Microsoft in profit

Microsoft said Thursday that second- quarter net profit hit a record $6.66 billion on unprecedented revenue driven by demand for the new Windows 7 operating system. Microsoft reported that its revenue surged 14 per cent to $19.02 billion in the fiscal quarter that ended December 31. 'We saw record revenue and record profit, driven by strong demand for Windows 7 and PCs,' Microsoft chief financial officer Peter Klein said during a conference call with analysts.

Import increase in Bangladesh

The country's overall import increased by more than 20 per cent during the second quarter of the current financial year, according to the Bangladesh Bank data. Import orders for capital machinery rose by 24 per cent during the October- December period. The trends of increasing imports, especially capital machinery, indicate increase in industrial investment, said the central bank officials The increase in the overall imports has also been attributed to the growing demand of the essential items such as fertiliser and petroleum products. Letters of credit worth $411 million for importing machinery were opened during the said period of 2009-10 financial year as against $330 million during the corresponding period of the previous financial year. Most of the orders were placed from sectors such as textile, readymade garment, pharmaceuticals and packaging industry. Central bank governor Atiur Rahman said the rise in imports of capital machinery indicate that the overall industrial sector was gaining momentum and it showed increasing confidence among investors. 'We hope the upward trend of import order for capital machinery will continue as major economies are recovering from the global recession,' he added. The central bank statistics showed that the settlement of letters of credit for overall imports increased by more than 22 per cent to $2.11 billion in December alone from $1.717 billion in November. Meanwhile, the value of overall import orders showed an increase in January due to rising trend of prices of commodities including food and edible oil in the global market, according to the Bangladesh Bank. Imports of essentials such as wheat, sugar and onion also increased in terms of both quantity and value in December compared to the previous month. The import of wheat increased by 100,000 tonnes to 416,000 tonnes in terms of quantity, sugar by 85,000 tonnes to 225,000 tonnes and pulses by 11,000 tonnes to 64,000 tonnes during the period.

Onion and sugar price rise in Bangladeshi market

The prices of onion and sugar increased further in the city's markets over the week. Onion per kilogram was retailed for Tk 34-Tk 40 on Friday in the city, up by Tk 6 in just three or four days, as decrease of supply from India has caused a fresh hike in its prices. Each kilogram of sugar cost between Tk 58 and Tk 60, up by Tk 4 in a week, on Friday in various retail outlets in the city. The price of onion was declining in the previous few weeks when the early harvested local stocks of onion hit the market, but essential spice became dearer due to the shortage in India. During the off-harvest months at least two-third of Bangladesh's demand for onion is met by India, but the dependence remains significant even after the harvest of local onion. Traders at Shyambazar told New Age that unusual rains a couple of months back damaged the crop in the major onion producing regions, and the dip in export by neighbouring countries is affecting Bangladeshi markets unfavourably. Bangladesh, which imports around half a million tonnes of onion annually, is the largest market for Indian onion exporters. Market sources said that the fresh uptrend in sugar prices in the international market has made Bangladesh's import-dependent sugar market volatile, and the crisis in India has played a major role. Sugar price has shot up by Tk 8 per kilogram in a month and doubled in a year. The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh's daily market report shows that the retail price of sugar was Tk 31- 34 per kilogram on 28 January, 2009. The previous period of volatility in the international market pushed up the sugar price to a record Tk 66 per kilogram in mid-September last year. Alleged hoarding and supply manipulation by a section of refiners and wholesalers had caused the September crisis, and the retail price came down to Tk 48-50 by the middle of December last year.

SA investigates World Cup airline price-fixing

Six South African airlines are being investigated for allegedly colluding to hike fares for local flights during the football World Cup in June. The country's presidency said it had received public complaints that fares had become "drastically high". South African Airways has agreed to provide the Competition Commission with evidence against the other airlines. Fifa recently said fewer foreign fans than expected would go to the World Cup - partly due to a lack of flights. Many fans are likely to fly between different World Cup venues which are spread around South Africa. The airlines being investigated are: Comair, South African Airways (SAA), 1 time, Airlink, SA Express and Mango. Except for SAA, the other airlines have denied the allegations but said they would co- operate with the commission. Extra flights The 2010 co-ordinating unit in the president's office asked the Competition Commission to investigate the complaints. "We hope the commission will resolve this matter timeously to ensure that this does not prove detrimental to the tournament and to tourist attraction," said Zukile Nomvete, head of the unit, report South Africa's Times newspaper. SAA has already provided e-mail correspondence between the airlines, which allegedly backs up the charges of price-fixing. On Wednesday, world football authority Fifa said it was now expecting around 450 foreign fans to travel to South Africa - down from initial estimates of one million. It said they were partly put off by the cost of flying to South Africa - a separate issue to the one now being investigated. Fifa secretary-general Jerome Valcke said the organisation would now work with local football associations to create extra flights and packages for fans to attend the World Cup. In 2006 , SAA was fined 55 m rand ($7 m; £4.5 mat current prices) after being found guilty of price-fixing with German carrier Lufthansa. The airline was also fined on two-charges of anti-competitive behaviour.

US economy in fastest growth

The US economy grew by an annualised rate of 5.7 % between October and December, official figures have shown. The number, which is a first estimate, is a big rise from the previous quarter's growth rate of 2. %. It suggests the country's economy is growing at its fastest pace for six years and confirms the US economy has left its year-long recession behind. But even with the rebound, gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 2.4 % across 2009 a whole. That was the worst annual performance since 1946. 'Encouraging news' White House economist Christina Romer said the strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2009 was "the most positive news to date on the economy". "It is important not to read too much into a single report, positive or negative," she added. "There will surely be bumps in the road ahead. Nonetheless, today's report is a welcome piece of encouraging news." US GDP is expressed as an annualised rate, or annual pace, which shows what the three months' economic activity would mean if it carried on for a year. The Bureau of Economic Analysis, which releases the data, emphasised that the fourth-quarter advance estimate was based on incomplete information and was subject to further revision. Growth in the third quarter was originally estimated at an annualised rate of 3.5 was revised down to 2.2 % after more information was received. Most of the growth came from increased manufacturing to rebuild inventories. Consumer spending - the biggest component of the US economy - was down on the previous quarter. Great number? That point was singled out by Manoj Ladwa, a senior trader at ETX Capital: "The 'engine of the economy' that is consumer spending contributed little to the overall improvement in the numbers, indicating the recovery may still falter." Others saw the news as more positive. Jack Ablin, the chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago said: "Wow, great number.