Wednesday, 1 October 2014

Elisabeth Murdoch Said Leaving Fox After Shine-Endemol Deal

By Anousha Sakoui

Elisabeth Murdoch will leave her father’s company again once Shine Group Ltd. (2877), the TV production business she founded and sold to 21st Century Fox Inc. (FOXA), becomes part of a joint venture, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Murdoch, who is non-executive chairman of Shine, will focus on other investments including startup Locksmith Animation, said the people, who asked not to be named because

Cisco Cuts CEO’s Pay After Missing Sales, Profit Targets By Peter Burrows

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) Chief Executive Officer John Chambers received $16.5 million in compensation for the company’s latest fiscal year, a 22 percent decline.
The company didn’t meet revenue and operating income targets for the year that ended in July, and Chambers’s performance-based compensation was reduced accordingly, the company said in a filing yesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The world’s largest maker of networking equipment had $47.1 billion in sales in fiscal 2014, falling short of the company’s target of $49.5 billion. Operating income was $13.4 billion, short of the $14 billion target.
Chambers, 65, has been at the

$617 Billion in Japan Stock Orders Scrapped After Error

By Anna Kitanaka and Toshiro Hasegawa

Stock orders amounting to more than the size of Sweden’s economy were canceled in Japan today, with an industry regulator saying it received a report about a trading error.
At 9:25 a.m. Tokyo time, orders for shares in 42 companies totaling 67.78 trillion yen ($617 billion) were canceled, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from the Japan Securities Dealers Association. JSDA received an error report from a member and is still confirming details of the matter, according to an official who asked not to be named as he isn’t authorized to discuss individual cases.
The biggest order was for 1.96 billion shares of Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), or 57 percent of outstanding shares at the world’s biggest carmaker, for 12.68 trillion yen through an off-exchange transaction. Toyota declined to comment. Other stocks with scrapped transactions included Honda Motor Co. (7267), Canon Inc. (7751), Sony Corp. and Nomura Holdings Inc. (8604)
“Fat finger” trading mistakes occur periodically. In 2009, UBS AG mistakenly ordered 3 trillion yen of Capcom Co. convertible bonds. In 2005, Mizuho Financial Group Inc.’s securities unit was unable to cancel a mistyped order for

Mosquito Virus That Walloped Caribbean Spreads in U.S.

By Kelly Gilblom

A mosquito-borne virus that can cause debilitating joint pain lasting for years has spread to the continental U.S. after infecting hundreds of thousands of people in the Caribbean and Central America.
The virus is called Chikungunya, an African name meaning “to become contorted.” While the illness, first identified in Tanzania in 1952, has long bedeviled Africa and Asia, the only recorded cases in the U.S. before July involved patients who contracted the virus abroad.
Now, 11 cases have been confirmed as originating in Florida, spurring concern this may be the beginning of the type of explosive growth seen elsewhere from a disease that has no vaccine or cure. Medical and environmental experts are debating how best to quell the

Mayor of Los Angeles Suburb Is Shot to Death in His Home

By Alison Vekshin and James Nash

The mayor of the Los Angeles suburb of Bell Gardens was shot dead at his home during a family dispute with his wife and son, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
Daniel Crespo, whose city biography described him as a deputy probation officer for the county, was killed about 2:30 p.m. yesterday in the community of 43,000, about 8 miles (13 kilometers) south of Los Angeles.
“They didn’t have any problems,” said Jannette Morales, a family friend who said she’d known the Crespos for more than 13 years. “They had a beautiful relationship.”
The mayor was quarreling with his

First Ebola Case Is Diagnosed in the U.S., CDC Reports

By Kelly Gilblom and Robert Langreth

Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), speaks at a news conference about the first case of deadly Ebola diagnosed in the U.S. (Source: Bloomberg)

The first case of deadly Ebola diagnosed in the U.S. has been confirmed in Dallas, in a man who traveled from Liberia and arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 20, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The man is being kept in isolation in an intensive care unit. He had no symptoms when he left Liberia, then began to show signs of the disease on Sept. 24, the CDC said yesterday. He sought medical care on Sept. 26, was hospitalized two days later at Texas Health Presbyterian and is critically ill, said Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC.
Frieden said the agency is working to

Adidas to Start $1.9 Billion Shareholder Return Program

By Corinne Gretler

Adidas AG (ADS), the world’s second-largest sporting-goods maker, said it will start a multi-year shareholder return program of as much as 1.5 billion euros ($1.9 billion).
The share buyback, which will begin in the fourth quarter of this year, will be completed by Dec. 31, 2017, and will mainly be financed by its free cash flow, the company said in a statement today. The buyback program will be in addition to its policy to pay an annual dividend of 20 percent to 40 percent of net income attributable to shareholders. The company also said today that it will issue as much as 1 billion euros in Eurobonds, the first such issue since July 2009.
Adidas, which sponsored both finalists at this

European Buyers Cross Atlantic in $87 Billion U.S. Deal Spree

By Manuel Baigorri and Dinesh Nair

European companies are snapping up U.S. targets at the fastest pace since 2008 as they use cheap financing and record cash levels to seek growth outside of the continent.
From German drugmaker Merck KGaA to British American Tobacco Plc (BATS), European acquirers announced $87 billion of deals in the U.S. in the third quarter, more than the previous 12 months combined, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That spending helped drive global deal volume to $886.7 billion, a 29 percent jump from the year-earlier quarter, the data show.
While dealmaking within Europe’s borders picked up earlier this year, the leap across the Atlantic reflects an appetite for opportunities that can’t be

Ireland Said to Sell $1.1 Billion Junior NAMA Bonds at Discount

By Joe Brennan

Irish government-appointed officials agreed to sell 841 million euros ($1.1 billion) of junior bonds linked to the state’s bad bank at a discount to par value, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The government gave the former Anglo Irish Bank Corp. the bonds as part payment for toxic loans the bank sold in 2010 to the National Asset Management Agency. The notes are being sold after the state appointed KPMG in Dublin last year to liquidate the bank. The liquidators placed the notes with a range of institutional investors internationally, said the people, who asked not to be named as the matter is private.
Spokesmen for the liquidators, Kieran Wallace and Eamonn Richardson, Ireland’s finance ministry and Goodbody Stockbrokers in

European Stocks Are Little Changed Before U.S. Jobs Data

By Jonathan Morgan

European stocks were little changed as investors awaited a report on U.S. jobs and Italy cut its economic-growth forecasts. U.S. index futures were also little changed, while Asian shares fell.
Orange (ORA) SA retreated 2.8 percent as Bpifrance is selling a stake in the phone company for as much as 595 million euros ($750 million). Afren Plc gained 3.2 percent after saying that an independent review didn’t disclose more improper transactions beyond the ones being investigated.
The Stoxx 600 Europe Index fell less than 0.1 percent to 343 at 8:11 a.m. in London. The gauge rose 0.6 percent yesterday, completing its