Carrefour checks out of Indonesia

NEWS BULLETIN 6

Carrefour checks out of Indonesia           20/11

 

Carrefour, the second biggest retailer in the world is getting out of Indonesia. It is selling its 60% stake in Carrefour Indonesia to its partner there, CT Corp. The deal, worth more than half a billion euros, will be finalised early next year.

The French retailer is continuing to withdraw from Southeast Asia which accounts for only 8.9% of its turnover compared to more than 72% in Europe.

 

Six months after arriving, the new CEO of the group, Georges Plassat is stepping up the pace. He wants to finance Carrefour’s recovery by selling off its overseas interests. Getting rid of Colombia, Malaysia and Indonesia has earned the group nearly 3 billion euros.

That means there’s money to re-vamp all the group’s shops to increase profitability and to boost its hypermarkets in Western Europe, but particularly improve its 5300 smaller convenience stores.

Investors welcomed the refocusing. Since early January, Carrefour shares have gained more than 30% and this Tuesday recorded one of the largest increases in the Paris stock exchange, up 2.9% at the close.

2013 promises more of the same. Carrefour is reviewing its assets in Turkey and Poland so it can concentrate more on Brazil and China.

 

Church of England votes against women bishops     21/11

 

The Church of England has held an historic vote at its General Synod meeting in London. The question was: should women be allowed to become bishops? And the answer was no, guaranteeing continuing internal strife over the issue that has divided the Church of the world’s 80 million Anglicans for years.

 

Bishops and clergy backed the change but lay members of the Synod couldn’t decide and were four votes short of a majority.

There were tears as it became clear there would not be another vote for 5 years. “A lot of the discussion today it’s felt, personally, that it hasn’t been against women bishops it has been against women priests which when you’re saying this things, you’re surrounded by women in dog collars, is a hard thing to hear,” Reverend Sally Hitchiner told reporters outside the Synod meeting.

 

“I know him who calls me and that call is not dependent on people who are prejudiced, deeply prejudiced about women,” added the Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin.

Women already serve as Anglican bishops in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States but the dispute between reformers and traditionalists has prevented their introduction in the UK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BP handed record fine over Deepwater Horizon spill            16/11

 

It is the biggest criminal fine in US history. BP has been ordered to pay 4.5 billion US dollars as part of the settlement following the fatal Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010. Two BP employees have been indicted on manslaughter charges and a former manager charged with misleading the US Congress. BP still faces a raft of claims from private plaintiffs.

EXT capital analyst Joe Rundle said:   “Getting this fine out of the way is a big hurdle for the stock price, it’s a big overhang. So once this is done it then leads onto the civil claims which should be done in February and this will set a sort of level and people can start working out what level these civil claims are going to be.”

The Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 workers and spewed millions of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days hurting the environmnet and wreaking the local economies.

The company must still answer significant legal challanges including cases brought by the states of Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.

 

Arab League ministers push for action on Gaza         17/11

 

There have been calls for practical help for Gaza after a meeting of the Arab League in Cairo. Condemning Israel for the airstrikes on the Palestinian territory, ministers called not for military assistance, but humanitarian aid rather than just words.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has invited Arab League head Nabil Elaraby to visit Gaza. Pledging to support the Palestinians against what he described as “Israeli aggression”, Elaraby also said: “I wonder about the usefulness of the so-called peace process. It has become a process that does not bring peace. I also wonder about the reasons why the Quartet of the US, EU, UN and Russia continue to sponsor a peace process that does nothing.”

 

Jointly, Turkey and Egypt should be able to bring peace to the region and will continue to cooperate in supporting the Palestinians. That was the message from Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan also commended Egypt’s president Mohammed Morsi for recalling the country’s ambassador to Israel. Egypt’s prime minister Hisham Qandil visited Gaza on Friday.

Protesters supporting the Palestinians and denouncing Israel gathered outside the Arab League meeting – many of them also demanding action rather than words.