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Bloomberg CPFL Energias Renovaveis SA, Brazil’s biggest renewable-energy generator, will invest 1.5 billion reais ($400 million) in renewable energy this year even as the country is hit by the worst economic crisis in decades. The Sao Paulo-based company will keep growing, organically and through acquisitions, Andre Dorf, CPFL Renovaveis’ president, said by phone from Sao Paulo. “We will invest in ...

Bloomberg Colombia became the fourth Latin America country this year to take advantage of lower borrowing costs in Europe by selling debt denominated in the single currency, helping push euro bond sales from the region to a record €10.8 billion in the first quarter. Colombia sold €1.35 billion ($1.5 billion) of 10-year bonds to yield 3.875 percent. That’s down from ...

Bloomberg Chicago taxpayers, already reeling from a financially strapped school system and mounting pension costs, are looking at a final tab of about $390 million to end ill-timed bets on interest rates. The city council on Wednesday authorized issuing as much as $200 million of bonds to help pay termination fees, estimated at $100 million, to unwind derivative contracts linked ...

Dubai / EMIRATES BUSINESS Despite global economic volatility over the past year, which contributed to multiple downward revisions for growth forecasts, investment appetite among UAE High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) does not appear to be dented, with 61% confirming that they would most likely invest in their top target city during 2016, according to leading international real estate consultancy, Cluttons. ...

Doha / EMIRATES BUSINESS Barwa Real Estate Company plans to develop several new projects in 2016. Company’s Annual General Assembly meeting held on March 16 endorsed recommendation of Board of Directors to distribute cash dividends of 22 percent, equivalent to QR2.20 per share. Addressing the shareholders, H E Salah bin Ghanim Al Ali, Chairman of the Board, Barwa Real Estate ...

Bloomberg Lenders are getting stingier when it comes to funding risky U.S. real estate developments, putting pressure on landlords in need of fresh funding to keep their projects afloat. Banks are proceeding with caution as the specter of slowing economic growth rattles financial markets and shakes investor confidence in a six-year recovery that’s helped lift property values to records. Lenders ...

Bloomberg Qatar Airways remains on the hunt for a stake in discount carrier IndiGo to add to its portfolio of holdings after failing to buy shares of India’s largest airline at the time of last year’s initial public offering. “I cannot force the owners to sell a stake to me,” Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said. “But if they ...

BASEL / AFP The world’s biggest watch fair opened in the Swiss city of Basel on Thursday as a slumping luxury market and the soaring popularity of connected timepieces cast gloom over the industry. Baselworld is the highlight of the year for watch and jewellery makers, with retailers flooding in to snap up the latest eye-candy for their showcases. The ...

Bloomberg When a Fastjet Plc plane flew from Tanzanian business hub Dar es Salaam to Mwanza on Lake Victoria on Nov. 29, 2012, Chief Executive Officer Ed Winter lauded the service as heralding the start of low-cost travel in Africa. Barely three years on and Winter quit this week after a spat with backer and EasyJet Plc founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou ...

Frankfurt / AFP German airline Lufthansa said on Thursday it will resume dividend payments to shareholders after profits soared in 2015, helped by low oil prices, and are set to increase again this year. Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said that despite an “emotionally challenging year” due to the Germanwings air crash and the burden of repeated strike action by ...