Samsung expects record profit; Venezuela inflation goes through the roof; Record year for private equity companies

1 Samsung expects record profit (BBC) Samsung Electronics expects to deliver record profits for the last three months of 2017, but the estimate missed analyst expectations. The world's biggest memory chip maker forecast operating earnings of 15.1 trillion won ($14.1bn) - up 64% from a year earlier.

But while chip prices boosted margins, a stronger won weighed on the figures. The record guidance comes despite a corruption scandal engulfing top leadership at the South Korean firm. The forecast keeps Samsung on track for record annual profits, in a year when prices for computer memory chips kept surging.

But the 2018 outlook is less certain, with Samsung shares having fallen nearly 10% from their all-time high in November, as some investors bet on an end to the chip boom. Meanwhile, the market for smartphones and other mobile devices is facing increasing competition from Chinese rivals.

Samsung Electronics is regarded as the jewel in the crown of the Samsung Group conglomerate, which is made up of 60 interlinked companies and is one of South Korea's massive family-run businesses known as chaebols.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42616427

2 Venezuela inflation goes through roof (San Francisco Chronicle) Venezuela's opposition-controlled legislature has said that inflation in the economically struggling nation reached a staggering 2,600 percent last year.

The figures underline the problems besetting Venezuela, where food, medicines and other basic goods are in extremely short supply. There have been recent instances of looting reported across the country.

Venezuela sits atop the world's largest oil reserves, but low production by the state oil monopoly and the global drop in crude prices has thrown the Latin American country into crisis. The government of socialist President Nicolas Maduro has released no official economic figures.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Lawmakers-Inflation-in-Venezuela-tops-2600-12482733.php

3 Record year for private equity companies (Khaleej Times) The global private equity industry raised a record $453 billion from investors in 2017, leaving it with more than $1 trillion to pour into companies and new business ventures, data from industry tracker Preqin showed.

The figures underscore the extent to which large institutional investors, as well as family offices, are placing a growing portion of their money with leveraged buyout firms, venture capital groups and growth equity funds, which are promising returns that beat the wider stock market.

The money raised in 2017 surpassed the previous landmark of $414 billion set in 2007. Private equity firms are also showing an increasing appetite for taking non-controlling positions in companies, which expands the field of possible investments.

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/global/its-a-record-year-for-private-equity-companies

US jobs growth loses steam; Why oil may boil in 2018; Malaysia's market for modest wear

1 US jobs growth loses steam (Natalie Sherman on BBC) US employers added fewer jobs than expected in December, capping a year of slowing jobs growth. Non-farm payrolls rose by 148,000 last month, amid losses in the retail sector, the Labor Department said. But the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, the lowest it has been since 2000.

Analysts say the tightening labour market, which makes it harder to hire, is driving a broader slowdown in job creation. The US has experienced years of economic expansion, which has boosted economic growth above 3% in recent quarters and produced annual job gains exceeding 2 million for the past seven years.

The gains are making inroads among parts of the workforce that have been slower to benefit from the economic recovery. Nationally, the unemployment rate has hovered at 4.1% since October, a rate not seen since 2000. Economists have been puzzled that the lower rates have not produced stronger wage growth in recent years.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42581933

2 Why oil may boil in 2018 (Issac John in Khaleej Times) The nearly two-year high upswing in oil price came as an unexpected boon for Gulf oil exporters, who now have more reasons to be upbeat about a robust rebound in 2018 and start the year with a bang.

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $67.29 on Tuesday, the most since May 2015. For the economies of oil-rich GCC countries, which are embarking on new round of bold reforms, including the introduction of value added tax to boost their revenue streams, the pick up in oil price will give added momentum to their expansionary spending agenda and diversification drive.

The UAE is among the most strongly-positioned GCC sovereigns in terms of both the size of their financial assets compared to government spending and low fiscal break-even oil prices, while Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain have a higher fiscal break-even oil price along with much lower financial assets on which to draw.

Global demand is expected to rise to 98.45 mbpd in 2018 from 96.94 mbpd in 2017 with demand for Opec crude to rise to 33.4 mbpd from 33 mbpd in 2017.

Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at FXTM, said "Supply disruptions, geopolitical risk, and market optimism over Opec- and Russia-led supply cuts could continue to support the upside; but the question is, for how long? Rising production from US Shale producers still poses a threat to higher oil prices, and the upside could face some headwinds down the line."

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/economy/why-oil-may-boil-in-2018

3 Malaysia’s market for modest wear (Nadirah H Rodizi in Straits Times) Malaysian engineer Aliaa Mohd Sharizan likes to keep ahead when it comes to fashion. In a country where most Muslim women wear a headdress, the fashionable 36-year-old has several thousand dollars' worth of headscarves from two brands that have taken Malaysia by storm - dUCk and Naelofar Hijab.

The brands are riding the wave of a phenomenon called "modest wear" that is sweeping the world. Modest wear aligns with contemporary fashion but is geared to the needs of Muslim women, offering style and diversity.

The numbers show just how popular they are: Muslim women spent $44 billion in 2015 on modest wear, according to the 2016-2017 State of the Global Islamic Economy Report (Gier). It was the first time this report, the latest available, included estimates on spending on modest wear.

The $44 billion represents the amount of spending by women over age 14 on modest apparel, excluding footwear. "The clothing may be modest, the success is anything but," says the report. In recent years, Malaysia has emerged as one of the global trendsetters in modest wear. Women there are also embracing the wearing of Islamic-suitable cosmetics.

Helping fuel the interest in modest wear is the wide presence of social media, with its visuals providing the opportunity for Muslim women to become more fashion-conscious and to represent themselves through their choice of wardrobe.

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysias-big-market-for-modest-wear

Millions to be moved in China anti-poverty drive; Saudi princes held for anti-austerity protest; Stressed Iran working class fuels protest

1 Millions to be moved in China anti-poverty drive (Tom Phillips in The Guardian) Over the next three years China’s Xi Jinping’s anti-poverty crusade - which the Communist party leader has declared one of the key themes of his second five-year term - will see millions of marginalised rural dwellers resettled in new, government-subsidised homes.

Some are being moved to distant urban housing estates, others just to slightly less remote or unforgiving rural locations. Other poverty-fighting tactics – including loans, promoting tourism and “pairing” impoverished families with local officials whose careers are tied to their plight – are also being used.

By 2020, Beijing hopes to have helped 30 million people rise above its official poverty line of about 70p a day while simultaneously reinforcing the already considerable authority of Xi, now seen as China’s most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong.

China’s breathtaking economic ascent has helped hundreds of millions lift themselves from poverty since the 1980s but in 2016 at least 5.7% of its rural population still lived in poverty, according to a recent UN report, with that number rising to as much as 10% in some western regions and 12% among some ethnic minorities.

A recent propaganda report claimed hitting the 2020 target would represent “a step against poverty unprecedented in human history”. In his annual New Year address to the nation last week Xi made a “solemn pledge” to win his war on want. “Once made, a promise is as weighty as a thousand ounces of gold,” he said. The current wave of anti-poverty relocations - a total 9.81 million people are set to be moved between 2016 and 2020 - are taking place across virtually the whole country, in 22 provinces.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/07/china-move-millions-people-homes-anti-poverty-drive

2 Saudi princes held for anti-austerity protest (BBC) Saudi authorities have arrested 11 princes for holding a protest at a royal palace in the capital Riyadh. The group were angered by the government's decision to stop paying the water and energy bills of royals. Those involved have not been named.

The government is currently attempting a major economic overhaul to reduce its dependence on oil revenues. Public spending has been targeted, including the lifting of some government subsidies. The kingdom has roughly doubled domestic petrol prices and introduced a 5% tax on most goods and services, including food and utility bills.

News of the sit-in was first reported on the Saudi website Sadq. The princes also said they wanted compensation after one of their cousins was handed the death sentence for an unspecified crime, according to Sabq. Last year dozens of princes, as well as sitting ministers and ex-ministers, were arrested as part of an anti-corruption drive.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42592784

3 Stressed Iran working class fuels protests (San Francisco Chronicle) The Iranian town of Doroud should be a prosperous place — nestled in a valley at the junction of two rivers in the Zagros Mountains, it's in an area rich in metals to be mined and stone to be quarried.

Yet local officials have been pleading for months for the government to rescue its stagnant economy. Unemployment is around 30 percent, far above the official national rate of more than 12 percent. Young people graduate and find no work. The local steel and cement factories stopped production long ago and their workers haven't been paid for months.

That's a major reason Doroud has been a front line in the protests that have flared across Iran over the past week. Several thousand residents have been shown in online videos marching down Doroud's main street, shouting, "Death to the dictator!"

Anger and frustration over the economy have been the main fuel for the eruption of protests that began on Dec. 28. President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, had promised that lifting most international sanctions under Iran's landmark 2015 nuclear deal with the West would revive Iran's long-suffering economy.

But while the end of sanctions did open up a new influx of cash from increased oil exports, little has trickled down to the wider population. At the same time, Rouhani has enforced austerity policies that hit households hard. Demonstrations have broken out mainly in dozens of smaller cities and towns like Doroud, where unemployment has been most painful and where many in the working class feel ignored.

The initial spark for the protests was a sudden jump in food prices. It is believed that hard-line opponents of Rouhani instigated the first demonstrations in the conservative city of Mashhad in eastern Iran, trying to direct public anger at the president. But as protests spread from town to town, the backlash turned against the entire ruling class.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Working-class-hard-hit-by-economic-woes-fuels-12478052.php#item-85307-tbla-5