Nestle ends IAAF partnership after alleged doping scandal

Nestle SA, the world's largest food company, ended its sponsorship of an IAAF children's development program after allegations of corruption and doping were made against international athletics' governing body.

PHOTO: REUTERS

FEB 11, 20166:39 PM

[GENEVA] Nestle SA, the world's largest food company, ended its sponsorship of an IAAF children's development program after allegations of corruption and doping were made against international athletics' governing body.

Negative publicity caused by the allegations "could negatively impact our reputation and image," the Vevey, Switzerland-based company said in an e-mailed statement. Nestle's partnership with the IAAF's Kids Athletics program dates back to 2012.

In August, the World Anti-Doping Agency said it would investigate more than a decade of track-and-field drug tests after the Sunday Times and German broadcaster ARD alleged widespread doping within the sport. Both media organizations cited an IAAF database leaked by a whistle-blower containing 12,000 blood tests of 5,000 athletes from 2001 to 2012.

The IAAF said Aug 11 it's taking disciplinary action against 28 athletes after it re-tested urine samples from the 2005 and 2007 world athletics championships. The group is "angered and dismayed" by Nestle's decision, which it won't accept, IAAF President Sebastian Coe said in an e-mailed statement.

See who is talking about NESTLE

Last 30 days:

• 2185
• 8
• 98

30 days avg

HOT COMPANIES

Rio Tinto +263% messages

• Hikma Pharma +78%
• ARM Holdings +68%
• Compass +62%
• Shire +62%
• HSBC +58%
• RBS +34%
• Prudential +13%
• BAE Systems +12%
• Randgold +8%

• Hikma Pharma +78%
• ARM Holdings +68%
• Compass +62%
• Shire +62%
• HSBC +58%
• RBS +34%
• Prudential +13%
• BAE Systems +12%
• Randgold +8%

Nestle has informed the IAAF of its decision and is awaiting "a formal acknowledgment from them that our partnership has ended," the Swiss company said.

Another IAAF sponsor, German sportswear maker Adidas AG, said Jan 25 it has a "clear anti-doping policy" and is in contact with the IAAF to learn about what reforms it plans. The company declined to confirm or deny a BBC report last month that Adidas is ending its IAAF sponsorship agreement four years early, which would result in tens of millions of dollars of lost income to the organization.

BLOOMBERG

    
 

SEC probes Boeing's accounting of Dreamliner, 747

FEB 12, 201612:33 AM

[NEW YORK] The US Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether Boeing Co properly accounted for the costs and expected sales of two of its best known jetliners, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

The investigation involves Boeing's projection of long-term profitabilty for its 787 Dreamliner and 747 jumbo aircraft, Bloomberg said, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Boeing's shares were down nearly 8 per cent at $107.10.

REUTERS

Invisible Empire: A New World Order Defined (Video)

Invisible Empire: A New World Order Defined

HOME   

In the tradition of his first Internet blockbuster, Loose Change, which has had over 100 million visits, Jason Bermas has created yet another outstanding documentary film, Invisible Empire: A New World Order Defined.

This film documents very clearly that some of America's most powerful elected officials, including all recent presidents, have been part of an international cabal to establish a socialist New World Order that would eradicate national sovereignty and many of the God-given freedoms vouchsafed in the Constitution of the United States, making all citizens mere slaves of the state.

It has an amazing collection of video footage of these leaders stating their unabashed ambitions to establishing this New World Order. It also shows just who is behind this international cabal and their nefarious intentions and true sinister nature. It is deeply troubling and very important.

Again, its relevance to Free Energy technology is two-fold. First, these same forces are behind many of the instances of suppression of breakthrough free energy, which would empower the individual, contrary to the NWO agenda to enslave. Second, the emergence of breakthrough free energy technologies will help unseat these criminals. It is a powerful antidote to the poison being administered.

Another point of relevance is that the film touches on the fact that Al Gore is one of the New World Order insiders helping to accomplish their objectives by politicizing climate change and using it as a reason to impose global carbon taxes; all while personally becoming super wealthy from his various involvements that include serious conflicts of interest. He should not be seen as a hero figure in the free energy movement.

Watch the full documentary now

Sterling falls as unnerved investors flock to safe havens

Sterling fell to a 13-month low against the euro and plunged almost three per cent against the yen to its weakest since 2013 on Thursday as unnerved investors fretted about global growth and sought out safe havens. 

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

FEB 11, 20166:55 PM

[LONDON] Sterling fell to a 13-month low against the euro and plunged almost three per cent against the yen to its weakest since 2013 on Thursday as unnerved investors fretted about global growth and sought out safe havens.

The pound has shed around 10 per cent against the single currency over the last two months on a push-back of expectations for Bank of England (BoE) interest rate hikes, and as worries about a referendum on Britain's EU membership leading to a 'Brexit' from Europe have weighed.

But the currency has also suffered from a turbulent start to 2016.

In times of economic stress, countries or regions running current account surpluses - such as Japan, the euro zone and Switzerland - are seen as safer compared with those that have deficits and rely on foreign capital to finance the gap.

Britain and the United States fall into the latter category.

The euro, which was up across the board on Thursday, rose more than one per cent against sterling to trade at 78.73 pence, its strongest against the pound since early January 2015.

Sterling also dropped below 160 yen (S$1.99) for the first time since November 2013 on Thursday, down almost 3 per cent and leaving it on track for its biggest one-day fall in five years.

Against the dollar, it fell as much as 0.7 per cent, to US$1.44.

"I don't think there's a specific UK trigger today - there is risk-off sentiment and sterling right now is being treated as a risky asset," Rabobank currency strategist Jane Foley said.

Ms Foley said a Brussels summit at the end of next week, at which British Prime Minister David Cameron will try to agree to a reform package to keep Britain in the EU, would be key for sterling.

If the referendum comes is scheduled for June, she said, the currency would be set for a turbulent few months.

The cost of protecting against big swings in sterling's exchange rate against the dollar over the coming week jumped to an eight month high of 12.1 per cent on Thursday. The summit will take place next Thursday and Friday.

Sterling was also knocked on Wednesday by an estimate that showed Britain's growth slowed in the three months to January.

Interest rate markets are not pricing in a BoE rate hike until 2020.

Sterling overnight interbank average rates - the very short-term interest rates which form the basis of lending costs to the economy - are pricing in the chance of the first rate hike in five years time.

BoE policymakers will speak at parliament later on Thursday but analysts said their comments would be unlikely to impact sterling.

"They are likely to be questioned on the implications of UK EU exit, but if previous experience is any guide, this will give away very little on the Bank's views on the subject," wrote RBC strategists.

REUTERS

    
 

EU thrashes out changes to 'Brexit' deal

FEB 11, 201610:21 PM

[BRUSSELS] European negotiators held crunch talks Thursday to finalise a deal to keep Britain in the EU, ahead of a last-ditch effort by the bloc's president to convince other leaders before a summit next week.

Diplomats in Brussels were discussing changes to proposals that EU chief Donald Tusk laid out last week in a bid to answer British Prime Minister David Cameron's reform demands.

Cameron wants a deal at the February 18-19 summit before holding a referendum, probably in June.

The new draft text obtained by AFP shows some elements watered down to address the concerns of France and other eurozone countries about protections for states like Britain that do not use the single currency.

It also ties a four-year "brake" on welfare benefit payments for EU migrant workers more specifically to Britain, to make it harder for other countries to try to win a similar concession.

Some EU states like Germany or other richer northern European states could try to take similar benefit measures, which would likely see many veto the British deal, EU sources said.

A key question - how long Britain will be able to keep the brake system in operation - remains blank in the draft.

Several countries are also concerned about plans to change the EU's treaties to reflect the British demands, with some saying it should be enough that a summit agreement is made legally binding, the sources said.

The diplomats - so-called "sherpas" - from the 28 bloc's countries and the EU institutions hope to finalise the details before Tusk starts to meet EU leaders in coming days.

Former Polish premier Tusk said Tuesday that he still hoped for a deal next week but warned that the process was "very fragile", adding that he had cleared his diary until the summit to hold more talks.

He meets Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel in Brussels on Friday and will travel to Berlin and Paris for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on Monday or Tuesday.

Tusk will also meet Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, as well as the President of Romania and the Czech Prime Minister, who currently heads the "Visegrad Group' of eastern European states, which oppose the migrant benefit changes.

AFP

    
 

BoE's Cunliffe does not expect UK to join EU banking union

Britain is unlikely to join the European Union's banking union, which is centred on the eurozone, as it is not needed for being part of the wider EU single market, Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe said on Thursday. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

FEB 11, 20168:59 PM

[LONDON] Britain is unlikely to join the European Union's banking union, which is centred on the eurozone, as it is not needed for being part of the wider EU single market, Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe said on Thursday.

Cunliffe told a committee of Britain's upper house of parliament that he did not expect Britain to join the banking union, which is open to EU member states that are not part of the single currency area.

He said the banking union, where the European Central Bank supervises lenders, was needed for euro zone members because of their shared currency and shared lender of last resort.

The banking union still had not solved the issue of which governments would bail out banks in a crisis, said Cunliffe, who previously was Britain's top diplomat to the EU.

"I don't think a banking union is necessary to operate a single market in financial services," Cunliffe told the committee.

"I can't see why, when we retain responsibility for our currency, for our central bank and lender of last resort, why it would be necessary in terms of accountability (or) desirable to make that step," Cunliffe added.

REUTER
S

Jokowi seeks China funds, rate cuts to meet Indonesia GDP target

Indonesia President Joko Widodo is confident he can reach his economic growth target of 7 per cent by 2019 through increased infrastructure spending and lower borrowing costs. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

FEB 11, 20166:29 PM

[JAKARTA] Indonesia President Joko Widodo is confident he can reach his economic growth target of 7 per cent by 2019 through increased infrastructure spending and lower borrowing costs.

The country is relying on investors and state-owned companies to fund 70 per cent of its infrastructure needs, and wants a third of that from the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the president, known as Jokowi, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. The government is aiming for 5.3 per cent economic growth this year, well short of the goal set by Jokowi upon taking office in 2014.

"I still have four years to achieve that," said Jokowi on Thursday after inspecting a toll road project on the island of Sumatra. "If infrastructure is going on, and industry, and manufacturing, and tourism is promoted well, then it will begin showing by the fourth and fifth year."

Jokowi has pledged to implement business-friendly reforms, increase spending on railwaysand ports, and to transform the country's often corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy. He initially struggled to enact his agenda amid distracting political squabbles and policy confusion, but the 54-year-old reshuffled his cabinet in August and the new team set to work addressing investor complaints through a series of economic policies.

The government will change the rules governing foreign investment limits in 49 sectors including in retail, fisheries and the digital economy, Jokowi said. On Thursday, the government announced it will allow greater foreign ownership in industries from toll roads to cinemas, and restrict it in 19 others including coral reef harvesting and small plantations.

To support the economy, the government wants interest rates to fall toward the inflation rate, Jokowi said, stressing that Bank Indonesia was constitutionally independent. The central bank cut its policy rate by 25 basis points in January to 7.25 per cent, which compares to an inflation rate of 4.1 per cent for last month.

"The government can't interfere," said Jokowi, following comments by the Vice President Jusuf Kalla calling for rate cuts last year. "But we want the BI rate to fall, fall, fall, fall, and keep falling so the real sector can compete with other countries."

Driven by an increase in government spending, the economy grew 5.04 per cent in the final three months of 2015, surpassing all estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. The economy expanded 4.79 per cent in 2015, the slowest rate since 2009.

Jokowi's lofty infrastructure goals include more than 3,000 kilometers of railways lines, 24 ports and 2,000 kilometers of roads by 2019. He has attended ground breaking ceremonies for at least two high-profile projects only for work on them to stall.

"Progress has been slower than we would have liked but the intent is clear," said Moazzam Malik, British ambassador to Indonesia, at the launch of a business survey last week that showed confidence in the country declining. "Jokowi had a dose of reality over the last 16 months.

BLOOMBERG

    
 

France's Hollande reshuffles his government before 2017 elections

FEB 11, 201611:53 PM

[PARIS] French President Francois Hollande reshuffled his government on Thursday, reshaping his team ahead of the 2017 presidential elections.

Former prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault becomes foreign minister, replacing Laurent Fabius who is leaving to head the country's top constitutional council.

The head of the Greens party, Emmanuelle Cosse, joins the government as Housing Minister, showing Hollande is reaching out beyond his Socialist party to prepare for the election. Two dissident Green lawmakers also join the government as secretaries of state.

Manuel Valls stays on as prime minister, Michel Sapin as finance minister and Emmanuel Macron as economy minister.

REUTERS

Total CEO says sector must stay the course on cutting capacity

FEB 11, 201611:00 PM

[LONDON] Refiners buoyed by cheap oil and fat margins face a return of tougher times due to stubborn overcapacity, Total Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said on Thursday, as Europe's largest refiner spurs plans to slim down.

"There is a risk in the refining industry that because of good margins it will postpone rationalisation," Pouyanne said in a speech at the IP Week conference.

"I am sticking clearly to my plan," Pouyanne said, adding Total's 2012 aim of slashing capacity by 20 percent would be achieved in 2016, a year ahead of schedule.

He warned the sector, which includes peers Royal Dutch Shell , BP and Eni MM , not to be complacent after a good year for margins in Europe.

"The bad times will come back in refining because we have globally speaking in the world, an overcapacity of refining, in particularly in diesel."

Helping to curb a fall in its 2015 net profit, Total's European refining margin indicator rose to an average $48.50 per tonne from $18.70, as cheap oil lowered costs and spurred demand for fuel.

Though refiners have reduced capacity around the world in recent years, large refineries have been built in the Middle East and Asia.

"We will shut down, as we planned to do that. Why? Because the overcapacity that was there three years ago did not disappear like that," Pouyanne said. "My message to my peers is that you have to do your job to rationalise, as we have done."

Pouyanne said he expected oil demand growth to remain strong this year even though many expect it to be significantly lower than in 2015.

REUTERS

    
 

Small businesses still hugely exposed to FX swings: report

FEB 11, 201611:23 PM

[LONDON] Only 20-25 per cent of small and medium-sized British and French companies hedge their exposure to fluctuations in currency rates which can have a huge impact on their bottom lines, a report by banking research consultancy East & Partners showed on Thursday.

The numbers, seen by Reuters ahead of a new report's publication on Sunday, are based on responses from more than 4,400 businesses with turnovers of up to 100 million pounds or 100 million euros.

They show some 80-90 per cent of businesses with annual turnover exceeding 20 million euros use either option or forward contracts to cover themselves against foreign exchange risks. Currency movements can mean that future payments or revenues differ hugely to those written into annual budgets.

But for UK companies with revenues of less than 20 million pounds, that figure falls to less than a quarter, and for French peers to less than a fifth.

Both those figures are rising steadily, the report said, but still show the extent to which small businesses across Europe are exposed to large swings in the value of the euro, pound, yen and dollar like those seen in the past year.

Another surge on Thursday, for example, means the yen has gained almost 9 per cent against the dollar since the start of February. "Clearly there is more sophistication in how corporates are dealing with these issues," said Simon Kleine, Head of Client Services with East and Partners Europe. "The trend in France is going in the same direction but clearly British firms, possibly just due to the focus on currency trading in London, are slightly further ahead." The report also showed a handful of French banks have a much stronger grip on the business currency market than their UK counterparts.

It listed BNP Paribas as controlling 22 per cent of the day-to-day spot market in currencies, followed by Credit Agricole (13.2 per cent), Credit Mutual (11.6 per cent) and Société Générale (8.2 per cent), measured in terms of primary customer relationships.

That compared to shares of 14.7 per cent, 13.6 per cent and 10.8 per cent for Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds in the United Kingdom.

REUTER
S