Wheelock Sells Hong Kong Tower to Manulifeas Rents Soar

Manulife Financial Corp. (MFC) has agreed to pay the second-highest priceon record for a whole Hong Kong office tower as companies seeking cheaper rents push up demand for space outside the city’s Central business district.
Canada’s biggest insurer will pay HK$4.5 billion ($580 million) to the developer, a unit of Wheelock & Co. (20) , for the 512,000-square-foot Kowloon East building, the companies said in a joint statement yesterday. The building is scheduledfor completion by the endof 2015 and will be used by Manulife as its Hong Kong headquarters, they said.
Demand for office space outside Central, which hasthe world’s second-highest office occupancy cost behind London ’s West End, is rising as banks and brokerages seek cheaper locations to keep costs low amid slowing corporate finance activities. Monthly rents in Kowloon East rose 4.5 percent in the first three months of 2013 from the previous quarter to HK$31.71 a square foot, asthose in Central gained 0.3 percent to HK$98.77 asquare foot, according to broker Cushman & Wakefield Inc.
The price paid by Manulife, equivalent to about HK$8,790 a square foot, is the second-highestin Hong Kong for whole office building sale, according to Sigrid Zialcita, managing directorfor Asia research at Cushman & Wakefield. Agricultural Bank of ChinaLtd. (601288) last year paid HK$4.9 billion for 50 Connaught Road, near Central.
Shares of Wheelock rose as much as 1.9 percent and were trading at HK$42.20 at 9:54 a.m. in Hong Kong. The stock hasrisen 8.2 percent this year,compared with the 2 percent decline in the benchmark Hang Seng Index . Manulife’s shares traded in Hong Kong rose2.8 percent to HK$111.80,bringing its gain this year to 8.1 percent.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. are among banks that have leased additional office space in areas outside of Central in the first quarter, accordingto Cushman & Wakefield.
Manulife isn’t the first financial services companyto acquire its own building in Kowloon East, where rents are rising. China Construction Bank Corp. (939) in March last year paid HK$2.5 billion, or about HK$7,200 a square foot, for an office building in the area.
The insurer is buying one of the two towers of the One Bay East commercial complex. Wheelock bought the site for HK$3.53 billion, or HK$3,856 per buildable square foot, in a tender in 2011. The developer, Wheelock Properties Ltd., may sell the second towerin full or by floors when it’s nearing completion, Managing Director Ricky Wong said in yesterday’s statement
Wheelock & Co. is controlled by the family of Peter Woo, who has an estimated net worth of $8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index . The Hong Kong-based company is the parent of Wharf Holdings Ltd. (4) , owner of two of Hong Kong’s largest shopping malls and the city’s cable TV operator.
CBRE Group Inc., the world’s biggest commercial realtor, brokered the transaction, according to the statement.

Advertising revenue from UK smartphones grew at 10 times the rate of other online platforms in 2012,

The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) said a study conducted by PwC showed spending on online advertising reached£5.42bn in 2012.
Overall advertising spending on the internet jumped 12.5% last year, defying a flagging economy as companies battled to reach consumers spending more timeon smartphones andtablet computers.
The study, which used data from companies that had provided information the previous year, said internet advertising spending rose £607m on 2011, with some £323m due to an increase in mobile advertising.
Britain has led the way in moving advertising from traditional areas likenewspapers and radio to the internet.
A high take-up of broadband and the rise of smartphones and tablet computers which allow users to accessthe internet on the go have helped theshift.
"Advertisers are increasingly buying integrated campaigns across online and mobile rather than regarding mobile asan afterthought," director of research and strategy at the IAB Tim Elkington said.
With around two-thirds of adult Britons owning a smartphone as of December 2012, mobile advertising now accounts for almost 10% of all digital ad spending compared with about 1% in 2009.
Video advertising grew 46% to £160m, accounting for 12% of online and mobile display in 2012.
Demand for mobile adverts is likely to increase after auctions for next-generation 4G airwaves earlier this year, which are set to deliver speeds more than five timesfaster than 3G services.
These services will make downloading high-resolution video easier and enable better multi-tasking on the latestsmartphones and tablets.
EE, Britain's biggest mobile operator, said it was now on track to sign up onemillion customers for its 4G service by the end of the year.
The consumer goods sector overtook the financesector as the biggestspender on digital display advertising - accounting for almost 16% of display ad spend in2012.

Sir Richard Branson sells Virgin Money for $40m

BRITISH entrepreneurSir Richard Branson isselling his Virgin Money financial services business in Australia to Bank of Queensland in a $40 million deal.
Under the deal, the bank will have exclusive use of the Virgin Money brand for four decades in exchange for an ongoing royalty to Sir Richard's Virgin Group.
Virgin Group will alsobe given a seat on BoQ's board.
BoQ believes the dealwill allow it to expand into untapped markets by distributing its products marketed under the Virgin Money brand.
"It will enable us to sell BOQ-manufactured banking products marketed under the Virgin Money Australia brand to customers who wouldbe unlikely to walk into one of our branches, and provides a low risk, high potential entry point into online funds management distribution with an established brand," BoQ's chief executive Stuart Grimshaw said.
Virgin Money has about 150,000 customers in Australia.

Bank of Shanghai plans to raise about 15 billion yuan ($2.4billion) through an initial public offering in Hong Kong

SHANGHAI, April 9 (Reuters) - Bank of Shanghai plans to raise about 15 billion yuan ($2.4billion) through an initial public offering in Hong Kong this year to replenishcapital, the official Shanghai Securities News reported on Tuesday, citing an internal document distributed to shareholders.
The Chinese lender, whichis eight percent owned by HSBC Holdings Plc , also plans to raise a similar amount of money by selling shares publicly in mainland China, the newspaper said, without giving a timeframe.
Both listings are subject to regulatory approval, it added.
Bank of Shanghai and some other Chinese companies are looking to raise funds in overseas markets as China's securities regulator has frozen the domestic IPO market since last November as part of a campaign to get more than800 IPO applicants to clean up their books.
The newspaper said Bank of Shanghai is expected to have a capital shortfall of 59 billion yuan by 2014, ofwhich 35 billion yuan would be replenished through bond and share issuance.

Bank of Cyprus big depositors to get 37.5 pct equity

- Big depositors in Cypriot lender Bank of Cyprus will get shares in the bank worth 37.5 percent of their deposits over 100,000 euros, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday.
The rest of their big deposits may never be paid back. About 22.5 percent of deposits over 100,000 euros will attract no interest. The remaining 40 percent will continue toattract interest, but will notbe repaid unless the bank does well.
Authorities were expected to officially announce the conditions on Saturday.

Eurogroup chief says European backing for banks last resort

European support for troubled banks is a last resort laid bare what has long been an open secret in Brussels: promises to create a euro zone backstop for banks may never be fulfilled.
Designed to secure a level playing field in the euro zone and prevent vulnerable countries having to contain financial problems alone, a European banking union was one of the biggest political commitments made to underpin the euro.
Comments from the head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers this week that countries which encounter bank problems may have to cope alone, however, underscore resistance to delivering on last year's promise.
"Strengthen your banks, fix your balance sheets and realise that if a bank gets in trouble, the response will no longer automatically be that we'll come and take away your problem," Jeroen Dijsselbloem told Reuters.
"We're going to push themback," the Dutch Finance Minister said shortly after announcing a bailout of Cyprus that forced the closure of the country's second-biggest bank and imposed huge losses on big depositors.
"That's the first response we need. Push them back. You deal with them."
His candid remarks, described by one EU official as "not the most brilliant thing to say", clashed with a commitmentby euro zone leaders to club together when banks fail. They irritated many in Brussels, used to gentler diplomacy.
The comments also grated in Dublin, which still hopesthe euro zone will stand by a pledge to allow its rescue fund, the EuropeanStability Mechanism, to recapitalise banks directly.
Bailed out by European countries and expected to resume normal borrowing on markets this year, Ireland wants direct assistance available for its banks should they get in trouble again to avoid the risk of adding to the country's debt.
It is also hoping the ESM will assume some of the burden of big recapitalisations that have already taken place.
"The principle which was agreed in June was to break the link between sovereigns and banks and the clear understanding... is that the ESM ... of course will potentially be used forrecapitalisations," Ireland'sEuropean Affairs Minister Lucinda Creighton told Reuters. "That's the whole point."
The euro zone's three maintriple-A rated states, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, said last year the ESM could only be used if trouble arose at banks under European supervision in future, leaving "legacy" problems to home countries.
BANK RUNS
Dijsselbloem appeared to go further when he said the aim should be "a situation where we will never need to even consider direct recapitalisation".
After remonstrations from several euro zone partners,he issued a statement clarifying that Cyprus was not a template but a special case.
Another euro zone source said the Dutchman, barely one month in the job, had got carried away by his enthusiasm and needed tolearn that, as head of the Eurogroup, "you must giveup on expressing personal opinions"

HOW MONEY TRANSFER IS DRIVING KENYA ECONOMY

HOW MONEY TRANSFER IS DRIVING KENYA ECONOMY
Usage of mobile money transfer is on increase in Kenya day bay day. Some of the operation than by mobile money service include the following
 Paying of electricity and water bills, this days you do not see people lining up in banks just pay the bills.
 Shopping online many companies today in Kenya give their customers to pay for goods or service by paying through mobile money cash transfer. This process operate just like visa.
 Booking of travel ticket today in Kenya major airline services operating in the country allows it customers to pay for their tickets by Mpesa.
Cheap mobile phone being launched in Nairobi my major mobile manufacturers, especially those from china is the key to the success of the project I the country. the four major mobile providers companies in Kenya are;
a) Safaricom through Mpesa service
b) Airtel through Airtel money
c) Orange by Orange money
d) YU by Yucash
Just four months after safaricom launched M-shauri in collaboration with Commercial Bank of Africa a program that allow its customers to save cash or borrow cash. Its recorded massive response from Kenyans. Today it has more than 4 million customer already.
Statistics from Central Bank of Kenya shows that there are 15million bank deposits accounts compared with 24million money transfer accounts.

JPMorgan board "strongly endorses" dual role for Dimon

The board of directors of JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Friday it "strongly endorses" keeping Jamie Dimon as both their chairman and chief executive of the company.
The comment, contained inthe opening pages of the company's proxy filing ahead of its annual meeting on May 21, is a more vigorous affirmation of the same view the paneltook last year when it opposed an unsuccessful shareholder proposal to split the roles.
The remark comes even after the board said in January that it had cut Dimon's annual compensation in half for 2012 to $11.5 million after the company lost $6.2 billion on derivatives in the so-called "London Whale" trades.
The board said the"strength and independence" of its oversight had been demonstrated by actions the company took after thetrading debacle.
The company has since overhauled its risk controlsand replaced some of its top executives.
The new proxy includes a fresh shareholder proposalcalling for different peopleto hold the posts of CEO and chairman. It is similar to last year's proposal which received 40 percentof the vote.
That vote came five days after the company suddenly announced on May 10 that it had a loss of more than $2 billion on derivatives trades. The size of the loss grew afterward and investors learned more details from congressional hearings about how badly the company had handled its investment portfolio.
Proponents of this year's proposal, who include managers of pension fundsfor New York City employees and for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, haveadded the derivatives loss as a reason to separate the roles.
The board, as it did last year, said it while it is glad to have Dimon in both roles it has not ruled out separating the posts in the future.
This year's meeting, like last year's, is to be held in a JPMorgan office park in Tampa, Florida.
JPMorgan shares have recovered all of the marketvalue they lost after the derivatives debacle. The stock traded up 0.9 percent on Friday to$48.78 at the close of NewYork Stock Exchange trading. It was at $40.74 on May 10 before the company admitted it was losing billions of dollars onthe trades.
Dimon's total compensation, as presented according to theU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission format, was $18.7 million in 2012, down from $23.1 million in 2011. Company and SEC pay counts can differ with the timing of incentive compensation.

List of all the banks in Israel

Bank of Israel
2 Kaplan Street
Kiryat Ben Gurion
P.O.Box 780
Jerusalem 91007
Telephone: +972 2 655-2211
Fax: +972 2 652-8805
Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd
P.O.B. 3450,
7 Jaboutinsky St Ramat Gan 52520
Tetephone: +972 3-7559000
Fax: +972 3-7559913
Arab Israel Bank Ltd
P.O.B. 207,
48 Bar Yehuda Nesher 36601
Telephone: +972 4-8205222
Fax: +972 4-8205250
Bank Hapoalim B.M
P.O.B. 27,
50 Rothschild Blvd Tel Aviv 66883
Telephone: +972 3-5673333
Fax: +972 3-5607028
Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M
P.O.B. 2,
24-32 Yehuda Halevy St Tel Aviv 65136
Telephone: +972 3-5148111
Fax: +972 3-5148360
Bank Massad Ltd
P.O.B. 2639, 80 80,
Rothschild Blvd Tel Aviv 61025
Telephone: +972 3-5641333
Fax +972 3-5602384
Bank of Jerusalem Ltd
P.O.B. 2255,
2 Herbert Samuel St Jerusalem 91022
Telephone: +972 2-6706211
Fax: +972 2-6246742
Bank Otsar Ha-hayal Ltd
P.O.B. 3506,
11 Menahem Begin st., Ramat-Gan 52136
Telephone: +972 3-7556000
Fax: +972 3-7556007
Bank Poalei Agudat Israel Ltd
P.O.B. 29741,
9 Achad Ha'am St Tel Aviv 61297
Telephone: +972 3-5196650
Fax: +972 3-5196785
Bank Yahav Ltd
P.O.B. 36333,
80 Yirmiyahu St Jerusalem 91363
+972 2-5009666
Fax: +972 2-5385869
Dexia Israel Bank Ltd
Ha'tichon Tower Tel Aviv 64739
Telephone: +972 3-7647600
Fax +972 3-6868336
Israel Discount Bank Ltd
P.O.B. 456,
27-31 Yehuda Halevy St Tel Aviv 61003
Telephone: +972 3-5145555
Fax: +972 3-5145365
Mercantile Discount Bank Ltd
P.O.B. 1292,
103 Allenby St Tel Aviv 61012
Telephone: +972 3-5647333
Fax: +972 3-5647205
The First International Bank of Israel Ltd
P.O.B. 29036,
9 Ahad Ha'am St Tel Aviv 61290
Telephone: +972 3-5196111
Fax: +972 3-5100316
UBank Ltd
P.O.B. 677,
38 Rothschild Blvd Tel Aviv 61006
Telephone: +972 3-5645645
Fax: +972 3-5645210
Union Bank of Israel Ltd
P.O.B. 2428,
6-8 Achuzat Bait St, Tel Aviv 61024
Telephone: +972 3-5191111
Fax: +972 3-5191274
Industrial Development Bank of Israel Ltd.
2 Dafna Street
P.O.Box 33480
Tel Aviv 61334
Telephone: +972 3 697-2727
Fax: +972 3 697-2893/0

OPERATE OR TEMPORARY SHUTDOWN

Operate or Temporarily Shutdown

Differential cost analysis is also used when a business is confronted with the possibility of a temporary shutdown. This type of analysis has to determine whether in the short-run a firm is better off operating than not operating. As long as the product sold recover their variable costs and make a contribution towards the recovery of fixed costs, it may be preferable to operate and not to shutdown. Also management should consider the investment in the training of its employees which would be lost in the event of temporary shutdown. Recruiting and training new workers would add to present costs. Another factor is the loss of established markets. Also a temporary shutdown does not eliminate all costs. Depreciation, taxes, interest, and insurance costs are incurred during shutdown also. The other benefits which should be considered are the following: avoiding operating losses, savings in maintenance and repair costs, savings in indirect labour costs and savings in fixed costs.

Even if sales do not recover the variable cost and the portion of fixed cost that is avoidable, the firm may still be better off operating than shutting down the facility. Closing a facility and subsequently reopening it is a costly process. The shutdown may necessitate the incurrence of maintenance procedures in order to preserve machinery and buildings during periods of inactivity (e.g. rust inhibitors, dust covers, security equipment, etc). The shutdown also may require the incurrence of legal expenditures and employee maintenance pay. During the shutdown period, some employees will probably be lost (i.e., they may not wait until the facility is reopened to go back to work), in which case the investment in the training of those employees will be lost. The morale of other employees, as well as company goodwill, may be adversely affected, and the recruiting and training of replacement workers that must be incurred when the facility is later reopened may add to costs. Although difficult to quantify, the loss of established market share is also a factor to be considered. When a company leaves a market for a while, its customers tend to forget about the company’s product. As a consequence, re-entering the market at a later time will probably require re-educating consumers about the company’s product. These shutdown costs must be weighed against losses from continued operations.