Prada says chairwoman, CEO not aware of investigation |
- Prada says chairwoman, CEO not aware of investigation
- Northern Ireland’s Morrissey wins Eliot poetry prize
- World powers, Iran eye February start to nuclear settlement talks
- Fonterra reassures consumers amid second contamination scare
- Yen redeemed as US dollar falls by wayside, Aussie also up
- Volvo chief says company returned to profitability in 2013
| Prada says chairwoman, CEO not aware of investigation Posted: 13 Jan 2014 05:03 PM PST
Prada, who is also chairwoman of the company, and her husband are under investigation as part of a tax avoidance probe by Milan prosecutors, three investigative sources told Reuters on Friday. Prada Holding B.V. had completed a voluntary disclosure process with the Italian Tax Authority, the Hong Kong-listed firm said in a filing to the Hong Kong bourse yesterday. It gave no further details. A spokesman for lawyers representing Prada Holding, through which Miuccia, her siblings and husband control the luxury group centred on a brand founded by her family in 1913, had said last week he was not aware of the investigation. — Reuters  |
| Northern Ireland’s Morrissey wins Eliot poetry prize Posted: 13 Jan 2014 04:54 PM PST
Morrissey, who is the first poet laureate of Belfast and had been shortlisted for the prize on three previous occasions, will receive an award of £15,000 (RM80,250). "I'm so delighted, it's a dream come true," she told Reuters after the prize was announced at a ceremony held at London's Hertford House, the home of the Wallace Collection of art. Morrissey, whose winning collection examines the difference between perception and reality, said she had no explanation for why Northern Ireland, also the birthplace of late Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney, was a fertile breeding ground for poets. "I think there is something distinctive about Northern Ireland and I think the poetry tradition from that very small place with that very small population is extraordinary. Why that is, I don't know," she said. There was some sense beforehand that Morrissey might take the prize this year after her previous appearances on the short list. The judges were glowing in their praise of her work. "Politically, historically and personally ambitious, expressed in beautifully turned language, her book is as many-angled and any-angled as its title suggests," prize jury chairman Ian Duhig said. Born in 1972 in County Armagh, Morrissey is the author of five poetry collections: "There Was Fire in Vancouver" (1996); "Between Here and There" (2002); "The State of the Prisons" (2005); "Through the Square Window" (2009) and "Parallax" (2013). One of the poems in her latest volume took its title from, and was in part inspired by watching, the 1946 David Niven film "A Matter of Life and Death", in which an aviator who is about to die in a crash escapes death because of an error on the part of the guide sent to take him to the afterlife. She said the idea for the poem had come to her when she saw the film while she was in labour having her first child. "The coincidence of it being about life and death while I was in that situation was too great an opportunity to pass up," she said. The T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry, named for the author of "The Waste Land" and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", was inaugurated in 1993 to celebrate the Poetry Book Society's 40th birthday and honour its founding poet. Eliot was born in St Louis, Missouri, but became a naturalised British citizen and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. — Reuters |
| World powers, Iran eye February start to nuclear settlement talks Posted: 13 Jan 2014 04:54 PM PST
If successful, the next round of negotiations could head off the risk of lingering mistrust spiralling out of control into a wider Middle East war over the Islamic republic's nuclear programme. Led by European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, the talks will face the challenge of defining a permissible scope of Iranian nuclear activity that would lay to rest Western concerns that it could yield an atomic weapon. In return, Iran ― which denies having any intention to "weaponise" the enrichment of uranium for nuclear energy ― wants governments in the United States and Europe to end painful economic sanctions. The source said the first meeting in the new phase of diplomacy between Iran and six powers ― the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany ― would include Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. "It won't happen in January, because of the Chinese New Year, but it is very, very, very likely in February," the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Senior diplomats from the seven countries and the EU will discuss an agenda ahead of the meeting. Ashton herself announced plans yesterday to go to Tehran in the coming weeks in preparation for more talks. US President Barack Obama said on the weekend he had "no illusions" about how hard it would be to secure a comprehensive agreement with Iran. His administration voiced concern yesterday about recent reports that Iran and Russia are negotiating an oil-for-goods swap worth US$1.5 billion (RM4.9 billion) a month, a deal the White House said could potentially trigger US sanctions. Russian and Iranian sources close to the barter negotiations have said final details are being discussed for a deal under which Russia would buy up to 500,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil in exchange for Russian equipment and goods. "We are concerned about these reports and Secretary (of State John) Kerry directly expressed this concern with Foreign Minister (Sergei) Lavrov today," Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, told Reuters. "If the reports are true, such a deal would raise serious concerns as it would be inconsistent with the terms of the P5+1 agreement with Iran and could potentially trigger US sanctions," Hayden said. Iran says its atomic energy programme is aimed purely at generating electricity and producing isotopes for medical care. But past Iranian attempts to hide sensitive nuclear activity from U.N. non-proliferation inspectors raised global concerns. Reached on November 24, the interim six-month agreement freezes Iran's most sensitive atom work ― higher-level enrichment - in return for an estimated US$7 billion in relief from sanctions. Iran and the six powers said at the weekend the deal would go into effect on January 20, pending verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Tehran is meeting its end of the bargain. The preliminary accord appeared to arrest a drift towards regional war during which the United States and Israel have both refused to rule out military action against Iranian nuclear sites if the matter cannot be resolved diplomatically. 'Long and difficult road' Underscoring the challenge of the new talks, Zarif said yesterday the interim agreement was "the beginning of a long and difficult road". "There is a very serious confidence deficit vis-a-vis the West in Iran. Our people believe that our peaceful nuclear programme has been dealt with in a totally unfounded way," Zarif told a news conference during a visit to Lebanon. Later in the week, he is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russian officials said yesterday. Russia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement welcoming the weekend decision to launch the interim accord on January 20. "We hope that a successful implementation of the primary phase will create the necessary conditions for working out agreements going further that will result in a final and comprehensive settlement in regard to Iran's nuclear programme," the ministry said. In Washington, Obama urged Congress to resist the temptation to approve new economic sanctions against Iran, saying, "Now is the time for us to allow the diplomats and technical experts to do their work." Raising the issue in comments to reporters, Obama said that if Tehran abides by the agreement, "then I have no doubt that it can open up extraordinary opportunities for Iran and their people." But if they refuse, he said, then "we are in position to reverse any interim agreement and put in place additional pressure to make sure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon." French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said an exact date for the resumption of the next talks had yet to be set. ― Reuters |
| Fonterra reassures consumers amid second contamination scare Posted: 13 Jan 2014 04:54 PM PST
About 8,700 bottles of fresh cream already distributed to retail outlets in regions of New Zealand's North Island are being recalled after tests showed high levels of the E.Coli bacteria, the Auckland-based company said late yesterday. The recall comes just five months after Fonterra warned that a whey protein used in baby formula may have been tainted with a potentially fatal botulism-causing bacteria, in what turned out to be a false alarm. The latest incident "is small and appears contained but we, like the wider public, would like to understand what created this scare and the need for a recall," said Andy Bowley, an analyst at Forsyth Barr Ltd. in Wellington, who has a "reduce" recommendation on the Fonterra Shareholders' Fund. "The wider public image impact isn't good following what happened last year." Fonterra is still working to rebuild its reputation after the botulism warning prompted product recalls across Asia and saw countries including China temporarily halt imports of some of the company's milk powders. France's Danone, the world's biggest yogurt maker, last week canceled its supply contract with Fonterra and sued in the New Zealand High Court for compensation, saying the botulism recall cost it €300 million (RM1.34 billion). Shares dip Shares in the Fonterra Shareholders' Fund, a publicly traded trust that tracks the cooperative's dividend payout and earnings, fell 3 cents this morning before recovering to trade 2 cents higher at NZ$5.65 at 12:45pm in Wellington. The cream contaminated with E.Coli, which can cause food poisoning, was distributed only in New Zealand, Fonterra said. "This is a totally separate issue from the last one," Peter McClure, managing director of Fonterra Brands NZ, told Radio New Zealand. "You wouldn't want this at any time and now is not a good time for us, but we're doing everything we can. Consumers can rest assured on our record of supplying high quality milk and cream into this market." Anchor brand The fresh cream was distributed under the Anchor and Pams brands with a best-before date of January 21. It was produced at the company's Takanini plant last week. No other product from the plant, which processes 1 million litres of milk a day, showed anything unusual in testing, McClure said. Fonterra is investigating how the contamination occurred, he said. The recall is evidence that Fonterra's food-safety testing has worked, Willy Leferink, chairman of Federated Farmers of New Zealand's dairy division, said in a statement. Still, politicians including Green Party agriculture spokesman Steffan Browning warned that the recall was another blow to New Zealand's global brand. "New Zealand needs Fonterra to be reliable and maintain a spotless reputation," Browning said in a statement. "Any mistake by them impacts on all of us." — Bloomberg |
| Yen redeemed as US dollar falls by wayside, Aussie also up Posted: 13 Jan 2014 04:50 PM PST
Investors were forced to unwind stretched short positions in the Japanese currency in the wake of the poor US jobs numbers and as US stocks posted the biggest one-day fall in more than two months. Sterling bought ¥168.86, having skidded 1.7 per cent, while the US dollar traded at ¥103.03 following a 1.1 per cent drop. The euro fetched ¥140.80 after suffering a 0.9 per cent slide. "With US equity indices down 1.26 per cent Monday and USD/JPY sharply lower, markets in Japan could open lower Tuesday, which in turn could feedback into more pressure on USD/JPY," analysts at BNP Paribas wrote in a note to clients. "However, bearish JPY remains a high conviction view for many market participants and we expect the pair to find buying interest ahead of 101.50." Friday's disappointingly soft payrolls report has raised doubts about the health of the world's biggest economy, driving investors to push out the timing of the first hike in the Fed funds rate into late 2015 from mid-2015. All that left the US dollar probing two-week lows against a basket of major currencies. It would have fallen even further if not for sterling, itself a victim of recent disappointing domestic data. The pound shed 0.6 per cent to US$1.6383. The euro, meanwhile, went nowhere after Friday's rally, remaining steady around US$1.3670. Along with the yen, commodity currencies emerged best dressed after last night's shakeout in New York with both the Australian and New Zealand dollars rising to around one-month highs on the greenback. The Aussie last traded at US$0.9051 after peaking at US$0.9087, while the kiwi was at US$0.8374, not far from an overnight high of US$0.8391. Even the down beaten Canadian dollar staged its first positive session in about a week, rising to C$1.0859 per dollar from a four-year low of C$1.0946 per dollar. There is nothing in the way of market-moving Asian data today, leaving the focus squarely on equities. — Reuters |
| Volvo chief says company returned to profitability in 2013 Posted: 13 Jan 2014 04:43 PM PST
"Our target was to break even... but I can declare already today that... we are back in the black, which is extremely positive," Samuelsson told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show. Samuelsson was referring to operating profit, Volvo officials said. Volvo is expected to announce its financial results for the year in March. For the first half of 2013, the company posted an operating loss of 577 million SEK (RM289 million), according to a company spokesman. Samuelsson attributed the turnaround to Volvo's successful restructuring of its distribution network in China, which led to a 46 per cent boost last year in volume in that country to 61,146 vehicles, as well as to an overhauling of its cost structure globally. Because of its aggressive cost cuts, Volvo was able to make money even though it posted only modest gains in global sales volume in 2013, Samuelsson said. Volvo sold a total of 427,840 vehicles last year, up 1.4 per cent from 2012. "This year our focus will be growth," he said. "If last year was sort of a year of consolidation, this year will be a year of growth." A key component of that growth strategy, Samuelsson said, is the United States market, where the Swedish brand has struggled. Last year, according to research firm Autodata, Volvo's US sales fell 10.1 per cent to 61,233 vehicles. Volvo's message is that "we're committed to the US market," Samuelsson said. "This year will be a year when we outperform the market." Samuelsson said the company, which was purchased by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group from Ford Motor Co. in 2010, hopes to regain growth momentum with some key new products. Those new models include the significantly redesigned XC-90 crossover vehicle, which he said should be unveiled later this year and start hitting show-rooms in the United States and elsewhere around the start of 2015. "We will invest more in marketing and communications. We have new products. We will be more competitive with these vehicles," the executive said. "The US is one focus point for us this year." Samuelsson also said Volvo could begin to bring some vehicles manufactured at its new plant in the Chinese city of Chengdu into the United States in an effort to insulate the company from dollar-Euro currency swings. "The dollar and the RMB (yuan) have a more stable relationship than the Euro and the dollar. So in a way also China will have a big advantage (as a production hub) for the US. That is the possibility and also of course using more Chinese materials in the car," Samuelsson said. ― Reuters |
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