Business news for Tue, 25 Dec 2007 & with word bloomberg. 18 news.

CHINA'S electricity output at the world's biggest hydropower project rose about 25 percent this year after new generators were installed. The Three Gorges station generated 60.86 million megawatt-hours of electricity so far this year with output until the end of the year expected to touch 61.6 million, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said in a statement on its Website yesterday, according to Bloomberg News. China Three Gorges Project Corp, the parent of Shanghai-listed China Yangtze Power Co, is developing the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, Asia's longest. Located in central Hubei Province, the project is slated by 2009 to generate 84.7 million megawatt-hours of power a year and is part of the government's plan to end electricity shortages in the world's fastest-growing major economy. China added 5,000 megawatts of new capacity at Three Gorges this year, bringing the total capacity to 14,800 megawatts, the commission said. Water flow at

CHINA Investment Corp, the US$200 billion fund that last week invested US$5 billion in Morgan Stanley, has denied it bought a stake in the Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, Bloomberg News reported today. "We didn't buy any stake," Lou Jiwei, chairman of Beijing-based China Investment, said at a press event without elaborating. He also denied buying a stake in China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. The central government is loosening restrictions on overseas investment to counter inflows from a record trade surplus that has driven up local stock and property prices. Investing more money abroad will help cool the world's fastest-growing major economy and diversify risk for China's more than US$1.4 trillion of foreign-exchange reserves, the world's largest. Lou said on November 29 that CIC "wants to be a stabilizing force in the international capital markets." He cited a "recent example" in which a similar fund invested in a financial firm that had

GOLDMAN Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein claimed a US$67.9-million bonus, the biggest ever awarded to the CEO of a Wall Street firm, after delivering a record profit amid the subprime market collapse. Blankfein, 53, received US$26.8 million in cash and US$41.1 million in restricted stock and options, the New York-based firm said in a December 21 regulatory filing, Bloomberg News reported. His payout rose 26 percent from 2006 while mortgage-related losses drove Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack and Bear Stearns Cos chief James "Jimmy" Cayne to forgo year-end awards. Goldman, the largest US securities firm, shattered Wall Street earnings records for the fourth-consecutive year even as banks and brokerages including Citigroup Inc and Merrill Lynch & Co were forced to take at least US$96 billion worth of writedowns. Blankfein's bonus amounts to about two days' profit at his company during the 12 months to November 30. "This year has really

JAPANESE stocks rose for a third day, led by financial shares, after a decline in interbank borrowing costs signaled a global credit-market slump is easing. "The chaos in short-term financing markets has calmed down and that is a big reason why shares are moving today (Tuesday)," said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees US$468 million in assets at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co in Tokyo. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc and Mizuho Financial Group Inc gained the most in two weeks after the London interbank offered rate, a global benchmark, dropped to the lowest since March 2006. Mitsui & Co, which generates most of its profit from commodities trading, had its steepest gain this month after crude oil advanced to a two-week high, Bloomberg News said. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 295.59, or 1.9 percent, to 15,552.59 at the close in Tokyo. It has fallen 9.7 percent so far in 2007, its first decline in five years. The broader Topix index added 26.83, or 1.8 percent, to

CHINA Reinsurance Co, the nation's largest reinsurer, is in talks with overseas investors about selling a strategic stake, the regulator said, according to Bloomberg News yesterday. China Re, which said in October it plans to sell shares to the public, may also sell stakes to investors abroad, Li Kemu, vice chairman of China's insurance regulator, said at a central bank conference in Beijing. The former monopoly reinsurer is bolstering capital to compete with overseas rivals including Swiss Reinsurance Co and Munich Re. China Re gave no timetable for an IPO that would offer investors more options to benefit from China's 24 percent growth in premiums in the first nine months of this year. "Many insurance companies now primarily depend on investment gains to drive earnings," Li said, urging insurers to concentrate on their main business. "Chinese insurers must learn to balance investment gains and premium growth. Both these wheels have to be running." China

OAO Gazprom, Russia's biggest company, is set to gain control of OAO OGK-6, the nation's third-largest power generator by capacity, after spending almost 21 billion rubles (US$850 million) on new shares. The natural-gas producer paid 3.8 rubles per share for 5.5 billion shares in Moscow-based OGK-6, which represents 46.6 percent of the new shares offered, the power company said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. OGK-6 is selling 11.9 billion new shares, the equivalent of a 44-percent post-equity stake. Gazprom, which completed the transaction via ZAO Gazenergoprom-Invest unit, had options on 51.8 percent of OGK-6 before the sale as part of a share-swap agreement with national utility OAO Unified Energy System. The state-controlled parent of OGK-6 allowed its minority shareholders to swap shares in units before being dismantled in July 2008, Bloomberg News said. Unified Energy's board approved on July 27 the share-swap plan, which will allow Gazprom to take control of a third of

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,

ALLIANCE Group, controlled by oil entrepreneur Musa Bazhaev, and billionaire OAO Polymetal owner Suleiman Kerimov, plans to bid for a stake worth US$622 million in OAO Polyus Gold, Russia's biggest miner of the metal. ZAO KM Invest, the manager of jointly held assets of Mikhail Prokhorov and Vladimir Potanin, is selling the 7.4-percent stake because they plan to pursue investments separately, Bloomberg News reported. Their wrangling has delayed Polyus's plans to spin off its least-developed mining assets. Polyus has dropped 9.5 percent this year in London. "Polyus shares have had a very mediocre year, while gold has risen rapidly," said Yury Vlasov, an analyst with Renaissance Capital in Moscow. "The common feeling is Polyus will start to copy that dynamic." Alliance's ZAO Alliance-Prom unit has sent a letter to KM Invest, Moscow-based Alliance said yesterday in a statement. Nafta Moskva Ltd, Kerimov's holding company, also sent a letter, Anton Averin, head

COPPER futures declined in Shanghai, as some investors deemed a rally as overdone, even as they remained positive on the outlook for Chinese demand. "It's just a market correction after four straight days of strong gains, nothing has changed on the fundamental front," Yuan Fang, a trader at Shanghai East Asia Futures Co, said by phone yesterday. Copper for March delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 490 yuan, or 0.8 percent, to close at 57,970 yuan (US$7,908) a metric ton. Copper gained by the exchange's trading limits on Monday and last Friday, Bloomberg News said. The metal for immediate delivery in Changjiang, Shanghai's biggest cash market, fell as much as 2.8 percent to 61,100 yuan a ton yesterday. "The outlook for demand is good because some processors will start stockpiling soon for the Lunar New Year," said Yuan. China's Lunar New Year starts February 6 and will last for a week. China, the world's biggest user of copper, imported

MATSUSHITA Electric Industrial Co, the world's largest maker of plasma televisions, may buy control of a Hitachi Ltd unit to increase sales of faster-growing liquid crystal display sets. The company may almost double its stake in LCD maker IPS Alpha Technology Ltd to more than 50 percent, the Osaka-based maker of Panasonic-brand products said yesterday, Bloomberg News reported. Financial terms were not disclosed. Matsushita joins LG.Philips LCD Co in buying shares of display makers to weather a supply shortage that analysts at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and UBS AG estimate will persist next year. LCD TVs are taking market share from plasma by offering brighter images and slimmer models. "The move will give Matsushita a foothold to expand in LCDs," said Hideyuki Suzuki, an analyst at SBI E*Trade Securities Co in Tokyo. "There's been a concern with Matsushita because it's focusing on plasma screens at a time when LCD screens are overwhelmingly better."

SANYO Electric Co, the Japanese electronics maker targeting its first profit in four years, may have its shares removed from the Tokyo Stock Exchange after misstating six years of financial results. The shares are on watch for possible delisting, the exchange said on its Website after Osaka-based Sanyo disclosed yesterday it understated losses from April 2000 to March 2006. Japan's Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission recommended Sanyo be fined 8.3 million yen (US$72,650), Bloomberg News said. The misstatements may hamper recovery efforts by a company that had to be bailed out by creditors including Goldman Sachs Group Inc last year. Sanyo last month said it plans to invest 350 billion yen to focus on operations such as rechargeable batteries and cells that convert sunlight into energy. "Sanyo would have to further reorganize its business" if the shares become delisted, said Naoki Fujiwara, who helps oversee US$3.2 billion as chief fund manager at Shinkin

DELEK Real Estate Ltd, the Israeli company that backed out of a US$2.9-billion deal with Jelmoli AG, has agreed to buy 12 Frankfurt-area supermarkets from Metro AG, Germany's biggest retailer, for 243 million euros (US$349 million), Bloomberg News reported on Sunday. Delek, through its Delek Global Real Estate unit, will acquire the buildings from the Real supermarket chain, a subsidiary of Metro, the Netanya, Israel-based company said in an e-mailed statement to the stock exchange. Real will rent 10 of the supermarkets from Delek through 2022, and the other two through 2020, beginning at 16 million euros annually for all the properties. The rent will increase 6.7 percent every five years. "DGRE has again purchased a property with a quality tenant for a long period in a central area, and proved that even in these times it can use its connections to close deals and get good financing," Chief Executive Officer Ilik Rozanski said in the statement. Delek Real Estate, a

INVESTOR William Ackman raised his stake in Target Corp, the second-biggest discount chain in the United States, and held talks with management on increasing the stock price. Ackman controls 10 percent of the company, up from 9.6 percent earlier this year, his Pershing Square Capital Management LP said on Monday in a regulatory filing, according to Bloomberg News. Pershing is seeking share repurchases and the sale of Target's credit-card loans, as well as "some kind of real estate transaction," a person familiar with the firm's plans said, declining to elaborate. Target has said it's evaluating whether to sell its US$7 billion credit-card portfolio and will make a decision in the first three months of 2008. Target's shares have declined 18 percent since Ackman amassed his stake in July. Pershing's holdings include stock and options to buy the shares. With swap contracts, Ackman has an "economic" interest in Target of almost 12.6 percent, up from 10.2 percent

A SURGE in spending during the weekend before Christmas may not have been enough to rescue Target Corp, Sears Holdings Corp and Macy's Inc from the slowest holiday spending season in five years. Sales rose 19 percent from last Friday to Sunday as United States shoppers took advantage of half-off sales and extended hours, Chicago-based ShopperTrak RCT Corp said on Monday. Even with the late increase, spending during the week through last Saturday fell 2.2 percent, the fourth straight week of declines. "It's not going to overcome the negative forecasts," Frederick Crawford, managing director at Southfield, Michigan-based AlixPartners LLP, said of the weekend in a Bloomberg Television interview. "It's going to be a good start, a very weak midsection, and a strong finish. But those two barbells at the end are not going to be able to overcome these last three weeks, which have been very weak." Gasoline at US$3 a gallon and rising food prices have discouraged

THE Bank of Japan deputy chief Toshiro Muto is still the front runner to replace Toshihiko Fukui when the governor's term ends in March, economists said. Thirteen of 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News last week said Muto will become central bank governor and adopt Fukui's policy of gradually raising interest rates, the lowest among major economies. Muto was the favorite last month as well, Bloomberg News reported. "Muto still has a clear competitive edge," said Hideo Kumano, a former central bank official and now chief economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo. "Under him, the bank will probably seek a gradual rate increase." Fukui last week said the central bank remained committed to raising interest rates even as the economy cooled. At the same time, the bank cut its growth assessment for the first time in three years, saying the expansion will slow. "It's inconceivable to expect the bank to make a sudden policy shift under

CHINA'S central bank raised interest rates six times in 2007 and stocks in the world's fastest growing economy are still more than twice as expensive as United States shares. PetroChina Co, whose market value tops Exxon Mobil Corp's by 39 percent, earns half the profit of the largest US oil company. China Mobile Ltd, the Beijing-based wireless carrier, is worth 41 percent more than AT&T Inc and brings in two-thirds its revenue. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd has grown to almost double the size of Bank of America Corp with a third the US lender's earnings. While the People's Bank of China pledged "forceful measures" and raised interest rates to a nine-year high last week to curb inflation and investing, stocks in the CSI 300 Index trade at 44.7 times earnings, the most expensive among the 10 largest markets, and more than double the ratio for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg News show. The benchmark is up 171 percent this year in US

SALES of new homes in the US fell in November, signaling no end to the housing recession that threatens to stall economic growth, economists said before a report this week. Purchases fell to an annual pace of 718,000 from 728,000 in October, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The 716,000 pace reached in September was the lowest since 1996, according to Bloomberg News. The real estate slump, already the deepest in 16 years, shows no sign of abating as discounts fail to lure buyers and inventories swell. The risk that the slowdown will spread through the entire economy is prompting business to rein in orders for new equipment, a separate report may also show. "We're not in line for any good news on housing for a long period of time," said Mike Schenk, chief economist at the Credit Union National Association, in Madison, Wisconsin. "It's a sector that will take a long time to turn around." The home sale figures are due

HARRAH'S Entertainment Inc has received final regulatory approval needed to complete the largest casino buyout ever, a year after Apollo Management LP and TPG Inc agreed to the US$17.1 billion purchase. The National Indian Gaming Commission approved the acquisition, removing the last regulatory hurdle to the purchase, Las Vegas-based Harrah's said in a statement. The transaction will be completed in early 2008, the company said. Harrah's, the world's largest casino company, received permission from Illinois, Nevada, Indiana and six other regulators in the states where it operates. The buyout firms agreed in December 2006 to acquire Harrah's for US$90 a share, attracted by its real-estate holdings and ability to generate cash, according to Bloomberg News. Indian approval was needed because Harrah's runs tribal casinos. Founded in 1937 in Reno, Nevada, Harrah's owns the Bally's, Caesars and Flamingo casinos in Las Vegas as part of its holdings, most of which are in the United