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No Respite For Italian Banks BMI View: Although Italy's banks continue to muddle through, signs of a domestic economic slowdown and the ongoing eurozone sovereign debt crisis pose risks to both industry growth and stability. While a banking crisis is not on the cards for now, we warn that a failure by policymakers to stem the debt crisis and support growth pose significant risks. Latest data released by the Banca d'Italia, suggest that our negative outlook for the Italian banking sector is starting to play out (see our online service, September 12, 'At Risk From Eurozone Policy Inertia'). Since May, banking sector assets have been receding on a yearly basis, reaching a negative peak contraction of 4.2% in May. In September, total assets came in at EUR3.95tn, down by 0.2% year-onyear (y-o-y). Our negative outlook for Italian banks is mainly predicated on two factors: the expectation for poor real GDP growth in 2012, and a huge exposure to the eurozone sovereign debt crisis. These factors remain in place and have exacerbated since our last update. Italy's real GDP growth came in at -0.2% quarter-onquarter (q-o-q) in Q311. We expect the economy to experience negative growth in Q411 too, therefore entering technical recession. Furthermore, we currently forecast growth to fall into negative territory in Italy Commercial Banking Report Q1 2012 © Business Monitor International Ltd Page 28 2012, with the economy expected to contract by 1.4%, as EU-mandated fiscal austerity batters domestic demand. Italian banks hold large amounts of BOTs and BTPs (Italian government bonds), exposing the sector to a potential major credit event. As illustrated below, the financial institutions have attempted to reshuffle their balance sheets in recent months, moving away from bonds (mostly sovereign) and more towards consumer loans. While this would usually be welcomed as a positive development, indicating a strong conviction in the real economy, we believe that at the current juncture, we are observing a drop in bond holdings induced by a desire to reduce exposition to the sovereign debt crisis evolving in the eurozone. This is conversely a bearish signal that indicates how the Italian banking sector is increasingly trying to minimize its direct exposure to sovereign assets. This operation has been helped by the organisation of two 'BTP days', in which domestic consumers were allowed to purchase Italian government bonds from banks at a reduced rate. Nonetheless, Italian credit institutions remain fully exposed to the headwinds originating from the eurozone and with respect to Italian debt, and this weakness is not expected to abate significantly anytime soon. Dropping Client loans are still holding up well, according to the latest data. In September, outstanding client loans totalled EUR1.61tn, marking a 5.91% increase with respect to the same month of the previous year. However, we believe that a credit crunch will eventually hit the c

Although the basic ingredients are commodities, juices and smoothies are evolving seamlessly in line with the complex needs and demands of consumers. This brief outlines the most important consumer and product trends impacting the category globally, using Datamonitor's TrendSights mega-trend framework as a basis to organize the key themes covered.

BMI remains concerned about the effects of Argentina's soaring inflation on the country's freight transport sector. We believe that the Argentine government has artificially propped up growth during recent years. This should continue to support real term expansion over the coming quarters, but we believe that this government-led growth is ultimately unsustainable. We expect real GDP growth to cool to 4.1% in 2012, from growth of 7% in 2011.

BMI's Malaysia Defence and Security Report examines the country's strategic position in South East Asia and the wider region. It provides an overview of the challenges facing the country in the context of national elections that BMI anticipates this June and the historic repeal of the Internal Security Act. Prime Minister Najib tun Razak is now enjoying a resurgence in popularity, raising the likelihood of an imminent election and reducing the chances of serious political instability, which had been feared. Nonetheless more 'Bersih' protests for free and fair elections are planned, and sceptics are waiting to see whether Najib delivers on promises to clean up the political process.

Whiskey in Asia-Pacific to 2016: Market Guide provides in-depth detail on the trends and drivers of the Whiskey market in Asia-Pacific. The report includes quantitative information (historic and forecast market values), as well as data, to help companies in the Alcoholic Drinks industry better understand the changes in their environment, seize opportunities and formulate crucial business strategies.

Wal-Mart US: Consumer Profile is the result of Canadean's extensive online consumer survey Wal-Mart in the US, presenting uniquely detailed data on Wal-Mart's end-consumers. It provides retailer profiles for both Main and Occasional consumers (determined by the share of their goods coming from this retailer) covering over 25 individual consumer groups, and retailer share at product category level.

Current value sales of emergency contraception grew by 9% in 2011. This growth was relatively similar to but slightly lower than the CAGR observed during the review period. Even if there are some reimbursed RX emergency contraception medicines available in the marketplace, to get them women need to visit a doctor beforehand this is not necessarily possible in urgent cases of contraception failure or unprotected sex. As a result, French women continue to purchase OTC emergency contraception...

Similar to air treatment products, demand for heating appliances is highly seasonal and influenced by weather conditions. Accordingly, a colder than usual winter was one of the main drivers of growth in volume sales for this category in 2011. However, due to the lingering effects of the economic crisis and comparatively long product replacement cycles, volume growth was down on 2010, and also slower than the CAGR for the entire review period. Growth in current value sales meanwhile equalled...

Coffee market experienced strong volume growth in China in 2011, underpinned by the steady development of instant coffee and the vigorous growth of fresh coffee at the same time. With years of consumer education and effective marketing, Chinese consumers are increasingly accepting of the coffee-drinking culture. The booming chained specialist coffee shops in major cities also helped cultivate coffee-drinking habits especially among young consumers and office workers during the review period.

This is a detailed report covering Aldi's store formats, private labels, history, key employees, and key financial and operational metrics in Germany.