| Foreign banks open new chapter in China
An employee steps out of a branch of HSBC in Shanghai, east China, April 2, 2007. Four foreign-funded banks, HSBC, Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of East Asia officially launched business in Shanghai on Monday as the first batch of locally incorporated overseas financial companies approved by China's banking regulator. (Xinhua Photo) BEIJING, April 3 -- Locally incorporated entities of four foreign banks started operations Monday in a move to tap into China's 30 trillion yuan in household savings and surging demands for mortgages, credit cards and other services. However, they still have to wait before offering local currency deposit and loan services to individual Chinese customers as the check-up of their outlets by the regulators, China Banking Regulatory Commission, has not finished yet, reports said.
Earnings Calls: Tiffany Fourth Quarter Earnings Call
This summary is based on the fourth quarter fiscal 2006 earnings call conducted by Tiffany & Co. (TIF: chart) on March 26, 2007. Key Investors Issues - Earnings for the quarter were nearly flat at $140.5 million, or $1.02 per share, from $140.3 million, or 97 cents a year ago. - Revenue climbed 15% to $986.4 million from $858.4 million last year. - Same-store sales grew 8% worldwide, excluding the effect of foreign currency translation. - For the year, net income was nearly flat at $253.9 million, or $1.80 per share, compared with $254.7 million, or $1.75 per share, in 2005. - Revenue grew 11% to $2.65 billion from $2.4 billion in 2005. 2007 Outlook - For the year, the company expects EPS growth of 15%, implying net income of $2.07. - Tiffany sees sales growth between 11% - 12%, implying sales between $2.94 and $2.97 billion.
Forex kitty widens to 199.179 bn on Mar. 30
Forex reserves widened to USD 199.179 billion for the week ended Mar. 30 on the back of a rise worth USD 1.532 billion in foreign currency and assets. As per the weekly statistical supplement of the RBI released Apr. 6, 2007, foreign currency and assets for the week ended Mar. 30 were worth USD 191.924 billion, while the reserve position in IMF was USD 469 million, unchanged from the previous week. The special drawing rights (SDRs) also remained unchanged at USD 2 million. On the other hand, gold reserves dropped down by USD 99 million to USD 6.784 billion during this period. Foreign currency assets expressed in USD terms include the effect of appreciation/depreciation of non-US currencies (such as Euro, Sterling and Yen) held in reserves.
* Q - Quote , N - News , C - Chart , F - Financials
.
HSBC, Citigroup Incorporate in China for Yuan Service (Update1)
April 2 (Bloomberg) -- HSBC Holdings Plc and Citigroup Inc. became locally incorporated in China, paving the way for them to offer local-currency services and take a bigger slice of the nation's $2 trillion of household savings. Standard Chartered Plc. and Bank of East Asia Ltd. also completed local incorporation. The four are the largest overseas banks in China and have more than 90 outlets there between them. They need approvals from the banking regulator to begin yuan- denominated services. Foreign banks must incorporate in China to offer yuan-based bank cards and mass-market services, according to rules that took effect in December. The government is giving overseas financial institutions greater access as part of a deal it struck when joining the World Trade Organization five years ago.
Pokarna Ltd allots FCCBs for US$ 15 million
Pokarna Ltd has announced that on the date, the Company issued and allotted Zero Coupon Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds ("FCCBs") with a maturity of 5 years and one day. The FCCBs were issued in the principal amount off US$ 12 and are convertible into ordinary shares of the Company at an initial conversion price of Rs 295.64 per share. The conversion price of the FCCBs may be adjusted in certain circumstances. The FCCBs have a 7.5% per annum yield to maturity (calculated on a semi-annual basis). The said issue was made at 32% premium to the reference date price.
The Company had previously obtained the approval of its shareholders to issue FCCBs up to a value of US$ 15 Million. These FCCBs will be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.
M/s. Standard Chartered Bank was the lead manager for this issue and M/s.
|
