7
BUSINESS
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Job outlook improves at snail’s pace
US consumer rebound boosts economy in Q1 NEW DELHI: Indian Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia (in turban) and visiting Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Nasayuki Naoshima (second right) lead ministerial level delegation talks on energy in New Delhi yesterday. Naoshima is in India for a two-day official visit. — AFP
UK banks fear economic hit from reforms: Report LONDON: British banks will warn that upcoming banking regulation could shave two percentage points off the country’s economic growth, said Sky News yesterday, citing an unpublished report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Forcing banks to keep more capital on their balance sheets would stymie bank lending and prevent credit flowing into the economy, the report said, according to Sky. In a statement, the British Bankers’ Association confirmed PwC was carrying out an analysis on behalf of the banks on the economic effects of capital, liquidity and other proposals being considered for the industry. “The analysis is yet to be completed but we will at all times be discussing with the various authorities the issues that arise from the study,” BBA said. Sky said the report looked at measures being proposed by the financial regulator, the Financial Services
Authority, and at the international level, but did not include the bank taxes recently proposed by the International Monetary Fund. The broadcaster said the banks - including Barclays, HSBC and the Royal Bank of Scotland - and the BBA had wanted to delay publication until after the UK’s May 6 general election. On the campaign trail, Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters: “We have got to reform the banks, the banks have got to serve the public. “The recapitalisation of the banks and a proper system of remuneration and dealing with liquidity ratios is absolutely crucial to the future of British industry and the future of everybody who is a homeowner in this country.” Barclays earlier on Friday followed other banks in reporting a fall in bad debts as Britain and other economies pulled out of recession. — Reuters
Chevron doubles Q1 income on higher oil NEW YORK: Chevron Corp said yesterday its first-quarter profit more than doubled as oil prices soared over the past year. The San Ramon, California, oil company reported income of $4.55 billion, or $2.27 per share, for the first three months of the year. That compares with $1.84 billion, or 92 cents per share, in the same part of 2009. Excluding charges associated with employee reductions in its refining, marketing and chemicals business, Chevron said it would have made $2.36 a share. Revenue increased 33 percent to $48.18 billion. Analysts, which typically exclude one-time charges, had expected earnings of $1.94 per share on revenue of $53.25 billion. Like other major oil companies, including Exxon Mobil, Chevron’s results were boosted by a surge in profits from its exploration and production operation. Oil prices more than doubled, from a low of around $33 a barrel in the first quarter of 2009 to more than $80 a barrel in the first quarter of 2010. Chevron responded by pulling more oil and natural gas out of the ground. The company increased production of oil equivalent, which includes natural gas, by 4.5 percent to 2.78 million barrels per day. Chevron’s refining business, however, continued to struggle to pass higher crude costs along to customers. Sales of refined products dropped 8.6 percent in the quarter. — AP
VALLEJO: A Chevron gas station pump is shown in Vallejo, California. Chevron Corp said yesterday its first-quarter profit more than doubled as oil prices soared over the past year. — AP
WASHINGTON: The US economy grew at a solid 3.2 percent pace during the first quarter of this year as consumers boosted their spending by the most in three years. The Commerce Department’s initial estimate of the economy’s performance in the J anuary-to-March quarter, released yesterConsumers rebounded and powered the first-quarter’s growth. They increased their spending at a 3.6 percent pace, the strongest showing since early 2007 — before the economy tipped into a recession. That marked a big improvement from the fourth quarter when consumer spending grew at a lackluster 1.6 percent pace. In the first quarter, consumers spent more on things like home furnishings and household appliances, recreational goods and vehicles, clothing, and going out to bars and restaurants. Even though Americans aren’t spending as freely as they normally do early in strong economic recoveries, they are spending sufficiently to keep the economy expanding. Looking ahead, analysts believe consumers will be wary of stepping up spending much further. The unemployment rate is high at 9.7 percent and is expected to stay elevated in the months ahead. Sluggish income growth and problems getting loans could restrain shoppers’ appetite to spend, they say. “The economy is moving ahead at a decent pace. That’s good. But there are headwinds out there for consumers that probably will restrain growth going forward. Are those headwinds going to disappear any time soon? My guess is no,” said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. He predicts consumer spending will slow in the current April-to-June quarter to about a 2 percent pace. Just 21 percent of Americans consider the economy in good condition, according to an Associated PressGfK Poll conducted April 7-12. Growth would have to equal 5 percent for all of 2010 just to lower the average jobless rate for the year by 1 percentage point. The outlook for moderate growth this year means unemployment will stay high — in the 9 percent range — by the November congressional elections. The prospects for high joblessness are a political liability for incumbent Democrats and Republicans. The first quarter’s reading on gross domestic product was a tad shy of the 3.4 percent growth rate economists were forecasting. GDP measures the value of all goods and services — from machinery to manicures — produced within the United States. It is the best barometer of the nation’s economic health. Businesses did their part to help the economy grow in the first quarter. Spending by the federal
government helped, too. Spending by businesses on equipment and software rose at a brisk 13.4 percent pace, following an even bigger 19 percent growth rate in the fourth quarter. The federal government increased spending at a 1.4 percent pace, after being flat in the prior quarter. Companies started to restock inventories shrunken during the recession, helping boost factory production and GDP. Exports grew at a slower pace in the first quarter, while imports rose much faster — reflecting stronger demand by US consumers. That meant the nation’s trade deficit acted as a small drag to GDP in the first quarter. Slower export growth probably reflects less demand coming from major trading partners in Europe because of the debt crisis there, analysts say. Problems in the real estate market slowed economic activity. Builders once again trimmed spending on housing projects, following two quarterly gains. Spending on commercial real estate ventures plunged at a 14 percent pace, the seventh straight quarterly decline. And state and local governments continued to trim spending, a move some analysts expect to continue for years. Despite pockets of weakness, multiple signals suggest the US economy has turned a corner. Employers are creating jobs again — a net total of 162,000 jobs in March, the most in three years. Manufacturers are boosting production. Consumer confidence is higher. And a rising number of companies — from Ford, Caterpillar and Whirlpool to UPS, Estee Lauder and Royal Caribbean Cruises — are seeing profits grow. General Electric says the “clouds are breaking” after having suffered one of its worst years in 2009. By his best bet, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says the economy will log moderate growth. Economists in a recent AP Economy Survey predict the economy will pick up some speed, growing at a rate of 3.7 percent in the April-to-June quarter. For 2010 as a whole, economists in the AP survey predict the economy will grow 3.1 percent. That’s an improvement from the 2.4 percent decline in 2009, the worst since 1946. But much stronger growth in the 5 percent range is needed for a full year just to drive down the unemployment rate by just 1 percentage point. — Reuters
day, provided more evidence that the economy is strengthening. It marked the third straight quarterly gain as the United States heals from the longest and deepest recession since the 1930s. Still, grow th w as w eaker than in the fourth quarter of last year, w hen the economy grew at 5.6 percent.
CHICAGO: Best Buy employee Edwin Valadez brings Apple iPads out to be stocked before the Apple Store opens in Chicago. In the first quarter, consumers spent more on things like home furnishings and household appliances, recreational goods and vehicles, clothing, and going out to bars and restaurants.— AP
Seiko fires president in rare Japanese dismissal TOKYO: Struggling clock and watch maker Seiko Holdings sacked its president for “dogmatic” management and not dealing with a prolonged slump at upscale retail unit Wako, in a rare case of a top Japanese executive being fired. Seiko said Koichi Murano, 72, was removed from his post yesterday and replaced by Shinji Hattori, a 57-year old executive vice president and the only director related to the family that established the watchmaker in 1881. Japanese boards rarely dismiss top executives, even when the company is struggling, and are often criticised by corporate governance advocates for failing to hold management accountable on behalf of shareholders. Seiko said the board voted three to two to dismiss Murano after a motion to remove him was put forth by Akio Harada, a former prosecutor and the company’s sole external director. “This is significant. For this to happen in Japan, for the post of external director to carry out its function in this way,” said Takeyuki Ishida, head of Japan research at proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services. Seiko said Murano blindly followed the directions of honorary chairman Reijiro Hattori and director Noriko Unoura, both of whom were involved in running Wako, and was not making rational management deci-
sions. The labour union of subsidiary Seiko Precision Inc had also requested an investigation into the management of Wako, a retailer located in a landmark building in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district, Seiko said. “We believed that if we left things as they were we would be abandoned by customers, shareholders, financial institutions and other stakeholders,” Shinji Hattori, nephew of Reijiro, told a news conference. The reshuffle at Seiko comes as a much larger Japanese company, Fujitsu Ltd, is embroiled in a dispute over the ousting of former president Kuniaki Nozoe, who has said he was unfairly pushed out for suspected links to organised crime. Fujitsu has come under fire for not disclosing the real reason behind Nozoe’s resignation when it was announced in September. “We are doing the opposite of what Fujitsu did. But that case didn’t prompt us to take this action. We took action because of our own sense of crisis,” said Hitoshi Murakami, a senior executive director at Seiko Watch, a unit of Seiko Holdings. Prior to the announcement, shares of Seiko Holdings closed unchanged at 224 yen, giving it a market value of about $440 million. The company is forecasting its second straight loss for the financial year ended last month. — Reuters
EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso US Dollar Sterling pounds Swiss Francs Saudi Riyals
.2840000 .4380000 .3780000 .2630000 .2820000 .2630000 .0045000 .0020000 .0780990 .7608980 .4020000 .0750000 .7459280 .0045000 .0500000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2881500 .4399100 .3801830 .2653260 .2839570 .0510900 .0395620 .2652680 .0371060 .2097610 .0030930 .0065110 .0025350 .0034510 .0041700 .0784910 .7647060 .4075200 .0768790 .7488120 .0065480 TRANSFER CHEQUES RATES .2902500 .4430160 .2672040 .0773690
Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees
ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.116 6.474
.2940000 .4470000 .3850000 .2720000 .2920000 .2700000 .0075000 .0035000 .0788840 .7685450 .4170000 .0790000 .7534250 .0072000 .0580000 .2902500 .4430160 .3828680 .2672040 .2859680 .0514520 .0398430 .2671420 .0373690 .2112460 .0031150 .0065570 .0025530 .0034750 .0041990 .0789910 .7695810 .4104060 .0773690 .7535860 .0065940
Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash
3.440 2.537 4.085 211.200 37.292 4.178 6.472 8.986 0.301 0.292 GCC COUNTRIES Saudi Riyal 77.230 Qatari Riyal 79.563 Omani Riyal 752.310 Bahraini Dinar 769.100 UAE Dirham 78.870 ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 54.500 Egyptian Pound 52.170 Yemen Riyal 1.286 Tunisian Dinar 203.910 Jordanian Dinar 408.930 Lebanese Lira 194.300 Syrian Lier 6.296 Morocco Dirham 34.873 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 289.450 Euro 382.510 Sterling Pound 441.300 Canadian dollar 286.200 Turkish lire 193.100 Swiss Franc 267.300 Australian dollar 266.420 US Dollar Buying 288.000 GOLD 20 Gram 227.000 10 Gram 116.000 5 Gram 59.500
Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal 10 Tola Sterling Pound US Dollar
SELL CASH 270.400 769.580 4.430 289.200 568.300 15.800 52.300 167.800 54.480
385.500 37.820 6.490
409.060 0.194 92.270 4.080 209.400 751.550 3.450 6.495 79.600 77.270 212.030 41.270 2.538 445.200 269.200 9.170 78.860 289.400
GOLD 1,265.170 TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 445.200 289.400
Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd
Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound
387.000 37.970 6.780 0.035 0.294 0.256 3.200 410.790 0.195 92.270 47.100 4.270 210.900 2.972 49.800 751.730 3.520 6.710 80.030 77.270 212.030 41.270 2.742 447.200 40.700 270.700 6.400 9.330 217.900 78.960 289.800 1.330
SELL DRAFT 268.900 769.580 4.177 287.700
212.000 52.253
Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Cyprus Pound Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees
Selling Rate 289.300 286.313 442.700 385.891 266.275 709.094 765.746 78.745 79.443 77.115 408.242 52.197 6.503 3.448
Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees
2.535 4.183 6.482 3.103 8.964 6.311 4.074
Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Nepali rupee Yemeni Riyal Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Candaian Dollars
Rate per 1000 (Tran) 289.450 3.455 6.500 2.545 4.185 6.520 78.870 77.360 769.000 52.230 447.400 0.000035000 4.200 1.550 410.900 5.750 387.000 292.500
Al Mulla Exchange Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000 US Dollar 289.200 Euro 387.000 Pound Sterling 445.500 Canadian Dollar 289.800 Japanese Yen 3.090 Indian Rupee 6.515 Egyptian Pound 52.110 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.538 Bangladesh Taka 4.178 Philippines Peso 6.485 Pakistan Rupee 3.450 Bahraini Dinar 768.600 UAE Dirham 78.800 Saudi Riyal 77.200 *Rates are subject to change