A round-up of today's other stories in brief

HSBC ends talks on buying Nedbank stake

HSBC has ended talks to buy an $8 billion (€5.7 billion) majority stake in South Africa’s Nedbank, leaving it without a clear African strategy and handing an opportunity to rival Standard Chartered.

HSBC had been in exclusive talks with Anglo-South African insurer Old Mutual to buy up to 70 per cent of Nedbank, South Africa’s fourth largest bank.

HSBC and Old Mutual said the talks had ended, without saying why they broke down. Old Mutual said as far as it was aware it was not due to adverse findings during due diligence. Nedbank’s retail unit could contain credit risks that might concern HSBC, analysts said. – (Reuters)

Google's profits beat expectations

Google eased fears that big spending would erode margins as its results blew past Wall Street’s target.

Analysts said strong growth across its core advertising business led to a 25 per cent surge in net revenue in the third quarter, sending its shares 9 per cent higher.

Executives gave investors what they said was a one-time glimpse of sales generated by its mobile and display advertising businesses. Those operations generated annualised revenue run rates of more than $1 billion (€709 million) and $2.5 billion, respectively – underscoring the outcome of investments into online projects and smartphones.

Google posted a third- quarter net income of $2.17 billion, excluding exceptionals. Net revenue, excluding fees Google pays to partner websites, reached $5.48 billion. – (Reuters)

Chinese firm pulls out of Potash race

China's Sinochem has abandoned efforts to make a rival offer for Potash Corp as part of plans to spoil BHP Billiton's $39 billion (€27.9 billion) bid for the Canadian fertiliser maker, reports say.

The Chinese state-owned chemicals group was not expected to formalise its decision, but three sources said yesterday it had given up on efforts to put together a consortium to thwart BHP.

Sinochem had hired Deutsche Bank and Citigroup to explore options to foil BHP's offer, sources had previously claimed. Both banks declined to comment.

China's main worry is that a BHP takeover of Potash could push up the price of potash, a nutrient essential for boosting grain production to meet booming food needs. - (Reuters)

Increase in value of foreign securities

The value of Irish residents' foreign securities rose by €86 billion by the end of 2009, the CSO said yesterday. Investment in foreign holdings amounted to more than €1.25 trillion last year, compared to €1.165 trillion in 2008. Most of the increase was accounted for by the recovery of the global stock markets, with equity assets accounting for 30 per cent of the total.