Vietnam’s south-eastern coast following pressure from China, sources said.

The $1bn ‘Red Emperor’ field is of moderate size by interna-tional standards but was seen as a key asset to help slow the decline of Vietnam’s stalling oil and gas production.

But the block lies near China’s ‘nine-dash line’ and overlaps what it says are its own oil concessions.

Vietnam’s crude oil output this year is expected to fall 14.7 percent from last year to 11.31 million metric tonnes, or 227,130 barrels per day (b/d), the gov-ernment has said.

PetroVietnam said the dispute with China would add to its struggle to maintain crude oil output amid already declining production from Vietnam’s key fields. K9 unveiled

Peter Schreyer, President and Chief Design Officer at Hyundai Motor Group, speaks during an unveiling ceremony for their new flagship sedan The K9 in Seoul, South Korea, yesterday.

Ryanair reports 67% UK gender pay gapREUTERS

DUBLIN: Ryanair has reported an average gender pay gap for its British-based staff of 67 percent, the widest among large airlines that have had to disclose the difference in earnings under new regulations.

British-based employers are under heightened scrutiny over their pay structures and

companies with more than 250 staff have to report their gender pay gap by April 4 to the Gov-ernment Equalities Office.

Compared with other air-lines that operate in the United Kingdom, Ryanair’s mean pay gap outstripped low-cost rival easyJet, where it stood at 51.7 percent, and British Airways, where it was 35 percent. Ryanair, Europe’s largest low-cost carrier,

said only eight out of its 554 pilots based in the UK are women.

A majority of its 1,182 UK staff that are classified as being in either the lower middle or lower wage band are also women, Ryanair said yesterday. Ryanair, whose largest base is at London’s Stansted Airport, employs just under 10 percent of its staff in the United Kingdom.

Spotify tests how its music service plays on Wall StreetAP

SAN FRANCISCO: Spotify is about to find out whether investors view its music streaming service as a budding superstar or a flash in the pan.

The Swedish company made its stock market debut yes-terday, casting a spotlight on its early lead in music streaming - a still-evolving field trying to hook people on the idea that it’s better to subscribe for online access to millions of tunes than to buy individual albums and singles.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek sought to manage expectations, saying he expects a bumpy road.

“I have no doubt that there will be ups and downs as we continue to innovate and establish new capabilities,” Ek said in a blog post Monday evening.

“Nothing ever happens in a straight line - the past ten years

have certainly taught me that.” Spotify has struck a chord with 71 million worldwide subscribers so far and is aiming to increase that number to as many as 96 million subscribers by the end of the year.

By comparison, Apple’s nearly 3-year-old music streaming service has 38 million subscribers. A list of other for-midable competitors that includes Google and Amazon also offer similar music streaming services, raising the spectre of Spotify being wiped out by far richer rivals.

Spotify’s early lead in music streaming has drawn compar-isons to Netflix, which built upon its pioneering role in DVD-by-mail rentals and then video streaming to create a hugely successful, subscription-driven franchise that has produced spectacular returns for the com-pany’s investors. A $10,000 investment in Netflix’s 2002

initial public stock offering would now be worth more than $2.6 million, leaving some investors wondering if Spotify might be on a similar trajectory in music streaming.

Besides blending technology with a subscription model to reshape a popular form of enter-tainment, Spotify and Netflix have a common executive in their lineage. Spotify’s current Chief Financial Officer, Barry McCarthy, held the same job when Netflix went public and remained in that position until leaving the video service in 2010.

Spotify Technology SA also made its Wall Street debut in an unconventional way.

It used a ‘direct listing’ on the New York Stock Exchange that will allow the company’s early investors and employees to sell as many shares as they want whenever they want. That’s a departure from a

traditional initial public offering in which a company and a few select investors first sell a limited amount of stock at a starting price determined by investment bankers who spend weeks gauging investor demand.

The direct listing could result in wild swings in Spotify’s stock pricing during the first few days of trading, especially since Spot-ify’s shares have sold in a range of $48.93 to $132.50 in privately negotiated transactions during the first 11 weeks of this year.

The Spotify logo hangs on the facade of the New York Stock Exchange as the company lists its stock with a direct listing in New York, US, yesterday.

Two Airbnb hosts fined in SingaporeREUTERS

SINGAPORE: A Singapore court fined two Airbnb hosts a total of S$60,000 ($45,800) each yesterday for unau-thorised short-term letting, in the first such case under the city-state’s rules on short-term property rentals intro-duced last year.

The two men had pleaded guilty to four charges each for letting four flats in a condo-minium for less than six months without permission from the Urban Redevel-opment Authority (URA).

They faced a fine of up to S$200,000 per offence under Singapore law. Prosecutors sought fines of S$20,000 per charge for a total of S$80,000 for each of the two defendants. The defence sought fines of S$5,000 per charge.

Judge Kenneth Choo yes-terday fined the two hosts S$15,000 per charge each, saying this would also serve as a signal to deter others from pursuing such illegal business.

Private homes are subject to a minimum rental period of three consecutive months, while for public housing, home to about 80 percent of Singapore’s residents, it is six months.

The issue of short-term accommodation in private homes is complex and multi-faceted, and has wide-ranging implications, the URA said in a forum letter in the Straits Times on Monday.

The URA plans to conduct a public consultation on a proposed regulatory framework for short-term letting soon.

“It will take some time to work through the consul-tation process and to amend legislation, if necessary, for the new rules to take effect,” the URA letter in the paper says.

A high-population density and limited land mean most of Singapore’s 5.6 million people live in apartments.

“We look forward to obtaining greater clarity for our community following the upcoming public consul-tation,” said Mich Goh, Air-bnb’s head of public policy for Southeast Asia.

Foreign investment in Franceup 16% in 2017: ReportAFP

PARIS: Foreign investment in France rose 16 percent in 2017 to levels not seen for a decade as President Emmanuel Macron’s bid to attract money from abroad gains pace, a government report said yesterday.

Public agency Business France said 1,298 foreign investment projects were announced last year, allowing some 33,500 jobs to be saved or created.

The figure is “the best in 10 years”, the report said, up from 1,117 last year.

“This is the most concrete proof yet that France is back,” Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire (pictured) said as he pre-sented the report.

In a positive sign for Macron’s government, which sees boosting France’s attrac-tiveness as an investment des-tination as a priority, 412 new companies decided to invest in France, accounting for a third of the projects.

Half of the announcements were for completely new projects while 42 percent will expand existing ones, with take-overs accounting for the rest.

Investors from elsewhere in

Europe were behind 58 percent of the projects, but the report said American firms accounted for more of the jobs, retaking the top spot from Germany a year earlier.

India meanwhile notched up a 73 percent rise in investment projects in France -- notably the decision by IT giant Infosys to open a devel-opment centre in the southern port city of Marseille.

Other flagship announce-ments include Toyota’s plans to expand its site near Valenci-ennes on the Belgian border, unveiled by Macron to great fanfare in January as part of his “Choose France” campaign.

Manufacturing accounted for the biggest chunk of the projects -- 343 -- with engi-neering making up a tenth.

Mexico expects meeting of ministers to decide scope of NAFTA deal basicsREUTERS

MEXICO CITY: The United States, Mexico and Canada have made significant advances on reworking the NAFTA trade deal and ministers will meet in the coming days to determine the scope to agree on the basics of a deal, Mexico’s Economy Minister said on Monday.

Ildefonso Guajardo (pic-tured) told Mexican radio he would travel to Washington today for ministerial talks, adding that the United States was looking for a “quick solution.” He added, “We’ve made a lot of progress, but on the complex issues, well, it looks like there’s a willingness to be flexible.” Ministers and negotiating teams have been meeting for weeks to try to narrow their differences, and Guajardo also held out hope for progress on NAFTA at a summit in Peru that begins on April 13.

“There will be an oppor-tunity at the Summit of the Americas for the three North American leaders to greet one another, and undoubtedly there could be an opportunity to send proactive messages and instructions at presidential level, irrespective of the fact that there is still technical work

to do,” he added.US President Donald Trump

has threatened to dump NAFTA if it cannot be reworked to his satisfaction.

In the next 12 days, there could be “the principal lines of understanding for solving complex issues” though the three sides were “not there yet,” Guajardo said. A longer period would be required to hammer out technical details, he added.

“The ministers need to get working together to get things settled,” said Guajardo, who has held meetings with his NAFTA counterparts, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and US Trade Repre-sentative Robert Lighthizer since a last formal round of negotiations ended in Mexico

in early March. Guajardo said there was still no date set for another formal round of talks, adding, “It’s clear that, given Washington’s interest in advancing this process, they didn’t want an eighth round.”

Instead, a ministerial meeting in “around two weeks” would decide what form another round could take, he said.

Guajardo said the three were discussing a US idea to have a certain amount of auto production in high-salary areas.

Details of the plan began emerging after industry sources said US officials had dropped a demand for at least 50 percent of automotive content to be from the United States, a highly contentious sticking point at the NAFTA negotiations.

Such a modification could put Mexico at a disadvantage because of its lower salaries, and Guajardo said its potential impact would need to be evaluated.

Besides autos, Mexico’s negotiators aim for steps to improve conditions for its agri-culture, textile, aerospace and medical device sectors, Gua-jardo said.

26 WEDNESDAY 4 APRIL 2018BUSINESS

QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE

QE Index 8,721.75 0.08 %

QE Total Return Index 15,366.08 0.08 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic

Index - Price 2,213.35 0.03 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 3,580.52 0.03 %

QE All Share Index 2,570.45 0.08 %

QE All Share Banks &

Financial Services 2,860.02 0.10 %

QE All Share Industrials 2,939.92 0.86 %

QE All Share Transportation 1,805.36 0.24 %

QE All Share Real Estate 1,845.66 0.17 %

QE All Share Insurance 3,177.24 1.58 %

QE All Share Telecoms 1,105.41 0.90 %

QE All Share Consumer

Goods & Services 5,553.56 1.21 %

QE INDICES SUMMARY QE MARKET SUMMARY COMPARISON WORLD STOCK INDICES

GOLD AND SILVER

03-04-2018Index 8,721.75

Change 7.40

% 0.08

YTD% 2.33

Volume 10,221,108

Value (QAR) 229,203,838.60

Trades 4,300

Up 16 | Down 24 | Unchanged 502-04-2018Index 8,729.15

Change 60.11

% 0.69

YTD% 2.41

Volume 15,138,426

Value (QAR) 310,018,888.50

Trades 3,775

EXCHANGE RATE

GOLD QR156.9477 per grammeSILVER QR1.9425 per gramme

Index Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Year High Year Low

All Ordinaries 5859.1 -9.8 -0.17 6256.5 5861.9

Cac 40 Index/D 5147.4 -19.9 -0.39 5567.03 5038.12

Dj Indu Average 23644.19 -458.92 -1.9 26616.71 20379.55

Hang Seng Inde/D 30180.1 86.72 0.29 33484.08 29129.26

Iseq Overall/D 6555.73 -37.92 -0.58 7257.41 6410.26

Kse 100 Inx/D 46013.34 271.91 0.59 45771.4 40169.62

S&P 500 Index/D 0 0 0 2872.87 2532.69

Currency Buying SellingUS$ QR 3.6305 QR 3.6500

UK QR 5.0810 QR 5.1519

Euro QR 4.4504 QR 4.5134

CA$ QR 2.8030 QR 2.8583

Swiss Fr QR 3.7830 QR 3.8369

Yen QR 0.03398 QR 0.03464

Aus$ QR 2.7721 QR 2.8266

Ind Re QR 0.0555 QR 0.0566

Pak Re QR 0.0311 QR 0.0319

Peso QR 0.0693 QR 0.0707

SL Re QR 0.0232 QR 0.0236

Taka QR 0.0435 QR 0.0444

Nep Re QR 0.0347 QR 0.0353

SA Rand QR 0.3045 QR 0.3105

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS - A LIST OF SHARES FROM THE WORLD

Aban Offs-A/D 162.95 0.85 235840

Acc Ltd-A/D 1549.9 12.9 4046

Ador Welding-B/D 404.2 -1 1785

Aegis Logis-A/D 262 5.75 10579

Alembic-B/D 55.8 1.55 61213

Alok Indus-T/D 3.28 0.15 477743

Apollo Tyre-A/D 285.4 8.95 201724

Asahi I Glass-/D 347.45 3.7 11508

Ashok Leyland-/D 147.7 -0.4 2073710

Ballarpur In-B/D 13.49 0.45 208382

Banaras Bead-T/D 61.85 2.9 1126

Bannari Aman-B/D 1770 90 1061

Bata India-A/D 749.95 -1.75 18348

Beml Ltd-A/D 1113.6 31.15 66895

Bhansali Eng-B/D 187.75 8.9 251900

Bharat Bijle-B/D 1539.8 29 1459

Bharat Ele-A/D 146.65 2 135369

Bharat Heavy-A/D 85.45 2.9 501362

Bharatgears-B/D 182 2.6 5399

Bhartiya Int-B/D 407 -0.7 1095

Bom.Burmah-X/D 1303 63.05 32854

Bombay Dyeing-/D 250.4 3.9 747831

Canfin Homes-A/D 430.65 -0.55 169113

Caprihans-X/D 89.85 0.05 3001

Castrol India-/D 205.2 0.3 44586

Century Enka-B/D 326.55 14 13981

Century Text-A/D 1199.5 19.55 34382

Chambal Fert-A/D 165.5 2.9 133537

Chola Invest-A/D 1516 39.75 18964

Cimmco-T/D 86.5 4.1 1744

Cipla-A/D 570.5 -5.9 255634

City Union Bk-/D 175.5 0.8 7818

Colgate-A/D 1082.05 25.25 12850

Container Cor-/D 1256.05 15.4 6368

Dai-X/D 410 2.45 2824

Dcm Shram Ind-/D 208.95 -0.3 4144

Dhampur Sugar-/D 138.6 -2.45 49499

Dr. Reddy-A/D 2122.85 -9.5 60623

E I H-B/D 160 -1.2 3082

E.I.D Parry-A/D 278 -5.85 6725

Electrosteel-B/D 31.3 2.05 482759

Emco-B/D 11.85 1 70557

Escorts Fin-Xt/D 5.1 0.24 1890

Escorts-A/D 884.4 1.2 150535

Eveready Indu-/D 387.5 9.4 12408

F D C-B/D 258.85 1.05 4637

Federal Bank-A/D 91.5 1.3 3674315

Ferro Alloys-X/D 7.33 -0.38 125976

Finolex-A/D 655.05 -0.05 4253

Forbes-B/D 3490 85.75 10025

Gail-A/D 330 4.75 80851

Garden P -B/D 34.9 0.75 19653

Godfrey Phil-A/D 850.45 10.95 10799

Goodricke-X/D 318 2.6 9816

Goodyear I -B/D 1198.65 68.7 19556

Hcl Infosys-A/D 54.05 0.8 564179

Him.Fut.Comm-A/D 27.55 0.55 1481062

Himat Seide-X/D 361.05 6.5 3693

Hind Motors-T/D 7.6 0.24 22802

Hind Org Chem-/D 25 1.05 51188

Hind Unilever-/D 1347 -1.85 62294

Hind.Petrol-A/D 352.45 8.2 146742

Hindalco-A/D 207.75 -3.45 1486820

Hous Dev Fin-A/D 1830.1 -8 33076

Idbi-A/D 72.15 1.05 5926529

Ifci Ltd-A/D 20.95 0.4 559206

India Cement-A/D 153.25 0.55 235149

India Glycol-B/D 480.5 10.45 29040

Indian Hotel-A/D 138.2 2.2 336795

Indo-A/D 98.2 4.65 79422

Indusind-A/D 1829.6 23.9 25625

J.B.Chemical-B/D 315.15 3.9 7760

Jagatjit Ind-X/D 98 -1.25 4150

Jagson Phar-B/D 29.2 1.65 3259

Jamnaauto-B/D 85.7 1.45 338297

Jbf Indu-B/D 81.5 3.85 116613

Jct Ltd-X/D 2.91 -0.03 110967

Jindal Drill-B/D 153.65 1.35 16901

Jktyre&Ind-A/D 160.8 0.55 233596

Jmc Projects-B/D 605 40.85 6945

Kabra Extr-B/D 123.05 -0.5 1822

Kajaria Cer-A/D 574 -15.7 19294

Kakatiya Cem-B/D 260.95 -1.3 4931

Kalpat Power-B/D 481.55 -3.1 171800

Kalyani Stel-B/D 321.55 5.4 40570

Kanoria Chem-B/D 71.8 2.3 4704

Kg Denim-X/D 48 1.15 3693

Kilburnengg-X/D 76.35 -0.25 5496

Kinetic Eng-Xt/D 74 1.7 2951

Kopran-B/D 60.2 2.2 34809

Lakshmi Elec-X/D 636 21 1224

Lakshmi Mach-A/D 7390.85 197.55 3513

Laxmi Prcisn-B/D 41.85 3.5 1113

Lgb Broth-B/D 1212.85 121.1 15317

Lloyd Metal-X/D 15.75 0.25 147409

Lumax Ind-B/D 2255 54.95 3268

Lupin-A/D 788.55 13.15 144607

Lyka Labs-B/D 49.8 1.4 17128

Mah.Seamless-B/D 442 8.6 2050

Maha Scooter-B/D 2275.05 -22.8 5127

Mangalam Cem-B/D 331 -4.65 1029

Maral Overs-B/D 34.35 0.7 13997

Mastek-B/D 529.95 -6.95 64468

Max Financial-/D 464 3.6 21740

Mrpl-A/D 112.6 1 80146

Nagreeka Ex-T/D 29.35 0.9 3078

Nation Alum -A/D 68.1 0.8 837636

Navneet Edu-B/D 148 1.7 1226

Neuland Lab-B/D 757 -8.8 4580

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LONDON

27WEDNESDAY 4 APRIL 2018 BUSINESS VIEWS

SIMON LESTER REUTERS

The Trump administration has said that it wants to reduce foreign tariffs and trade barriers. This is a worthy goal because even if average tariffs are

generally low, they are quite high for certain products, like apparel and clothing.

Unfortunately, the administration’s approach of threatening US tariffs against foreign countries unless they change their trade practices - such as the recent announcement that the United States will level tariffs on $50bn worth of Chinese imports - is unlikely to work as a pressuring tool. (On Monday, the Chinese government retaliated against Washington by increasing tariffs by up to 25 percent on 128 US-made products.) A better approach - one that might appeal to Trump’s ego - would be a new round of global trade negotiations. If successful, they would go down in history as the ‘Trump Round’ of trade talks.

Besides the tariffs on China, Trump’s decision to impose new tariffs on steel and aluminium shocked US allies, who were uncertain about whether they would be exempted. (Some have now received a temporary exemption.) While the administration has argued that these tariffs are for national security reasons, it is likely that they are partly being used as leverage to pressure other countries to lower their own barriers.

This approach to attacking foreign trade barriers will not work. Other countries are unlikely to give in to bullying, as they are focused on their own domestic pol-itics. As a result, any demand coming from the United States for countries to lower their barriers unilaterally,

in the face of US threats, will likely be ignored or retaliated against.

Instead, via a new ‘Trump Round’, the administration can achieve its goals through a reciprocal reduction in tariffs and other trade barriers.

Early in his term, Trump made clear that negotiating ‘a lot of trade deals’ would be an important part of his administration’s trade policy, and emphasised his pref-erence for bilateral negotia-tions. One year in, however, and the White House has not initiated any negotiations on new bilateral deals. It is rene-gotiating two existing deals: NAFTA, which Trump has threatened to terminate, and KORUS, the US - South Korea trade pact that both parties

agreed to revise and that on Thursday, Trump threatened to delay until after the United States reaches a denuclearisation deal with North Korea. (After with-drawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership shortly after entering office, Trump has since said he would consider rejoining it.) While the Trump administration may prefer to negotiate trade deals bilaterally, this is an inefficient approach to securing concessions. Going country by country is time-consuming. Negotiations with individual countries also may not be significant enough for someone like Trump, who is eager to make his mark on the world.

That’s where multilateral discussions come in. From Trump’s perspective, the benefits of these talks should be clear. The Dillon Round, named after former US Treasury Secretary Douglas Dillon, and the Kennedy Round, named after John F Kennedy, established the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) as a successful forum for trade negotiations, and helped lay the foundation for the World Trade Organization.

The Trump Round could join them in the history books. Concluding a multilateral trade negotiation would not only solidify Trump’s legacy, but also bring the United States back as a leader in international trade liberalization. Trump would be credited with lowering the tariffs of all members, and making trade more free (or ‘fair,’ if he prefers that word).

This approach to attacking foreign trade barriers will not work. Other countries are unlikely to give in to bullying, as they are focused on their own domestic politics. As a result, any demand coming from the US in the face of US threats, will likely be ignored.

The lack of appetite for sugar assets and tough market conditions could also complicate separate plans by Bunge to divest its larger Brazilian sugar-milling business via a flotation, according to the same source.

Pressure builds on Bunge with struggle to give up sugar

JONATHAN SAUL & CLARA DENINA REUTERS

Bunge is struggling to sell its sugar trading oper-ations, according to two

sources familiar with the matter, frustrating the 200-year-old agricultural merchant’s strategy of slimming down to focus on core areas and improve profitability.

German sugar refiner Nordzucker and Singapore-based agribusiness firm Wilmar International were among parties that had been initially interested, but nothing has materialised, according to the sources.

Sale difficulties risk com-plicating Bunge’s plan, announced by CEO Soren

Schroder in February, to exit global sugar trading and distri-bution to con-centrate on its core grain and oilseed opera-tions. It said at the time it had identified “a few interested parties” in the sugar division.

U S f i r m Bunge, which itself has been a reported takeover target from rivals Archer Daniels Midland and Glencore over the past year, declined to comment.

W i l m a r said it had not

held talks with Bunge over the sugar trading business, but declined to comment when asked if it had con-sidered acquiring the unit. Nordzucker declined to comment.

Bunge’s move to exit sugar trading followed a $69m group loss in the fourth quarter, which compared with a profit of $262m a year earlier, the latest in a series of poor results.

The lack of strong buyer interest in the sugar unit also illustrates the wider malaise facing the industry, where a supply glut has driven down prices, squeezing Bunge and its global competitors. Louis Dreyfus Co is restructuring its sugar subsidiary in Brazil, for example, while German sugar group Suedzucker issued a profit warning this week.

The two sources, who declined to be identified because the discussions are private, said Bunge targeted a value for the unit, excluding debt, of around $75m, which suitors deemed too high for what was on offer. One said if Bunge could not find a buyer, it would have to wind down the operation.

The lack of appetite for sugar assets and tough market conditions could also complicate separate plans by Bunge to divest its larger Bra-zilian sugar-milling business via a flotation, according to the same source. The business is expected to be valued at between $1bn and $2bn.

“The IPO of the sugar mills also seems unlikely as in this market environment, it would be difficult to find investors ready to support it,” said the source. “Bunge had

been trying to sell the mills and the trading unit at the same time, but the price expectations were a stum-bling block.”

Narrowing margins for sugar and other food com-modities like grains in recent years have squeezed the finances of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus - dubbed the ‘ABCDs’ of the agricultural world because of their initials.

They have responded to the tough sugar market con-ditions in different ways.

Bunge has sought the exits. Its sugar and bioenergy divisions, which have been bundled together in financial results, posted a loss of $8m in the fourth quarter versus a profit of $30m a year before.

“We’ve been struggling over the last year to generate enough gross margin to cover our cost,” CEO Schroder said last month.

“We simply decided that it was time to really focus on what’s core to us, which is agribusiness, foods, grains and oilseeds and get on with it in a good way.”

Morningstar Equity Research analysts said Bunge’s expansion in sugar over the past decade, including the acquisition of five Brazilian sugar mills in 2010, had been ill-advised. ‘Bunge’s sugar business has suffered chronically,’ it said in a report last month. ‘This has been a disappointing endeavour’. ADM took a similar path, but did so earlier; it wound down its global sugar trading unit in 2015.

Cargill, meanwhile, has looked to scale. It teamed up with Brazilian player Coper-sucar in 2014 to form joint venture Alvean, the world’s largest sugar trader.

Louis Dreyfus has been restructuring its Brazilian sugar subsidiary Biosev after years of losses and faces the prospect of investing $1bn in a capital increase at the unit.

Reporting 2017 results last week, Dreyfus said its overall sugar business had experienced a ‘difficult’ year.

All of the companies have also been investing in higher-margin businesses, such as food ingredients, to make up for the slump in trading and processing operations.

One of the two sources, plus a third source, said any sale of Bunge itself could be also be affected by the sugar business, which is considered non-core to potential buyers.

Bunge has been the centre of takeover rumours for almost a year, with the reports of approaches from ADM and Glencore.

A fourth source close to Glencore said the group was not interested in Bunge’s sugar interests.

“The fertiliser and sugar divisions will continue to be a drag on earnings and valu-ations remain expensive. Moreover, structural changes to the grain-trading sector in the form of new entrants will c o n s t r a i n l o n g - t e r m earnings,” Cole Martin, com-modities analyst with BMI Research, said in a report.

‘The acute outlook for the sector is, indeed, so weak that horizontal M&A activity (for Bunge) is being actively discussed’.

Ego-pleasing way for Trump to push trade talks

A general view of Bunge’s sugar mill.

Latin America competes for capital in surge of oil auctionsREUTERS

For decades, many Latin America’s oil-producing nations have often shunned

investment from foreign firms, instead keeping their vast reserves under the tight control of govern-ments and state-run oil companies.

They aimed to protect profits to feed public budgets, but in practice have seen some major breakdowns, as with the cor-ruption scandals and heavy debts at Brazil’s Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or the inability of Mexico’s Pemex to conjure the cash and expertise to tap its vast deepwater reserves.

Now, an unprecedented wave of free-market energy reforms is

gaining traction across the region, setting up a fierce competition to attract billions of dollars in investment from the likes of Exxon Mobil, BP and Royal Dutch Shell.

Seven governments this year will combine to hold at least 15 oil and gas auctions, offering a record 1,100 blocks of onshore or off-shore acreage, according to inter-views with officials and a tally of announced auctions. On Thursday, Brazil’s latest auction collected $2.4bn in pledges, awarding 22 of 68 regions on offer.

“In 2018, countries in the region will host the most licensing rounds in history,” said Pablo Medina, vice president of energy

consultancy Welligence. The race for private investment reflects an acknowledgment by many coun-tries that they have neither the cash nor the technology to fully explore and develop their reserves. The embrace of foreign capital in Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador also follows the rise of centrist or right-leaning governments.

It also signals a willingness by governments to settle for a smaller cut of the profits - which could be slimmed further by the competition to attract investment as governments offer tax incen-tives, reduced royalties and other inducements.

The glaring exception is Ven-ezuela, where state-run PDVSA

remains under the firm control of a leftist government in the throes of an economic and political meltdown.

Elsewhere, emerging reforms are giving oil majors and inde-pendent producers their pick of some of the region’s richest resources - after being shut out of these markets or waiting years for the right moment to invest. But they also face a risk that govern-ments could shift back to resource nationalization or lose the political will to fully establish market reforms. An oil price drop could also undermine profits from such long-term, expensive projects. “We love this continent. We know it well and now need to make sure we will spend the money wisely,”

said Michel Hourcard, senior vice president of development, explo-ration and production at France’s Total, during an industry con-ference in Houston last month.

The ground-breaking regu-latory changes in Latin America include tax breaks, reduced roy-alties, longer contracts, relaxed qualification terms and flexible exploration mandates that allow companies to back out of invest-ments more easily than in the past.

Brazil and Colombia also plan to set up permanent offers of areas for exploration and pro-duction - similar to those offered by the United States - rather than making them available only in occasional auctions.

Seven governments this year will combine to hold at least 15 oil & gas auctions, offering a record 1,100 blocks of onshore or offshore acreage, according to interviews with officials & a tally of announced auctions.

28 WEDNESDAY 4 APRIL 2018

INsightback to BUSINESS

CAPITALCOMMENT

Toshiba has many dedicated employ-ees & talented engineers and things

go well when things are good. But once things start going wrong, then

they keeps going wrong.

Nobuaki Kurumatan Chief ExecutiveToshiba Corp.

Explaining Japan’s economy to Western audiences is hard. One big reason for this is that explaining something as large and complex as a $5 trillion economy is an inher-

ently difficult task -- there are a lot of conflicting trends, regional differences and other wrinkles. A second reason is that Japan tends to be somewhat out of sync with the US and Europe -- when the US was struggling in the early 1980s, Japan was powering ahead, and when the US recovered in the 1990s, Japan stagnated. A third reason is that the economic institu-tions that govern Japan -- the centralised but weak gov-ernment; the huge, old, diversified corporations; the powerful but conflicted bureaucracy -- are just very different from those that prevail in the US or European Union.

But there’s an economic analogy that works pretty well. For Japan, the era beginning in 2013 is similar to the US in the 1980s. And Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is in many ways analogous to President Ronald Reagan. The most obvious analogy is the recovery from a long period of stagnation. In Japan during the 1990s, as in the US during the 1970s, the economy slowed dramatically after a decade of rapid growth. Japan briefly recovered in the mid-2000s, but backslid after the 2008 global financial crisis and a 2011 earthquake and nuclear accident that laid waste to a region of the country.

So far, Japan’s economic per-formance under Abe isn’t as good as the US’s under Reagan, when real per capita gross domestic product growth averaged 2.65 percent a year. But Japan faces demographic headwinds that Reagan didn’t have -- a rapidly aging population, an increasing percentage of retirees and a shrinking domestic market. Even so, Japan under Abe has done better than most of its G-7 peers, edged out only by the US and UK: Like Reagan, Abe was a conserv-ative leader elected at a moment of malaise to revive the economy. His willingness to stand up to China is

reminiscent of Reagan’s tough rhetoric toward the Soviet Union, and his strengthening of the country’s military was Rea-ganesque as well. This muscular attitude sparked outrage in China and South Korea, and horror from Japan’s left, but it probably reinforced Abe’s image as a strong leader, allowing him to push reforms through Japan’s notoriously balky gov-ernment apparatus. Abe’s reforms, like Reagan’s, are best described as neoliberal. Where Reagan cut taxes and fought unions, Abe has focused on deregulation. Like Reagan, Abe is a free trader who has worked to increase immigration.

But the not-so-secret weapon in both Reagan’s and Abe’s economic arsenals has been monetary policy. In the 1980s, the US had suffered from a long period of high inflation; in the 1990s and 2000s, Japan had endured punishing deflation. In both cases, it was a dynamic new central banker who came to the rescue. Paul Volcker, though a Jimmy Carter appointee, smashed inflation with high interest rates under Reagan. In Japan, Abe appointed Haruhiko Kuroda to head the Bank of Japan. Kuroda enacted a dramatic program of quantitative easing that finally ended the country’s long spell of deflation -- at least, for now. In both cases, the return to low, positive inflation probably gave the economy a boost. In Japan’s case, it’s too early to conclude that deflation is gone for good -- there have been false dawns before, such as in 1997, and inflation still hasn’t hit the official target of 2 percent for any sustained period of time. But there’s reason for hope.

NEW YORK: From Ralph Lauren to Calvin Klein, Amer-ica’s biggest fashion labels are pinning their hopes on a blue jean revival. Across the industry, fashion brands are renewing their focus on denim, betting the wardrobe staple can be a major sales driver as jeans battle stretchy pants for supremacy from the waist down.

The jean-making industry has been just as distressed as the ripped denim of the same name. In recent years, jeans have struggled to beat back more comfortable styles such as leggings and yoga wear. Last year, imports of elastic knit pants surpassed those of jeans for the first time ever, according to the US Census Bureau.

Making things worse, blue jean styles have been largely stagnant over the past decade, leaving shoppers little to get excited about. Sure, micro-trends such as cropped flares and ’80s throwbacks pop up here and there, but the skinny

jean has remained the dom-inant style for more than a decade, with no real threat to its denim dominance.

Yet while Levi Strauss & Co struggled for years to stave off pressure from stretchy pants, there are signs of a rebound.

The jeans maker posted an 8 percent increase in revenue in 2017, thanks to a significant revamp of its women’s jeans. That was its strongest annual growth since 2011.

Meanwhile, luxury labels are helping pull denim out of the doldrums. Downtown street wear brand Off White’s washed jeans drew lots of interest for reworked denim, as did the patchwork jean styles from Vetements that led the trendy label to collaborate with Levi’s. Jeans makers have sought to develop increasingly ‘technical’ denim to win over shoppers who demand more stretch and moisture-wicking, integrating fibres such as elastane and lyocell.

PVH Corp, which owns Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin

Klein, has seen an ‘incredible improvement’ in its jeans businesses worldwide, Chief Executive Officer Emanuel Chirico said on a conference call Thursday. He attributed the revival to the popularity of ’90s style, and PVH is putting its marketing dollars behind it. This January, the company enlisted the bulk of the Kardashian clan-Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, Kendall, and Kylie-in a global ad campaign for Calvin Klein’s jean and underwear lines.

“Clearly, the limited jeans product we have been focused on rolling out is paying huge dividends for us,” Chirico said of Calvin Klein’s denim sales. “We’re feeling really strongly about that business.”

Ralph Lauren Corp, in the midst of a bid to regain the brand’s onetime cachet, singled out denim as a segment it will refocus on going forward after seeing an 8 percent spike year-to-date in its jean sales. Denim rep-resents just 2 or 3 percent of the company’s total revenue, and management said it

should be much higher. “Based on recent consumer research, we believe that we have a clear basis to win in this category,” CEO Patrice Louvet said in February.

The mass-market labels are on board as well. American Eagle Outfitters Inc set a record for volume last fall, luring teens into stores with tall walls of denim in hundreds of different silhou-ettes and washes, from ripped high-waisted ‘jeggings’ to indigo mom jeans.

At J Crew, denim led its sister brand Madewell to record sales both in stores and online last quarter, executives said. Even as J Crew’s flagship label struggles to get shoppers into its stores, Madewell con-tinues to report double-digit increases in comparative store sales, thanks to jeans.

Gap Inc. CEO Art Peck said earlier this month that he’s seeing ‘very good per-formance’ out of women’s denim, too. Gap has even held internal ‘denim summits’ to improve its jeans across all its brands.

Japan’s economic performance under Abe isn’t as good as the US’s under Reagan, when real per capita gross domestic product growth averaged 2.65% a year.

How blue jeans are coming back in a yoga pants worldBLOOMBERG

Abenomics starts looking a lot like Reaganomics

SAN FRANCISCO/BLOOMBERG

Shoppers walk past a Calvin Klein Jeans advertisement in Beijing.

Eurozone PMIs show broad-based expansionREUTERS

LONDON: Eurozone government bond yields moved further off multi-month lows yesterday as manufacturing surveys from the bloc’s largest economies showed that expansion remains broad-based. Government debt across the single currency bloc has been in demand on concerns over a potential trade war between the United States and other major economies.

But solid economic data has taken the edge off the rally.

Though a Purchasing Man-agers’ Index (PMI) survey showed the bloc’s manufacturing boom stumbling in March, output was robust. Manufacturing surveys from the four largest eurozone economies also showed expansion, even if the Italian and

German PMIs were slightly below expectations. “We had a strong phase of economic acceleration late last year, this has eased somewhat in the first three months of the year so that’s why you are seeing the PMIs still healthy but not as strong as they were a few months ago,” said Mizuho strategist Antoine Bouvet.

Eurozone bond yields rose 1-2 basis points across the board.

The yield on Germany’s 10-year government bond, the benchmark for the bloc, was up 2 bps at 0.51 percent, having hit a 2-1/2 month low of 0.473 percent last week. Bouvet attributed some of this to profit-taking, after a strong rally in bond prices in March, when 10-year Bund yields dropped nearly 17 bps.

“The outlook for rates is still fairly benign but over a short

period of time it makes sense we get this pullback,” he said.

Earlier in the session, bond yields had dipped as a global stock market sell-off led by US tech giant Amazon sparked interest in safe-haven assets.

Shares of Amazon.com Inc fell 6 percent on Monday after US President Donald Trump attacked the online retailer over the pricing of its deliveries through the US Postal Service and promised unspecified changes.

Ten-year US Treasury yields dropped to a near two-month low of 2.71 percent on Monday.

“The big question is how far the current tremor in the equity market will affect bonds given it is driven by a single company - even if it is a tech giant having a huge market weight,” said DZ Bank strategist Christian Lenk.