Thursday 13 November 2014

Morocco equities market downgraded to frontier market status | beyondbrics

Morocco equities market downgraded to frontier market status | beyondbrics:



"More bad news for Morocco this week, after it was banished from the Africa Cup for pushing to delay the football tournament out of Ebola fears. S&P Dow Jones has downgraded the equities market one of north Africa’s most stable and promising countries from its index of emerging markets to its frontier market index.



Alone among Arab countries, Morocco managed to weather the political tumult of the Arab Spring, even forging an unprecedented compromise with moderate Islamists that maintained stability without resorting to widespread state violence and helped the country maintain an average annual GDP growth rate of 3.5 per cent since 2011.



But in a press release on Wednesday, S&P Dow Jones announced that the phosphate-rich north African equities’ market had been moved from its emerging to frontier index after a review of feedback from investors:"



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Banks fined $3.4bn in forex probe - YouTube

Banks fined $3.4bn in forex probe - YouTube: ""



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Record HY bond issuance in Europe may not last - YouTube

Record HY bond issuance in Europe may not last - YouTube: ""



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Debt Wrangle Engulfs Ukraine’s Mriya in $1 Billion Restructuring - Bloomberg

Debt Wrangle Engulfs Ukraine’s Mriya in $1 Billion Restructuring - Bloomberg:



"International bondholders advised by Rothschild are recommending a change in control at Ukrainian agricultural company Mriya Agro Holding Plc (MAYA) as the grower of crops from wheat to potatoes seeks to restructure about $1 billion of debt.



Tensions have increased since Mriya said in August it missed payments on some of its obligations. Rothschild, which is representing a group of creditors including Ashmore Investment Management Ltd, T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. and CarVal Investors, said Ternopil, Ukraine-based Mriya proposed reducing its debt by about 66 percent when it met with stakeholders last month, while declining to provide financial statements.



“The level of trust in Mriya’s current leadership is rather low and the company’s debt structure so unsustainable that a change in control would be probably beneficial to Mriya and all its stakeholders,” Giovanni Salvetti, who co-heads Rothschild’s Russia and Ukraine team in Moscow, said in an interview. “By asking creditors to write off two thirds of the debt, the company implicitly admits the current equity is wiped off.”"



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Ukraine Default Jitters Mount One Year After Crisis Began - Bloomberg

Ukraine Default Jitters Mount One Year After Crisis Began - Bloomberg:



"Almost one year after the Maidan Square demonstrations began in central Kiev, Ukraine’s record-high borrowing costs are showing how difficult the path toward Europe has become.



The yield on Ukraine’s dollar-denominated note due in July 2017 rose 1.49 percentage points to a record 17.63 percent yesterday, almost quadruple the average borrowing cost for emerging markets. The cost to insure the nation’s debt against non-payment shows a 63 percent probability of default within five years, according to CMA.



From the ousting of former President Viktor Yanukovych in February amid protests that pushed Ukraine toward closer ties with the European Union to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea a month later and the separatist uprising in the nation’s east, bondholders have been rocked by turmoil that has deepened the country’s political and economic crises. The hryvnia weakened to a record yesterday as NATO accused Russia of sending troops and heavy weapons into Ukraine."



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Saudis Reject Talk of OPEC Market Share War as Oil Slides - Bloomberg

Saudis Reject Talk of OPEC Market Share War as Oil Slides - Bloomberg:



"Saudi Arabia’s oil minister dismissed talk of a price war as having “no basis in reality” in his first public comments since crude plunged into a bear market last month.



“Saudi oil policy has remained constant for the past few decades and it has not changed today,” Ali al-Naimi said at a conference in Acapulco, Mexico, yesterday. “We want stable oil markets and steady prices, because this is good for producers, consumers and investors.”



Brent crude futures plunged below $80 yesterday for the first time since September 2010 on concern OPEC is in no hurry to halt a four-month slide in prices. Saudi discounts offered to Asian customers in October triggered speculation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ largest member had changed policy and was seeking to preserve market share, instead of supporting prices by curbing supply. OPEC ministers will meet Nov. 27 in Vienna."



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DP World to Buy Dubai’s Economic Zones for $2.6 Billion - Bloomberg

DP World to Buy Dubai’s Economic Zones for $2.6 Billion - Bloomberg:



"DP World Ltd. (DPW), which operates ports from China to Peru, agreed to buy Dubai’s industrial parks operator Economic Zones World FZE for $2.6 billion. The company also plans to delist its shares from the London Stock Exchange.



The purchase, which includes the acquisition of the Jebel Ali Free Zone logistics park, is expected to be completed in the second quarter, Dubai-based DP World said in an e-mailed statement today. The agreement includes the assumption of net debt of $859 million, and is at about 10 times EZW’s earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortization for 2013, it said.



Dubai’s economy may expand 5 percent in 2014, the fastest pace since 2007, according to International Monetary Fund estimates, helped by a boom in its trade, tourism and real-estate industries. Container throughput at DP World’s more than 65 terminals globally jumped 10 percent in the nine months through September."



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