Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Noble says it has fully redeemed its senior notes due 2015 and 2020

AUG 6, 20157:51 AM

NOBLE Group said on Thursday that it has fully redeemed the 2015 and 2020 securities the day before.

The US$500 million 4.875 per cent senior notes due 2015 have been fully redeemed on Aug 5, the scheduled maturity date and there are no 2015 securities outstanding.

The commodities group said it has also redeemed in full US$235 million of the 6.625 per cent senior notes due 2020, on Aug 5 and there are no 2020 Securities outstanding.

The troubled Hong Kong-based group had told investors at the start of the week that it had sufficient cash and liquidity to fund its bond redemption and operations.

Addressing market rumours over its ability to fund the US$735 million bond redemption due on August 4, Noble said it has ample funds to do so and will still have readily available cash of well over US$1 billion after.

"Noble has sufficient cash and liquidity to meet its obligations and operate its businesses,'' it had said.

"In addition to this significant readily available cash, we would also like to provide the following update in terms of our liquidity and available credit as of the end of July: namely, we currently have around US$15 billion in bank lines.''

Noble, whose shares had lost more than half their value since February after Iceberg queried its accounting policies, saw its share price rebound on short-covering after the assurance.

But the recovery proved short-lived, with the stock sliding S$0.035 to S$0.565 on volume of 160.4 million shares on Wednesday.

Britons prefer using smartphones rather than laptops to go online: Watchdog

AUG 6, 20159:29 AM

[LONDON] Smartphones have overtaken laptops as the preferred way for Britons to go online, driven by increased take-up of the devices and a jump in superfast mobile broadband subscriptions, the British telecoms regulator said on Thursday.

A third of people said they turned to a smartphone first to browse the Internet, access social media or shop online, while 30 per cent opened up a laptop, Ofcom said. A year ago, 40 per cent preferred to use a laptop and 22 per cent a smartphone.

People are also spending longer glued to their iPhone or Android mobile, using the devices for one hour and 54 minutes every day on average, it said, and a third of users turn to their smartphone within five minutes of waking up.

Ofcom said Britain had seen a rapid take-up in superfast mobile broadband in the last year, with an eight-fold increase in subscriptions to 23.6 million.

Television, however, still met most people's entertainment needs. People watch on average of three hours 40 minutes of broadcast TV a day, 11 minutes less than a year ago, Ofcom said.

REUTERS

Greek air traffic controller strike disrupts holiday travel

AUG 6, 20157:03 AM

[ATHENS] Greek air traffic controllers on Wednesday observed a four-hour strike to press demands for a system overhaul, causing 22 flight cancellations and scores of delays at the height of Greece's tourist season.

The work stoppage between 1.00 and 5.00 pm (1000 and 1400 GMT) hit airports nationwide, including on the Aegean islands prized by holidaymakers.

Six of the cancelled flights were international, a spokeswoman said, adding that 173 flights were delayed, some considerably.

The controllers are calling for an overhaul of the air traffic control system to bring it in line with European norms.

"Maintaining the current structure causes deficiencies... (and) undermines the procedures and systems of monitoring (air) traffic," the employees said in a statement.

The strike came as Greece's beleaguered far-left government was in negotiations with its international creditors for a third bailout, with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras saying a deal was in sight.

AFP

China urges Malaysia to continue to investigate cause of MH370 incident

AUG 6, 201511:40 AM

[BEIJING] China called on Malaysia on Thursday to continue investigating what happened to a missing Malaysia Airlines flight after Kuala Lumpur said a piece of a wing that washed up on an Indian Ocean island beach last week was part of the plane's wreckage.

In a statement on the foreign ministry website, spokeswoman Hua Chunying also urged Malaysia to "earnestly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests" of the families of the victims.

REUTERS

Anger and disbelief from MH370 China relatives over debris

AUG 6, 201512:56 PM

[BEIJING] Chinese relatives of passengers aboard missing flight MH370 expressed anger and disbelief on Thursday, after Malaysia's prime minister said wreckage found on a French Indian Ocean island was from the plane.

Most of the passengers aboard the flight were Chinese, and around a dozen of their relatives gathered outside the Beijing offices of Malaysia Airlines, with emotions running high.

"I don't believe this latest information about the plane, they have been lying to us from the beginning," said Zhang Yongli, whose daughter was on the plane.

"I know my daughter is out there, but they won't tell us the truth," he added, waving Chinese and Communist Party flags.

The flight, with 239 people on board, vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March last year, and authorities said it crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.

No physical evidence had been found until the debris, part of a wing known as a flaperon, washed up on the French territory of Reunion, and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said early Thursday it was from the jet.

China's foreign ministry said his declaration "confirmed the verdict on the Malaysia Airlines accident", expressing "deep grief" for the passengers.

"We ask the Malaysian government to fulfil their promise to continue investigating the reason for the accident," spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

But many Chinese relatives of MH370 passengers have consistently expressed beliefs that their loved ones are alive, perhaps being held at an unknown location, despite the mounting indications of a fatal crash.

Several of those at the airline office held signs with a picture of an airplane, reading: "It will surely return safely".

Bao Lanfang, whose grandson was on board, told reporters, "Everyone has been lying to us", before collapsing on the floor and crying.

"I will do anything to see him again," the 63-year-old added through her tears. "Just tell me what I need to do, I'll do it." French officials who analysed the wreckage said only that there was a "very high probability" it came from MH370 and Wen Wancheng, whose 34-year-old son was on board, noted: "The French examiners were instead very cautious. They haven't drawn a conclusion.

"How can you jump to the conclusion that the plane has crashed simply on the basis of a single piece of debris? It could be pulled from other aircraft," he told AFP.

On a social media group other relatives expressed similar sentiments, saying: "Don't believe them! They must have switched the debris! We do believe all our relatives will come back safe and sound!" There was a heavy police presence outside the airline's office to greet the relatives, who say they have faced repeated harassment from state security.

Elsewhere Chinese people took to social media sites to express scepticism about Malaysia, whose reputation has taken a knock in China for its handling of the incident.

"Malaysia wanted to avoid the large amount of payment for the relatives so it announced that it found the debris in Reunion and that the airplane crashed accidentally. We don't believe Malaysia," one comment on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo read.

AFP

UK rate path steepens before BoE meet, helped by US data and Fed

AUG 6, 20157:07 AM

[LONDON] Investors bet on a slightly quicker pace of Bank of England rate hikes on Wednesday, encouraged by signs the United States is on track for a rate hike in September, a day before a major BoE policy meeting.

Gilt yields opened sharply higher after comments overnight from top US Federal Reserve official Dennis Lockhart, who said growth in the world's biggest economy was on track for him to vote for higher interest rates in September.

Most economists believe the BoE is unlikely to raise interest rates from record-low levels before the US Federal Reserve acts.

While some underwhelming US jobs data tempered yield rises in the middle of the day, two-year gilt yields shot up to their highest level since June 26 at 0.689 per cent on news that US service sector growth surged to a 10-year high.

They were last at 0.66 per cent, up 7 basis points on the day. Five- and 10-year gilt yields each shot up around 10 basis points on the day, following German Bund and US Treasury yields higher.

Short sterling interest futures 0#FSS: fell sharply, especially for 2016 contracts and further out, indicating a steeper path of expected British interest rate hikes.

Gilts showed little reaction to a slightly weaker-than-forecast survey of British businesses in the services sector.

The BoE is likely to say on Thursday that its top policymakers are split over the need to raise interest rates, adding to expectations that the central bank is heading for its first increase in borrowing costs in nearly a decade.

Economists polled by Reuters expect a seven-to-two split among BoE rate-setters, but clues that more members are on the cusp of voting for higher interest rates would leave short-dated bonds vulnerable, said Jason Simpson, rates strategist at Societe Generale.

The market currently prices in a first BoE rate hike around April. "Even with the sell-off today, we're not fully pricing in a February rate hike yet, which is our central call. I do think there is some room for yields at the very front end to back up further, for sure," he said.

While the market currently prices in around a 35 per cent chance of a rate hike this November, that could easily move to a 50-50 call if three members of the Monetary Policy Committee vote for a rate hike, Simpson added.

The premium that 10-year gilts offer over the equivalent German Bund collapsed to 121.9 basis points, the lowest level since July 13, as gilts outperformed plunging Bund prices.

REUTERS

Wednesday, August 5, 2015