AfDB loans $50 mln for Africa satellite link

(Reuters) - The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $50 million loan towards the construction of a satellite to boost communications in Africa's rural areas, the bank said.

The venture will provide several telecoms services including international telephone calls and internet connections and permit radio, television, and multimedia broadcast reception in each country, AfDB's chief investment officer Hassan Farah said.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Amedisys to buy certain assets of IntegriCare for $68 mln

(Reuters) - IntegriCare generated about $54 million in revenue,
including over $12 million in hospice revenue, for the
twelve-month period ended June 30, it added.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

S.Africa economic policies to offset c/a risks - government

(Reuters) - South Africa's economic position, including net reserves, will be adequate in dealing with risks associated with the country's huge current account deficit, a top treasury official said on Monday.

Speaking to Reuters after the release of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) annual country report, National Treasury Director-General Lesetja Kganyago said that the finance ministry was not overly concerned about the current account.


Read more at Reuters Africa

European Bonds Advance as Global Stocks Drop on Subprime, Risk Aversion

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds rose for a
second day, pushing two-year yields to near the lowest in three
months, as stocks slid on concern U.S. subprime mortgage losses
will slow economic growth and drive-up global financing costs.

Bunds gained as credit-default swaps trading showed the risk
of owning European corporate debt rose and as investors pulled
out of equities. Bear Stearns Cos. ousted Co-President Warren
Spector after credit-market losses and eroding investor
confidence, stoking appetite for the safety of government debt.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

EMI says first-quarter revenues down 5.1 pct

(Reuters) - It said the results were in line with its expectations.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

US stock futures rise, suggest respite before Fed

(Reuters) - The Fed releases its decision on Tuesday and is expected to
leave interest rates unchanged at 5.25 percent. Interest rate
futures <0#FF:> show traders are betting on the central bank
delivering at least one rate cut by the end of this year.




By 0927 GMT September S&P futures were up 0.5 percent
in Europe but still around their lowest in nearly five months.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

ICICI, Reliance Communications Attract Investors to Their Biggest Loans

(Bloomberg) -- India's ICICI Bank Ltd. and Reliance
Communications Ltd. are getting their biggest loans as banks and
investors focus on safer credits.

ICICI, India's largest lender to consumers, hired Goldman
Sachs Group Inc. and Calyon among 10 firms to arrange a yen-
denominated loan equivalent to $1.5 billion, said Calyon, the
investment-banking unit of Credit Agricole SA. Reliance
Communications' $1 billion loan got twice as much in lending
offers, said Ramesh Venkat, group president for finance at the
parent company, Reliance ADA Group.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Rise; Ford, Merrill Lynch Shares Gain in Europe

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures climbed as
investors speculated last week's losses may have been
exaggerated.

Ford Motor Co. advanced in Europe after the London Times
reported that Jacques Nasser, the company's former chief
executive officer, may visit the Land Rover and Jaguar factories
in the U.K. as part of an attempt to buy the brands. Merrill
Lynch & Co. gained after UBS AG recommended buying shares of the
third-largest U.S. securities firm.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Sappi says Q3 earnings per share 23 US cents

(Reuters) - The world's top maker of fine paper, Sappi Ltd, swung to third-quarter earnings per share of 23 U.S. cents from a loss in the same period a year ago, the company said on Monday.

Sappi said group sales for the quarter increased by 7 percent to $1.3 billion, with operating profit at $87 million compared with a loss of $34 million a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Intel, Cisco, J&amp;J, Growth Stocks Lure Value Funds as Price Ratios Converge

(Bloomberg) -- Intel Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and
Johnson & Johnson, perennial favorites of money managers seeking
U.S. stocks with the fastest profit growth, are becoming staples
for so-called value investors.

Shares of growth companies in the Standard & Poor's 500
Index trade at an average 16.3 times estimated earnings, while
value stocks, those priced at a discount to the market or their
historical average, trade at 14 times profits. The gap between
them, now 2.3 points, has narrowed from 25.5 at the beginning of
the decade, data compiled by Bloomberg show.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Global Stocks Decline on Mortgage Concern, Paced by UBS, BNP, Macquarie

(Bloomberg) -- Stocks in Europe and Asia fell,
following a drop in the U.S. last week, as concern mounted that
losses in the U.S. mortgage market will erode economic growth and
raise financing costs for companies.

UBS AG and BNP Paribas SA led a decline by financial shares
in Europe, while Macquarie Bank Ltd. and Mizuho Financial Group
Inc. paced falling shares in Asia. Royal Philips Electronics NV
and Lafarge SA decreased as the dollar traded near a record low
against the euro. BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group declined
after copper fell in Shanghai.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Germany's DAX Index Falls, Paced by DaimlerChrysler, Fresenius Medical

(Bloomberg) -- German stocks declined for a second
day, led by DaimlerChrysler AG, Fresenius Medical Care AG and
Allianz SE.

The benchmark DAX Index lost 37.04, or 0.5 percent, to
7398.63 as of 9:04 a.m. in Frankfurt. The HDAX Index of the
country's 110 biggest companies fell 0.6 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Infineon to cut Qimonda stake to minority by 2009

(Reuters) - Infineon, which still holds 86 percent of the subsidiary it
listed in New York a year ago, said it might give out Qimonda
shares to its own shareholders as a dividend in kind, and would
take measures to make this possible at next year's AGM.




Such a dividend would then be possible after the 2009
shareholders' meeting.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News