Thursday, February 9, 2012
DAILY TRUST
21
Business International Bharti profit disappoints; Africaprovides Silver lining lNDIA'S Bharti Alrtd tid disappointed investon by pose..... dghth
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of&lling prnlilS as thcworid's
No. 5 mobiJe cal1Y.r by subscribers was hil by rJgbef tal: and intemt costs. thc:JuKh its nascmt 001 key Africa busI-
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Shares In 8harti. nearly a third owned by Southeast
............. """"'6nnSingTcl.1CI as much '1565 pm:cnl 00 Wednc3day. iosingthcsaJns of the past week n.dt after a cowt ruling c:ancdling the licmca r:J JOmI! mmpditon;
wa5sem.bmefting Bharti.
Profits ollndlan mobile arricn ha~ been squr:eud
by Im>dom "'"""""'" m
FAO appeals for urgent food assistance to Sudan THE UN ;,00 and AgrkultuR' OJpnisalion (FAD) ~~y appeakd 10 donor fWions. humanltarim agencies and 1M Govcmmmt of Sudan 10 WI d Iogrthcr 10 pr~1 a possebk food emu in 1M -=otmtry. Tbc FAO said In a stalt"flJtnl thal!.heR'''''U an Urgcni l ltft ' of 0'itt41 mi!llon dollars to proridt t"flJtrgtllCY 0Ix! :l5Sl.stmce to vulnerablt people in Sudm. Aco,.rdi tglotherepor1 olaJOint cropandfood S«Wiry;us.'SSrt\I!I1t rdtastd by FAOand the Food 5«u.ril} TI!t hnicaJ Scartanar n·"STS) of the Minis·
try of AgtiC' lbWl'anci Iniption,Sudanli2011 and 2012 crop IlUV'I!$t would be: ~Ignifiamtly bdow
.""... The fI!P' or1 further noted dw the crop harvat
would likdy resuh In increasing food lnsecunty acroa the country The Quasi Crop and Food Supply Assessmmt Mls/don (Quasi·O'SAM) report. conducted in col· labomion ""ith the fedmJ1 and state Ministries of AgrkultuR'. Is based on. national field mission canicdout in Nov. and Dl!'c.20tl . Tht repon Aid "poor rainfall al theslarl of tht: cropping $Ca5Ofl reduced the total am cultivated and caused Iovm' pdcb in lhe rain· fed sector. ~Poor pastufft and unc:mainty about acass to South Sudans pastures triggered SOme! earlierthan-usual anle ffilgnlklos. before crops ~ ready to be: Iw'veslI!d. caustng crop dc:struction: II nottd that ongomg insecurity has com-
cultural activilks.. "Jnsecurity in South Kordof;m and Wut NUt meant the ffiWdon team could only kCl!S5 a small part of each stall!. TherefOR', the magmtudt of the food illKCUrity problem 15 wKlta? it sad Sutians tota1 ~ haf"YUI is estimated to be 2.n million tannes. compristng 2.08 million tonnesof sorghum, 0 .36 million tonnes of millet and sm.all alIlounlS of wheat. maize and riel!. Tht: miUd harvel isexpected to br: particularly poor in northern parts off-lnrth Darfur and North
pounded "" ........ bydwupung """"" .... -
dL (PItNAlNAN)
KonIofm ...... FAO said increased imports of ccmU5 would be: needed at a t1mI! when SudanS l!COIlOf11y has poor forrign cu:hange c:am~ and a fiscal defi-
Morocco vows to cap Mauritius January budget deficit at 5% inflation slows to 6.4% MOROCO )'S r«mt.Iydcaa..l15bmisl-kd gom-nmenc aims toap d1t blJdaet defICit a15 p..1 of GOP in 2012. a mlnisttt saki ,utef(!ay. after extra spending In the waU of regional unlftt hdp_"CI pwh the shonfallla.sc yur 10 ib highest level sana the 191Js,. -ntetnlgdde6dt in lOll stood at 6.1 pel of GOP," Idriss Azamial-tdrissi Azami, nunister in dwge of the: budgd,lokI Raltmbyklcphone.rnisingupIS.6pem:nlofGOPestimale WI. mouth tylhe minislct-in charge ofgeneral affairs and p emanct 1M. are not o:tJCnCIy worried about tht: level of the buJge.ddKlt." Azamisald.. *\\'emcieterminl!d torestorl!baIante In pubik: fll\il.OCl!S. We pQn to bong it down to 3 pau:nI bythemda o.u rnatKbll! Ul20 16 bymaldngbeucruseoffiscal nsourta. ""forming the tarpooI and rationaliting spending." ~ \0 avoid the kmd of unrest seen in other pam oC the Arab WI dd. and WOI'Titd aboul increasc1; in global commoditypric~ thcgowrnmmllast yur I1lI5I!'d publkKCtor wages and has fTIOR' than If"dMed funds for food and energy fut.idiI::s to IJ¥'eI' $6 billion. Those 1'I1O\~ ~ rmcd p~re on thC' budgt'l ddidt, espe:iaJ fat 1 time when the slowdown m the European Union, Mo-occos main Inding partner, has ealI!n into the ~mmli tu,custOn\S ~ues and its romgn C\1rR'Ilcy """"'The debtJGOP ratio stood 1149.3 pel in 2010, according to rmaoarrJnistry. (kutas)
MAURffIUS' annual ~ge rail! of in[b· eased for the sccond month in a row in
IlOrI
""~ mom 10 . bnngmg down inlerest rata to
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.".,-growth. Offidal data on Wednesday showed that although the amsumcr pria index of the Indian Ocean island rose to 131.9 in January from 130.4 a month ago. the Inflation ratt s1uwro to 6.4 prn:ent from 6.5 percent a month earlilt_ Tht year-on yar-rate wa5 unchanged al 4.8 percenl. according 10 11lomson Rmtcn calculations. Last month. the lnlemationa1 Monetary Fund saki the tate would be: 5 perani thisycar. "We coukl expect furthcrdcdines in in.JlIIlion, giving the cmtraI bank I1lOr'I! room to adJUSt intl!l'cst rata downward to IUppOr1 «OnOm1c growth." Ktshm Nad.assm, smlor raearch ana1ysl aJ. am. st~ tokI
""',"'Monlh -on-month.housingandfudco.sl.l
"*' 3.8 pcrunl, restaurants and hotels rose
3.6 perun! and food costs rose 0.8 percent, the lralistia offiCI! said. Analysts attributed
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the rise to higher usage during peak holiday
~ QKI. annual inIbtion could moderale 15 far as about S.J perttIIt in June whilttM)Ufon-ynrmtwouldcomtdown
10 S pcrunL
~ Bank of Mauritius trimmed its key R'pO rate by 10 basis points to 5.40 pcn:enl in
DtcernbeT, dting weak business confidence as g.Ioball1l1Cl!1'tllintles incrasingly clouded the island's growth outlook... 1bc ncn Intl!l'l!St r..ue decision is due in
,"""FtnanCI! minister Xavier Duvalsakllast
month growth wuuId be: lower that th!!earUcr f£m'ClL5t J .. pI!fCCfIt, while the lMF f'onast growth at 3.7 percmt this year. A Rartcn poll showed that although growth would be: affected IJi the cum ZOflI! oisis takes a toll on exports.. inflation and interest r.ttes are apccled to mnain rdath'elystabk. 1'he pol] fOR'CaS! prices would mnaln.stablc compared with other African countries. with inllation avtraging 5 ~ forth!! nat twoyars,(hllttn)
the domestic market. which has ~ than. doz.en players. Market Itader I.Iharti and somt of Its rivals raised calI prices In the middle of last )'\"aI'. the first such IncR'lSl! in at least two yean. Bharti, wtuch vmrured inlO Africa in 2010 byacquiTlngmosl ofthc Alric:anoperalions ofKuwaJts bin in a $9 billion debt funded dcal. said it "I'ilS0II1r'aCk 10 mec:c Its perIOrmana: goals in Afnca. -In the near-Icnn. the wmpany WID I'acr: IOITII! presSW'I! due to high loan ~)' nlmlS C06ts and compt'I.itiYI! ~inthe Indian market. buttumarowidinAfncabuSlness will dn~ilSperformance in the med.twn 10 mg-tl"ml," said R.K. Gupta. a fund man· ¥I' at Tau1'U5 Mutual Fund. which owns Bharti shares. Bharti, controlled by biI UonaUe SunU Mllbl ~ a 22 pttcmt drop UI mnsoIi dated net profit 10 10.1100 ~ "'" roal thud....-tel'
ended Da.::m1bcr. &om
13.olbn rupea a ymrouiicT ~I.II! IIJ5I!
17 JlI!fUfII to
184_77bn rupees. BrokBages IW expected a 3.2 pount rise 111 net profit 10 13.45bn rupeaon tnmUl! of 184..5400 rupea b the
..... DoIhi-~ company, wltich had lO million CUSI()ft1I!I'$ ill the end of December In 19 cotIIItrics ~ Miaand Africa. Its nwgins IlI1! weakrr Ul Afrb thorn in lndia due 10 high costs and Bhani has ~ 10 Illm a profll on the conti-
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perbmance is improving. Afrb~UI!I05I! 16pcn:m1 1OSl.06bn in the~
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towanb IlS fiscal 201 J pis of .rue..ing$Sbnin~and
S2hn In EDnDA (earnings bdorI! InICftSt, lu, drpMialion and IlfTIOI1isation) rrom Africa. Manoj KohlI, Bhartl Airttfs chief euculn-r b-
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opmulom,loId
reporten. (Rndm)