Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) is likely to have retained its position as the world's best-selling carmaker for the first nine months of the year, beating rivals General Motors Co (GM.N) and Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE), company figures showed on Monday. Toyota said its groupwide sales totaled around 7.41 million vehicles, up 0.1 percent from the same period a year ago, with strong sales in its biggest market of the United States offsetting slow sales in China.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority says it has not authorised any increase in airfare by any airline in the country. A statement signed by the General Manager, Public Relations, NCAA, Mr. Fan Ndubuoke, advised travellers to be cautious and ignore any misleading information. The statement read in part, “The NCAA’s position further clarifies Arik Airline’s claim that it has not in any way increased its fares as being speculated by some passengers.
Updated 6 Years ago

South Korea's LG Electronics Inc unveiled a curved smartphone on Monday in a move to catch up bigger rival Samsung Electronics Co. Curved displays and flexible screens are the new battleground for phone makers as the screens open up possibilities that could eventually transform the high-end smartphone market. Curved smartphones provide a more comfortable grip than flat-screen models, but the lack of must-have features means they are unlikely to be big consumer hits anytime soon, analysts have said. Manufacturing costs also remain relatively high.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Gulf emirate of Dubai on Sunday opened passenger operations at its second airport, Al-Maktoum International, touted to be the world's largest once it is completed. A Wizz Air plane from Budapest was the first passenger aircraft to land at the sprawling new facility, and it was welcomed on the tarmac with a water cannon salute. Jazeera Airways, another low-cost carrier, will follow suit on Thursday with daily flights to and from Kuwait, while Bahrain's national carrier, Gulf Air, will begin operations on December 8.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) aims to join an elite club of stock markets with a market capitalization of $1 trillion by 2016. To achieve this dream the NSE must rise by 1,251 percent, from its current market capitalisation of $74 billion. Twelve stock markets across the world now enjoy a trillion—dollar status, led by the US. Others in this club are UK, Japan, China, Canada, Hong Kong, Germany, France, Switzerland, Australia, South Korea, and Brazil. • To have a trillion dollar capital market it probably makes sense to be a trillion dollar economy. Of the countries in the trillion dollar stock market club only Switzerland and Hong-Kong have economies that are less than $1 trillion in size.
Updated 6 Years ago

A walk along the 2km of light rail that Lagos authorities have managed to build in three years gives a sense of how hard it is to impose order on one of Africa’s most chaotic cities. From either side of the concrete structure – no track has yet been laid – the crowded slums and highways of Nigeria’s lagoon-side commercial hub teem with activity. Its trademark yellow buses overtake, undertake and force their way down impossibly narrow side streets, where women stir pots next to canals clogged with rubbish. With 21-million people generating a third of gross domestic product (GDP) for Africa’s second-biggest economy, Lagos has become almost as alluring to yield-hungry investors as it is to the 4,000 or so economic migrants who turn up each day.
Updated 6 Years ago

The prices of basic foodstuffs have witnessed a sharp decline 10 days after the Eid-el Kabir celebration across the country and following post-harvest surpluses. Our correspondent, who visited some markets in Lagos and Ogun states between Monday and Thursday, learnt that almost all the food items that recorded hike in prices before and during the festivity had now experienced a drop in their prices. Traders, who spoke to our correspondent, explained that the drop in demand for some foodstuffs was responsible for the drop in food prices.
Updated 6 Years ago

Boeing has secured commitments for around 200 of its 737 Max aircraft, the upgraded variant of its best-selling short-haul planes, from multiple Chinese customers, said two sources familiar with the deals. The deals are worth a combined $20.7 billion at list prices and must be approved by the Chinese government, a usual practice for aircraft orders in the country, before the customers can be identified, the sources said.
Updated 6 Years ago

Forget the BRICS: what's really concerning investors now are the "Fragile Five". The spectre of "global contagion" from Brazil, Indonesia, India, Turkey and South Africa is looming, Alan Ruskin, global macro strategist at Deutsche Bank has warned. The phrase "Fragile Five" seems to have been first coined by Morgan Stanley analyst James Lord in August. Since then, the phrase has gained increasing traction as a catch-all for the most concerning emerging market economies – which together represent around 7 percent of the world's economy.
Updated 6 Years ago

Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Korea Co. slashed borrowing costs by more than 50 percent as record demand for imported cars in Seoul’s Gangnam luxury-goods district spurs its lending business. The unit of German automotive group Daimler AG (DAI) sold 130 billion won ($122 million) of two-year notes on Oct. 14 at 3.38 percent, 57 basis points more than similar-maturitygovernment bonds, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s lower than both the spread on 2014 securities sold in November of 123 basis points and the average premium for two-year A+ rated finance debt of 73. The sale was expanded by 30 percent to meet demand.
Updated 6 Years ago