Posts Tagged ‘business news’

Veritas Capital New Business Deal With EIG

Veritas Capital New Business Deal With EIG:

Lockheed Martin Corp, the largest defense company in the world, has agreed to sell one of their consulting businesses $ 815 million, Veritas Capital, in accordance with the decision of June to deprive the unit to avoid a conflict of interest.

Veritas Capital, said in a statement today that it plans to expand its business enterprise integration group. EIG, which provides systems engineering and integration services, posted $ 626 million revenue in the 12 months ended June 30, and has about 1800 employees, Veritas Capital, said.

The agreement follows through on the Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed decision to sell or release the majority of EIG, to avoid conflicts between the military unit and the work of intelligence and consulting company’s role as a supplier of transmissions, such as satellites.

“Although this deal was expected by investors, we believe it is timely and sound assessment can be viewed as the impetus for Lockheed restructuring,” Robert Stallard, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in New York, wrote in a note to clients. Stallard rates Lockheed stock to “sector perform.”

Lockheed advanced 27 cents to $ 70.82 at 9:57 am in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Shares fell 6.4 percent this year before today.

Sales of defense company’s second-largest in the last 10 years, after the divestiture IMS Corporation in 2001 for $ 825 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Arms procurement

Lockheed was invited to act with the approval of Congress, the law in 2009 tightening of rules on arms purchases in response to concerns of legislators that some contractors have been advising the Pentagon that the system purchased at the same time, bidding on contracts to supply equipment.

Veritas Capital, based in New York, describes itself on its Web site as an investor in companies that “provide outsourced services for government -. First of all, in the defense and aerospace, security and infrastructure”

President Robert McKeon founded the firm in 1992 from his post as chairman and founding partner of Wasserstein Perella Management Partners, the website reported.

EIG, based in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, was one of two pieces of information in the Lockheed-technology and services division targeted for disposal in June. Also on sale is Pacific Architects & Engineers, a provider of embassies and disaster services. The company is about 3 percent of sales, Lockheed said at the time. Lockheed revenue in 2009 was $ 45.2 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Bob Stevens said in an interview June Pacific Architects customers wanted one to take the construction, maintenance and security work abroad, and that is not consistent with the current strategy of Lockheed’s.

Toyota Company Palns To Launch Six New Hybrid Cars

Toyota Company Palns To Launch Six New Hybrid Cars:Recently Toyota plans to release 6 new hybrid cars by the end of 2012, a company representative said, as competition for the creation of green cars is increasing.

The increase will take the total number of Toyota in hybrid models to 20.

The Wall Street Journal reported that 2 will be luxury brand Lexus models, and 4 will be Toyota vehicles.

Leaf rival Nissan’s electric vehicle must be submitted to the U.S. and Japan at the end of this year, and Honda to start selling electric cars in these markets in 2012.

Also, new hybrid models that run on gasoline and electricity, Toyota will also present a fully electric version of its RAV4 sport utility vehicle this year, the spokesman said.

The model, developed with its U.S. partner Tesla will be announced at the auto show in Los Angeles in late November.

Iceland Reduce The Key Interest Rate To 7% From 8%

The Central Bank of Iceland has lowered key interest rates a full percentage point to 7 percent after the consolidation of the crowns and moderating inflation.

Announcement Sedlabanki on Wednesday the bank continues a gradual decrease in 7-day course as a mortgage lending recovers from the economic and financial crisis.

The level reached 18 percent in October 2008, when Iceland’s banking system collapsed under the weight of the global credit squeeze.

Tiny Nordic countries is beneficial from a loan from the International Monetary Fund in the amount of 2,1 billion dollars.

Sedlabanki also reduced the deposit rate to 5,5 percent from 6,5 percent.

Rezidor Unveils Plans For 5th Airport Hotel At UK

Rezidor Hotel Group has announced the Radisson Blu Hotel, East Midlands Airport, its fifth property in the UK, attached to the airport.

216-room new building scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2012, and should Radisson Blu and Park Inn Hotels in Manchester, London Stansted, London Heathrow, Edinburgh.

The hotel is situated 800 meters from the main airport terminal, next to the M1. East Midlands Airport in itself is a center for regional and low cost airlines such as Ryanair and Bmibaby, serving the nearby cities of Leicester, Derby and Nottingham.

Rezidor said 750sqm event space will be “relevant position hotel for MICE market.” But the rest will be well served with a restaurant, lounge bar, cafe, gym and indoor pool. 208 rooms and 8 suites all come with free high-speed Internet access.

Other Radisson Blu airport hotels mentioned properties include the Zurich Airport, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, and in October last year work was completed Radisson Blu Hamburg Airport

Tata Motors Global Sales Grow By 36 Per Cent

Tata Motors Global Sales Grow By 36 Per Cent:Sales of luxury brands of Jaguar Land Rover were 19,386 units in July, up 30 percent over the same period last year, Tata Motors said in a statement.

Although sales of luxury brands Jaguar sedans rose 26 percent last month to 5676 units, Land Rover sales were up 31 percent to 13,710 units, he added.
He said overall sales of passenger cars totaled 50,070 units in July 2010, an increase of 42 per cent compared with the corresponding month last year.

Commercial vehicle sales also grew 30 percent to 40,576 units from the same month last year, he added.

With global sales of Tata Motors include Tata, Tata Daewoo Hispano Carrocera and a number of commercial vehicles, passenger cars, along with Tata distributed brands in India, Jaguar and Land Rover.

For the period April-July total vehicle sales rose 46 percent to 3,39,824 units.
While overall sales of passenger cars increased by 53 percent to 1,88,094 units, sales of commercial vehicles jumped 38 percent to 1,51,730 units in the first four months of this fiscal.

Germany Good Economy Growth By 2,2%

German economy grew by 2,2% during the three months to end June, its fastest quarterly growth in more than 20 years, according to official figures.

“These quarter-on-quarter growth has never been recorded yet in the united Germany,” National Statistics Office, DESTATIS said.

The main reason for the higher-than-expected export growth was strong, helped by a weak euro.

The euro area economy grew by 1% during the quarter.

This compares with growth of 0,2% in the first three months of this year, official statistics agencies in the region, Eurostat, said.
The French economy grew by 0.6% in the second quarter, as well as compared to 0,2%, while the Spanish economy grew by 0,2% compared to 0,1% in the previous three months.

Growth of the Italian economy remains unchanged at 0.4%.

Greece, however, saw its economy shrink by 1.5% during the quarter. The Government has initiated a number of far-reaching austerity measures in recent years designed to reduce the high budget deficit.

All figures of the second quarter of the original estimate and may be revised upwards or downwards in the coming months.

Eurozone quarterly GDP figures show that the economic recovery in Europe has accelerated in the period between April and June. In the UK, also reported higher-than-expected growth of 1.1% over the period.

In the U.S., however, the growth of the second quarter was 0.6%, compared to 0,9% in the period between January and March, raising questions about the power of recovery of the world’s largest economy.

“In the second quarter GDP data on large economies suggest that the region is carried out very well as his own, and international standards,” said Jennifer McKeown at Capital Economics.

“This will be the strongest in three and a half years, and means that an unusual growth in the euro zone ahead of that in the U.S..

However, along with other analysts, she noted concern about the pace of recovery in the peripheral economies, such as Greece and Spain.

Floods Hit Economy:Finance Ministry

Pakistan catastrophic flooding means that she will miss this year’s 4.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) target this year, although it is not yet clear to what extent, an official of the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday, floods, the worst in 80 years, will lead to serious economic losses as a donor and investor concern over the impact of rising catastrophe on the fragile economy.

“It is too early to talk about the extent of damage and crop losses. But yes, this is a major disaster and will have negative consequences for economic growth,” said the spokesman of the Ministry of Finance Asif Bajwa.

The Government stated that the process of assessing the damage, but it will be essential, especially in the agricultural sector which accounts for more than 21 percent of GDP and employs 45 percent of the workforce.

Economic growth of 4.5 per cent target in 2010/11 (July-June) financial year should be revised downward after the amount of damage was known, he said. Growth was 4.1 per cent last year.

The government was forced to turn to the IMF in November 2008 for emergency funding of $ 11.3 billion. Since then, she tried to meet fund guidelines and are expected missied goal deficit for the quarter ending June 30.

Ukraine and IMF officials are due to meet on August 23 to discuss the sixth tranche of the loan and Bajwa said that the IMF could provide more financial opportunities in the light of flooding.

Floods caused by unusually heavy monsoon rains in the upper basin of the Indus River over the past 10 days, the band cultivated the destruction of more than 1000 km (600 miles) long from the northern part of Pakistan, in the south, killing more than 1600 people and making the 2000000 people homeless .

After touching a 1-month low Monday on concerns about the economic consequences flooods, the main index barely changed on Tuesday in very thin trading, as most investors stayed on the sidelines.

Car Market Keeps Momentum Post SWC

The entire industry in South Africa sales of new cars increased by 20.0 percent year on year in July, 41,367 units, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (NAAMSA) said on Tuesday.

After stripping out sales from Associated Motor Holdings and Amalgated Automotive Distributors – that a separate report – sales rose by 15.8 per cent to 35,555 units compared to July last year, NAAMSA said.

Islamabad Plane Crash Accident At Margalla Hills

Islamabad: passenger plane crashed in the Margalla Hills in Islamabad on Wednesday, reports said.

At least 152 people were on board, said Pervez George, civil aviation official.

152 included 146 passengers and six crew members, “George said.

Rescuers arrived at the scene and managed to pull four of the injured passengers from the wreckage.

Plane flew from Karachi to Islamabad and the exact cause of the accident is not immediately clear, said George.

The plane lost contact with the control tower during the accident, which occurred in thick fog and heavy rain in Islamabad.

Thick clouds of smoke rose from the Margalla Hills.

Asian Market End In Positive Territory On Wall Street Gains

Asian markets opened for trading over the last day of the trading session in positive territory for the week, picked up strong profits on Wall Street during the last session on optimism earnings. Better than expected earnings reports Microsoft (MSFT), after the markets closed on Wall Street and reliable economic data in Europe also raised the mood of the market. Higher commodity prices and oil prices led to gains between markets, even as traders await the results of stress tests banks in Europe later in the day.

In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index advanced 210.08 points, or 2.28%, to 9431, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues to 15.81 points, or 1.92% percent, to 841.

On the economic front, a statement released by the Ministry of Finance showed that Japanese investors bought a net 1.305 trillion yen in foreign bonds and notes last week. The statement also indicated that Japanese residents also bought a net 49.2 billion yen in foreign stocks. During the same period, foreign investors sold a net 29.8 billion yen in Japanese stocks and bought a net 231.2 billion yen in Japanese bonds.

Real estate stocks led the gains on the market. Sumitomo Realty and Development rose 4,47%, Mitsubishi Estate rose 4,38%, Mitsui Fudosan was 4,01%, Tokyu Land Corp. rose 3.63% and Heiwa Real Estate added 0,49%.

Glass and ceramics sector also witnessed a smart gains during the session. Asahi Glass rose 6.05%, Tokai Carbon rose 4.34%, OAO “NGK Insulators added 0,81%, TOTO Ltd was 1,22% and Nippon Sheet Glass Company rose 2.90%.

Stocks related to maritime transport, as raised by optimism about the recovery and increase demand. Mitsui OSK Lines rose 5,39%, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha rose 3,20%, and Nippon Yusen was 2,16%.

Banking shares also ended in positive territory. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group was 1.53%, Financial Group, Mizuho rose 1.49% and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rose 1.75%. Cavity Holdings managed to remain unchanged from the previous close.

In Australia, the benchmark S and P/ASX200 index rose 83.7 points, or 1.91%, to 4458 points, and All-bishops Index ended in 4475, representing growth of 80.30 points, or 1.83%.

On the economic front, a report published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that exports increased in value as of June quarter from the quarter of March, and prices of imports also increased during the same period. According to the report, the index of export prices increased by 16.1% quarter over quarter faster than the 3.8% growth in the previous quarter. Economists are looking for a 13.5% increase. Import prices, on the other hand, increased by 1,9% in the quarter June, after 0.3% growth in the preceding quarter. Economists forecast growth of 1%. Compared with the same period last year revenues from export prices rose 7.1% in June quarter, rebounding from 26,8% fall in the previous quarter. Import prices fell for a fourth consecutive quarter, down 5.2%.