Business news with words billion+bloomberg+phone. 13 news.

KAZAKHSTAN is seeking to more than double its stake in the Eni SpA-led Kashagan oil project as compensation for delays and cost overruns. The Central Asian country's government is seeking to raise its stake to 16.8 percent, Dinara Shaimardanova, an aide to Energy Minister Sauat Mynbayev, told Bloomberg News by phone yesterday from the Kazakh capital, Astana. The state now holds 8.3 percent. The government has disputed a second delay to the start of production at Kashagan, the world's biggest oil discovery in 30 years, and an increase in costs that it says have more than doubled the price for developing and running the field to US$136 billion. Kazakhstan and the group of companies led by Eni extended talks on the dispute until January 15 as Exxon Mobil Corp opposes the increase of the Kazakh stake, Shaimardanova said on Monday. Eni, Exxon, Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc all hold 18.5 percent of Kashagan, while ConocoPhillips has 9.3 percent. KazMunaiGaz National Co,

VIVENDI'S SA's SFR phone unit has offered to buy the rest of Neuf Cegetel for 4.5 billion euros (US$6.5 billion) to challenge France Telecom SA in the market for combined fixed-line, Internet and mobile services. SFR, which owns 40.5 percent of Neuf, will pay 34.50 euros a share for the 29.5 percent stake held by Louis Dreyfus & Cie, the commodities firm that helped found Neuf a decade ago, Bloomberg News reported. SFR will bid 36.50 euros for the remaining shares in the market. The prices include the 2007 dividend. The acquisition of Neuf Cegetel, France's second-largest fixed-line phone company, adds 3.1 million high-speed Internet customers for SFR and more than 3 billion euros in annual revenue. SFR, Vivendi's largest business, has about 34 percent of the French mobile market, compared with France Telecom's 45 percent. "This would create a more formidable competitor," Jerry Bellman, analyst at Kepler Equities in Paris, said. "For SFR this is a defensive move,

DEUTSCHE Telekom AG, Europe's biggest phone company, rose in German trading yesterday after the former monopoly unexpectedly said it will increase its dividend for the first time in two years. Deutsche Telekom gained 1.7 percent on the Frankfurt exchange. The payout will jump to 3.4 billion euros (US$5 billion), or 78 cents a share, for 2007, from 3.1 billion euros, or 72 cents, a year earlier, Chief Financial Officer Karl-Gerhard Eick told Bloomberg News late Thursday. The increase underscores Chief Executive Officer Rene Obermann's efforts to boost the attractiveness of Bonn-based Deutsche Telekom's stock, which has lagged behind Telefonica SA and Vodafone Group Plc. This week, France Telecom SA said it won't raise the portion of cash flow budgeted as dividends, and its stock fell 4.2 percent in one day. Dexia Bank NV analyst Rob Goyens said he will keep his "add" rating on Deutsche Telekom stock and increase his price estimate. "It's a nice

A CONTRACT manufacturer of mobile phones for customers, including Motorola Inc, and its parent could raise as much as HK$7.7 billion (US$989 million) in a Hong Kong initial public offering. BYD Electronic and parent BYD Co are selling 550 million shares, equivalent to a 25-percent stake, at HK$10.75 to HK$14 each, according to an e-mail sent to international institutions, Bloomberg News reported. BYD Co, based in Shenzhen in south China, has more than doubled in Hong Kong trading this year on expectations it may profit for a sale of its handset-component unit. BYD Electronic, which competes with Foxconn International Holdings Ltd for contracts to make phones, is building production plants in China, Hungary and Romania to meet demand. BYD Electronic makes casings and keypads for Nokia Oyj and Samsung Electronics Co, the world's top two mobile-phone makers, Daiwa Institute of Research said in a November 23 report. The Chinese company also assembles phones for Illinois-based

BANK of China Ltd's Hong Kong unit said its purchase of a 4.9 percent stake in Bank of East Asia Ltd, the city's third-largest bank, doesn't presage a takeover. BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd, 65.8 percent owned by China's second-largest bank, yesterday announced it paid HK$3.95 billion ($507 million) for the holding, calling it a "financial investment." "At this point in time, we don't contemplate any further transaction which involves Bank of East Asia," BOC Hong Kong spokeswoman Clarina Man said in a phone interview yesterday. Yesterday's announcement surprised some analysts, who were expecting an overseas lender to target Bank of East Asia to get access to its growing branch network in China, Bloomberg News reported. La Caixa, Spain's largest savings bank, holds a 4.2 percent stake in the company. "Bank of East Asia has always been talked about as a possible target for a foreign bank to take over as a fast way to get into China and Hong Kong,"

CHINA Life Insurance Co yesterday surpassed AT&T Inc in market value, giving China five of the world's 10 largest companies, compared to three for the United States. Beijing-based China Life, the nation's largest insurer, gained 1.1 percent in Hong Kong and added 6.7 percent in Shanghai yesterday ahead of its third-quarter earnings announcement, valuing the company at 1.94 trillion yuan (US$259.1 billion). San Antonio-based AT&T, the biggest US phone company, is valued at US$252.9 billion, according to Bloomberg News. "China is one of the most exciting economies," said Jim Rogers, the chairman of New York-based Beeland Interests Inc. "The market is willing to pay a lot more for future growth." China Life, PetroChina Co, China Mobile Ltd, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd and China Petroleum and Chemical Corp are now in the list of the world's 10 biggest companies by market value. Only two of those are in the top 50 by sales. The CSI 300 Index,

CHINESE telecommunications companies may limit investment in third-generation services for mobile phones to prepare for the adoption of even faster wireless technologies, ABN Amro Holdings NV said. "There isn't a huge business case for 3G," Wendy Liu, ABN Amro's head of China research, told reporters in Hong Kong yesterday, Bloomberg News reported. "It makes sense for China to go directly to 4G as it may offer better returns on investments," she said. Chinese carriers may spend about US$20 billion building networks for 3G services, which allow faster downloads of video and music on mobile phones, CLSA Ltd Asian telecommunications research head Francis Cheung said in May. Fourth-generation services offer download speeds up to 14 times quicker than 3G. Investments for 4G are not expected to start until 2010, ABN Amro's Liu said. The technology may allow users to transfer data at 200 megabits per second, according to the Website of Alcatel-Lucent SA, the world's

MOBILE-PHONE shipments worldwide this year will probably increase 20 percent, more than previously estimated, because of higher Nokia Oyj sales and demand in China and India, JPMorgan Chase & Co has said. Shipments will rise to 1.2 billion units, compared with a previous estimate for 1.17 billion, Bhavin Shah, head of JPMorgan's Asia-Pacific technology research team, wrote in a report on Saturday. Next year, shipments will probably climb 15 percent, Shah said, according to Bloomberg News. Industry leader Nokia and Asia's biggest producer, Samsung Electronics Co, reported mobile-phone earnings that beat analysts' estimates this month. China will extend its lead as the biggest market for handsets after shipments rise 30 percent this year, according to the report. "This shows those who get customers in emerging markets win," said Robyn Hsu, who counts shares of mobile-phone chipmaker Mediatek Inc amid the US$152 million he helps manage at Truswell Securities Investment

EUROPEAN stocks climbed for a fifth week after takeover offers for Hagemeyer NV, Burren Energy Plc and Business Objects SA added to evidence that mergers and acquisitions are recovering from a summer slump. Telefonica SA led a gain in phone shares after forecasting higher profit and dividends, while energy companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc rose with oil prices. Northern Rock Plc, the beleaguered UK mortgage lender, soared as it attracted investors from hedge funds to UK billionaire Richard Branson, Bloomberg News said. "Confidence continues to be restored by a mixture of good corporate news and a resumption of a big driver for equities, that of takeovers," said Henk Potts, who helps oversee US$45 billion at Barclays Stockbrokers in London. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added one percent to 390.63 in the five days, capping the longest streak of weekly gains since October 2006. The measure has rallied 11 percent since reaching a five-month low on August 16 as

THE Philippine central bank is proposing the government reduce plans to borrow US$1 billion overseas next year to stem gains in the peso, Asia's best-performing currency in the past three months. The government can consider "more domestic borrowings" instead, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco said in a phone interview yesterday. The government may reduce overseas sales, which would mean less foreign currency needs to be converted, Finance Secretary Gary Teves said in a statement. It won't scrap 2008 foreign borrowings, he said. The peso has climbed five percent against the US dollar in the past three months as economic growth accelerated and stocks rallied. A stronger peso has made Philippine goods less competitive, Bloomberg News said. "It's the right thing to do," said Irene Cheung, Singapore-based strategist at ABN Amro NV. "The fact they are doing this is a response to the strength of the peso and it shouldn't be seen as a

TELEKOM Malaysia Bhd, Southeast Asia's second-biggest telecommunications company, plans to spin off its mobile-phone divisions to create a unit worth 28 billion ringgit (US$8.2 billion) that can focus on overseas expansion. TM International Sdn will become the holding company for Celcom (Malaysia) Bhd, Telekom's domestic cellular business, and units in countries including Sri Lanka and Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur-based Telekom said on Friday. Telekom said it may sell a stake in the new company to a foreign partner, according to Bloomberg News. The spinoff separates the slower-growing fixed-line business, and gives the regional company shares with which to make takeovers. Telekom, Malaysia's largest phone company, in July said it will be a challenge to meet a 10 percent sales growth target this year as expansion tapers off in Malaysia. Telekom wants to "let investors look at it on its own as a growing mobile unit," said Kelvin Miranda, who manages the equivalent of more than US$210 million at Asian Asset Management Sdn in Kuala Lumpur, including Telekom shares. "Fixed line is a business which doesn't grow very much." TM International will list on the Malaysian stock exchange. Telekom Malaysia Bhd may be worth 12.3 billion ringgit.

CITIGROUP Inc and Merrill Lynch & Co yesterday bought five percent stakes in the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd to tap the threefold growth in trade last year on the world's third-largest gold bourse. The exchange, known as MCX, sold smaller stakes to Passport Capital and GLG Partners LP, Joseph Massey, deputy managing director of the Mumbai-based company, said yesterday. The total sale is worth about 6.45 billion rupees (US$162 million), according to Bloomberg News. Overseas investors including Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Fidelity International Ltd have invested in Indian markets as the fastest pace of economic growth since independence in 1947 spurs demand for commodities in the world's second-largest sugar and rice producer. "The foreign companies will bring in their expertise from overseas and help enhance the Indian commodity market," Amol Tilak, an analyst at Kotak Commodity Services Ltd, said by phone from Mumbai. "It's a good time to be in." The value of trading on MCX, which also trades commodities such as mentha oil, jute and turmeric, surged to 20.25 trillion rupees in the year ending 2006 from 6.3 trillion rupees in 2005. Domestic traders and companies are the main participants on Indian commodity exchanges, compared with the 13 million individual investors - three times the population of Singapore - who invest in stocks. The South Asian nation opened up its stock markets to foreigners in 1993. MCX was inaugurated in November 2003, according to its Website. Jignesh Shah, managing director of MCX, said in January that overseas capital was essential for Indian commodity markets to become globally competitive. "Overseas participants are exuberant over the prospects for commodity exchanges in India," said Avinash Raheja, senior vice president at Mumbai-based Commtrendz Risk Management Services Pvt. "The market has done well in a very short period and for the next phase of growth we need the market to open up." Passport Capital bought a three percent stake in MCX and GLG Partners LP purchased three percent. Goldman acquired a seven percent holding in the National Commodities & Derivatives Exchange Ltd last year and Fidelity owns nine percent of MCX. Fidelity, a unit of Boston-based Fidelity Investments, the world's largest mutual-fund company, paid US$49 million for its stake in MCX and Goldman paid US$21 million for its holding.

ALCATEL-LUCENT SA, the telecom-equipment maker whose shares have slumped 36 percent this year, plans to speed up the integration of the former Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer Patricia Russo has been given until October 30 to present an emergency restructuring plan to her board, and to explain where the company should focus research and sales efforts, the Financial Times reported yesterday, citing an unidentified person close to the Paris-based company's board. "The board's move is quite positive for shareholders," said Matthieu Bordeaux-Groult, a fund manager at Richelieu Finance, which oversees the equivalent of US$5 billion in assets. "The market is expecting tangible actions, no more profit warnings." Alcatel-Lucent, the world's biggest maker of phone equipment, on September 13 said sales growth may stall in 2007, third-quarter profit excluding items will be "around break-even" and margins will shrink, Bloomberg News reported. Alcatel bought Lucent in November for US$11.6 billion. "The company has been working on integration plans and has been looking at ways to accelerate those plans in light of the September 13 announcement," Alcatel-Lucent said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.