May, 2017

• 9 May

  Centrica falls to one-year low

  

    Bloomberg Centrica Plc, the UK’s biggest energy supplier, fell to the lowest in more than a year after customer losses continued this year and warm weather trimmed consumption of natural gas and power. The utility reiterated its opposition to price regulation, which would reduce competition, cut choice and lead to potentially higher average prices, according to a trading update ...

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• 9 May

  China coal power firms surge as mega-merger planned

  

    Bloomberg Shares of Chinese coal-fired power generators surged on Tuesday as the country was said to be considering plans to create three energy giants through mergers of eight companies with combined assets of almost 5.9 trillion yuan ($855 billion). The proposal, which is only one option being considered as the government of President Xi Jinping seeks to restructure the ...

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• 9 May

  Booming realty shares in India yet to win over BNP Paribas

  

    Bloomberg Property developers have beaten every industry group on India’s benchmark equity index this year, but BNP Paribas Asset Management India Pvt. isn’t impressed. A gauge of realty stocks has soared 62 percent since January 1, almost five times the climb in the S&P BSE Sensex, as the government took steps to bolster the industry that was one of ...

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• 9 May

  Australia goes for stimulus in $55bn infra plan

  

    Bloomberg Australia’s government finally took up the central bank’s call for economic stimulus in its annual budget, with a A$75 billion ($55 billion) infrastructure plan as its centerpiece. Road, rail and runway construction will support growth from Western Sydney to Western Australia, Treasurer Scott Morrison announced in Canberra on Tuesday. His plan promises to create thousands of jobs in ...

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• 9 May

  China’s $9trn bond market lures Neuberger, Fidelity

    Bloomberg A bond slump in China hasn’t damped top global funds’ interest in the $9 trillion market as the government opens the door to greater access. Neuberger Berman Group LLC, based in New York, is considering launching a private fund with a focus on bonds after Fidelity International became the first global asset management firm to do so in ...

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• 9 May

  NetLink briefs analysts on $1.4bn IPO as fees cut

  

    Bloomberg NetLink Trust, the fiber broadband network provider backed by Singapore’s biggest phone company, started briefing analysts this week ahead of an initial public offering that could raise at least S$2 billion ($1.4 billion), people with knowledge of the matter said. The arm of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. began meeting research analysts to explain its business model, which will later ...

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• 9 May

  SEC probes rental home values in PE bond deals

  

    Bloomberg US securities regulators are investigating whether bonds backed by single-family rental homes and sold by Wall Street’s biggest residential landlords used overvalued property assessments. Radian Group Inc.’s Green River Capital unit is one of the market participants that received a request for information from the Securities and Exchange Commission in March about broker price opinions, or BPOs, the ...

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• 9 May

  UK consumer spending weakens with sharp slowdown in April

  

    Bloomberg UK consumer-spending growth slowed in April and is forecast to remain weak in the coming months, according to a report from Visa. Its index showed spending rose an annual 0.5 percent in April, down from 1 percent in March and marking one of the slowest rates of growth in the past three years. Weaker household demand is also ...

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• 9 May

  Pandora gets $150 million infusion

    Bloomberg Pandora Media Inc., struggling with widening losses and a tepid outlook for its online music business, is shaking up its board and stepping up efforts to find a possible buyer. The Oakland, California-based company said in a statement it received a $150 million infusion from KKR & Co., the private-equity firm. Two directors will leave and Pandora will ...

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• 9 May

  How Democrats lost way, and how they can find it

  

    In his heroically doomed 48-year campaign to promote The Washington Monthly, Charles Peters hit upon one especially apt (if un-catchy) slogan: “If you’re not afraid of being right too soon.” Peters founded his little magazine in 1969. From the start, he needled mainstream liberals about issues that weren’t getting enough attention at the time: income inequality, entrepreneurship, Wall Street’s ...

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