“It is difficult to know what the future will be for banks,”
Louise Cooper, market analyst at BGC Partners, said. “Banks’
liquidity positions are not great. They have such enormous loan
books and need a massive amount of funding everyday.”The FTSEurofirst 300 index provisionally closed
down 0.5 percent at 960.87 points.
* Keeps 2011 goals, confident about 2012* CFO sees Q4 trends broadly in line with those of Q3By Dominique VidalonPARIS, Oct 18 (Reuters) - French food group Danone
said on Tuesday that softening commodity prices, robust growth
in emerging markets and the expected benefits from the
integration of Unimilk in Russia made it confident for 2012.The world’s largest yoghurt maker, whose brands include
Actimel and Activia, also kept its full-year 2011 outlook,
though it reported slower sales growth in the third quarter due
to sluggish dairy sales in Russia and the United States.Chief Financial Officer Pierre Andre Terisse told a
conference call that he expected fourth-quarter trends to be
“broadly in line” with those of the third quarter.Meanwhile, commodity prices — notably milk and plastic —
were currently on a “softer trend”, he said.”We stand by our full-year targets for 2011. Danone is in
very good shape, with operations in Asia, Latin America and
Africa/Middle East continuing to post robust growth,” Chief
Executive Franck Riboud said in a statement.”In Russia and the United States, we are working to
strengthen our leading position, and our performance in Western
Europe remains good,” he added.Danone, which also makes Evian water and Milupa baby food,
said it still expected to grow underlying sales by 6-8 percent
this year, having achieved 5.9 percent growth in the third
quarter, slightly above analysts expectations of 5.6 percent.It also reiterated its forecast for an increase of around
0.2 percentage points in its like-for-like 2011 operating
margin.Difficulties in Russian dairy and the loss of market share
in U.S. dairy were largely responsible for a well-flagged sales
slowdown from 8.7 percent growth in the first half.Third-quarter sales reached 4.805 billion euros, a reported
rise of 10.5 percent and in line with the 4.808 billion average
of estimates in a Reuters poll of analysts.
Spokespersons for Bank of America and Brookfield declined
to comment.Bank of America, which agreed to to buy Merrill at the
height of the financial crisis in 2008, has been reducing its
space in the building. The Charlotte, North Carolina, bank has
a tower in Midtown Manhattan that officially opened last year.The sale is the latest move by Bank of America to shed
assets as it looks to build capital to meet new international
standards and to cover mortgage losses.
* Critics rave about phone’s voice control, otherwise no
revolution* Users report glitches with iOS 5 operating system, iCloudBy Michael Perry and Mayumi NegishiSYDNEY/TOKYO, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Apple Inc’s new
iPhone went on sale in stores across the globe on Friday, with
fans snapping up the final gadget unveiled during Steve Jobs’
lifetime, many buying the phone as a tribute to the former Apple
boss.Hundreds queued around city blocks in Sydney and Tokyo to
get their hands on the iPhone 4S, ahead of store sales in
Germany, France, Britain and North America.”I am a fan, a big fan. I want something to remember Steve
Jobs by,” said Haruko Shiraishi, waiting patiently with her
Yorkshire terrier Miu Miu at the end of an eight block queue in
Tokyo’s smart Ginza shopping district.The new model looks similar to the previous iPhone 4 but has
an upgraded camera, faster processor and highly regarded
voice-activated software, which allows users to ask questions.Australian Tom Mosca, the first to buy the phone in Sydney,
said he would ask his new white iPhone: “Where’s Steve?” Many
Apple fans believe the phone was called iPhone 4S to mean “for
Steve”.Apple CEO Tim Cook and his executive team hope the first
device sold without their visionary leader at the helm will
protect them against a growing challenge from the likes of
Samsung Electronics .The South Korean firm, Apple’s arch-rival with smartphones
powered by Google’s Android software, expects to
overtake it as the world’s biggest smartphone vendor in terms of
units sold in the third quarter.The iPhone 4S — introduced just a day before Jobs died —
was dubbed a disappointment because it fell short of being a
revolution in design, but glowing reviews centred around its
“Siri” voice-activated software have helped it set a record pace
in initial, online sales orders.In Tokyo, 24-year-old Ryosuke Ishinabe said: “I just wanted
the newest iPhone. I want to try out iCloud.”Despite the enthusiasm at Apple stores, the launch was
marred somewhat by widespread complaints this week on the
Internet about problems downloading iOS 5 — the latest version
of Apple’s mobile software.There were also problems with iCloud, Apple’s online
communications, media storage and backup service formally
launched on Wednesday, with users reporting glitches such as
losing their email access.Those concerns pale compared to the problems for rival
Research in Motion , which has been grappling
with an international outage of its Blackberry email and
messaging services for several days.JOBS SHADOW OVER iPHONE LAUNCHThe vast majority of the iPhone 4S buyers at the Sydney
store appeared to be existing Apple customers, many having
bought the original iPhone and its subsequent upgrades. Only one
out of 10 people surveyed by Reuters was a new Apple customer.”I have been waiting for the iPhone 5 for a long time. But
since Jobs died, I wanted to make sure I had a new iPhone with
some advantages over the old,” said iPhone devotee Mark Du,
concerned over future Apple gadgets without Jobs in charge.Apple fans in Sydney and Tokyo made sure Jobs was part of
the iPhone 4S launch, with flower, candle and photo shrines to
the late Apple boss erected outside the stores.Underscoring the enthusiasm for the new phone, Japanese
mobile carrier Softbank Corp had to temporarily stop
contract applications after its computer system was overwhelmed
with more requests than it had expected.Apple said it did not release sales figures on launch day,
so gauging initial sales is difficult. Apple said it had taken
more than 1 million online orders in the first 24 hours after
its release, exceeding the 600,000 for the iPhone 4, though that
model was sold in fewer countries initially.Some analysts expect fourth-quarter iPhone shipments to
reach 30 million or more, almost twice as much as a year ago.Apple’s fifth-generation iPhone uses chips from Qualcomm Inc
, Toshiba and a host of smaller semiconductor
companies, according to repair firm iFixit, which cracked the
device open on Thursday.APPLE SOFTWARE CRITICISMApple’s iOS 5 software became available this week and is
intended to upgrade older phones and enable new features such as
better Twitter integration.But glitches with the new iCloud service and mobile software
sparked a chorus of user complaints.”This would be a great time for like, Samsung or something,
to take out a sponsored ad,” user Ryan James Kirk tweeted.The iPhone — seen as the gold standard for smartphones —
is Apple’s highest-margin product and accounts for 40 percent of
its annual revenue.Analysts point to several factors in Apple’s favor: a $199
price that matches up well with rival devices; availability
promised on more than 100 carriers by the end of 2011, far more
than its predecessors; and glowing reviews.In a sign of how tough the competition is, two doors along
from the Sydney Apple store, Samsung has been selling its new
Galaxy SII for only A$2 to its first 10 customers each day,
prompting Samsung fans to also camp out on the footpath.
Two of the people said on Thursday a transction was close,
while a third person said that, while talks were ongoing, there
was no guarantee a deal would be struck.The Financial Times had reported a sale of the business
would be announced for as much as $1.5 billion in the coming
week.Genesys, which sits within Alcatel-Lucent’s enterprise
division, sells software for the operation of call centres and
video conferencing and is attractive for high margins.Permira had been in exclusive talks to buy the business
since July, but exclusivity came to an end in September, sending
Alcatel-Lucent stock down and raising doubts about an eventual
deal. [ID:nL6E7161N5}Permira’s proposal was selected because it was seen as
carrying less risk. Industrial players Avaya and Cisco
bowed out earlier in the bidding.Gores Group, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm and
Siemens Enterprise Communication had also been looking.Alcatel-Lucent and Permira both declined to comment.
* Project has raised environmental fears in FloridaBy Jeff FranksHAVANA, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The arrival of a Chinese-built
drilling rig set to explore for oil in Cuban waters has been
delayed again and is not expected to reach the island until the
second half of December, sources close to the project said.The delay is the latest of many as communist-run Cuba
awaits the start of a project it hopes will give a shot in the
arm to its struggling economic system.The massive Scarabeo 9, which set sail from Singapore in
late August, had been expected in Cuba by early November, but
was slowed by problems not unusual for a newly built rig going
to its first drilling operations, people close to the project
said this week.The late December arrival means the first well, to be sunk
in 5,600 feet (1,700 metres) of water off Cuba’s northern
coast, may not be started until January, the sources said.They warned that further delays were possible as the rig
makes its journey halfway around the world after it was built
in Yantai, China, and completed in Singapore. It was said to be
currently off the coast of West Africa, although reports about
its location varied.Cuba had hoped to begin exploring for oil in its part of
the Gulf of Mexico several years ago, but the project has been
put off by construction delays and other issues.The high-tech rig belongs to Saipem, the offshore
unit for Italy’s Eni SpA, and has been contracted by
Spain’s Repsol YPFfor the Cuba project, which is the
island’s first major exploration offshore.It will be used to drill at least three wells, two by
Repsol in a consortium with Norway’s Statoila
unit of India’s ONGC, and another by Malaysia’s
Petronas in partnership with Russia’s Gazprom Neft.After that, plans for the project, which has been cloaked
in secrecy, are not clear, but may depend on the success of the
first three wells, a diplomatic source said.If oil is found, it will take at least three years to begin
production, said the local manager for one of the companies
involved.BALM FOR CUBAN ECONOMYCuban officials have not said much publicly about the
offshore exploration, but make it clear in private
conversations that oil would help their troubled economy.Opponents of the Cuban government fear oil will be the
salvation of the communist system, which President Raul Castro
is trying to preserve with economic reforms. But that will
depend in part on how much oil, if any, is found.Cuba has said it may have 20 billion barrels of oil in its
43,000 square miles (111,370 square km) of the Gulf of Mexico,
while the U.S. Geological Survey has estimated 5 billion
barrels, the figure more broadly accepted in the oil world.Cuba oil expert Jorge Pinon, a former president of Amoco
Oil in Latin America who is now at Florida International
University, said the most likely prospect if oil were found was
that it would be a field closer to the USGS estimate.Owing to the fields and the probability they contain
heavier oil, he thinks only 30 percent to 40 percent of the
reserves can be produced.”If they find 5 billion barrels, you take 40 percent of
that and it’s 2 billion barrels,” Pinon said.The contracts with international partners call for Cuba to
get 60 percent of the oil, which based on a 25-year reservoir
life, would equate to about 131,000 barrels a day.That amount may or may not assure the survival of the Cuban
system, experts said, but would bring solid economic and
political benefits, including a better balance sheet for the
cash-strapped island and oil independence.Cuba now gets 92,000 barrels a day from socialist ally
Venezuela to help meet internal demand, but Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez is battling cancer, raising questions
about how much longer the program will last.The Cuban wells have raised environmental concerns because
they will be about 60 miles (96 km) from Florida, twice as
close to the state as drillers are allowed in U.S. waters.A blowout like BP experienced last year off the
coast of Louisiana could douse both Cuba and Florida with oil.To alleviate concerns, Repsol will follow through on an
offer it made to invite U.S. Coast Guard officials to inspect
the rig when it reaches Trinidad and Tobago, sources said.
