| Nigeria enters fresh N359bn external debt
Nigeria has entered into a new external debt of about $3.0969bn (N359bn), the Debt Management Office has said. The new debt burden is coming after the country exited a Paris Club debt of about $30bn. Under the new debt portfolio, Nigeria owes multilateral agencies, mainly the International Development Association, about $2.4bn, while bilateral non-Paris Club accounts for $718bn, documents from the DMO said on Thursday. Rising oil prices had helped Nigeria to get off the hook of Paris Club in 2006, after the country negotiated and paid $12.2bn out of the about $30bn debt. The DMO said the new external commitments accumulated over the period of between 2001 and 2006. "China emerged as a new creditor with a commitment of $510m in 2002 and a further $208m in 2006 for the telecommunication support project," the DMO said.
Coliseum posts operations profit for December
BLOOMINGTON — A Chicago concert, hockey games and “Sesame Street" helped the U.S. Cellular Coliseum post a $3,503 operations profit for December.The report released Thursday showed a small profit, allowing the city and Central Illinois Arena Management to chip away at the Coliseum's operational loss, which stands at $116,000 so far in the fiscal year that began May 1, 2007. Those figures do not involve money needed to pay on the Coliseum's construction and equipment debt.“We are happy with it," said Mike Nelson, co-owner of the Coliseum management group. “The Chicago concert did well for us."The Chicago concert had attendance of 2,623 people, and the concert promoter is considering two additional events at the Coliseum. Two family shows for “Sesame Street Live" also brought in 3,161 people.Meanwhile, the Third Day concert, with an attendance of 2,966 people, was a little disappointing.
Norske Skog faces challenge over debts
Norske Skog, the world's second-largest newsprint producer, faces a serious challenge this week from activist shareholders who want to break up the group. Unionen - owned by prominent Norwegian investors Petter Stordalen, Øystein Stray Spetalen and Ove Gusevik - has called an extraordinary general meeting for Thursday to seek board representation. Unionen took advantage of the halving of Norske Skog's share price over the past year to build up a stake of nearly 6 per cent, making it the largest shareholder. The activist investors plan to lobby management to sell the foreign operations of the group to cut its NKr16.2bn ($3.04bn) debt load and safeguard its endangered Norwegian mills. .
HFA shares plunge over 40 per cent
SHARES in fund of hedge fund manager HFA Holdings Ltd have plummeted 40 per cent on investor concerns about its connection with troubled funds manager MFS Ltd. HFA was owned by MFS before being floated on the Australian stock exchange in 2006. But MFS is still a major shareholder of HFA. According to an annoucement to the stock exchange by MFS on May 4, 2007, MFS held 19.4 per cent of HFA. At 12.56pm (AEDT), HFA shares had fallen 52 cents, or 40 per cent, to 78 cents after falling as low as 71 cents. MFS shares fell about 70 per cent on Friday when it told the market it wanted to split its tourism and funds management businesses and raise $550 million through a rights issue to reduce its debt. MFS shares went into a trading halt today.
Petro-Canada stokes debt to fund expansion projects
Petro-Canada will be adding debt to help finance its expansion plans in Canada and abroad, the oil and gas producer said yesterday. The news comes as the company announced annual profit rose 72% to $2.7 billion in 2007 despite a soft fourth quarter. The Calgary-based company has seven major projects on the go, and "while a large part of our growth will be funded by cash flow from our businesses, we expect cash flow to be less than our capital requirements," said chief financial officer Harry Roberts. "Our balance sheet is very strong, so we have the capacity to take on additional debt in the future," Roberts said, promising management will be "financially disciplined." Share buybacks are to be scaled back or suspended, he added, "however, we do plan to keep dividends competitive." .
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