Demonstrators opposed to the lending practices of Latin America's biggest development bank clashed with police Monday in protests that marred the start of the bank's annual meeting
The protests erupted just as senior finance officials from 47 nations opened the event in Belo Horizonte, with Bolivian President Evo Morales calling for the Inter-American Development Bank to forgive his nation's $1.6-billion (U.S.) IDB debt as part of a relief package that would also help Guyana, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Several hundred protesters - armed with handguns, gasoline bombs, sticks and stones - vandalized the reception area of a major Brazilian utility that has received funding from the bank, said Tatiana Resende, a spokeswoman for the company, Companhia Energetica de Minas Gerais.
Ms. Resende said four security guards were treated for minor injuries.
Local news media said four police officers were also hurt in the hour-long rampage about three miles from the elegant state government palace where the IDB was meeting.
Organizers of the protest against construction of Brazilian hydroelectric dams said some of the demonstrators were injured and 10 were taken into custody.
In a separate clash about a mile from the palace, two police officers were hurt, and one photographer was slightly injured after being hit with a rubber bullet that authorities said was directed at the protesters, the website of the Estado de Minas newspaper reported.
The IDB event lasts through tomorrow, and Mr. Morales and Honduras's newly elected President Manuel Zelaya were expected to lobby hard for the bank to forgive as much as $3.5-billion owed by the five nations.
But the debt relief package faces an obstacle because Latin America's two biggest powerhouses - Brazil and Mexico - are balking at supporting the writeoff unless richer nations foot the bill.
The bank is owned by its member countries, mainly from the Western Hemisphere, but also including European nations, plus Japan, Israel and South Korea.
Brazil is to head a special committee charged with coming up with a financing solution for the five-nation debt relief package by the end of the year, said Clay Lowery, the U.S. Treasury Department's assistant secretary for international affairs.
Another prickly topic emerged on the forum's sidelines: Bolivia's plan to nationalize its vast natural gas resources and how that will affect Petroleo Brasileiro SA C, Brazil's state-owned petroleum company, a major Bolivian gas producer.
Delegates at the IDB meeting, one of Latin America's most important annual economic forums, will discuss how the bank can improve the region's crumbling infrastructure, boost economies, promote regional integration and improve living standards. AP
SERVICES TRANSPORTATION
Sunwing expansion plan turns up heat on CanJet
Sunwing Airlines, the upstart in the domestic skies, is poised to shake up the competition in Atlantic Canada. The new carrier is part of a travel firm, privately owned by Toronto's Hunter family, that specializes in winter charter packages to sun destinations but is expanding into scheduled summer flights within Canada. While Sunwing has only two 189-seat Boeing NG 737-800 aircraft, it's adding a third plane in June and that could spell trouble in particular for privately owned CanJet Airlines, controlled by Halifax businessman Ken Rowe, says National Bank Financial Inc. analyst David Newman. Halifax-based CanJet, which recently added a 10th plane to its fleet, already faces contract talks with newly unionized pilots and flight attendants, so the emergence of Sunwing adds to the business pressure, Mr. Newman said Monday. BRENT JANG
Aeroplan Internet campaign takes advertising honours
An Internet campaign designed to build loyalty among new Aeroplan members was chosen as the year's best e-mail campaign at the Internet Advertising Competition, an international competition put on by the Web Marketing Association. By changing the text in the subject line, the e-mail was opened by 35.9 per cent of recipients, up from 27.3 per cent previously. The e-mail was designed by Toronto-based ThinData for Aeroplan, the frequent-flier program affiliated with Air Canada. Aeroplan Income Fund C is 75.5-per-cent owned by Air Canada parent ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. fell 1 cent to $12.89. rose 20 cents to $33.85. KEITH McARTHUR
RESOURCES OIL AND GAS
Twin Butte takes over Drilcorp, acquires Kerogen
Twin Butte Energy Ltd. has announced it will take over Drilcorp Energy Ltd. for $40-million in cash and shares and will acquire Kerogen Petroleum Ltd. C for stock valued at $18-million. Privately held Twin Butte said Monday that the combined enterprise will have production of more than 1,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day - 70 per cent natural gas - and more than $120-million in tax pools "which will shelter oil and gas revenue and allow for an aggressive acquisition-oriented business plan." Its core operations will be in east-central and northwestern Alberta, and it will hold 60 square kilometres of undeveloped land. Twin Butte said the $40-million value includes $9-million in assumed debt. Drilcorp shareholders will end up owning about 25 per cent of Twin Butte, which intends to become listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. CP
Canadian Superior records 200-per-cent profit increase
Canadian Superior Energy Inc. has reported a 200-per-cent increase in 2005 profit to $3.1-million on a 41-per-cent rise in revenue to $54.5-million. Canadian Superior, active off Nova Scotia and preparing to drill two wells off Trinidad and Tobago, said Monday it ended 2005 with production of 3,470 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 27 per cent from the start of the year. Fourth-quarter profit was $1.4-million or 1 cent a share, up from $300,000 or nil in the year-earlier period. Quarterly revenue was $18.6-million, up 68 per cent from $11-million, due to higher prices and volumes. The year's profit was worth 3 cents a share, compared with a 2004 loss of $3-million or 3 cents on revenue of $38.7-million. CP
FOREST PRODUCTS
Bonus falls, stock options increase for Abitibi CEO
The chief executive officer of money-losing Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. saw his annual pay bonus shrink in 2005, but in return got a bundle of stock options. In new filings with securities regulators, the paper and lumber producer revealed that John Weaver earned $1.35-million in 2005, the same as the year before. Mr. Weaver also got an annual bonus of $487,688, although it was down from $546,750 in 2004, as the company recorded a loss of $350-million in the latest financial year ended Dec. 31. However, the company granted Mr. Weaver 425,000 stock options, issued with a base value of $6.12, up from 400,000 options granted the year before. Mr. Weaver has a total of more than three million stock options in the company. Abitibi-Consolidated fell 8 cents to $4.75. CP
MINING
First Quantum extends takeover offer for Adastra
After only 30.1 per cent of Adastra Minerals Inc. was tendered by the March 31 deadline, First Quantum Minerals Ltd. C is extending its takeover offer until April 18. "As the minimum tender condition under the formal offer of at least 50.1 per cent was not satisfied, First Quantum has not taken up any of the common shares deposited under the offer," the Vancouver-based firm said Monday. First Quantum says its cash-and-share bid is worth $3.07 per Adastra share. "We believe that there remains significant interest in our offer and we feel it is prudent to extend the offer to provide Adastra shareholders with additional time to consider their options," chairman and chief executive Philip Pascall said in a release. CP
MANUFACTURING BUILDING PRODUCTS
Cease-trade order targets Royal Group personnel
The Ontario Securities Commission will hold a hearing April 18 to approve an order requiring 30 directors and employees of Royal Group Technologies Ltd. to cease trading in the company's shares. The order will remain in place until Royal Group files updated financial statements. Royal Group asked Ontario and Quebec regulators to impose the management cease trade order until it can file its 2005 financial statements. The company has also applied an internal blackout policy for trading. Royal Group announced March 14 that it will delay releasing its 2005 audited financial statements and may also have to restate its 2004 year-end results following a review by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Royal Group said the delay is caused by the "combined impact of a number of issues," including accounting for previous asset sales and their related writedowns, and the SEC discussions. JANET McFARLAND
MEDIA PUBLISHING
Newspaper readership on the rise in Vancouver
Newspaper readership in Vancouver rose in the second half of 2005 after three new commuter publications entered the market, industry data suggest. Figures released Monday by Newspaper Audience Databank Inc. indicate that 57 per cent of people polled in the city read a newspaper the previous day compared with 48 per cent in 2004. The six-month figures give an early glimpse at how Vancouver's three free daily newspapers have fared with adults since launching last spring. Based on the survey, 24 Hours had an average weekday readership of 159,700 people over the age of 18 between July and December. Metro averaged 101,500 weekday adult readers and Dose drew 36,800. For paid metro newspapers during that period, the Vancouver Province had average weekday readership of 485,000, while The Vancouver Sun had 470,200. For national newspapers, The Globe and Mail's average weekday readership was 119,400 in Vancouver, while the National Post's was 91,300. GRANT ROBERTSON
TECHNOLOGY TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Stock options boost pay of top Rogers' executives
The compensation for top executives at Rogers Communications Inc. rose last year as they made more from exercising stock options. Rogers chief executive officer Ted Rogers took home $6.12-million in 2005, a 75-per-cent increase from 2004, according to the company's information circular. He cashed in options worth $2.64-million in 2005, and received a salary of $1.24-million and a bonus of $2.25-million. Nadir Mohamed, who was promoted last year to chief operating officer of Rogers' Communications Group, received $11.14-million in compensation in 2005, compared with $4.8-million in 2004. The big difference came from the exercise of options worth $8.15-million last year. Alan Horn, who stepped down as chief financial officer to take on the chairman role last month, was the highest paid. He took home $11.74-million last year, more than five times as much as 2004. He made $10.64-million from options in 2005. CATHERINE McLEAN
ECONOMY TRADE
WTO rules against Canada in appeal of softwood duties
Canada has lost another ruling before the World Trade Organization in its dispute with the United States over softwood lumber duties. A WTO panel Monday upheld the method the U.S. Department of Commerce used to calculate whether Canadian lumber exports were being dumped into the U.S. market. The ruling followed previous WTO rulings supporting the way the U.S. government set its countervailing duty on lumber and on the threat subsidized imports posed to U.S. lumber producers. The ruling is the latest WTO finding to go against Canada in the long-standing dispute. By contrast, Canada has won key rulings on the same issues before North American Free Trade Agreement panels. CP
ASIA RESOURCES
Sinopec profit increases on high oil prices, subsidy
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia's largest refiner by capacity, reported Monday its profit rose 13.6 per cent in 2005, as high oil prices and a government subsidy offset refining losses caused by controls on oil product prices. The state-run company, widely known as Sinopec, reported its profit in 2005 totalled 40.92 billion yuan ($6-billion), up from 36 billion yuan a year earlier. Revenue rose to 799.1 billion yuan from 597.2 billion yuan, the company said. The government gave Sinopec a subsidy of 9.42 billion yuan last year to compensate for losses from domestic price controls, which prevented it from passing on higher costs from high international crude oil prices. AP