TALLAHASSEE | Thu Jan 31, 2013 6:40pm EST

TALLAHASSEE (Reuters) - Florida's Republican governor on Thursday proposed a hefty $4 billion hike in state spending in a budget plan that includes a $1.2 billion increase in school aid, cuts in business taxes, and relies on fatter state sales-tax collections.

Accompanied by teachers, business leaders and state employees, Gov. Rick Scott told reporters at the Capitol that his $74.2 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2013-14 illustrated economic recovery in Florida and tough budget decisions made by lawmakers over the last few years when revenues were faltering.

Buoyed by increases in sales-tax revenues, Scott's plan was the first since the 2008-09 budget cycle that did not include a sizeable revenue shortfall going into the legislative session set to begin in March.

Scott's proposal includes recommendations to lawmakers, who craft the state's spending plan ahead of the new budget year starting on July 1.

Florida's general revenue portion of the budget, a $27.1 billion pot used for discretionary spending, marks an increase of 4.7 percent over last year.

"This is further evidence that Florida's economy is back on track and growing again," Scott told reporters.

Other states, such as California, are also seeing increased revenues. Jerry Brown, California's Democratic governor, three weeks ago proposed a budget plan with the state's first surplus in a decade, but urged restraint in spending.

Some other governors are championing tax cuts, and in Texas on Tuesday, Republican Gov. Rick Perry recommended returning excess state revenue to taxpayers.

Florida's jobless rate stood at 8 percent in December, the best showing in four years for a state still battling back from the U.S. housing bust. But it still remains among the highest rates and above the national unemployment rate of 7.8 percent, according to federal government data. (For details, please see: here)

For business, Scott's plan calls for expanding the state sales-tax exemption on machinery and equipment used in manufacturing, a tax break expected to save 17,500 employers about $140 million a year.

On the education front, Scott seeks an across-the-board $2,500 raise for public school teachers as part of his proposed $1.2 billon of increases in K-12 education spending.

The plan drew praise from Florida's largest teachers union, whose members generally haven't seen raises in several years.

"We are happy the governor is recognizing and investing in Florida's high performing public schools," said Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association. "In most of Florida, our public schools are the largest employer."

The governor's proposal also includes $60 million for Everglades restoration and another $75 million for the state's environmental land buying program.

Scott sees a lean year for bonding. His budget blueprint includes about $750 million in transportation bonds, which are paid for by fuel tax revenues and do not affect the state's general revenue budget. The proposal does not include any bonding for school construction or environmental land purchases.

(Writing and additional reporting by Michael Connor in Miami; editing by Gunna Dickson)

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U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the White House in Washington November 28, 2012.

WASHINGTON | Thu Jan 31, 2013 6:19pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief of a group of more than 200 CEOs said on Thursday that President Barack Obama had told the business community last month he might back a territorial tax system, a regime that would exempt offshore corporate profits from U.S. taxation.

Corporate America is pushing for the United States to move to such a regime to make businesses more competitive against foreign rivals that pay no taxes on overseas earnings. The United States currently taxes corporate profits earned abroad only when they are brought into the country.

In 2011, then Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner privately agreed to move to such a regime in failed talks with Republicans to secure a major budget deal, according to aides present.

During last year's presidential election campaign, Vice President Joe Biden criticized a territorial tax system, employing populist rhetoric to blast companies that shift their business and jobs abroad.

John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable, a CEO lobbying group, said that in meetings during last month's budget standoff between the White House and Congress, Obama was moving back in the business community's direction on the issue.

"He reaffirmed his support for corporate tax reform and he was acknowledging the importance of ... a territorial system, which I think had been a little bit of a question," Engler said.

A White House official on Thursday said Obama is eager to "pursue corporate tax reform that lowers the rate ... but does not believe that a pure territorial system is the best way to achieve this goal."

A territorial system is seen as having a chance of winning approval in Congress only if it were to be coupled with a major budget deal, where Obama could win some of his priorities.

The Business Roundtable is composed of chief executives from marquee companies ranging from mega-retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc to Wall Street's JPMorgan Chase & Co.

TAX REVAMP UNCERTAIN

Lawmakers in Congress have been working on a tax code overhaul for more than a year, though its prospects are unclear given a crowded legislative agenda and disputes over revenue.

Obama last year pitched a corporate tax revamp that included cutting the top corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 35 percent and closing a number of business tax breaks to pay for the cut.

Pam Olson, assistant treasury for tax policy under Republican President George W. Bush and now chief of PricewaterhouseCooper's Washington tax practice, said Obama's plan carefully opposed a "pure" territorial tax system, but left the door open for hybrid systems that might, for instance, exempt some but not all offshore profits from U.S. taxation.

"The use of the term 'pure' I think, was a signal that they were willing to consider it," Olson said.

Critics of moving to a territorial system say it will cause further U.S. jobs and business to move offshore.

A report by the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan think tank for lawmakers, this month said U.S.-based global companies are increasingly shifting profits into tax havens like Bermuda and Switzerland.

Critics say this proves companies are aggressively skirting the law to avoid U.S. tax. Business groups say the trend is the result of the relatively high U.S. tax rate.

TOUGH CHOICES

The notion of trimming the top corporate tax rate is a rare area of agreement between Democrats and Republicans on tax policy, though Republicans want to lower the rate more.

A major hurdle in any tax code revamp would be how to "broaden the base" of taxpayers, which both sides say is needed to help fund a tax rate cut. That would mean making hard choices about scrapping tax deductions, credit and loopholes that some companies hold dear.

Engler said his CEOs would be willing to give up some perks if it meant the corporate tax rate could be cut to 25 percent.

"There are credits for the way you handle depreciation, there are credits on R&D (research and development), there are credits on this type of manufacturing or this type of manufacturing product," he said. "They have to be on the table."

(Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Howard Golle, M.D. Golan and Andrew Hay)

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Visitors play with Microsoft's Xbox 360 consoles at the Tokyo Game Show in Chiba, east of Tokyo, September 15, 2011. The game show goes on till September 18.

SAN FRANCISCO | Thu Jan 10, 2013 1:01pm EST

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Thursday it hired technology entrepreneur Blake Krikorian to help run its Interactive Entertainment Business as the world's largest software company plans bigger things for its Xbox gaming console.

Krikorian will be corporate vice president for the Interactive Entertainment Business, reporting to Marc Whitten, chief product officer for the division, Microsoft added.

The appointment follows Microsoft's recent acquisition of Krikorian's company, id8 Group R2 Studios, which had developed an application that allows users to control home heating and lighting systems from smartphones.

Microsoft is trying to transform Xbox from a gaming device into a broader service that controls most aspects of home entertainment, including music, movies, TV and sports.

"We look forward to his contribution to our team as Xbox continues to evolve and transform the games and entertainment landscape," Whitten said in a statement.

Krikorian's Sling Media - which was sold to EchoStar Communications in 2007 - made the Slingbox device for watching TV over the Internet.

Krikorian resigned from Amazon.com Inc's board in late December after about a year and a half as a director at the company, the Internet's largest retailer.

(Reporting By Alistair Barr; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attends the plenary session of the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in New Delhi December 20, 2012.

NEW DELHI | Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:45am EST

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh struck a downbeat note on the challenges facing the Indian economy on Thursday, dubbing a five-year plan for average growth of 8 percent "ambitious".

India's GDP growth has languished below 6 percent for three straight quarters, a far cry from the near-double-digit pace of expansion before the 2008 global financial downturn.

Economic growth for the fiscal year ending in March is expected to be 5.7-5.9 percent, India's slowest since 2002/03.

"I must emphasize, that achieving a target of 8 percent growth, following less than 6 percent in the first year, is still an ambitious target," Singh told a conference of state chief ministers to finalize the government's 2012-2017 economic plan.

The downturn prodded Singh, castigated for years of policy inertia, to launch the most daring initiatives of his tenure in September, including raising subsidized diesel prices and opening the retail and other sectors to foreign players.

However, one of Singh's key policy advisers, Montek Singh Ahluwalia warned at the meeting that growth could get stuck at 5.0-5.5 percent if a policy logjam continues.

"A high growth scenario will not be realized if we follow a business-as-usual policy," Singh said, echoing his adviser.

"Our first priority must be to reverse this slowdown. We cannot change the global economy but we can do something about the domestic constraints which have contributed to the downturn."

Analysts say the government must take more reform steps quickly, including speeding up the process for approval of investment projects, overhauling the tax system and reducing a swollen fiscal deficit by reining in its subsidy bill.

Singh said that subsidies on energy products should be limited, with a phased adjustment of prices.

"Unfortunately, energy is under-priced in our country. Our coal, petroleum products, and natural gas are priced well below international prices. This also means that electricity is effectively under-priced," he said.

"Immediate adjustment of prices to close the gap is not feasible, I realize this, but some phased price adjustment is necessary."

He added that early implementation of a Goods and Services Tax (GST), a long-delayed plan intended to replace myriad state and central taxes, was critical to raise the tax/GDP ratio.

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by John Chalmers)

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Washers and dryers are seen on display at a store in New York July 28, 2010.

WASHINGTON | Fri Dec 21, 2012 8:38am EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A gauge of planned U.S. business spending rose much more than expected in November, a hint that worries over tighter fiscal policy may not be holding back the factory sector as much as feared.

The Commerce Department said on Friday that non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for investment plans, jumped 2.7 percent last month, the second straight month of solid gains.

Economists had expected so-called core capital goods orders to rise just 0.3 percent. The reading for October was upwardly revised to a 3.2 percent gain from a previously reported 2.9 percent increase.

Shipments of non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, used to calculate equipment and software spending in the gross domestic product report, gained 1.8 percent.

The Commerce Department gave no indication that Superstorm Sandy, which lashed the East Coast in late October, had any impact on the data.

Many economists believe businesses are cutting back on capital spending, wary of automatic government spending cuts and tax increases scheduled to kick in early next year unless the U.S. Congress and the Obama administration can agree on a plan to avert this so-called "fiscal cliff."

Going over the cliff could drain about $600 billion from an already fragile economy.

Overall durable goods orders rose 0.7 percent in November, with increases posted for machinery, fabricated metal products, and computer and electronic products offsetting a drag from aircraft.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast orders for durable goods, items from toasters to aircraft that are meant to last at least three years, rising 0.2 percent last month.

Excluding transportation, orders rose 1.6 percent in November. Transport orders were down 1.1 percent. Previously, U.S. manufacturer Boeing reported new orders for its aircraft fell in November to 124 from 152 in the prior month.

New orders for autos jumped 3.5 percent. U.S. auto sales in November raced to a five-year high for that month on a rebound from storm-ravaged October and the need to replace aging vehicles.

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

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PARIS | Mon Oct 8, 2012 1:31pm EDT

PARIS (Reuters) - French group PPR plans to sell its declining Fnac music and book retailer, a source familiar with the matter said, to focus on its more profitable luxury and sports brands such as Gucci and Puma.

The board will meet on Tuesday to discuss splitting off Fnac, which analysts estimate could be worth up to 800 million euros ($1 billion), the source told Reuters on Monday. It will then present the plan to employees, the source said.

PPR confirmed it plans to hold a board meeting on Tuesday "to study the strategic options concerning Fnac."

PPR, the world's third-largest luxury group behind LVMH and Switzerland's Richemont, has been trying to sell its various retail businesses for several years to concentrate on its luxury and sports brands which have stronger growth prospects.

Analysts and bankers have said getting rid of Fnac would be particularly difficult as the unit's sales and profits have been dwindling steadily, hit by music piracy and fierce competition from the Internet.

PPR would also face resistance to any job losses at Fnac from the government, which is trying to fight rising unemployment and putting pressure on companies to safeguard jobs.

Labour minister Michel Sapin said on Monday he was closely watching PPR's decision to cut ties with Fnac and its impact on jobs.

Fnac, which has outlets in Brazil, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Belgium, employs 18,000 staff, with about 12,000 in France.

"The exit plan is not completely decided," the source said, adding PPR aims to seek shareholders' approval at next year's annual general meeting in the spring.

PPR could put Fnac's assets into a new legal entity which could either be sold to a third party - which analysts say would likely be a private equity firm - or listed on the stock market, the source said.

If Fnac applied for a separate Paris listing, PPR shareholders which include the Pinault family holding Artemis with a 40.7 percent stake, would receive shares in Fnac.

The scheme would be similar to that used by Carrefour to spin off Spanish discount chain Dia which left the retail giant free to revamp its poorly performing French business.

"Fnac has a good chance of attracting private equity or industrial bids," a Paris-based trader said, citing a price of around 550 million euros.

PAINFUL PROCESS

Getting out of general retailing has been a long and painful process for PPR, whose initials stand for Pinault-Printemps-La Redoute, which began in 2006 with the sale of the Printemps department store.

Fnac, in which PPR started investing in 1994 and fully owned in 1996, was identified as a non-strategic asset three and a half years ago.

"At least we will know how much Fnac is really worth once it is no longer consolidated in PPR's accounts," said Catherine Gaigne from the Sud union, which represents Fnac employees.

Analysts at CM-CIC Securities put a value of 775 million euros on Fnac, or 6.1 euros a share, saying a spin-off was a suitable option given "the difficulty of selling this asset".

Others said an IPO was usually reserved for growth stories, not declining businesses, and that option seemed less likely.

Investors cheered the prospect of seeing PPR free from Fnac, sending the shares up as much as 3 percent. The stock closed 2 percent higher, the only gainer on a 1.4 percent weaker French blue-chip CAC 40 index.

The company, which owns fashion brands Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen, sold furniture retailer Conforama last year.

In July it raised 968 million euros by selling its remaining stake in distribution unit CFAO to Japan's Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC).

Last week, PPR Chief Executive Francois-Henri Pinault said he would update investors on plans to sell its Redcats unit - which owns mail order businesses La Redoute, Cyrillus and Vertbaudet - before October 25.

Fnac, which also sells toys and home electronics, made an EBIT loss of 7.5 million euros in the half year to June 30 while PPR's luxury divisions made a profit of 727.1 million euros.

($1 = 0.7657 euros)

(Additional reporting by Christian Plumb, Blaise Robinson and Elena Berton; Editing by Erica Billingham and David Cowell)

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n">Aug 10 (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp has considered buying Research In Motion's enterprise division, Bloomberg reported On Friday, citing two unnamed sources.

IBM made an informal approach for the enterprise business that operates the servers used for supporting BlackBerry email and messaging services, one of the sources said, according to Bloomberg. The report said no talks were currently underway.

Under the leadership of new chief executive, Thorsten Heins, RIM has hired bankers for a strategic review that could include a potential sale and partnerships for its technology.

The Bloomberg report said the BlackBerry maker has not yet received any offers for its phone business or for the whole company.

RIM virtually invented mobile email with its first BlackBerry devices more than a decade ago, but its market share has evaporated as consumers have flocked to Apple Inc's iPhone and devices based on Google Inc's Android system. RIM has lost over 70 percent in market capitalization in the last year alone.

RIM officials declined to comment to Reuters while IBM officials were not immediately available.

On Thursday, South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co said it has not considered acquiring RIM or licensing the embattled BlackBerry phone maker's new mobile operating system, despite an earlier report from an influential analyst floating the idea.

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* Value not disclosed, includes up to 125 staff

* Digia to make Qt available for iOS, Android, Windows

HELSINKI Aug 9 (Reuters) - Struggling cellphone maker Nokia has agreed to sell its Qt software business to Finnish IT services firm Digia Oyj as part of its strategy to sell off non-core assets.

The companies did not disclose the value of the deal, which analysts said was a fraction of the $150 million Nokia paid for Norway's Trolltech in 2008.

The software is used by some 450,000 developers for making applications for some 70 industries.

Up to 125 employees working on developing and licensing the software will move from Nokia to Digia, the companies said on Thursday.

Nokia bought the software through its acquisition of Trolltech and it was a central part of its strategy until 2011 when it decided to swap its own smartphone software for Microsoft's Windows Phone.

Digia said it planned to make Qt available for making applications for Apple's iOS platform, Google's Android and Microsoft Windows 8.

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