- (
) Boss defends home loan 'formula'
Rudco CEO Rudi Visagie believes his "simple" business formula is a winner for consumers and has big banks and financial services brokers running scared. The National Credit Act regulates maximum interest rates and initiation fees, but no minimums, Visagie said in defence of his six percent interest rate on home loans. Visagie said Rudco was complying with the act by offering a maximum initiation fee of R150, plus 10 percent of the agreement in excess of R1 000, but limited to R1 140 (including VAT). A further proviso of the act is that the initiation fee may not exceed 15 percent of the principal debt. Rudco's "management fee" of R750 had been converted to an interest rate of 17 percent, said Visagie. Before June 1, when the act came into force, this was how Rudco calculated a R100 000 "debt consolidation" - what the act refers to as a personal loan: Capital outlay of R100 000 (this was used to repay people's debts, Visagie stressed, and no money was paid directly to clients); 20-year (240 month) repayment period; R750 management fee. More>> - (
) Nigeria: Why Banks Shun Real Sector Fund Seekers
While some stakeholders, especially those in the manufacturing industry, point their accusing fingers at banks as being responsible for the dearth of real sector financing, banks said that it was their duty to protect the interest of shareholders from bad debt as the money does not belong to the board and management of the institution. The inability of the real sector to access funds from banks has been associated with the high lending rates which stood between 18 per cent and 20 per cent. Although, some operators in the manufacturing industry were excited that consolidation in the banking sector would usher in an opportunity for them to get credit facilities from banks at lower rate to increase their capacity utilisation, but they were disappointed with the rate to be contended with. More>> - (
) Keeping a Sell on Centennial
Revenue performance has been lackluster, following slow subscriber growth and lower roaming traffic. We remain concerned with net debt in excess of $2 billion and limited cash liquidity, although the company plans to redeem approximately $20 million of debt by November 2007. Moreover, we are not encouraged by management's outlook for 2008.\'We continue to await indications of an improved operating profitability as changes in business strategy are taking longer to push upside trends in earnings. Centennial is trading at a 2008 EV/Sales multiple of 3.0x, which represents a significant premium to the telecom-wireless industry group. On the basis of enterprise value (defined as market cap plus debt minus cash) to EBITDA, the stock is also trading at a premium to the peer group average.
\'Also, we are concerned with competitive factors in Centennial's coverage regions as consolidation among tier-I carriers threatens CYCL's customer base and pricing structure. More>>
- (
) (AFX UK Focus) 2007-09-21 09:35 GMT: TFN NEWS BRIEFING: Mergers and acquisitions highlights to 09:20 BST
2007-09-21 08:41:21 Polsat CEO wants to seal sale of 25 pct stake to Axel Springer this yr - reportWARSAW (Thomson Financial) - Poland's largest commercial broadcaster Polsat wants to finalise its sale of a 25.1 pct stake to Germany's Axel Springer by the end of this year and then move on with a public offer of shares, its chief executive was reported as saying.
2007-09-21 08:30:19 Polish IT distributor AB says Czech acquisition to double sales
WARSAW (Thomson Financial) - Polish computer equipment distributor AB will double its annual sales as a result of its purchase of Czech peer AT Computers and gain a further 500 mln zlotys in synergies, said AB's chief executive.
2007-09-21 08:14:11 Intesa Sanpaolo to merge Albanian ops this year; expand in North Africa
MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Intesa Sanpaolo SpA plans to merge its two Albanian banks this year and is interested in expanding in the northern African region of Maghreb, said Enrico Salza, chairman of the supervisory board. More>>
- (
) Stora Enso Sells North American Unit
By MATTI HUUHTANEN HELSINKI, Finland (AP) -- Stora Enso Oyj, one of the world's largest makers of paper products, is selling its North American unit for about $2.1 billion to an Ohio-based company owned by the private equity firm Cerberus Capital.The deal announced Friday sent Stora Enso stock up 7 percent in Helsinki.
The operations being sold include eight factories and will be combined with those of Cerberus-owned NewPage Holding Corp., based in Dayton, Ohio, a North American coated paper producer employing more than 4,300 people.
The transaction includes $1.5 billion in cash, a 20 percent equity stake valued at $370 million in the combined operation and $200 million in vendor notes, Stora Enso said.
The buyer is also assuming about $450 million in debt in the deal, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2008. More>>
- (
) Where Is Venezuela Going?
VENEZUELA'S “BOLIVARIAN Revolution" is moving ahead fast. President Hugo Chávez's government, which began in 1999 with an attempt to implement Tony Blair's “third way," now aims to build “socialism for the twenty-first century." Revenues from the state oil company, PDVSA, have funded vast increases in social spending. Targeted outreach to the poor via government “missions" have largely bypassed the old state structures and have achieved spectacular results.These include a reduction of poverty from 55 percent of the population to 34 percent as the share of gross domestic product (GDP) on social spending has increased from 7.83 percent to 14.69 percent; the achievement of literacy for 1.5 million adults; the virtual elimination of hunger through subsidized grocery stores that service 13 million people; medical care provided by Cuban doctors via free clinics in slums, reaching 18 million people, nearly 70 percent of the population; access to higher education for the poor and working class; and special affirmative action programs for indigenous people.1 The minimum wage is now the highest in Latin America at $286 per month, and the workweek is to be shortened from forty to thirty-six hours by 2010.2 Land reform has shifted 8.8 million acres to impoverished families, more than half of that from private owners.3 Government seed money has increased the number of cooperative enterprises from fewer than 800 to 181,000 to try and provide more stable employment for the approximately half of Venezuelan workers who toil in the informal sector of the economy.4
All this is being achieved despite the implacable hostility of Venezuelan capital and of U.S. More>>