Sat, Jul 18, 2015 page15

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  MACROECONOMICS

  UK mulls rate rise

  Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has indicated that Britain’s record-low interest rates could start to rise at the turn of the year. Carney on Thursday said that he expected the key rate to climb over the next three years from its current level of 0.5 percent — where it has stood for more than six years to stimulate growth after the worldwide economic downturn of 2008. Carney said that rates would rise slowly before reaching a level that is about half as high as its historical average of 5 percent.

  INVESTMENTS

  China FDI climbs 8%

  China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows rose 8 percent in the first half from the same period last year, a Chinese Ministry of Commerce official said yesterday. Investment into China’s fast-growing services sector jumped 23 percent in the first half from the same period last year, accounting for more than 60 percent of the period’s total FDI, Chinese Assistant Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen (王受文) said at a news conference. The ministry did not announce the exact investment value or the monthly figures for last month. Outbound direct investment soared 29.2 percent to US$56 billion in the first six months from last year, data showed.

  MINING

  S African wage talks stuck

  South African gold-mine workers and bosses are stuck “far apart” in their wage talks as a new offer by companies failed to impress unions, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said. Companies including AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, Sibanye Gold Ltd and Harmony Gold Mining Co offered more compensation for lost jobs, as well as raising medical payments and some workers’ retirement ages, the Chamber of Mines said in a statement on Thursday. The offer is “meaningless” as it does not talk about wages, NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu said. NUM is asking for an 80 percent increase in base pay for entry-level underground workers who now earn about 5,800 rand (US$470) per month. The companies have offered a gain of as much as 13 percent.

  TELECOMS

  Ericsson’s profits fall

  Swedish wireless equipment maker Ericsson AB yesterday said broadband demand in North America has stabilized but remains low, with second-quarter net profit falling 20 percent to 2.1 billion kronor (US$245.3 million). Overall, net sales in the second quarter grew 11 percent to 60.7 billion kronor, driven by strong development in the network segment, Ericsson said. Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg said that the mobile broadband business in North America stabilized in the April-to-June period, but at a lower level than a year ago. The decline was partly offset by an increased pace of 4G deployments in China, he added.

  BANKING

  Citi profit beats estimates

  Citigroup Inc, the third biggest bank in the US, posted earnings that beat analysts’ estimates, as CEO Michael Corbat cut expenses. Second-quarter net profit jumped to US$4.85 billion, or US$1.51 per share, from US$181 million, or US$0.03 per share, in the same period last year, the New York-based lender said on Thursday. Excluding accounting adjustments and one-time items, profit was US$1.45 per share, beating the US$1.34 average estimate of 27 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Total revenue, excluding accounting adjustments, fell 1.5 percent to US$19.2 billion from a year earlier, in line with analysts’ estimates.
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