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VIDEO: Youth unemployment rise in Eurozone

2011-11-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 21:07 GMT Help

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VIDEO: iPhone 5 'critical' for Apple

2011-11-01T07:08:00.000-07:00

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 02:20 GMT Help

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Samsung forecast beats estimates

2011-11-01T02:53:00.000-07:00

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7 October 2011 Last updated at 06:35 GMT Falling demand and prices of flat-screen TVs have hurt profits at various electronics makers Samsung Electronics has issued a better-than-expected profit forecast for the third quarter as its handset business helped to offset falling demand for TVs and computer chips.

Samsung said it expected an operating profit of 4.2tn won ($3.5bn; ￡2.3bn) a 14% dip from a year earlier, but better than market projections of 3.5tn won.

Compared with the previous quarter, the projected profit is up 12%.

Samsung is the world's second-largest maker of mobile phones.

"Its telecommunications business is seen very positive as shipments of smartphones and other high-end handsets expanded," said Park Jong-Min of ING Investment Management.

Advantage Samsung? Analysts said they expected Samsung's handset business to keep growing robustly, not least due to the Apple's decision to upgrade its existing model of iPhone4 with new features and technology, rather than launch a new version.

Apple had been expected to launch an iPhone5 at a media event held earlier this week.

"Given Apple's relatively unchanged new iPhone, Samsung will have the opportunity to eat into Apple's market share with its hardware build-up and growing software power until next year," said Jang In-Beom of Bookook Securities.

Samsung has also been growing its presence in the tablet PC market.

Last month the Korean electronics manufacturer announced that sales of the Samsung GALAXY S II had crossed the 10 million mark, doubling from five million in just eight weeks.

'Major risk'

Despite the optimism about the growth potential of its handset business, analysts said that external factors remain a big threat to the company in the short to medium-term.

There have been concerns that a slowdown in the US coupled with the ongoing debt crisis in Europe may hurt global growth and dent consumer demand.

"The macroeconomic situation will remain a major risk for Samsung in the fourth quarter," said Ahn Seong-Ho of Hanwha Securities.

At the same time, there are fears that volatility in the currency markets may also have a bearing on its earnings.

The Korean won has fallen as much as 10% against the US dollar since the start of July.

A weaker won makes Korean goods cheaper for foreign buyers.

"The weakening won may have inflated third-quarter profits," said Kim Young-Chan of Shinhan Investment Corp.

However, Mr Kim added the exchange rate remained a threat to Samsung as any recovery in the won would have a counter effect.

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Ericsson up on handset exit news

2011-10-31T22:57:00.000-07:00

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6 October 2011 Last updated at 18:13 GMT Sony may merge its phone joint venture with its other mobile gaming business Shares in the Swedish telecoms firm Ericsson have risen on a report that Sony may soon buy it out of their mobile phone handsets joint venture.

The Wall Street Journal says Sony wants to integrate the division with its tablet computer and hand-held games machine businesses.

The report said the Japanese firm may pay its partner up to 1.25bn euros ($1.7bn, ￡1.1bn) for its 50% stake.

Ericsson's shares climbed close to 8% in US trading after the news broke.

'Struggling'

Despite Sony's reputation as a technology innovator, the joint venture has struggled to maintain market share.

Sony Ericsson accounted for 1.7% of all global mobile phone sales between April and June, according to a recent report by technology research firm Gartner.

That compared to a 3% share the previous year.

"The business has been struggling," said Mark McKechnie, a technology analyst at ThinkEquity.

"Sony's decision to use its brand with Ericsson's technology was a good idea, but it didn't work out. Now it wants more control to better compete against Apple and other [Google] Android devices."

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AUDIO: Autonomy due to decide on HP bid

2011-10-31T19:24:00.000-07:00

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3 October 2011 Last updated at 11:33 GMT Help

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Wembley 'to break even by 2015'

2011-10-31T14:58:00.000-07:00

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5 October 2011 Last updated at 11:15 GMT By Bill Wilson Business reporter, BBC News Wembley's income is boosted by other, non-sporting events Football Association chairman David Bernstein has said that English football's national stadium, Wembley, will financially break even by 2015, one year later than previously planned.

"Wembley is doing very well, it has been extremely profitable," he said.

Mr Bernstein added that the rebuilt stadium was showing an annual operating profit of between ￡40m and ￡50m.

He said he expected the stadium, built for ￡757m and opened in 2007, to start pumping cash into the game by 2015.

But he said that large interest charges and other continuing costs remained an issue.

The FA, which owns the stadium through its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Ltd, said earlier this year it envisaged Wembley breaking even in 2014.

But Mr Bernstein told delegates at the Leaders in Football event in London: "By 2015, Wembley should start putting money back into the game, instead of being subsidised by the game."

World-class venue

Preliminary financial figures for 2010 released earlier this month by the FA showed that it paid out ￡22m in net interest during the year, partly to service the loans taken out to build Wembley.

And last year, FA general secretary Alex Horne said the association had budgeted to subsidise Wembley by ￡20m a year in 2010 and 2011 and ￡12m a year in 2012 and 2013.

Wembley's business plan relies on concerts and other events to boost the bottom line, but the FA obviously also sees the stadium as a world-class football venue.

And Mr Bernstein said that this on-field goal had been greatly been helped by the successful staging of the Champions League final at Wembley in May between Barcelona and Manchester United.

"I think that is when the new stadium really came of age," he said.

He also said it was a great vote of confidence in the Wembley when Uefa decided to stage the Champions League final again at the stadium in 2015.

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Kodak denies any bankruptcy plans

2011-10-31T11:01:00.000-07:00

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2 October 2011 Last updated at 10:09 GMT Kodak is one of the best-known and most iconic brands in photography Eastman Kodak has said it has "no intention of filing for bankruptcy".

The struggling US camera and printing group's comments came after it confirmed it had hired a law firm well-known for handling bankruptcy protection cases, Jones Day.

Kodak said it was "not unusual for a company in transformation to explore all options".

Shares in the firm fell 54% on Friday as fears persist about its future. It has not made a profit since 2007.

Kodak, synonymous with film photography for more than 100 years, has struggled to adapt to the digital age.

Last week it announced plans to borrow $160m (￡103m) for "general corporate purposes".

Kodak is now continuing to explore a sale of its digital imaging patents, worth an estimated $2bn.

Mark Kaufman, an analyst at Rafferty Capital Markets, said: "I don't believe bankruptcy is inevitable.

"This is a pretty valuable portfolio, they should get a good price.

"They need to get this [sale] out of the way. They need to sell this portfolio, raise some type of cash."

The company currently has a market value of $210m. This compares with $31bn at its height in February 1997.

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Wolseley returns to annual profit

2011-10-31T07:22:00.000-07:00

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 07:19 GMT Wolseley said weaker economic forecasts would have an impact on its markets Building and heating materials group Wolseley has returned to a full-year profit in 2010-11.

The group suffered when the housing market was hit during the recession, but said it had focused on improving its "customer, product and vendor mix".

Wolseley reported a pre-tax profit of ￡391m in the year to July, compared with a ￡328m loss a year earlier.

It said markets were broadly stable but there had been "no strong rebound in activity after the recession".

Revenues rose 3% to ￡13.6bn.

The group also took a ￡39m charge on its Bathstore and BCG brands in the UK, "reflecting a deterioration in the outlook for retail markets".

It added that in the current environment, it remained cautious about its cost base.

"Recent economic forecasts have weakened, and over time this is likely to have an impact on our markets," said chief executive Ian Meakins.

The company has been selling off units as part of a disposal strategy over the past 18 months.

In July, it sold its French distribution division Brossette and British Build Center business to France's Saint-Gobain for ￡310m.

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IEA urges fossil fuel aid cuts

2011-10-31T04:14:00.000-07:00

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 14:33 GMT Data suggests roughly half all fossil fuel subsidies are spent on oil products The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates governments spent $409bn (￡266bn) on fossil fuel subsidies in 2010.

This figure is a 36% rise on the previous year. Support for oil products represented almost half of the total.

The IEA warns the aid is likely to increase to $660bn (￡430bn) by 2020 unless action is taken.

The agency claims subsidies are inefficient and encourage wasteful energy use.

It says efforts to artificially cut costs encourage volatile price swings because they blur market signals. As a result it says they often fail to help the poorest households they are targeted at.

The IEA says phasing out the payments should make renewable energy sources, such as wind power, become more competitive. It says that would stimulate investment in the sector and create new jobs.

It says subsidy cuts would also encourage consumers and businesses to become more energy efficient.

Tracking the subsidies

To make the right choices the IEA says governments need access to data to help them work out the implications of changes in policy.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development think tank is helping make such information available. It has begun compiling an inventory of more than 250 different mechanisms used by its members to support fossil fuel production and use.

It says the research will help states assess each others' efforts to make reforms.

For example, it gives Germany's pledge to cut support to its hard-coal mining industry by 2018, and Mexico's attempt to limit subsidies by targeting them directly to its poorest households.

The IEA and OECD suggest that by following their lead other countries can also cut costs at the same time as stimulating growth and employment.

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VIDEO: Business Lessons from Minnesota

2011-10-31T00:53:00.000-07:00

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30 September 2011 Last updated at 11:01 GMT Help

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VIDEO: Eurozone crisis sparks fears for Dexia

2011-10-30T21:41:00.000-07:00

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 22:15 GMT Help

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VIDEO: Prodi: Public will accept debt decision

2011-10-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

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29 September 2011 Last updated at 11:00 GMT Help

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AUDIO: Greek government 'must stop fooling around'

2011-10-30T13:33:00.000-07:00

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A senior German politician in Angela Merkel's coalition has said that Greece should leave the euro.

Former Greek finance minister, Stefanos Manos tells us why the Greek government should get tougher ahead of today's meeting of Europe's finance ministers.

Get in touch with Today via email , Twitter or Facebook or text us on 84844.

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VIDEO: Samsung's smartphone makes inroads

2011-10-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

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7 October 2011 Last updated at 05:06 GMT Help

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Firms fear energy price hikes

2011-10-30T05:15:00.000-07:00

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 04:09 GMT By Gerry Northam Reporter, File on 4 Energy-intensive industries have seen gas and electricity bills soar Despite government hopes that manufacturing will lead the UK recovery, there are fears some energy-intensive industries may be forced to leave the UK as prices rocket.

Davin Bates is standing at the cool end of a tunnel kiln watching racks of cups and sugar bowls trundle out ready for glazing.

As we peer fifty feet in to the bright orange centre, he tells me that the internal temperature is well over 1000 degrees centigrade.

Then he breaks the bad news about his gas bill.

Davin is a management accountant at one of Stoke-on-Trent's remaining successful potteries, Steelite. It is a sprawling village of redbrick buildings employing 650 people which produces half a million pieces of crockery a week.

There are seven kilns in all. Keeping them fired up was costly enough last year.

But this year Davin has faced a 55% rise in the cost of gas. The firm's electricity bill has also gone up by 17%.

Tough decisions

"We find it difficult to pass on these costs to our customers," says Davin.

He says profits are therefore getting squeezed and the company's future plans are in jeopardy: "Investment will have to be looked at, because this is coming off the bottom line," he adds.

Across the whole sector, energy bills are driving managers to make tough decisions.

At the British Ceramic Confederation, Dr Laura Cohen has watched factory after factory close - and she identifies high energy costs as a major problem.

She knows that other companies have moved production overseas.

"We heard only a few weeks ago that one firm has transferred all of their manufacturing to China," she says. "Energy costs are a significant part of that."

It is a trend which is not confined to the long-troubled Potteries. Other parts of the country are hit too.

The huge chemical industry, which contributes ￡30m a day to the British economy, is also suffering.

At the family firm of Thomas Swan in County Durham, enormous sealed vats of chemicals are heated and stirred to make specialist powders and liquids for niche hair dyes, printing and cleaning products.

Managing director Harry Swan, a great-grandson of the founder, has steered the company through the recession and now finds himself hit by electricity and gas bills of almost ￡1m.

His plant uses 28,000 megawatt hours of energy a year. Even before the latest round of price rises, his extra energy costs this year were equivalent to a month's profit. He is dreading the next bill.

For the Chemical Industries Association, chief executive Steve Elliott fears British job losses could be imminent: "There will come a moment when people say enough is enough," he says.

"There will only be one direction of travel - out of the UK."

There could be worse to come.

Industries have been totting up the cost of government and European initiatives to promote a low-carbon economy, the so-called "green taxes", and some say their additional bill will run into the millions.

'Tipping point'

Cemex UK runs the biggest cement plant in the country, based on the outskirts of Rugby. It is not averse to the idea of a green economy. In recent years it has moved away from dependence on coal alone.

It now also burns chippings from old tyres and a fuel made from minced-up household waste. But the company is worried about the impact of coming green taxes.

Director Andy Spencer estimates that they will increase his annual energy costs by ￡12m.

What most concerns Cemex is that other countries will not impose similar new taxes on their cement producers. His prices would then struggle to compete on world markets.

So Andy Spencer's thoughts are already turning to the possibility of switching production out of the UK to Cemex plants abroad, particularly in Egypt.

"I can foresee a time when economically it makes more sense to do that and I don't think that time is far away," he says.

"We are very committed to the UK, but there is a genuine concern that we could reach that tipping point where the economics don't stack up to produce domestically in the UK."

This seems at odds with the government's goal of rebalancing the economy in favour of manufacturing industries. The Chancellor George Osborne has called for "a march of the makers".

Andy Spencer sees that march hitting a roadblock. "We know we need to make the transition to a green economy," he says.

"But it must not come at the price of exporting our domestic energy intensive industries."

No blank cheques

The Energy Secretary Chris Huhne says there is little the government can do about some energy price rises.

"How much of this is due to the fact that these businesses are very reliant on world market factors? We've had a 27% increase in the gas price on world markets over the year to August," he says.

"Now with the best will in the world, I can't do anything about that."

But he argues the government's reform of the electricity market will reduce prices for business and domestic consumers alike.

He is working on plans to announce special help for high-energy industries later this year, and says that in 2020 the net effect of the government's energy and climate change policies will be to reduce bills across the board.

But he is sceptical of some complaints on green taxes.

"I don't accept that some of the stories we are hearing about green taxes are correct. There are some ludicrously inflated and exaggerated claims," he says.

"I do not want to see even the most energy-intensive industries leave the UK, that would be madness.

"But am I writing blank cheques to anybody who says they've got a problem? No."

File on 4 is on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday 4 October at 20:00 BST and Sunday 9 October at 17:00 BST. Listen again via the Radio 4 website or download the podcast.

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Dhallywood's fight for survival

2011-10-30T01:23:00.000-07:00

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5 October 2011 Last updated at 17:37 GMT By Anbarasan Ethirajan BBC News, Dhaka Sixty local films were made last year in Bangladesh The Bangladeshi film industry, known as Dhallywood, is about to face serious competition.

Ever since its independence from Pakistan in 1971, local cinema halls have been banned from showing Indian films.

It was an attempt to protect the local film-making industry which is worth $20m (￡12.9m).

But in the coming days, cinema halls here will show three Indian Bengali movies and nine more Hindi movies from Bollywood will be screened later.

Even though the move is not permanent, it has angered film-makers, producers and actors and has caused a fight between them and the theatre owners.

"Bollywood is a big institution. Their production cost is 100 times more than our production cost. How can we compete with them?" asks Masud Parvez Sohel Rana, a well-known Bangladeshi actor and director.

"It seems to me like you are asking a flyweight boxer to fight with a heavyweight boxer," he adds.

He says even the one-off screening of Indian movies will put more pressure on the government to lift the ban permanently, and if it happens, the home-grown movie industry will vanish in no time.

Film industry leaders also warn that more than 100,000 people are dependent on the industry and their jobs could be in danger.

Huge losses

However, cinema hall owners argue that they are losing revenue because of the ban.

Bangladeshi cinema owners are keen to show Bollywood movies

It is also because of the falling number of films produced locally.

About a decade ago, Bangladesh produced about 100 movies a year.

But last year, the number dropped to about 60 and it is expected to go down further this year.

"We are not getting enough movies to screen in our cinema halls," says Iftekharuddin Naushad, who owns Madhumita cinema hall in the capital Dhaka.

"As a result, many halls have either been shut down or converted into malls."

In recent years, the number of cinema halls in Bangladesh has reduced from about 1,500 to just over 600.

Many say the business is not sustainable under present circumstances and satellite television channels have been drawing away viewers.

"Our cinema halls are running with one fourth of their capacity and we are incurring huge losses," says Ahasanullah Moni, who owns Razmoni cinema hall.

The Bangladesh Motion Pictures Exhibitors Association has been urging the government to allow Bollywood movies to be screened in local cinemas to inject new life into the business.

"We are not asking to open the floodgate by importing hundreds of films. We want to screen a certain number of good Indian movies, Bollywood films, so that we can have some healthy competition," says Mr Naushad.

Joint production

Some film critics argue that importing Bollywood movies will also have benefits by forcing Dhallywood to improve its standards.

They say the poor scripting, production and technique of Bangladeshi films are driving away viewers from cinema halls.

Bollywood movies are already shown on satellite television channels in Bangladesh.

Pirated DVDs of these films are freely available across the country with Bollywood stars like Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai are more popular than local actors.

Film Meherjaan include cast and crew from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan

"Without bringing Indian films to the local market, there is no way to revitalise the industry. Actually there is no industry here," says young Bangladeshi director Rubaiyat Hossain.

To overcome the present crisis, Ms Hossain proposes more Indo-Bangla joint production.

Her critically acclaimed film Meherjaan, included cast and crew from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.

"I don't think I could have brought my film to the present technical level, if I hadn't worked with Indian technicians," says Ms Hossain.

"I have learnt a lot by working with them and we do not have that kind of post-production facilities here in Bangladesh," she adds.

In an age of satellite channels, internet and cell phones, the demand for good and well-made movies is increasing.

So it seems Bangladeshi films cannot avoid competition for very much longer.

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Supermarket 'law shops' to open

2011-10-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

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6 October 2011 Last updated at 00:43 GMT Under the plans consumers will be able to buy law services in supermarkets Banks and supermarkets are to be able to sell consumer legal services in England and Wales for the first time following a change in law.

The government says the new Legal Services Act will offer more choice and better value for the public.

It says it also means law firms will benefit from investment and allow them to explore new markets.

But critics have said it would undermine the quality of advice.

The government says the change would encourage economic growth in the industry and raise the profile of the UK as a first-class legal services market.

Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly said it was a "landmark day" for the legal industry.

"Our legal services are already rated among the best in the world, used by millions of people around the globe as well as in the UK, and these changes will set them up to move to new heights. They will enable firms to set up multi-disciplinary practices and provide opportunities for growth," he said.

"Potential customers will find legal services become more accessible, more efficient and more competitive."

Legislation and regulation has restricted the management, ownership and financing of firms providing legal services for hundreds of years.

Currently, solicitors and barristers' chambers are owned by the lawyers themselves under partnerships.

Critics have dubbed the act "Tesco Law," and the move has come under attack from some lawyers, including a coalition of about 100 firms, when it was first announced in 2009.

They said it could wipe out good quality, local legal advice.

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Will NFC make the mobile wallet work?

2011-10-29T16:27:00.000-07:00

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Southern Cross homes transferred

2011-10-29T12:32:00.000-07:00

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30 September 2011 Last updated at 07:57 GMT Southern Cross is to be wound up by the end of the year A third of Southern Cross care homes have been transferred to new operators, the company has announced.

Southern Cross said the transfer of 250 homes would be followed by further transfers in October and November.

Southern Cross was the UK's biggest care home operator, with 752 homes, but ran into difficulties when it was unable to pay its rent to landlords.

In July, the firm said it was to cease trading after all of its landlords said they wanted to leave the group.

The first "wave" of homes have been transferred to about 18 different operators.

Its largest landlord, NHP, which owns 249 of the homes, will be included in the second wave.

NHP is forming a new company with turnaround specialists Court Cavendish to run the homes itself.

Winding up

Southern Cross said it had entered unconditional business purchase agreements covering 70% of its homes, with the remaining 30% still in progress.

It said all the homes would be transferred by the end of the year and the company would be wound up.

The company also announced the resignation of it chairman, Christopher Fisher, who stepped into the role in April to oversee the restructuring process.

"Now that the transfer of homes has commenced, I consider my role complete," Mr Fisher said.

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VIDEO: The future for in-flight movies

2011-10-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

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Keith Wallace reports on how technology could bring about major changes to in-flight entertainment in the skies.

Airlines are looking at options to link your phone or laptop to the aircraft's entertainment system or the internet and touch-screen ordering for your drinks and snacks on board.

Get in touch with Fast Track via e-mail or Facebook.

Watch Fast Track on the BBC World News channel on Saturdays at 0430, 1230 and 1930 GMT or Sundays at 1930 GMT.

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Soros' sympathy for bank protests

2011-10-29T03:40:00.000-07:00

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3 October 2011 Last updated at 20:34 GMT Other protests have been held in Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago Billionaire investor George Soros says he can sympathise with the ongoing protests on Wall Street, which have spread to other US cities.

He said he understood the anger at the use of taxpayers' cash to prop up stricken banks, allowing them to earn huge profits.

A large rally is planned for Wednesday in New York City, with backing from union groups.

More than 700 protesters were arrested on Saturday on Brooklyn Bridge.

The demonstrations - based at Zuccotti Park, near Wall Street and the Federal Reserve - are now entering their third week.

Answering questions during a news conference at UN headquarters on Monday, Mr Soros said: "The decision not to inject capital into the banks, but to effectively relieve them of their bad assets and then allow them to earn their way out of a hole leaves the banks bumper profits and then allows them to pay bumper bonuses."

Mr Soros was announcing a gift of $40m (￡26m) to a development project in Africa.

'Corporate zombies'

Protests continued on Monday in New York, with many under the Occupy Wall Street banner wearing make-up to pose as "corporate zombies", eating fake money.

Protesters dressed as zombies took to the streets of Manhattan on Monday

One of the protesters, John Hildebrand, 24, an unemployed teacher from the US state of Oklahoma, told the Associated Press news agency: "My issue is corporate influence in politics. I would like to eliminate corporate financing from politics."

Union members are expected to back a large rally planned for Wednesday.

Last Thursday, the United Federation of Teachers and the Transport Workers Union, which has 38,000 members, pledged support for the protests.

In Los Angeles on Monday, an anti-Wall Street demonstration was held outside the court where Michael Jackson's doctor is being tried for manslaughter.

Protests were held in recent days in Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago in front of their respective cities' Federal Reserve buildings. A march was also held in Columbus, Ohio.

A rally is planned, too, for later this month in the Canadian city of Toronto.

On Saturday, 700 protesters were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge, where traffic was halted for several hours.

The protesters won support from actor Alec Baldwin, who posted videos on his Twitter page that had already been widely circulated.

One appeared to show police using pepper spray on a group of women, and another a young man being tackled to the ground by an officer.

"This is unsettling," Baldwin wrote. "I think the NYPD has a PR problem."

But the NYPD said the marchers had been warned many times not to stray on to the road, and released video footage on Sunday showing protesters chanting "take the bridge".

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Firms vie for UK rescue service

2011-10-29T00:35:00.000-07:00

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5 October 2011 Last updated at 12:06 GMT The successful company would run rescue services out of four bases, including Stornaway At least four companies are competing for a contract to run part of the UK's search and rescue helicopter service.

Firms had until Wednesday to submit bids for a new five-year contract to run four coastguard rescue services in Scotland and southern England.

Bids have been submitted by Bond, Bristow, a consortium including British International Helicopters and CHC, the current coastguard contractors.

The government is to announce which has been successful by the end of the year.

The preferred bidder will take over the operation of helicopter rescue services out of bases in Portland in Dorset, Lee-on-the-Solent in Hampshire, Sumburgh in the Shetland Islands, and Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides from June 2013.

The UK's search and rescue service is currently operated out of four Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) bases, six RAF ones and two Navy ones.

All four coastguard bases are run by CHC, but its contract expires next year.

The Department for Transport needed to find a contractor to run the service after plans for a private consortium to take over all 12 UK helicopter rescue bases were shelved earlier this year.

The Soteria consortium did not get the contract after admitting it had access to commercially sensitive information.

Ministry of Defence police are investigating how the information came to be in the group's possession.

This new contract is expected to plug a gap until a private finance deal is reached for the takeover of the entire search and rescue service.

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Dexia shares slump on Greece woes

2011-10-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

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3 October 2011 Last updated at 19:56 GMT Dexia received a 6bn-euro bailout at the height of the financial crisis Dexia has called an emergency board meeting amid fears over its exposure to Greek debt.

Meanwhile, shares in the Franco-Belgian bank fell 10% on Monday after rating agency Moody's said it was reviewing Dexia for a possible downgrade.

The finance ministers of Belgium and France are meeting eurozone colleagues in Luxembourg, and are expected to discuss ways to support the bank.

Financial markets fell on news Greece would miss deficit reduction targets.

Greece announced on Sunday that the 2011 deficit was projected to be 8.5% of gross domestic product, down from 10.5% in 2010, but short of the 7.6% target set by the EU and IMF.

Write-off

The news affected financial markets across Asia and Europe, with bank shares among the hardest hit.

Eurozone banks have been hit by cash outflows since the summer amid fears that Greece, and possibly other governments, may ultimately default on their debts, and even leave the eurozone, leaving their lenders sitting on big losses.

Dexia shares initially fell 14% on news of the possible rating downgrde, and despite a rally back in later trading, they were still the worst hit in the financial sector.

Moody's cited Dexia's potential losses on a Greek debt default, as well as the bank's recent difficulties in borrowing short-term cash from markets, as reasons for the rating review.

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It was only on July 15 that the European Banking Authority [stress tests]... portrayed Dexia as one of the strongest banks in Europe”

End Quote Robert Peston Business editor, BBC News Dexia's exposure to Greek government debt totals 3.4bn euros ($4.5bn; ￡2.9bn). Its total exposure to Greece - including to private-sector Greek borrowers - is 4.8bn euros.

It has already written off 21% of its Greek debts, but market prices now suggest the eventually loss to lenders could be in excess of 50% of the amount owed by Greece.

Paris-based business newspaper Les Echos reported on Friday that the French and Belgian governments would discuss measures to shore up Dexia's balance sheet.

The bank is already partly-owned by the two governments, after it received a 6bn euros joint bailout at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.

There were reports last week that the bank could be split up, and speculation of a possible nationalisation of the bank.

Another option under consideration is the sale of Credit Local, a unit of the bank responsible for lending to French local governments.

Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders told Belgian radio on Friday that Dexia's shareholders should be behind the bank and be ready intervene if there was a problem.

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VIDEO: 'Tough times' for climate finance

2011-10-28T17:28:00.000-07:00

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5 October 2011 Last updated at 01:10 GMT Help

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Japan tourism industry recovering

2011-10-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

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6 October 2011 Last updated at 11:20 GMT Himeji Castle is one of 14 World Heritage sites in Japan Japan's tourism industry is showing signs of recovery following the devastating tsunami and earthquake last March, according to a report.

The World Travel & Tourism Council said that foreign visitor numbers in June and July were 36% lower than for the same period last year.

In comparison, visitor numbers fell 62% in April and 50% in May year-on-year.

"So, while a full recovery is still some way off, the situation has improved significantly," the WTTC said.

The council's president and chief executive David Scowsill said in the report: "As the world's third largest travel and tourism economy, the recovery of Japan is one of the most compelling issues facing the industry anywhere in the world."

Prior to the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March, Japan's travel and tourism industry was expected to provide nearly 1.5 million jobs in 2011 and to directly contribute 2.2% of total Japan's gross domestic product.

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