Financial closing of 56.4MW Zorlu Enerji Wind Project today
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The financial closing of the 56.4 megawatts (MW) Zorlu Enerji Wind Power Project will be held on Tuesday (today). The ceremony would be witnessed among others by the Minister for Water and Power and Turkish ambassador to Pakistan.
Zorlu Enerji Pakistan is a subsidiary of Zorlu Holding, one of the largest and leading groups in Turkey and active in the energy sector through the nine companies of the Zorlu Energy Group since 1993.
The project is financed by Asian Development Bank (ADB), IFC, Eco Trade and Development Bank and Habib Bank Limited. Zorlu has signed the financing documents with the lenders of the project.
Zorlu Enerji has signed the Energy Purchase Agreement (EPA) with Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) and Implementation Agreement (IA) with Alternate Energy Development Board (AEDB). The project company has successfully fulfilled all the requirements for achieving the financial closing of the project. Upon fulfillment of all requirements under the IA, the government of Pakistan guarantee has been issued to Zorlu Enerji and the financial closing of the project has been announced.
Zorlu Enerji had already initiated the civil works for the project. The lenders will make the disbursements to Zorlu Enerji after the financial closing and the project will start full-fledge construction work of the project. The first batch of wind turbines is expected to arrive in Pakistan from Spain in the first week of June. The project will be completed in the first quarter of 2013.
Zorlu Enerji installed five wind turbines of six MW in the first phase in 2009. In the second phase, Zorlu Enerji will be installing 28 turbines of Vestas, taking the cumulative capacity of the project to 56.4 MW.
It may be mentioned that the Zorlu Enerji, as the first wind power generation project in Pakistan, has been recently recognised by Project Finance Magazine. Project Finance Magazine is a well-known and widely read magazine by financiers, advisers, management consultants, people managing and developing projects globally and senior government officials. Project Finance Magazine has been in circulation for the last 20 years.
In recognition of its wind power project in Pakistan, Zorlu Enerji Pakistan has been honoured to receive the highly prized Middle East Renewable Deal of the Year for 2011 by Project Finance Magazine. The prize distribution was held on March 6 in Dubai. This international recognition augured well for the government of Pakistan, AEDB and Zorlu Enerji. AEDB played a crucial role in helping Zorlu Enerji to initiate and set up this project.
Project Finance Magazine offers Deals of the Year awards annually in Africa, Europe, Latin America, North America, India and the Middle East. These were very highly prized awards and the recipients were selected after a thorough scrutiny of projects and their fulfilling the selection criteria. Attaining this prestigious award by Zorlu Enerji amply demonstrates the ease and security of investing in the renewable energy sector in Pakistan. This is fast becoming the most reliable and safe investment sector for foreign and local investors.
Stocks, euro drop as deadlock continues in Greece - Yahoo Finance
NEW YORK (AP) -- A political stalemate in Greece rattled financial markets worldwide on Monday, driving U.S. stocks lower.
The euro sank to a three-month low against the dollar and borrowing costs for Spain and Italy jumped as bond traders anticipated that financial stress could spread far beyond Greece. Investors dumped risky assets and plowed into the safety of the Treasury market, pushing yields to their lowest levels this year.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 125.25 points to close at 12,695.35. The Dow has lost more than half of its gains for the year in the past two weeks as worries resurface about Europe and the strength of the U.S. economy.
In Athens, talks between political parties to form a government dragged into a second week. The uncertainty has raised concerns that Greece could miss a debt payment and drop the euro currency. The worry is that if Greece leaves the currency union, bond traders may demand steeper borrowing rates from other troubled countries and push them deeper into debt.
The turmoil could easily spread to the U.S. through the banking system. "The large banks are globally connected," said Guy LeBas, chief fixed income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. "The concrete fear is that if Greece exits the euro, that would hurt European banks. They'll pull back lending to U.S. banks and then they'd be in worse shape."
In other trading, the Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 15.04 points to 1,338.35. The Nasdaq composite sank 31.24 points to 2,902.58.
The losses swept across the market. All 10 of the industry groups within the S&P 500 fell.
JPMorgan Chase's $2 billion trading loss continued to hang over bank stocks. JPMorgan dropped 3 percent following news that the executive overseeing its trading strategy would step down. Morgan Stanley and Citigroup, two banks with large trading operations, sank more than 4 percent.
The loss to JPMorgan appears "manageable," said Matt Freund, a portfolio manager at USAA Investments. "But people are looking at other banks and wondering who's going to be next? What else could be lurking?"
Major markets in Europe plunged. France's CAC-40 and Germany's DAX lost 2 percent. Benchmark indexes fell nearly 3 percent in Italy and Spain.
Traders shifted money into the safest of government bonds, pushing Treasury prices up and their yields down. The yield on the 10-year note hit a low for the year, 1.77 percent.
Since hitting its high for the year on May 1, the Dow has been on a steady slide, closing lower on seven of the previous eight trading days. The Dow's 1.7 percent loss last week was its worst since Dec. 16.
Despite the broad market decline, some stocks posted gains:
— Chesapeake Energy Corp. jumped 4 percent on reports that the investor Carl Icahn bought a stake in the natural gas company. Chesapeake's CEO said he'd welcome an investment by Icahn, who is known for shaking up companies.
— Yahoo gained 2 percent. The company replaced its CEO, Scott Thompson. Yahoo reportedly pushed Thompson out for padding his resume.
— Electronics retailer Best Buy Co. rose 1 percent after the company's founder, Richard Schulze, said he would step down as chairman. An investigation found that he knew the CEO was having a relationship with a female employee and didn't tell an audit committee.
STOCKS NEWS THAILAND-Bank of Ayudhya gains on earnings hopes - Reuters UK
Shares in Bank of Ayudhya rose 2.7 percent to 28.25 baht on expectations of better second-quarter earnings, its highest since May 17. It outperformed the broader banking index , which fell as much as 0.4 percent.
"Bank of Ayudhya should deliver good second-quarter earnings, supported by strong lending growth, a sustained net interest margin, well-managed operating expenses and lower loan loss provisions," Bualuang Securities said in a research note.
The broker maintained its "buy" rating on the stock with a target price at 30.5 baht, on expectations of better earnings after the bank's recent non-performing loan (NPL) sales are set to improve its asset quality.
Bank of Ayudhya sold 2.4 billion baht ($75.8 million) worth of NPLs to Alpha Capital Asset Management Co last week. As bad retail loans comprised 80 percent of the NPLs, the sale of bad debts will reduce the bank's NPLs by 8.6 percent to 25.7 billion baht, Bualuang said.
At 0813 GMT, Bank of Ayudhya was up 1.82 percent at 28 baht.
1514 (0814 GMT)
(Reporting by Sinsiri Tiwutanond in Bangkok; sinsiri.tiwutanond@thomsonreuters.com)
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13:12 STOCKS NEWS THAILAND-Khonburi Sugar gains, despite concern over shortage
Sugar miller Khonburi Sugar Pcl gained 1.04 percent to 9.7 baht, while brokers said concern over a supply shortage may drag down the company's profit for 2012.
Maybank Kim Eng Securities rated the shares a "speculative buy" with a target price of 12.3 baht, while expecting Khonburi Sugar's 2012 profit to drop by 767 million Thai baht ($24.22 million) from the previous year due to a 12 percent fall in sugarcane supply.
"It is expected that global sugar production for the year 2012 to 2013 will rise, especially from Asia and Europe ... this would put pressure on Khonburi Sugar's export prices in 2013," Maybank said in a research note.
However, sugar exports could peak in the second and third quarters, helping the company post stronger profits in the following quarters, the broker said.
In addition, its lower valuation compared to its peer Khon Kaen Sugar Pcl still renders the shares attractive, despite profit risks in 2013, it added.
At 0558 GMT, rival Khon Kaen Sugar shares remained flat at 12.4 baht.
1258 (0558 GMT)
(Reporting by Sinsiri Tiwutanond in Bangkok; sinsiri.tiwutanond@thomsonreuters.com)
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11:31 STOCKS NEWS THAILAND: Raimon Land hits 12-day high
Shares in real-estate developer Raimon Land Pcl rose as much as 3.3 percent to a 12-day high of 1.57 baht, after several brokers rated the stock a 'buy' on expectations The River - its high-end condominium project in Bangkok - would boost profit growth in the second half of 2012.
Despite company executives on Friday saying Raimon planned to postpone the transfer of The River's property to its clients to mid-June, brokers said the 1-billion-baht ($31.58 million) asset transfer would prop up second-quarter earnings, after a loss of 70 million baht in the first quarter.
"Second quarter's earnings are expected to see a 1-billion-baht increase driven by the asset transfer of The River in mid-June, which well help see a recovery in profit of around 100 million baht," Trinity Securities said in a research note.
"The third and fourth quarters are expected to see outstanding performances from the transfer as well, with an estimated 3 billion baht per quarter, totalling around 500 to 600 million baht in profit each," it added.
The broker also forecast a net profit of 1.18 billion baht in 2012, driven by sales of the condominium. Trinity rated the shares a 'buy', with a target price of 2 baht.
The stock later eased to up 0.6 percent at 1.53 baht, while the main Thai index was down 0.5 percent.
1118 (0418 GMT)
($1 = 31.7 baht)
Give these overpaid CEOs asbos (that's Antisocial Business Orders) - The Guardian
Forget civil servants. Forget academic expertise. Forget irksome consultation and careful study of what happens in other countries. No, today's Downing Street wonk knows just how to sort out any problem of public policy: just add CEO.
I'm not referring solely to private-equity baron Adrian Beecroft and last week's publication of his 16 pages of under-researched chest-puffery on how employment regulation should be slashed (actually, let's be fair: take away the gubbins and it's only 13 pages of under-researched chest-puffery). That merely follows on from Mary Portas and her government-commissioned proposals on how to revivify Britain's high streets; and from Topshop boss Philip Green and his 2010 report for David Cameron on how to cut waste in Whitehall.
The old cliche that every journalist has a novel inside them must be updated; now, it appears, every Rich List boss yearns to produce a report on reducing contraflows on the M25.
Not all these ideas stink as bad as Beecroft's, but the notion that business people have some unique cache of wisdom off-limits to anyone else is swiftly dispelled by a glance at the Green report on making government more efficient. Since I can't better it, let me quote the conclusion of Peter Smith, former director of purchasing for the Department of Social Security: "There is not a single procurement idea here that I have not read about in a previous report; is not already being implemented; or has not been tried and failed."
Like many bad things in public policy, you can trace the roots of this to Gordon Brown and his trick of pulling in big-name business people to head mammoth policy reviews: BA's Rod Eddington to look at transport or NatWest's former head Derek Wanless to study health funding. It was typical Third Way gimmickry – but at least back then the bosses sat alongside civil servants and produced something substantial (and, with the Wanless review, something positive, too: a compelling case to spend more money on the NHS). The same cannot be said for those 13 pages of saloon-bar guff from Beecroft.
In the media too, the voice of big business is loud and constant. No BBC discussion of globalisation is complete without advertising boss Martin Sorrell. Rare is the debate over the eurozone that does not feature Next's CEO Simon Wolfson. The logic of booking such people is never spelled out, but is nevertheless obvious: they have made a bit of money, therefore they must know all about economics. In the process, the subject is trivialised and the views of the powerful, on areas well outside their expertise, is given unnecessary amplification. Needless to say, the same courtesy is rarely extended to trade unionists or campaigners from NGOs.
And besides, why not extend the argument further? Jonny Logan was magnificent on Eurovision all those years ago with Hold Me Now, so why not invite him to front a documentary on Ireland's sovereign debt problems?
What's really odd here is that the representation of big business in the media and in public policy comes precisely as major chief executives are increasingly remote from the rest of us. Their pay packages are bigger than at any point in living memory, while many feel less obliged to pay taxes to the countries they deign to advise. Cameron's former efficiency tsar, Philip Green, is equally efficient in the organisation of his tax affairs: he legally avoids paying millions to Revenue and Customs by paying himself in the form of a dividend to a Channel Islands company owned by his wife, Tina, who in turn is legally resident in the tax haven of Monaco.
But for chutzpah, Sorrell goes one better. In September 2008, he wrote an op-ed for the FT about how his London staff suffered "ruinous housing costs, high crime levels and creaking public transport". Just a few months after issuing this plea for greater public spending, he moved his FTSE 100 firm to Dublin for tax purposes, even while keeping its offices in London. Oh, and as Ferdinand Mount points out in his book The New Few, in 2008 the WPP boss got 631 times the wage of his average employee. Yet somehow Sorrell's views on what should be done about taxes for the super-rich get far more airtime on Newsnight than, say, a tax-justice campaigner such as John Christensen.
In an ideal world, the media and government would simply give less prominence to big business. But that isn't going to happen any time soon. So meanwhile, the rest of us should at least get some say on which business people should not be allowed to pronounce on public policy. We could do it through a scheme called Antisocial Business Orders, or asbos, for short.
Executives of a company might earn an asbo if they are on excessive pay packages, or arrange their tax affairs so as to (let's be gentle here) inconvenience the Revenue. Or a boss might not give enough of his corporate budget to training staff, or investing in wider community projects. Chris Bones, a professor at Manchester Business School, suggests awarding asbos for climate-destructive corporate behaviour.
Unlike the other asbos, the ones for business wouldn't carry any punishment – a committee of judges would simply slap them on firms behaving perfectly legally, just very, very badly. And then, when the Today programme stuck on Sorrell for the umpteenth time, families across the land would know not to pay him any heed. After all, he earned his asbo a long time ago.
'Moneyontoast' tries to tempt financial advice 'orphans' with £35 bite-size service - This is Money
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A new low-cost online service plans to take advantage of the overhaul of the financial advice industry by giving bite-sized consultations, starting at 35.
Moneyontoast.com is aiming to capture the millions of middle-income financial advice orphans that could be created under changes due to be made by the Financial Services Authority next January.
The regulator wants financial advisers to charge customers a fee rather than accept backdoor commissions, which can skew the recommendations they give.
But critics say a dangerous side-effect would be a financial advice gap.
Making bread: Moneyontoast gives our 'Toastie' tokens
Moneyontoast has been set up by CPN Investment Management, a Sussex-based wealth management firm established in 1986. ‘There could be as many as 11 million people out there who won’t have access to affordable advice,' said Charlie Nicholls, managing partner.
‘It just won’t be cost effective for many middle income people. They’ll still want advice but they won’t want to pay 250 an hour for it.’
The cost for financial advice is currently between 75 and 200 an hour, according to Unbiased.co.uk, a national organisation that promotes advisers. But recent surveys suggest few would be happy to pay that.
A survey by CoreData Research suggested the typical price the average Briton would pay was 39 an hour – or 155 for a full review.
WHAT IF THE FIRM GOES BUST?
Investors, understandably, may feel a little nervous about entrusting their cash to new companies.
What if the enterprise fails?
This shouldn't affect your investment.
Your money is ring-fenced. And, as in the case of Moneyontoast, it would not necessarily even need to transfer your funds to a new fund platform provider.
That's because Moneyontoast, like most other niche operators, invests your money in funds via one of the two fund platform giants - Cofunds or Fidelity's Fundsnetwork.
As Justin Modray of Candidmoney.com says: 'Funds within your ISA are ring-fenced by a 'custodian' (usually a third party bank) from both the fund manager and fund supermarket, meaning it's held separately from their businesses.'
But would could people expect for 35 at Moneyontoast?
The company claims many people will not need to pay, and that answering questions online in its ‘fact find’ process will give them the answers they need.
If they then still need to talk to someone then Moneyontoast says it has already gathered enough information to dispense advice quickly, within 20 minutes.
If it takes longer then the meter keeps running, with the client’s permission, so an hour session would cost 105.
This service is supported by Moneyontoast’s cheap investing options: a 7.95 flat fee for share trading and aggressive discounting on funds. Initial charges are reduced from a typical 5 per cent to zero, although this is now standard practice for most fund supermarkets.
Many of these discount fund sellers also reduce the typical annual fund charges - normally 1.5 per cent - by handing back some of the commission they receive. Hargreaves Lansdown, for instance, rebates a 'bonus' of 0.25 per cent a year on Isas - but not on Sipps.
Moneyontoast, however, has chosen to keep all of the commission.
Our verdict:
The notion of dishing out bite-sized amounts of guidance at a reasonable cost - a pay-for-what-you-use system - is compelling amid the threat of the FSA's changes that could 'orphan' millions of Britons from financial advice.
It's the sort of innovation that should be welcomed.
Moneyontoast's aim is not to attract savvy investors - those already picking their own shares or confidently buying funds through the likes of market leaders Fundsnetwork, Hargreaves Lansdown, or the cheaper option of Cavendish Online [find out more about the cheapest fund platforms].
No, Moneyontoast wants to connect with those who engage little about their finances - but should because of the reasonable amounts they have to invest.
Moneyontoast's decision-making tools - run by 'Doughbot' - are fairly basic. They include giving you a risk profile and a Financial Healthcheck and Pensions Check. But it's unclear how you use this information to make decisions, therefore channeling users into having to pay the 35 for advice.
Certainly, the process for picking funds developed by Rplan, another new entrant (see below), is smoother.
We're also disappointed that Moneyontoast will keep all of the annual commission it is paid on funds. We'd prefer it hand back some of this to investors, especially if those investors have already paid for advice.
The company says costs can be reduced by earning 'Toasties', by referring a friend or by buying products, such as life insurance. Twenty 'Toasties' can be used to buy 35 of financial advice.
It may all sound a little gimmicky, but we welcome anything that helps those who have little interest or confidence when it comes to their finances to find the right answers. We'd just prefer that they went the whole hog and became DIY investors, making it as cheap as possible.
The new breed of investment help websites
Moneyontoast is not the only new entrant in the quick-and-easy advice market.
And it’s not just the FSA’s proposed changes driving this trend. Advisers have been squeezed by the boom in DIY investment. The investment industry was highly lucrative for advisers up until the last few years. But the advent of the internet meant millions educated themselves and now make their own money decisions.
COMMISSION PAYMENTS AND CHARGES EXPLAINED
The way investment funds are sold in the UK is nothing short of bizarre.
It's down to the way that financial advice is funded - something the regulator is determined to change.
If you go direct to a fund company to invest in one of their ISAs, you will be charged 5 per cent on ALL money you invest, as well as an annual management charge (AMC) which is a typical 1.5 per cent*.
You would also pay the same if you went to an independent financial adviser who takes a cut from each. These payments from fund companies to IFAs are for commission-based advisers to make a living - and offer a 'free' service to clients.
The third route is the cheapest way to invest. You go without advice and invest through a fund supermarket. The cheapest of these - Cavendish Online - will offer to refund to investors all of the 'advice' commission it receives (because it hasn't given any).
* In reality, the AMC is a nonsense and total expense ratios (TER) give a better indication of the cost to investors. It tends to be 1.6-1.7 per cent. But even the TER doesn't include all the costs that investors have to pick up.
There’s also a recognition in the industry that next year's overhaul – the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) – will highlight the extent to which backdoor commissions have been paid and spur investors to take even more control.
At present, IFAs represent the most expensive way to invest as they normally keep all the commission on offer - in exchange for advice.
But even the discount brokers and fund supermarkets that have empowered DIY investors in recent years still receive a huge income from commission often without giving individual advice.
Hargreaves Lansdown, for instance, is one of the biggest fund supermarkets in the UK and it makes an incredible 60 per cent profit margin from 208m of revenue a year, mostly from commission.
So with the industry under pressure, a handful of innovators have developed websites that could flourish.
Last month saw the launch of investsmartuk.co.uk, which puts 50 per cent of an investor’s trail commission back into their fund. It says that unlike most other commission rebate companies, it also provides a free annual review of fund performance, with a fee-based independent advice service available if necessary.
Tom Russell, director at the company based in South Wales and set up by BeaconIFA, said: 'The rules on commission are changing at the end of the year, yet most investors are blissfully unaware. What many people don’t realise is that they can get half their commission back going forward as of today. The people hardest hit by the RDR will continue to be so called ‘orphan’ clients – investors that have no adviser. They are the ones paying the most and receiving the least, and we think it’s time that changed.'
Rplan.co.uk launched last year offering to hand back half of the commission it receives as a cash bonus. It also has financial planning tools aimed at helping people make their own choices about investing.
Its suggested portfolios also flag up the total expense ratios (TER) against each fund - a better measure than than the annual management charge (AMC) - which is nearly always '1.5 per cent' - advertised by fund managers. Rplan also puts a risk rating on each fund.
European Stocks Little Changed as Banks Slide - nola.com
(c) 2012, Bloomberg News.
European stocks were little changed, following last week's rally for the region's equity benchmark, as a selloff in banks offset Greek opinion polls that eased concern the country will leave the euro.
Bankia SA sank 13 percent after the lender said it will seek 19 billion euros ($24 billion) of state funds and Spanish borrowing costs surged. Mining companies limited losses, led by Rio Tinto Group and Antofagasta Plc, as copper climbed amid dwindling stockpiles in China.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1 percent to 242.35 at 4:30 p.m. in London. Markets in Denmark, Iceland, Luxembourg, Austria, Norway and Switzerland were closed for a public holiday Monday, while U.S. exchanges were shut for Memorial Day.
National benchmark indexes declined in 9 of the 12 western- European markets that opened Monday. Britain's FTSE 100 slipped less than 0.1 percent, Germany's DAX dropped 0.3 percent and France's CAC 40 decreased 0.2 percent.
Spain's IBEX 35 Index sank 2.2 percent as bonds retreated, pushing 10-year yields to their highest relative to benchmark German bunds since the euro was created.
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