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Hyundai targets 4.5 percent rise in U.S. market share

admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 05:33:14 +0000

Hyundai targets 4.5 percent rise in U.S. market share
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) -
005380.KS
) aims to increase its share of the U.S. market to 4.5 percent this year from 4.2 percent in 2009, helped by popular new product launches and aggressive marketing.
South Korea’s Hyundai, the only major automaker to increase sales in the battered U.S. market last year, sees a “really good chance” that its U.S. sales will break the 500,000 unit mark for the first time in 2010, U.S. sales chief David Zuchowski told Reuters in an interview.
Last year, Hyundai’s U.S. sales rose 8.3 percent to 435,064 units, while overall U.S. industrywide sales were down 21 percent. Its share of the U.S. market jumped to 4.2 percent from 3 percent in 2008.
“The 500,000 number is a magical number for us,” Zuchowski told Reuters on the sidelines of the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in Orlando, Florida.
Hyundai U.S. chief executive John Krafcik, in a separate interview with Reuters, said it is unlikely that the automaker can match its hefty 1.2-percentage-point gain in U.S. market share in 2010.
Zuchowski agreed, pointing out that while Hyundai may gain a share due to a drop in Toyota sales in 2010, rivals General Motors Co GM.UL and Chrysler Group LLC won’t be as weakened as they were in 2009, when both went through federally funded bankruptcies.
7203.T
) is reeling from massive safety recalls that have cut into its sales and financial results and tarnished its once-stellar reputation for quality.
Hyundai, GM, Ford Motor Co (
F.N
) and Chrysler are all offering $1,000 in incentives to consumers trading in Toyota vehicles.
Krafcik said the duration of the current incentive for Toyota customers is “not clear” beyond the end of February.
Krafcik said Hyundai’s program targeted only customers who trade in Toyotas and did not apply to consumers who owned Toyotas but were not using them as trade-ins.
“That’s a key difference between Hyundai and the others,” said Krafcik.
Long considered a cheaper alternative to Toyota and other Japanese automakers, Hyundai has been seen as catching up to Toyota on quality and posted a 24 percent gain in U.S. sales in January. Toyota sales fell 16 percent last month.
Krafcik said a key to Hyundai’s success in 2010 will be new product. It has announced that by the end of 2011 it will have introduced seven new products in the U.S. market.
Before the Toyota recalls in the past several months, about 6 percent of trade-ins for new Hyundai vehicles were Toyotas, Zuchowski said. Recently, that figure has jumped to 11 percent, he said.
Among Hyundai customers, the most cross-shopped automaker is Toyota, he said.
“In the past few weeks, we have virtually not lost anyone to Toyota,” Zuchowski said.
The gain for Hyundai in the wake of Toyota’s problems, he said, was in the number of consumers who are seriously considering the brand when shopping.
“We are getting a jump in intenders,” said Zuchowski, “who before would not consider us” while they would consider Toyota.
Krafcik and Zuchowski both said that the highly successful “Hyundai Assurance” program, introduced in early 2009 as U.S. consumer confidence ebbed, will not expire until after 2011. Whether it will live beyond that, they said, no decision had been made.
The program is a safety net for consumers afraid of losing their jobs. In 2009, almost 100 customers returned cars in the program, allowing buyers to walk away from loans without a negative mark on credit reports if they lost their jobs.

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Nikkei rises 0.5 percent on hopes of Greece aid plan (Reuters)

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:51:43 +0000

TOKYO (Reuters) –
Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.5 percent on Wednesday, with blue-chip shares that had been sold off on concerns about fiscal stability in
.
Toyota Motor rose, with some market players saying its share price may have bottomed and despite a new recall of Camry sedans for steering problems but
slipped on plans to recall more cars to replace an airbag deflator.
European governments have agreed in principle to help heavily indebted Greece, a senior German coalition source said on Tuesday, calming investors after
increased in the past two weeks on concern about the fiscal stability of Greece,
.
“It's hard to expect the problems in southern Europe will end up being limited in that region and it will likely take a while to have them solved on the global scale,” said Hajime Nakajima, deputy general manager at Cosmo Securities.
“The market will probably be range-bound until around early spring.”
added 53.07 points to 9,985.97, after edging down to a two-month closing low the previous day. Pressured by worries about euro zone fiscal woes, the Nikkei has shed more than 9 percent since it hit a 15-month high in mid-January.
The broader Topix rose 0.5 percent to 885.70.
Japan's core machinery orders rose more than expected in December from the previous month, easing concern that capital spending may continue to slump and shackle the economy's fragile recovery.
This boosted individual machinery shares, but gains were expected to be limited, with economists noting the 20 percent jump followed a sharp fall the previous month.
“Looking at the December number and then thinking that Japanese capex is starting to show strength is misplaced,” said Takuji Okubo,
.
“We have to look for more, stronger growth quarter-on-quarter and it's not there.”
Market players said that investors, including
(CTAs) appeared eager to sell a bit above 10,000, and that this would also limit gains.
TOYOTA GAINS, HONDA DOWN
In the latest blow to its reputation, Toyota said in a document sent to U.S. dealers and obtained by Reuters that 2010 Camrys equipped with a 4-cylinder engine might have a shorter-than-required power steering pressure hose in their engine compartments.
Toyota shares rose 1.2 percent to 3,415 yen after briefly dipping into negative territory, while Honda slipped 0.8 percent to 3,035 yen.
“The market has factored in Toyota's recent troubles and eyes are now on the fallout on its sales, which will surely sustain some impact,” said
at Cosmo Securities.
“Honda's recall is on things like airbags and not a fundamental part of the car. It's more like a way to highlight its safety standards. The stock is down now because of the expected costs, though that should be temporary.”
jumped 3.2 percent to 754 yen after
's third-largest automaker said it returned to quarterly profit and lifted its forecast for the second time, though warning of a still shaky outlook for the global car market.
Among shares of machinery firms,
Okuma Corp climbed 2.3 percent to 537 yen and Amada Co, a maker of metal-processing machines, rose 3.7 percent to 647 yen.
maker Fanuc Ltd advanced 1.8 percent to 8,950 yen.
Resource-related stocks climbed after oil and copper rose more than 2 percent each on Tuesday, recovering further ground last week's sell-off, as a weaker dollar and anticipation of higher physical demand brought buyers back to commodities.
Trading firm Mitsubishi Corp gained 1.8 percent to 2,175 yen, while
developer Inpex rose 1.4 percent to 665,000 yen.
, which rose 1.7 percent to 3,035 yen and Canon, which gained 1 percent to 3,550 yen. Tokyo Electron advanced 3.2 percent to 5,510 yen.

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Borders shares soar 38 percent after Ackman comments

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:20:31 +0000

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Borders Group Inc shares spiked nearly 40 percent on Wednesday after its largest investor, William Ackman, said there was little likelihood the struggling bookseller would file for bankruptcy and it could even be part of an industry consolidation.
Borders shares rose 36 cents to $1.30 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange, and had reached as high as $1.43 earlier in the session.
Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management owns 17.7 percent of the No. 2 U.S. bricks-and-mortar bookseller.
He said the possibility that Borders would go bankrupt was “a low probability event” during an interview with cable business channel CNBC late on Tuesday.
Ackman’s remarks reassured investors about Borders’ short-term prospects despite dwindling sales, an analyst said.
“Having someone come out and publicly make those comments does help soothe fears that the company’s going to file for bankruptcy imminently,” said Michael Souers, an analyst with S&P Equity Research.
Pershing Square made a $42.5 million senior secured loan, which carries a 9.8 percent interest rate, to Borders, which has to be paid back on April 1; and Souers took Ackman’s comments with “a grain of salt,” saying it was in Ackman’s interest for Borders to stay in business.
Souers also doubts Borders would be an attractive takeover target for Barnes & Noble Inc, despite Ackman’s comments that Borders could end up in a booksellers’ consolidation with its bigger rival.
Barnes & Noble declined to comment on the possibility of a tie-up.
“These companies have a lot of redundant store locations,” Souers said. “They’d probably prefer to see Borders go out of business at some point.”
Borders has contended with sharply falling sales for about two years and its CEO quit last week after only a year at the helm. Comparable sales at Borders’ namesake superstores fell 14.6 percent during the 11-week holiday period ended January 16.
Earlier this week, billionaire investor Ronald Burkle, whose Yucaipa Cos is one of Barnes & Noble’s largest shareholders with an 18.7 percent stake, asked that company’s board for permission to double his stake without tripping the poison pill provisions meant to thwart any hostile takeover.
Barnes & Noble shares were up 25 cents at $19.65 on the New York Stock Exchange.
, editing by Dave Zimmerman and Gerald E. McCormick)

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Exxon quarterly profit tops Street, stock up 3 percent

admin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:07:26 +0000

Exxon quarterly profit tops Street, stock up 3 percent
HOUSTON (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp reported a fourth-quarter profit on Monday that topped Wall Street expectations as natural gas projects boosted results at the largest U.S. oil company’s exploration arm.
Still, Exxon’s net income fell 23 percent as weak demand for fuel in the global economic slowdown caused a loss in its refining business.
Exxon’s shares rose 3 percent, outperforming a 2.2 percent gain in the Chicago Board Options Exchange index of oil companies.
Oil and gas production increased nearly 2 percent in the quarter to 4.18 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day — better than some analysts had expected — helped by production from Exxon’s massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in Qatar.
“Natural gas production in Asia Pacific and the Middle East was up 31 percent,” Pavel Molchanov, analyst at Raymond James, said. “That’s where a lot of the growth came from. They had those big liquefaction terminals start up in Qatar in the second half of the year.”
Exxon is also investing in natural gas closer to home. The company has said it plans to buy XTO Energy Inc for about $30 billion in stock in a big bet on North America’s fast-growing natural gas industry.
While the company declined to provide any details of the planned XTO acquisition on its earnings conference call, it did say the deal is still expected to close in the second quarter.
Underscoring Exxon’s interest in developing fields with so-called unconventional gas trapped in substances like rock, the company said it has amassed 5.5 million unconventional gas acres worldwide and is accelerating development of the Marcellus Shale in the eastern United States with a joint-venture partner.
Exxon and other companies that process oil into gasoline, diesel and heating oil have seen refining margins crushed as crude prices climbed more than 30 percent in a quarter where industrial demand was depressed by economic weakness.
Net income in the quarter was $6.05 billion or $1.27 per share, compared with $7.82 billion, or $1.54 per share in the same period a year earlier.
Wall Street analysts had expected a profit of $1.19 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
“The two things I like to see drive an earnings beat are better production and better margins, Phil Weiss, oil analyst at Argus Research, said. “They certainly got the production.”
Exxon’s worldwide refining unit had a loss of $189 million, compared with a year-ago profit of $2.41 billion.
Last week, No. 2 U.S. oil company Chevron Corp posted a 37 percent drop in quarterly profit, while top U.S. refiner Valero Energy Corp sank to a quarterly loss and slashed its dividend.
Exxon’s chemical earnings were $716 million, up sharply from $155 million in the 2008 fourth quarter. The company’s exploration arm earned $5.78 billion, up from $5.63 billion a year ago.
Revenue in the quarter rose 6 percent to $89.84 billion,
Exploration and capital spending totaled $27.1 billion in 2009, up nearly 4 percent from a year ago. The company has said it expects to spend $25 billion to $30 billion each year over the next 5 years.
Exxon shares closed $1.75 higher at $66.18 on the New York Stock Exchange and rose slightly to $66.25 in after hours trading.
BP Plc will report on Tuesday and Royal Dutch Shell Plc will release results on Thursday.

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China may raise rates when CPI above 2.25 percent: adviser

admin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:11:24 +0000

China may raise rates when CPI above 2.25 percent: adviser
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China might increase interest rates once consumer inflation exceeds the one-year benchmark deposit rate of 2.25 percent, a prominent government adviser said on Monday.
Policymakers have traditionally been nervous whenever inflation-adjusted bank deposit rates turn negative in case savers pull their money out of the bank and put it into assets such as property and shares.
Ba Shusong, a senior research fellow at the Development Research Center, a think-tank under China’s cabinet, said Beijing could raise interest rates ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve to dampen inflationary expectations at home.
“But it still not known whether China will just raise deposit rates or both deposit and lending interest rates,” Ba told Reuters in an interview.
The one-year lending rate stands at 5.31 percent. The People’s Bank of China controls both the deposit and the lending rate.
Many economists have argued that Beijing would not raise interest rates before the Fed because a premium in China’s favor could result in stronger capital inflows.
But Ba said capital inflows may not be as great as expected if higher borrowing costs cooled the property sector.
China’s consumer price index rose 1.9 percent in the year to December. Economists expect inflation to accelerate further in coming months, but Jiao Jinpu, a researcher with the People’s Bank of China, said price pressures were unlikely to be fierce enough to trigger a rate rise in the first quarter.
Turning to the yuan, Ba said there is a heated debate among researchers on whether China should let the currency rise. Beijing is likely to take a cautious approach to exchange rate policy, especially as the export sector is still weak, he added.

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Economy soars 5.7 percent, fastest in 6 years

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:00:52 +0000

Economy soars 5.7 percent, fastest in 6 years
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The economy grew at its fastest pace in more than six years in the fourth quarter, surprising economists, as businesses curbed their aggressive cut in stocks and stepped up spending.
The robust growth pointed to a sustainable recovery in a crucial period before government stimulus plans run out and was good news for an administration amid political difficulties.
Gross domestic product expanded at a 5.7 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday in its first estimate for the quarter. It was a strong end to a year in which the economy shrank by 2.4 percent — the worst performance since 1946.
While much of the growth resulted from companies’ drawing down inventories more slowly than they did earlier in the year rather than from a surge in domestic demand, economists said it was still a positive report.
“The data shows that the necessary transition from government stimulus to private sector spending is under way, which is essential to sustain the economic expansion,” said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh.
U.S. stocks initially rallied on the eye-catching growth number but ended down on worries about credit troubles in Europe. Stock market losses fed investors’ preference for safe-haven U.S. government bonds, while the U.S. dollar rallied against major currencies.
Getting the economy on a sustainable growth track remains one of the key challenges facing President Barack Obama, who on Wednesday outlined measures to create jobs and nurture the recovery.
The government will release its closely watched employment report for January next Friday. A Reuters survey forecast payrolls grew by 5,000 jobs after an 85,000 drop in December.
The economic picture was further brightened by a jump in Midwest business activity in January to its highest level in four years, while consumer confidence hit a two-year high.
Economists said they expected the lift from inventories to fade over time, with economic growth moderating in the second half of the year.
“The economy’s engine is running, but to some degree we’re still in a ditch spinning our wheels. With fiscal and monetary fuel running out, we need job growth to get us firmly on the road to recovery,” said Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock Financial in Boston.
The slowing rate of inventory reduction in the fourth compared to the third quarter lifted GDP by nearly 3.4 percentage points, the biggest contribution inventories have made to GDP growth since the fourth quarter of 1987.
When businesses sell off inventories, there is less of a need to step up production and it weighs on GDP. With the liquidation rate slowing, GDP was boosted.
But even with inventories stripped out, the economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.2 percent, accelerating from the 1.5 percent increase in the third quarter. That reflected relatively strong performance from other segments of the economy, particularly business investment.
Still, this measure of final demand is meager compared with most normal recoveries, implying the Federal Reserve can bide its time before raising interest rates.
Consumer spending increased at a 2 percent annual rate, contributing 1.44 percentage points to GDP. In the third quarter, consumer spending had risen at a 2.8 percent pace, supported by the government’s “cash for clunkers” program.
Business investment grew at 2.9 percent rate, the first increase since the second quarter of 2008, as the drag from the troubled commercial real estate was offset by robust spending on equipment and software.
“The solid increase in investment in equipment and software, if confirmed, might indicate that a more solid recovery is under way,” said Harm Bandholz, an economist at UniCredit Research in New York. Some economists said it suggested a budding confidence that could lead to hiring.
Third-quarter growth was put at 2.2 percent after an earlier estimate of 3.5 percent.
The growth of spending on new home construction braked sharply in the fourth quarter to an annual rate of 5.7 percent from an 18.9 percent pace in the third quarter.
Home building has received a lift from a popular tax credit for first-time buyers, but recent data have hinted at some weakness. Export growth outpaced imports, narrowing the U.S. trade gap and adding half a percentage point to GDP growth in the last quarter.
For graphic on GDP, see:

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U.S. retail industry sales seen up 2.5 percent for 2010

admin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:00:05 +0000

U.S. retail industry sales seen up 2.5 percent for 2010
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – U.S. retail sales should rise 2.5 percent this year, signaling that store chains have made it through the worst of the downturn as improvements in the housing and job markets bolster shoppers’ confidence, a trade group forecast on Tuesday.
The 2010 forecast from the National Retail Federation marks an expected improvement from a 2.5 percent drop in 2009 and a 1.3 percent increase in 2008. The data covers retail industry sales, excluding automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants.
This year’s sales forecast, while calling for growth, is still a modest one. Excluding the past two years of recession, a 2.5 percent rise in retail industry sales would mark the lowest year-over-year increase since 1995, when the trade group began tracking such figures.
“I wouldn’t describe this as a very strong year,” said NRF Chief Economist Rosalind Wells in an interview. “We’re not going to have a V-shaped recovery in the economy, and we won’t have a V-shaped recovery in consumer spending or retail sales. It’s a slow return to a more normal level.”
U.S. retailers just completed a better-than-expected holiday sales season. Holiday retail sales rose 1.1 percent in 2009, according to the NRF, beating its own forecast for a 1 percent drop in sales for the November-December period.
Retail chains were able to improve upon a dismal 2008, when holiday sales fell 3.4 percent, by cutting inventories and offering more targeted discounts to attract frugal shoppers.
JOBS, HOUSING TO HELP RETAIL SALES
The question looming is whether retailers can keep that momentum going in 2010 as consumers remain under pressure.
For 2010, Wells expects consumers to keep a frugal mind-set with a focus on values. That should help sales at discount retailers, warehouse clubs and off-priced retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Costco Wholesale Corp and TJX Cos Inc.
The number of U.S. workers newly applying for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose in the week ended January 16, while regional manufacturing slipped in January, hinting at some slowing in the pace of economic recovery.
“In 2010, the retail environment will remain difficult, but the improved economy and easy comparisons will result in positive sales gains,” the NRF stated in its Retail Sales Outlook report.
While the employment picture is “far from pretty,” the NRF said the size of the monthly job losses has diminished and employment may start to grow this year.
“The hope is that as the year goes on, we’ll see improvement in the job market. When that happens, we’ll see a better consumer confidence level, we’ll see higher incomes, and that will all contribute to making consumers feel better and loosening up the pocket book,” Wells said.
The housing market also is showing signs of stabilization, she said.
“We think the housing market has bottomed,” Wells said, adding that a recovery in housing would help boost home values, consumer confidence and demand for home goods, like furniture or bedding, she said.
Wells also said there is already some improvement in sales among more upscale retailers.
“The high-end retailers are seeing better business because their consumer is a little less worried about losing their jobs,” she said.
But retailers facing the biggest challenges for 2010 are those catering to middle-income shoppers.
“The difficulties are still in the middle-income market. That will continue to struggle,” she said.

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Qatar economy grew 11 percent in 2009: deputy PM

admin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 10:05:53 +0000

DUBAI (Reuters) – Qatar’s economy grew 11 percent in 2009, mainly due its natural gas sector, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Qatar, the world’s largest natural gas exporter, is set to outperform key players in the world’s top oil producing region — Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — in coming years due to massive expansion of its gas facilities.
Attiyah, also the energy minister, did not say whether the growth was in real or nominal terms and did not give further detail in comments published on the website of daily Al Watan.
The cash-rich Gulf country was expected to grow 8.0 percent in 2009 and 12.5 percent in real terms this year, a Reuters poll showed, after a 16.4 percent expansion in 2008.
Qatar’s policymakers had been expecting gross domestic product to jump 9 percent and 16 percent in fiscal years 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively. The fiscal year in Qatar, which pegs its currency to the dollar, starts in April.
“Asian emerging economies are lining up for the Qatari gas,” said Farah Ahmed Hersi, senior economist at Masraf Al Rayan in Doha. “The economy is pretty robust and it will grow constantly in double digits over the next few years.”
Qatar’s nominal GDP rose 11 percent in the third quarter compared with the previous three months, but fell 28.3 percent on an annual basis, preliminary estimates from its statistics office showed last month.
The country’s four new liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants were expected to double capacity by the end of 2009 in the world’s richest nation in per capita income.

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China’s 2009 revenues up 11.7 percent, above target

admin — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:47:38 +0000

Thomson Reuters is the world’s largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an
which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays,
.

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Indian stocks close down 0.71 percent (AFP)

admin — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:13:29 +0000

MUMBAI (AFP) –
Indian stocks fell 0.71 percent on Monday, their third straight day of losses, on growing concerns that the central bank could raise interest rates soon to tackle rising inflation, dealers said.
The 30-share benchmark Sensex ended the day 118.63 points lower at 16,601.2.
Rate-sensitive auto, property and metal stocks fell as overseas funds sold ahead of the holiday season.
this year which have pushed the Sensex up nearly 72 percent. The Sensex has more than doubled since March.
“The markets could move in a narrow range and consolidate due to the year-end holidays across most regions,” said a dealer at Jamnadas Morarjee Securities.
Recent official figures showed India's economy grew by 7.9 percent in the fiscal second quarter, the best performance in 18 months, on the back of
.
Losers led gainers 1,544 to 1,273 on low turnover of 38.59 billion dollars (823 million dollars).
The rupee was flat against the dollar at 46.85 but rose against the euro to 67.12 from 67.36.
HDFC Bank fell 10.5 rupees or 0.63 percent to 1,654.4, on worries about a hike in interest rates.
's top property firm DLF fell 7.7 rupees or 2.15 percent to 350.45.
fell 5.5 rupees or 4.02 percent to 137.15.
Tata Motors, India's biggest vehicle maker by sales, fell 6.45 rupees or 0.88 percent to 726.3 and the largest passenger carmaker Maruti Suzuki India lost 23.05 rupees or 1.55 percent to 1,524.5.

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