Business

NEW YORK — The New York Times said on Wednesday it added more than 300,000 digital subscribers this year, resulting in a swing to profit for the newspaper branded as “failing” by President Donald Trump. 

The Times has attributed some of its readership gains to renewed interest in its aggressive coverage of the new administration, which has drawn frequent attacks by Trump. 

Net profit for the prestigious US newspaper group was $13.2 million in the first quarter, compared with a loss of $8.3 million in the same period a year ago. 

Total revenues rose 5.1 per cent to $399 million, led by gains in digital subscriptions and online advertising. 

“These results show the current strength and future potential of our digital strategy not just to reach a large audience, but also to deliver substantial revenue,” said Mark Thompson, president and chief executive officer of the New York Times Company. 

“We added an astonishing 308,000 net digital news subscriptions, making the first quarter the single best quarter for subscriber growth in our history.” 

Overall circulation revenue rose 11 per cent  from a year ago to $242 million. Of that $76 million came from digital-only subscriptions, amounting to a 40 per cent jump from a year ago. 

The number of digital-only subscriptions topped 2.2 million at the end of the quarter, a 62 per cent jump from a year ago. 

Digital advertising revenue was $49.7 million, a rise of 19 per cent from a year ago, and accounted for 38.2 per cent of total ad revenues. 

But the gains failed to fully offset declines in print advertising. 

Thompson said the latest revenue figures were “a vindication of our decision to pivot towards mobile, branded content and a broader suite of marketing services, and to focus on innovation”. 

The New York daily has been facing the familiar problems of major newspapers — shifting to the less profitable online format as print readership declines. 

The Times earlier this year unveiled a new strategic plan that will likely reduce its newsroom staff of around 1,300, while making investments in key areas including “visual journalism” and boosting coverage of the Trump administration. 

The newspaper has moved to get more readers globally with a Spanish-language edition and an expanded office in Australia, and has launched a daily edition for the Snapchat Discover platform. 

Amid the readership gains, the Times faced a campaign last month for readers to cancel their subscriptions after it added conservative columnist Bret Stephens, who in his first piece raised questions about the evidence of climate change.

AMMAN — Jordanian participants in the second Jordanian-Indian Business Forum are working to draw Indian businessmen’s attention to the Kingdom’s business environment, especially in its textile and garment sector, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Tuesday. 

Indian businesspeople and economists have been converging onto the forum which commenced in Mumbai on Monday, according to Petra. 

There are several investment opportunities in both countries that Jordanian and Indian businesspeople should seize, the commission’s President Thabet Al Wir said, commending the Jordanian-Indian long-standing relations and their steady ongoing development, thus reflecting an increasing economic momentum. 

The commission is networking to strengthen and boost chances of Jordanian-Indian economic cooperation, he said. He also drew attention to reconstruction projects in Syria and Iraq during the forum, organised by the Jordan Investment Commission, in cooperation with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. 

Wir mentioned that the commission has set up a specialised unit to follow up on the requirements of Indian investors and facilitate investments. Qualified personnel will be working at the unit, to be based at the commission’s headquarters and they will maintain contact with investors across the Kingdom and provide them with essential services, he added. 

Indian officials said Indian business people are interested in opportunities available in the Kingdom, especially as Jordan has free trade agreements with global markets and has proper infrastructure, Petra reported. 

Indian officials called for the relaunch of direct flights between the two countries to boost business and tourism cooperation, stressing Indians’ desire to visit the country’s tourist attractions, mainly the Dead Sea and the Baptism site. 

AMMAN — The Royal Jordanian (RJ) on Saturday discussed the board’s report on the 2016 financial situation and the business plan for 2017, stressing the importance of increasing the company’s profitability, according to an RJ statement.

At its ordinary general assembly meeting, presided by Vice Chairman of the RJ Board of Directors Aqel Biltaji, participants also discussed the auditors’ report, RJ’s budget, profit and losses, highlighting present challenges.

Addressing the attendees, Biltaji stressed the importance of RJ as the national carrier that contributes to the kingdom’s progress and economy. 

Royal Jordanian directly contributes about 3 per cent to the gross domestic product of the kingdom, exceeding the contributions of other well-established economic sectors, he said. 

He added that over the past few years, several circumstances and challenges affected RJ’s resources and results, as well as its ability to attain the profitability desired by the shareholders and its management.

In parallel, new challenges emerged in 2016, such as the currency exchange rates that affected last year’s results, in addition to the steep competition presented by the big carriers in the region.

However; RJ is keen on implementing the government’s vision for national carrier in the coming period, particularly after the directives the prime minister gave during his visit to RJ accompanied by the government’s economic team last week, he indicated. 

He pointed out that RJ will work with different ministries and government departments to find solutions to the existing challenges and to invest in developing the RJ-owned Royal Wings and Royal Tours. 

RJ transported 3 million passengers in 2016, 80 per cent of them were either departing or visiting Jordan; thus being a driving force for tourism, investment and commercial activity in the Jordanian market. 

Chairman of the Board Said Darwazeh said the 2016 results did not conform with those sought by RJ’s management, its employees and shareholders.

The main reason for incurring a net loss of JD24.6 million has come as a result of currency devaluation of the Sudanese pound and the Egyptian pound, he indicated in his speech, distributed to the shareholders. 

In addition, losses resulted from paying JD3.5 million in compensation of voluntary staff release. Another factor that contributed to the decrease in last year’s revenues and increased the loss was the drop in ticket fares by 11 per cent, he added. 

Moreover, RJ’s operating revenues declined to JD598.3 million from JD658.1 million in 2015, because of the growing competition RJ faced in 2016 both from full-service airlines and low-cost carriers.

Darwazeh said that despite the decline in revenues, the net operating profit recorded by the company in 2016 remains an indication of RJ’s ability to maintain its competitive position and its share in the local, regional and global markets.

DHAKA — Bangladesh plans to begin turning some of the grain it produces into ethanol to make its fuel greener — but economists and experts warn the move could hurt food security in a country that is already a grain importer.

Energy ministry officials said in a gazette notification early this year that the country will begin using maize, broken rice grains and molasses to produce ethanol to mix with petrol fuel at a 5 per cent ratio.

But in a heavily populated country that produces relatively little in the way of climate-changing emissions and that already relies on imports of maize and other grains, the result could be rising food prices, especially for the poor, economists, business leaders and environmental experts warned.

Moshiur Rahman, who convenes the Bangladesh Poultry Industries Coordination Committee, called the move to begin using grain for fuel "suicidal".

Much of Bangaldesh's maize is used to feed animals, including chickens. But the country grows only half of the maize it needs, importing the rest from the United States and Brazil, he said, which means rising demand could mean rising prices.

"Maize prices will go up if it is used for ethanol production. The price of eggs and chicken will go beyond the reach of common people," Rahman warned.

He said growing concerns about food security have led other countries — including China — to stop giving permission for new biofuel projects.

Food to fuel 

According to a study by Bangladesh's energy ministry, the country could produce 18 million liters of ethanol a year, or about 75,000 liters each working day. That would require 60,000 tonnes of broken rice each year — about 3.5 per cent of the country's total production. 

Alternately, the county could produce the ethanol with 62,000 tonnes of maize (2.8 per cent of production) or 97,000 tonnes of molasses (nearly all of the country's production).

The study warned that if the government scales up ethanol production beyond those levels, it will raise demand for grain to the point that it could hurt food security.

But Junior Energy Minister Nasrul Hamid told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone that Bangladesh needs to go for greener and more varied fuels in the future, like other nations.

"So, we are exploring the possibility of using bio-ethanol with other fuels. You can't remain out from the global trend of energy use," he said.

He confirmed the ministry plans to give permission for ethanol production, and then would judge from early experience whether to scale up the experiment.

"Yes, we are going to give permission for bio-fuel soon. Let's see what happens first. Its impact on food security will be considered then," Hamid said.

But others warn that Bangladesh has decided to burn food grains to produce ethanol without taking into consideration the food security of its 160 million people.

That is a particular worry in a low-lying country that faces severe climate change threats, including loss of crops and crop land to worsening salt-water intrusion, droughts, floods, storms, sea level rise and erosion.

Already many people face daily hunger and can manage meals only once or twice a day, experts say. Last year, Bangladesh ranked in the top 25 per cent of the world's most hungry countries, according to the Global Hunger Index of the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Bangladesh today produces about 1.8 million tonnes of broken rice, about 100,000 tonnes of molasses and less than half the 6 million tonnes of maize it needs each year, according to the country's energy ministry.

Besides being used as livestock food, maize is eaten by poorer people, mixed with flour as a cereal or made into biscuits. Lower-income people also eat broken rice for breakfast and make it into cakes. 

But prices for the grains are rising. A kilogramme of coarse rice is now being sold at 42 taka (50 cents) in Dhaka, up 25 per cent in price from a year ago, according to the government Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.

Rising food prices are a major concern, with a growing portion of people's earnings now being spent on food. The country's food inflation rate in February was 6.8 per cent, up from a record low of 3.8 per cent a year ago.

About 13 per cent of Bangladesh's people fall below the national poverty line of $2 per day, according to World Bank data.

The country produces about enough rice to meet demand but imported 4.5 million tonnes of wheat last year to meet demand for that grain, according to the country's food ministry.

Wrong-headed decision?

Despite rising demand for food, Khan Md Aftabuddin, managing director of Sunipun Organics Ltd. — the company that first applied for government permission for ethanol production — said turning grain into fuel would not pose any threat to food security for Bangladesh.

He said the byproducts of ethanol production could be used as poultry or fish food, and that more maize could be grown on delta islands if demand for it rises.

"If needed, we will produce maize in char lands of the country as raw material for our plant," Aftabuddin said. Bangladesh needs to turn to renewable energy to keep its environment clean, he said.

But Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah, secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, said creating fuel using maize — which is increasingly being imported to make up for rice and wheat shortfalls — doesn't seem to make sense.

"I do not see any valid reason for using maize and broken rice for ethanol production," he said.

M. Asaduzzaman, a fellow of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies and a member of the country's climate change negotiations team, said he also disagreed with the move towards producing ethanol from grain.

"We have tremendous difficulties in livestock nutrition. If maize is now used to produce ethanol, the cost of livestock production will go further up causing further animal protein deficiency," said Asaduzzaman, also a former vice chairman of the International Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change.

"This is a wrong-headed decision," he said.

Bangladesh's per capita carbon emissions are tiny compared to those of more developed countries, and should not be as great a concern as protecting food security, he said.

"When we can't meet basic nutritional need, we don't need to go for clean energy," he said.

Khondaker Golam Moazzem, a research director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a Dhaka-based think tank, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that he is concerned that ethanol production, once started, could be scaled up in the future, particularly if oil prices eventually rise.

That could lead to more demand for maize and for land to grow it. "Then, staple food production will be hampered since Bangladesh suffers from acute farmland scarcity," he warned.

NEW YORK — Rising crude prices drove huge profits for US oil industry giants, but key figures in the sector have raised concerns about low investments in exploration and production.

They warn that continued tepid oilfield investment creates the threat of a supply crunch down the road.

As petroleum prices have stabilised over the last year following actions by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), oil companies have ramped up investment in key US shale regions such as the Permian Basin in Texas.

But activity outside of the US has remained sluggish, evidence of what the International Energy Agency (IEA) called a "two-speed" oil market that it warns could lead to a supply crunch.

The investment restraint "brings an additional cause of concern for global energy security at a time of heightened geopolitical risks in some major producer countries, such as Venezuela", the IEA said this week.

Oil majors ExxonMobil and Chevron on Friday reported strong first quarter earnings as they reaped the benefit of higher crude prices.

Exxon's earnings more than doubled to $4 billion on strong profit growth in its exploration and production business. 

Chevron reported $2.7 billion in profits, a far cry from the loss of $725 million in the year-ago period when the industry was mired in a two-year slump. Chief Executive John Watson said the company remains in belt-tightening mode.

The results came as President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at opening up more offshore territory to development, including in the arctic. Industry officials praised the action, but said any new leasing would not be available until 2019 at the earliest and that production would likely not hit markets for at least decade.

The improved profits were largely expected as US oil prices were above $50 a barrel for most of the first quarter, after hovering below $40 a barrel for most of the comparable period of 2016.

However, the IEA, which represents governments of oil consuming countries, said oil discoveries declined in 2016 and final investment decisions on major projects have slipped to the lowest level since the 1940s.

"The key question for the future of the oil market is for how long can a surge in US shale supplies make up for the slow pace of growth elsewhere in the oil sector," IEA executive director Fatih Birol said.

Shaky oil prices 

Paul Kibsgaard, chief executive of leading oil services firm Schlumberger, warned that "the continuing underinvestment in new supply is increasing the likelihood of a medium-term supply deficit."

The company also saw first-quarter earnings swing back into positive territory.

Schlumberger's non-US activity "reached a bottom in all markets," Kibsgaard said last week. "But for Q2 we only see at this stage flat underlying activity."

Analysts say increased US shale activity was the first to be triggered by higher prices because projects are smaller in scale and require shorter cycle times compared with ventures in remote areas or offshore.

At the same time, the very speed in which shale production can ramp up has acted as a ceiling on oil prices, because of concerns runaway output will flood the market.

ExxonMobil vice president Jeff Woodbury said there were "a lot of variables" behind the company's investment restraint. 

While underlying energy demand growth remains solid and OPEC has generally complied with its production limits, Woodbury said, strong growth in North American output and lofty global inventories also factor in to investment decisions.

"The macro environment would still indicate the need to be cautious going forward," he said on a conference call with analysts.

Woodbury cited a series of discoveries offshore of Guyana on the northern coast of South America as evidence the company remains active in exploration. 

The company also has taken advantage of low costs from suppliers in 2016 to shoot 60,000 kilometres of seismic data, the first stage in exploration.

Shares of ExxonMobil rose 0.5 per cent to $81.65, while Chevron climbed 1.1 per cent to $106.70.

CAIRO — Egypt has halted fish exports after a surge in sales to foreign markets following last November's currency devaluation led to supply shortages locally and a spike in domestic prices, President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi said.

Sisi did not say how long the suspension would last but promised Egyptians, who have seen their purchasing power sharply eroded by the devaluation, that measures would be enforced to help the market adjust prices lower. 

"We used to export 40,000 tonnes of fish a year. Within the first three months [of this year] we exported 120,000 tonnes," Sisi told a youth conference aired on Egyptian television late on Tuesday. "[That's why] we took a decision to halt exports of fish." 

Much of Egypt's fish exports heads to the Gulf states.

Egypt abandoned its peg of 8.8 pounds per dollar on November 3 and the currency now trades at about 18 per greenback. The plunge in the pound has driven inflation to over 30 per cent, stoking public pressure on Sisi to revive the ailing economy, tame prices and create jobs.

The suspension of fish exports comes after the government this month imposed a tariff on sugar exports of 3,000 Egyptian pounds per tonne.

"Believe me, we are going towards adjusting prices according to the market mechanisms but bear with it... you will see what we will do to adjust prices," Sisi said.

AMMAN — The 2nd Middle East and Africa Scientific Meeting (MEASM) will be launched today at the Dead Sea, with more than 250 participants and several speakers, getting together exchange clinical case studies and experiences in the field of dental implants.

The meeting, organised by MegaGen Implant Co. Ltd. — a leading Korean company in the field of dental implant, will be attended by several Jordanian officials and Korea’s Ambassador Lee Bom-yon. The goal for this year is to bring MEASM to an international level standard conference, according to a statement from the Korea Business Centre in Amman.

The 1st MEASM was held in February 2016 in Dubai, according to the statement. MegaGen has 300 qualified employees and is strongly represented in Europe, USA, Asia and South America. Its turnover in 2016 was $70 million, the statement said.

BENGALURU — The Nasdaq breached the 6,000 mark for the first time ever on Tuesday, spurred by a raft of strong corporate earnings and President Donald Trump's promise of a major tax reform plan.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose as much as 0.4 per cent to hit a record level of 6,007.72 helped by gains in Biogen and Apple.

The index first breached the 5,000 mark on March 7, 2000 and closed above that level two days later during the height of the tech boom.

Biogen's shares jumped more than 4 per cent after the biotech company reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue on Tuesday. 

At 9:36am, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 184.02 points, or 0.89 per cent, at 20,947.91, the S&P 500 was up 9.71 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 2,383.86 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 22.27 points, or 0.37 per cent, at 6,006.09.

Trump promised last week to make "a big tax reform and tax reduction" announcement on Wednesday. The president has directed his aides to move quickly on a plan to cut the corporate income tax rate to 15 per cent from 35 per cent, a Trump administration official said on Monday.

Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, with materials and financials in the lead.

Better-than-expected profits at McDonald's and Caterpillar helped the Dow outperform other major Wall Street indexes. 

Tuesday's gains build on a day-earlier rally, which was driven by the victory of centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron in the first round of the French presidential election. Polls show Macron is likely to beat his far-right rival Marine Le Pen in a deciding vote on May 7. 

"The French vote and Trump's plan to slash corporate taxes to 15 per cent are two powerful forces that will still likely contribute to a positive trend as earnings prove to be better than expected," Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial wrote in a note. 

Of the 100 S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far, 77 per cent have beaten profit expectations, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Over the past four quarters, 71 per cent of the companies had beaten estimates. 

Straight Path rose 6.3 per cent after the company said a "multi-national telecommunications company" had offered $104.64 per-share, topping AT&T's bid of $95.63 per share.

Sandwich supplier AdvancePierre Foods jumped 9.2 per cent after Tyson Foods said it would buy the company for about $3.2 billion in cash.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,857 to 741. On the Nasdaq, 1,787 issues rose and 519 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 57 52-week highs and two lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 114 highs and nine lows. 

AMMAN — The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) is extending the time designated for collecting cheques through the electronic clearing system and for carrying out interbank financial transfers within the kingdom, according to a CBJ statement received by The Jordan Times on Tuesday. 

According to the statement, CBJ Governor Ziad Fariz announced the extention of the working hours of payment systems operated by the CBJ by an extra hour, starting from May 1 and as follows:

The period of receiving cheques from citizens to be collected on same business day is extended for one hour, to end at 01:00pm instead of 12:00 pm.

The period of receiving high-value transfers from citizens to be sent through the Real Time Gross Settlement System within the Kingdom is extended by one hour, to end at 3:30pm instead of 2:30pm.

The period of receiving low- value transfers from citizens to be sent through the Automated Clearing House within the Kingdom is also extended by one hour, until 2:30pm instead of 1:30pm.

The step is in line with the CBJ’s commitment to serve the national economy, accelerate the monetary cycle and manage liquidity, the CBJ statement indicated. 

ZURICH — French-Swiss cement maker LafargeHolcim said on Monday its chief executive Eric Olsen is stepping down following an internal investigation into the company’s activities in Syria. 

His resignation will be effective on July 15, LafargeHolcim said in a statement, adding that its board had agreed to his departure even though an internal probe had determined he was not responsible for any wrongdoings. 

Olsen’s departure follows an inquiry into the indirect financing by Lafarge of armed groups in civil war-ravaged Syria to keep one of its cement plants operational. 

“My decision is driven by my conviction that it will contribute to addressing strong tensions that have recently arisen around the Syria case,” said Olsen. 

“While I was absolutely not involved in, nor even aware of, any wrongdoings I believe my departure will contribute to bringing back serenity to a company that has been exposed for months on this case,” he added. 

‘Unacceptable practices’ 

Last month, LafargeHolcim admitted that it had resorted to “unacceptable practices” to continue operations at one of its now-closed factories in Syria, and on Monday it said an internal probe had confirmed that finding. 

The admission came after sources close to the case told AFP in January that the French government had filed a legal complaint against Lafarge for buying oil in Syria to power the Jalabiya factory, in violation of sanctions. 

French cement maker Lafarge bought the factory in 2007 and invested some $680 million to get it working by 2010, representing the biggest foreign investment in the country outside the petroleum sector. 

The plant, located in northern Syria some 150 kilometres northeast of Aleppo, was finally evacuated in 2014, and closed down before Lafarge merged with its Swiss competitor Holcim in 2015. 

Lafarge is suspected of sourcing oil locally to operate the factory in defiance of a 2012 EU ban on purchases of Syrian oil as part of a sanctions package targeting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. 

According to an investigative piece published in French daily Le Monde last June, Lafarge entered into deals with armed groups in Syria, including the Daesh terror group, to protect its business interests there. 

On Monday, LafargeHolcim published findings from an independent, internal investigation into the plant, commissioned by its board. 

“A number of measures taken to continue safe operations at the Syrian plant were unacceptable, and significant errors of judgement were made that contravened the applicable code of conduct,” it said. 

“The findings also confirm that, although these measures were instigated by local and regional management, selected members of group management were aware of circumstances indicating that violations of Lafarge’s established standards of business conduct had taken place,” it added. 

It stressed though that its internal investigation had “concluded that Eric Olsen was not responsible for, nor thought to be aware of, any wrongdoings that have been identified as part of its review.”

Never again 

The company, which said it would begin searching for Olsen’s successor “immediately”, said it had taken “remedial measures”, including the creation of an “Ethics, Integrity and Risk Committe” to strengthen and enhance compliance with its ethics rules. 

Chairman of LafargeHolcim’s board Beat Hess, who is set to temporarily take over the chief executive seat after Olsen’s departure, stressed on Monday that “we are absolutely committed to ensuring that events like those that occurred in Syria must never happen again at LafargeHolcim”.