 
Emerging market companies top shareholder value rankings
Companies from emerging markets dominate rankings of world’s top shareholder value creators, says report by the Boston Consulting Group. Of the 142 companies included in this year’s global and industry rankings, 81 are located in developing economies—57 percent of the total; the top ten value creators in the 712-company sample are all from Asia—five companies listed on stock exchanges in China, two in Hong Kong, and one each in India, Indonesia, and South Korea. |
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Businesses paying bills more slowly
Average number of days that businesses paid their bills beyond contracted terms increased by two per cent in July compared with June. When compared with six months ago, the average payment beyond contracted terms has increased by 3.3 per cent, according to Experian's Latest Business Benchmark Report. |
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TRACE BRIBEline report details bribery trends in Brazil
Extortionate demands accounted for over 40 per cent of all reported bribe demands in Brazil. Extortion includes seeking to extract a payment in exchange for avoiding harm to personal or commercial interests (21 per cent of all reported bribe demands), receiving a service that was already paid for (15 per cent) or receiving payment for a service that was already rendered (five per cent). |
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Global businesses favour investment over cost cutting to aid recovery
The boom in economic confidence in China continues, with 83 per cent of senior executives more confident now than at the beginning of the year, compared to just 29 per cent in the US, according to Eversheds. Says one in three businesses across the globe has made redundancies in the last twelve months, but the appetite for cost-cutting measures is declining. Businesses are looking to invest more in the next twelve months, with one in four senior executives committed to increasing staff numbers. |
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CEOs still cautious
Optimism among private company CEOs dips slightly in the face of regulatory, political, and economic uncertainty. Private companies with international operations remained slightly more optimistic about U.S. economic growth than their domestic-only counterparts. As for optimism about the global economy, international marketers' confidence dropped to 37 per cent, down 10 points from last quarter's 47 per cent but above last year's 30 per cent, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. |
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FDI into the GCC is down by 15 per cent
Declined by 15 per cent to $50.8 billion in 2009, from a high of $60.1 billion in 2008 – ending nine consecutive years of aggregate GCC FDI growth. While Kuwait was the only GCC country apart from Qatar to witness FDI growth in 2009, it continued to lag significantly behind the rest of the GCC countries in attracting foreign investment, according to NBK’s latest GCC Brief. |
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