Premier League transfer spending hits £700m for first time

PATRICE EVRA

Transfer spending by Premier League clubs this season has passed the £700m mark for the first time, says Deloitte.

So far, £725m has been spent in the 2013-14 season, including £95m during the current winter transfer window, which closes at 2300 GMT.

That is ahead of winter window spending at the same time a year ago, of £85m.

"We expect deadline day to again be a busy time for Premier League clubs," said Dan Jones of the sport business group at Deloitte.

"However, regardless of the amount of activity today, we have already seen the 2013-14 seasons set a record for Premier League transfer spending."

State Street UK fined £23m by FCA for overcharging

FCA

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined custody bank State Street UK £22.9m for overcharging clients.

The FCA said six clients had been charged $20.2m (£12.3m) too much for transition management services between June 2010 and September 2011.

The FCA said the firm had acted with "complete disregard" for customers.

State Street UK gained a 30% discount on the fine for settling at an early stage in the investigation. It said it "deeply regretted" its failings.

Custody banks manage cash and take care of administration for investment firms, including pension funds.

The FCA said the company had acted deliberately and with complete disregard for the interests of its customers by prioritizing revenue generation over service to them.

When challenged about fees by a client, the FCA said the company claimed the mark-up had been made in error and offered a refund, but failed to acknowledge it had overcharged on other transactions.

Goldman investment sparks political row in Denmark

HELLEN THORNING

Grassroots opposition has caused a political storm in Denmark over plans to sell part of a state-owned energy company to Goldman Sachs.

Opponents are continuing to sign an online petition, which has collected nearly 200,000 signatures.

The governing coalition of PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt has been undermined by the row over Dong Energy, with the Socialists leaving the government.

Recent events are being likened to the hit Danish political TV drama Borgen.

State-run Dong Energy has been struggling since plans for privatisations were aborted in 2008, and it needed an injection of capital.

The centre-left government is selling a 19% stake to a consortium including Danish pension funds and led by US investment bank Goldman Sachs.

But the plans, given the final seal of approval by parliament's finance committee on Thursday, led to mounting public opposition to what is seen as handing state assets to a private consortium.

The Socialist People's Party, one of three parties in Thorning-Schmidt's coalition, is split over the issue.

Its leader, Annette Vilhelmsen, backed the plans but quit as chairwoman and pulled the party out of the government on Thursday, in the face of internal opposition.

Obasanjo, Amosun unveil ethanol plant

Ibikunle Amosun

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, has unveiled a multibillion naira ultra-modern ethanol manufacturing plant in Igbesa, Ogun State.

The plant built by Allied Atlantic Distilleries Ltd, a subsidiary of the Lexcel Group, is the first of its kind in Africa to produce ethanol, a major component in the production of wines and spirits using cassava.

The Managing Director, AADL, Anurag Dhiman, said the factory had installed capacity for 10 million litres per annum of ethanol requiring approximately 240 tons of cassava per day at an average of 10 tons per hour.

It is expected that the establishment of the plant will herald a new dawn in the production of wines and spirits in the competitive Nigerian market.

He added that the new plant has further reinforced the company’s objective to remain the market leader notwithstanding competition in the distillery sector as no other distillery has a distillation plant in Nigeria, not to talk of extracting ethanol from cassava.

CGRS will foster transparency, competitiveness – NSE

OSCAR ONYEMA

Nigerian Stock Exchange says a new Corporate Governance Rating System it unveiled on Wednesday in partnership with Convention on Business Integrity will encourage greater market transparency, competiveness and better governance.

Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Oscar Onyema, who was represented by the Executive Director, Business Development and Technology, Haruna Jalo-Waziri, said the initiative was the output of the Exchange’s commitment to the entrenchment of good corporate governance in the Nigerian business environment by implementing strong regulatory reforms.

Onyema, who stressed that “significant thought, research and brain storming went into developing the CGRS,” said he was confident that the system would have several positive impacts.

He added that the ratings and subsequent rankings would feed into two other important projects of the Exchange.

He explained that the first is the Premium Board, which the NSE plans to inaugurate this year.

NNPC debunks rumour of imminent fuel scarcity

NNPC LOGO

Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has dismissed the reports of looming fuel scarcity.

A statement issued in Abuja by the General Manager, Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Omar Ibrahim,  advised members of the public not to panic.

It said that the NNPC, in spite of the unending challenges posed by pipeline vandalism and product theft, had enough stock of products in its marine reserve and national strategic reserve.

The statement cautioned members of the public against any form of hoarding or panic buying of petroleum products in anticipation of scarcity.

Obafemi Olawore, the executive secretary of the association, said that the Apapa depot, which controlled about 43 per cent of national demand, had only five days fuel sufficiency in stock.

New BlackBerry OS 10.2 enters market

BLACKBERRY 10 OS

With hundreds of new enhancements and refinements rolling out to customers, global leader in mobile communications, BlackBerry have announced the entry of BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2.1, a new software update for BlackBerry 10 smart phones that enables users do more, more easily, and help them to be more productive and stay better connected.

Features of the new product which is already making inroads despite competition will include the following:

• Customize pinch gesture to filter BlackBerry Hub:

• Simplified phone experience

• SMS and email groups

• Actionable lock screen notifications

• Picture password for quick unlocking

• Customizable Quick Settings Menu

• Offline browser reading mode

• Preferred contact sync

• Device and battery monitor

• Automatic software updates

• Enterprise features

• FM radio

- If you have a BlackBerry® Z30, BlackBerry® Q10 or BlackBerry® Q5 smartphone, the new software update unlocks the built-in FM radio in those handsets. You can listen to local FM stations, which does not require any network connection.

Subject to carrier approvals, BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2.1 will be available to customers around the world, rolling out starting today in the U.S., Europe, Canada, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America, and will be available for the entire line of smart phones running BlackBerry 10 (including the Porsche Design P’9982).

Japan to support Nigeria’s automobile development plan

RYUICHI SHOJI

Japan has pledged to provide technical assistance to the Federal Government in the implementation of the proposed Automobile Development Plan aimed at ensuring the production of various vehicles in the country.

The Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Ryuichi Shoji, who confirmed this while on a facility tour of the Elizade University, Ilara Mokin, Ondo State, said the support would involve the training of the relevant manpower for the realization of the plan.

He said his country was prepared to provide the necessary facilities and equipment to aid the educational development of Nigeria.

According to him, Japan is ready to support Nigeria’s quest to develop its automobile industry and join the league of vehicle producing nations.

OPEC cuts exports to lowest in four months

OPEC

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries will cut crude shipments to the lowest level since September as refineries trim imports before conducting maintenance in the spring, according to Oil Movements.

Bloomberg News reported that the researcher said in a report that OPEC, supplier of about 40 percent of the world’s oil, will reduce sailings by 390,000 barrels a day, or 1.6 percent, to 23.71 million barrels in the four weeks to January 25.

That compares with 24.1 million in the period to December 28. The figures exclude two of OPEC’s 12 members, Angola and Ecuador.

Global oil demand typically declines at the end of the first quarter as winter demand for heating fuel ebbs and refiners begin to overhaul plants before driving fuel consumption climbs in the summer. Brent crude has lost 2.8 percent this year, trading for $107.65 a barrel as of 3:48 p.m. today on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Mason said Exports from Iran declined to about 900,000 barrels a day in December from 1.03 million a day in November, Oil Movements said yesterday. The company began compiling Iran-specific export data last month that may include cargoes sold from floating storage.

An agreement between Iran and world governments in November eased some restrictions on insuring cargoes of the nation’s crude, in return for a delay in its nuclear programme.

Operators fault NPA, back Shippers Council as port regulator

Nigeria Port Authority

Operators in the maritime industry have accused the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, of neglecting their interest, even as they expressed confidence in the proposed move by the Federal Government to make the Nigerian Shippers Council, NSC, the commercial regulator for port operations.

The operators noted that NPA had failed to take their interest into consideration in its decisions since the ports were concessioned years back.

National President of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, Prince Olayiwola Shittu, blamed the authority for the increase in charges few years back without involving all stakeholders as stated by the concession agreement.

According to Shittu, it was in 2012 that the Minister of Transport through the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) granted increase in storage charges in order to discourage people from using the ports for storage purposes.

He however, expressed confidence in the ability of NSC to take up the responsibility of the commercial regulator for port operations, as they have all the data on port operations and cargoes in the nation’s ports.

How we spent $10.8bn oil revenue – NNPC

NNPC LOGO

Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has given a clearer account of how it spent the $10.8 billion, the remaining part of the controversial un-remitted $48.9 billion oil revenue.

The Corporation which said it spent the sum on subsidy on PMS, known as petrol, repairs of vandalized pipeline and products/crude oil losses as well as maintenance of national strategic reserves, said it enjoys legal backing to incur such expenditure on behalf of the government.

Group Executive Director, Finance and Accounts Directorate of the Corporation, Bernard Otti, while making the clarification at an interactive session with Energy Correspondents in Abuja, said that as a law-abiding corporate entity, NNPC’s processes and procedures are guided by the provisions of the law.

He said the $10.5 billion reflects expenditure incurred by the NNPC in the period under review and are rarely made up of the following, subsidy claims, $8.49 billion, pipeline Management and Repair cost, $1.22 billion, products/crude oil losses, $0.72 billion, and cost of holding Strategic Reserves, $0.37 billion.

Slashed Budget: Senior Judges report Okonjo-Iweala to NASS

NGOZI OKONJO - IWEALA

Indications emerged yesterday that the Judiciary was upset with the paltry vote of N67 billion earmarked in this year’s budget for the operation of the third arm of government.

The anger of the judiciary, it was learnt, stemmed from the failure of the Finance Minister to fulfill earlier promise by the government to increase the budget of the judiciary to about N100 billion.

E-biz247 learnt that senior judges, who reviewed the N67 billion allocations to the judiciary, described it as a mockery by the executive arm and a setback to the fight against corruption and inefficiency.

A senior official told E-biz247 that the judiciary was disappointed to find that allocations to the arm of government was steadily being reduced by the executive while paying lip service to the fight against the decay in the judicial system.

Documents made available to our correspondent indicated that the allocation to the judiciary was substantially and inexplicably slashed from N95 billion in 2010 to N85 billion in 2011.

The hope of the judiciary workers for a better budgetary provision was further dashed in 2012 when their vote was slashed to N75 billion and it came to the lowest in 2013 with a paltry allocation of N27 billion.