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In the current telecom industry, stiff competition has resulted in a decrease in profit margins for service providers. To counter this, service providers are constantly developing innovative business models. Also, the immense popularity of web apps by web based application providers, such as Google and Yahoo, has fuelled the growth of SDP implementation by the MNO's for rolling out their own app stores.

Due to the financial crisis in Europe, consumers were more cautions when spending. Although the deepening debt crisis in the Eurozone and the US somewhat affected financial stability and consumer confidence in Norway, consumers tended to be more moderate when shopping. In terms of spending, consumers increased their expenditure on formats offering discount prices, such as seasonal sales, in mixed retailers.

Transformer oil is a dielectric fluid mainly used in oil filled electrical transformers as an insulating and cooling medium. It is usually obtained by fractional distillation and subsequent processing of crude oil. The primary purpose of transformer oil is to insulate and cool the transformer windings and core. These also preserve the core and winding as these are fully immersed in the oil and prevent contact of oxygen with the cellulose paper insulation of windings, which has high affinity towards oxidation. Three basic types of transformer oil used are mineral oil (mostly naphthenic), silicone, and bio-based. Mineral oil based transformer oils dominate the consumption as it has good electrical and cooling properties, and provides cost-effective solution.

The main factor driving sales in NRT smoking cessation aids was product availability. The only brand present, Pharmacia Corp's Nicorette (GBO Johnson & Johnson), registered severe shortages in 2012 as a result of import obstacles. Under the regulatory context imposed by the Venezuelan government, players have to obtain approvals to obtain foreign currency for imports. Procedures of importers before government entities became more difficult year by year as the government created new rules and...

In the UK, due to an increasing focus on renewable energy projects and the need to enhance existing networks, there is a huge opportunity for contractors to grab contracts awarded in the country for the development of a more robust infrastructural network. Despite the presence of some prominent local contractors, the project owner/developers in the UK are engaging global players with proven expertise in Project Management (PM) capabilities to avoid any risk of time and cost overruns. Owing to huge growth potential and increased investments in the infrastructural network in the UK, global players are eyeing opportunities through Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts. Various global EPC companies based out of France, Germany, Spain, Italy and India are presently active in network development projects across the UK.

Other hot drinks continued to record retail volume and value sales growth in 2012. The growing health awareness trend benefited manufacturers of other plant-based hot drinks and flavoured powder drinks, as these products are often enriched with vitamins and minerals and therefore are widely perceived to be healthy beverages.

With emerging markets attracting the bulk of mining investment we see quite slow growth across mineral products in the US over our forecast period. We forecast the value of the US mining industry to reach US$63.9bn in 2017, representing an average growth rate of 1.6% per annum. We see the domestic mining sector growing at a slower pace than many developed market peers, such as Canada and Australia, but believe promising opportunities for mine development in the US still exist. With metals prices to stay elevated by historical standards, previously uneconomical deposits may become mineable again.

2012 was another good year for tissue and hygiene in Guatemala. Volume and value sales increased in all categories as many of the products categorised under tissue and hygiene in Guatemala are used on a daily basis by a significant proportion of the population. By far the majority of tissue and hygiene consumers reside in Guatemala's urban areas as the higher disposable incomes of Guatemala's urban dwellers means that they purchase more tissue and hygiene products and tend to opt for higher...

In 2012, mid-range international labels continue to see strong growth in the Singapore apparel specialist retail market. Well-established international brands like Mango, Uniqlo and Zara continue to appeal to middle-income shoppers in Singapore.

BMI Ratings - Brief Methodology

Core Views

The Hungarian new vehicle sales market saw good growth over 2012, according to figures released by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) in January 2013. There was a 17.6% increase in the number of passenger cars sold, to reach 53,059 units; however, commercial vehicle sales dropped back by 5%, to 15,109. This made for a total of 68,168 new vehicles sold in Hungary over 2012, representing an increase of 11.7% on 2011's performance. However, new car sales remain a long way from the peak of nearly 175,000 reached in 2008, with BMI not forecasting any return to these levels of annual sales at any point over our forecast period to 2017.

The Kenyan telecoms market is dynamic and developing rapidly, even by regional standards in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a regional leader in terms of value-added services, most notably Safaricom's MPESA mobile banking service, which is a global leader. The rapid expansion of leased international bandwidth is also proving an important catalyst for data consumption. Meanwhile, the conventional mobile market still holds growth potential with penetration of just 68.9% in Q212. While full data is not yet available for Q312, Safaricom data indicates that this will be another quarter of strong expansion for the market. However, countering this positive outlook, and perhaps driving innovation, are low prices and regulatory uncertainty.

More Muted Growth In 2013

Romania is attempting to privatise its state hydro and nuclear power companies, hike electricity prices while limiting damage to the economy and establish a capacity expansion programme capable of meeting long-term demand growth. Although plans to expand its nuclear generation capacity are in disarray, there is growing momentum behind the country's wind power programme. Low electricity prices threaten investment in generating capacity and transmission infrastructure.

The Argentina Retail Report examines the long-term potential of the local consumer market, but flags shortterm concern about the impact on Argentina's economic outlook of the prospect of a sizeable currency devaluation.

Growth is slowing in the majority of Central American markets with occasional reports of subscriber discounting slowing overall growth patterns. We see notably slower growth across the board with the exception of Nicaragua, which continues to offer potential. There is a growing trend for operators to focus on mobile content to provide market growth, rather than adding new subscribers. Mobile banking solutions are likely to be top of the list of potential new products, taking advantage of the strong remittance market in the region.

BMI maintains its broadly positive outlook of the Chilean freight transport sector for Q213. A cyclical uptick in Chinese growth that began in Q412 has caused us to revise up both our real GDP forecast for 2013, from 4.0% to 4.2%. That said, we continue to believe that lower trend growth in China over the 2013-2017 forecast period will keep Chilean export growth off of the brisk pace it recorded in the middle of the past decade. We expect much of the slowdown will occur in 2013 and 2014, with increasing global growth will help Chile's export picture recover from 2015 onward. We see domestic demand trending lower in 2013 and 2014, too, mostly on easing investment and relatively less robust growth in private consumption.

Key Insights And Key Risks

Aside from the country's well-publicised economic woes, Italy is at a crossroads in terms of energy market development. The public has rejected state efforts to revive its nuclear strategy, clearing the way for gas volumes to rise steadily higher - forcing the import bill up at the same pace. As the scheduled general elections, set for February 24-25, the head of Italy's centre-left alliance, Pier Luigi Bersani, which is leading opinion polls, has said that natural gas would be at the centre of his energy policy and incentives to promote renewable energy would be reduced, scraping away parts of a new energy strategy unveiled in October 2012, that seeks to reduce imports to 67% of Italian needs by 2020 by involving, in part, an increase in renewable energy production. This move could potentially see gas imports rise and could also increase allowance for exploration works.

Investment continues to flow into the Nigerian construction sector. This is reflected in the recently announced 6.5% GDP growth over 2012, a political agenda of economic reforms, and the continued unbundling and privatisation of the state-run Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). Thus, in line with our forecasts, Nigeria continues to see strong growth within its construction sector and we anticipate an annual average real growth of 7.0% between 2013 and 2017. However, we also continue to highlight the persistent risks hampering the implementation of major projects, ranging from deep-rooted corruption, violence perpetrated by militant Islamists and retaliatory forces, and a vast yet still inefficient bureaucracy.

Poland fell to third position in our Risk/Reward Ratings in Q2 2013 as slowing subscription growth and declining mobile ARPUs impacted its score. Despite this decline, we maintain our view that the market has a strong outlook for new services, particularly the demand for data. Fixed and mobile operators are competing to cater to broadband demand via infrastructure investments, with strong growth both in terms of smartphone users and dedicated data services. Meanwhile, multi-play operators are becoming the norm in Poland, providing a wealth of cross-platform content and fuelling the demand for high-speedinternet services over wireline and wireless platforms.

It is difficult to stay abreast of everything that is happening financially in the United States today. Dennis Tubbergen, a financial advisor, author, radio show host and CEO of PLP Advisors, LLC can be counted on to give a hand when it comes to understanding the latest events in U.S. and world economics.

In comparison to a review period CAGR of 1%, fragrances posted a considerably weaker performance in 2011, registering a current value decline of 4%. This can be attributed to the category being heavily affected by the economic crisis and subsequent decline in consumers' disposable income. Volume sales of fragrances fell by 3% in 2011.

While many health food stores and online retailers are offering coconut oil as a weight loss supplement, the truth is that unrefined coconut oil can actually cause weight gain due to a high amount of fat contained therein. In order for coconut oil to produce weight loss, it must be refined to pure MCT weight loss oil, a natural fat that actually stimulates weight loss in as little as 30 minutes after consumption. Diet Doc has refined its MCT oil to a 100 percent purity level, isolating only MCT (medium chain triglycerides) for maximum weight loss potential. Pure MCT oil has been called a fatless fat by scientists, defying the common perception that all fats make people fat.