Finance topics

Financial literacy has nothing to do with how well you score on tests of your knowledge.

You may be asked to define the Rule of 72 (the number of years it takes your money to double at a given interest rate) or the factors that go into calculating your creditworthiness. The problem with such tests is that they’re based on facts – and facts change.

A legitimate tax avoidance strategy today can be viewed as tax evasion next year. Soon, you’re getting demands from the Canada Revenue Agency for thousands of dollars in back taxes. You can score 100 per cent on a financial literacy survey and still lose money because you put your trust in bad people, companies or investments.

Trust is easily won in Canada.

Take the recent news about Montreal adviser Earl Jones, who’s alleged to have spent millions of dollars that his clients gave him to manage.

In photos, the 67-year-old with the full head of white hair looks trustworthy. Clients felt they were in good hands and didn’t bother to call the Quebec financial regulator to see if Jones was registered and covered by a compensation fund (which he wasn’t). I’m not blaming the victims here. I’m blaming a system that allows financial advisers to operate outside of a mandatory regulatory regime.

Canadians have a sense of entitlement. There’s a feeling that government rules are in place to keep us safe from fraud and wrongdoing. If you believe there’s a fund to protect you in an insolvency, you’ll probably let your guard down and get complacent. You won’t take time to check the credentials of those to whom you entrust your savings.

Here’s a way to boost financial literacy. Let’s make Canadians more suspicious. Let’s work on changing attitudes, not teaching more stuff. Let’s encourage everyone to ask about the downside risks and the worst possible scenario. Let’s develop a checklist of questions to ask – and tick off as answered – before people sign any paperwork or agree to any large purchases auto car loan.

Questions such as:

What if I get sick or I can’t work anymore? Can I get my money back early without a penalty?

What if the company goes under? What if the principals go to jail?

What if the stock market goes down and stays down for a few years?

What if interest rates go down to zero?

What’s the worst possible loss I can have on my investment?

You may have to counteract your own optimistic tendencies about returns that look too good to be true. An investment yielding double-digit rates carries more risk than one yielding 2 to 3 per cent.

It won’t be guaranteed, for sure, and it won’t be a loan.

About 2,800 people in British Columbia fell victim to the Eron Mortgage fraud in the 1990s.

A study by Simon Fraser University professor Neil Boyd found more than a third of Eron investors thought they were providing a loan with a guaranteed rate of return.

Those who saw themselves as lenders lost almost twice as much as those who viewed themselves as investors – an average of about $76,000, in contrast to an average of $43,000.

Decisions to invest often take place without a strong base of knowledge and, most important, without a critical analysis.

"It will ultimately be a well-informed and skeptical investor who is least likely to be victimized by the fraudulent dishonesty" of men such as those behind Eron Mortgage, Boyd concluded.

Next week, do financial literacy and accounting go together?

eroseman@thestar.ca

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It appears there’s a grocery war brewing in Des Peres.

As Schnucks prepares to open a new 74,000-square-foot store at the bustling corner of Manchester and Ballas roads, its rivals from Dierbergs are floating a plan to open just up the street.

Dierbergs has its eye on the corner of Manchester and Lindeman Road, where it holds an option on 6.5 acres and hopes to build a new 75,000-square-foot store, said Jerry Ebest, vice president for real estate. It hopes to submit plans to Des Peres city officials next month.

"It’s a market that is underserved," Ebest said. "I believe it would be a good location and both we and Schnucks would be good competitors there."

The Dierbergs site is directly across the street from an existing Schnucks, which will close Sept. 14, the night before the new, bigger, Schnucks opens at the Des Peres Corners shopping center. There are no firm plans yet for the reuse of the older, 60,000-square-foot store, the company said.

Final city approval for the Dierbergs likely wouldn’t come until spring at the earliest, said Des Peres City Administrator Doug Harms. There will be public hearings and two boards that must vote on it. The process could drag on if there is opposition — as there was for the new Schnucks.

The city is "not inclined" to give Dierbergs any incentives, such as tax increment financing, to open the store, Harms said.

If both stores open, square footage of groceries in west St. Louis County will more than double.

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Professional photographers are routinely paid thousands of dollars by big companies to take pictures that will help sell products – but some amateur shutterbugs are unwittingly doing the work for free.

Alan McDermott never imagined that a photo he took last year of a striking piece of Dublin graffiti would end up in a Canadian cellphone company’s promotional material without his permission.

McDermott, 38, was strolling down a lane in the Irish capital when he spotted a visually stunning piece of street art – a young girl releasing a heart-shaped balloon – that closely resembled the work of the renowned British graffiti artist known as "Banksy," despite a misspelling of the shadowy figure’s moniker.

A hobby photographer, he snapped a few pictures before the mural was scrubbed away. He later touched up the picture using a computer program and uploaded it to the photo-sharing website Flickr.

While he knew the photo was good, he was still shocked to learn this week that the same picture was being used by cellphone giant Virgin Mobile in its latest Canadian ad campaign.

"Virgin is a multibillion-dollar company," McDermott said in an interview, adding he never gave anyone permission to use his image. "They should know better."

The Canadian arm of the cheeky mobile company was originally conceived as a joint venture between Sir Richard Branson’s sprawling Virgin Group and Bell Canada Inc., but is now wholly owned by Bell. "The image was taken from Flickr," said Chris Baines, a spokesman for Virgin in Canada. "We do apologize and will be in touch with (the photographer)."

Baines said the picture was used only in a "small quantity of booklets produced to go to the media to explain our campaign" and there are no plans to include it in the company’s advertising.

Such incidents are becoming increasingly common as people turn to the web to self-publish their work and share personal information. Courts are struggling to adapt copyright and licensing laws that were not conceived with the Internet in mind.

Flickr is just one example. Owned by web giant Yahoo, the site claims to be the repository for more than 3.5 billion images, with some three million new photos uploaded every day.

McDermott said his photo is clearly marked under a licence from Creative Commons, a non-profit group seeking alternatives to traditional copyright and licensing laws. He said he selected a licence that requires the image to be credited, and that it not be altered or used for commercial purposes without permission.

In addition to carrying several lines of advertising copy, McDermott said the version of his picture that appeared in Virgin Mobile’s booklet was cropped and re-coloured to give it the appearance of an older photograph. There is no photo credit.

"It’s not an accidental mistake, it’s outright theft," McDermott said.

McDermott said he wants Virgin to pay him the "going rate" for his photo, noting that an online colleague recently sold a picture posted on Flickr for more than $1,000 (U.S.) through stock photo agency Getty Images. Getty has a deal with Flickr that allows it to select high-quality images and include them in its archives in exchange for a licensing fee paid to the photographer.

It’s not the first time McDermott has run into problems with others taking his work. He once snapped a photo of rock superstar Bono at a U2 concert only to discover that a stranger had lifted the image from Flickr and was trying to sell it on eBay.

Nor is it the first time that Virgin Mobile has been accused of improperly using somebody else’s image in their advertising. According to The New York Times, the company was taken to court in 2007 after a 15-year-old Dallas student discovered that her picture, taken by a friend at a church-sponsored car wash, had made its way onto a Virgin Mobile billboard in Australia. The ad painted Alison Chang in a less than flattering light.

However, unlike McDermott’s photo, the Times story said the photographer did not specify that the picture wasn’t to be used for commercial purposes, leaving the case to focus on Chang’s privacy rights.

There is a degree of irony in Virgin Mobile’s latest run-in with Flickr that’s not lost on McDermott. Virgin no doubt selected the photo because Banksy, as a well-known graffiti artist, is an edgy, anti-establishment figure – an image Virgin also wants to project through its brand. But Banksy, whose true identity is the source of speculation, has also been quoted as saying "copyright is for losers," suggesting that he does not expect to retain ownership of his unsolicited work.

It’s not clear whether McDermott’s photo is of a real Banksy piece – the tag under the image is spelled "Bansky" – or someone else’s homage to the graffiti artist.

Not all of McDermott’s experiences with Flickr have been negative. He recounted a request he once received by the popular band Radiohead.

The group sought permission to publish on its website one of his photos, taken during one of the band’s outdoor concerts. "I said, `Of course, you can put it on your website – just credit me for it,’ which they did.

"That’s the way it should be."

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Bank of Montreal predicted yesterday that higher consumer spending and a rebounding housing market will fuel more growth in personal credit and residential mortgages during the second half of this year.

The bank made the upbeat forecast as it reported a third-quarter profit of $557 million, up 6.9 per cent.

That decidedly positive tone from Canada’s fourth-largest bank – the first of the big six lenders to report earnings this season – heartened investors who bid up BMO’s stock by 6.7 per cent, or $3.29, to $52.30 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

"Looking at the broader economies, there is a normalization under way," said president and chief executive officer Bill Downe. "We’re identifying growth opportunities and we’re well positioned going into 2010."

Canada’s economic recovery already appears to be improving BMO’s fortunes. Deposit growth is up and Canadian consumer delinquencies stabilized during the May-to-July quarter.

The bank also set aside less money to cover bad loans. Provisions for credit losses totalled $417 million for the three months ended July 31, 2009. That’s down $67 million from $484 million in the same period last year.

While analysts lauded that "credit surprise," BMO executives said provisions for credit losses are likely to remain relatively high into 2010. That’s partly because it expects the jobless rate to eventually top 9 per cent and the high-flying Canadian dollar to contribute to a "sluggish" economic recovery.

The bank also predicted the loonie will return to parity with the U.S. dollar next year.

"However, we’re confident that the strength of our core business earnings will absorb our credit losses through this cycle," Downe said.

Furthermore, the bank has taken steps to ensure that credit continues to flow, such as deliberately maintaining high capital levels.

A key measure of financial strength — known as the Tier 1 Capital ratio — was 11.71 per cent at quarter’s end. That is well above the regulatory minimum of 7 per cent. That ratio is expected to fall in 2010 as demand for lending increases, led by growth in consumer loans.

"BMO’s credit risk is moderating in our view," John Aiken of Dundee Capital Markets wrote in a note to clients. "Further, with very strong capital levels, we believe that BMO’s risk profile has dramatically improved in 2009."

BMO said its third-quarter profit amounted to 97 cents per diluted share. That compared with year-ago net income of $521 million, or 98 cents per share. Revenue increased by more than 8 per cent to $2.98 billion.

The bank largely credited higher earnings in its bread-and-butter personal and commercial division and from its once-battered capital markets segment for buttressing its improved results.

Its cornerstone Canadian retail division recorded an earnings increase of 13 per cent, while BMO Capital Markets’ net income improved 30 per cent from the same period last year.

BMO also held its quarterly dividend steady at 70 cents per common share despite being dogged by renewed speculation in recent days about the potential for a cut. Monday, the Strategic Short Report, an Internet newsletter, suggested that an unnamed bank would cut its dividend. Other sites later identified the lender as BMO.

In his note, Aiken said the speculation was "chalked up to crazy Internet rumours," adding BMO’s third-quarter performance "should put most of the concerns regarding a potential dividend cut to rest."

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Where does Canada stand with respect to the cost of wireless services? That question recently generated a spirited debate when the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development released new figures that ranked it as the third most expensive developed country.

Critics pounced on the report, calling the results ridiculous and pointing to perceived flaws in the methodology.

Given that consumers have a hard time making sense of the different plans, options and hidden fees offered by Canada’s big three wireless providers (Rogers, Bell and Telus), it should come as little surprise that comparison of wireless services across dozens of countries is exceptionally difficult. Some countries charge consumers for both incoming and outgoing calls, while many others do not.

Moreover, hidden charges such as Canada’s system access fee – which can add as much as 25 per cent to a monthly bill – are often excluded from cost calculations.

While the debate will continue to rage, few currently hold Canada up as a model of wireless leadership. If not pricing, what should policy-makers and politicians be focusing on? Four main issues come to mind.

The first is competition, particularly among GSM providers.

While this will change later this year, for the moment Rogers is the only GSM provider in the country. Since GSM has emerged as the dominant global wireless technology, this has had big consequences for consumer choice and marketplace competition. Most new devices, such as the popular Apple iPhone, are available only for GSM providers, meaning that Rogers has enjoyed a virtual monopoly on the hottest devices.

Although the government has been reluctant to publicly acknowledge its competition concerns, recent policies suggest that it would like to see a more competitive environment.

The clearest indication came during the 2008 spectrum auction, in which it reserved some spectrum exclusively for new entrants over the objections of the incumbents.

There is another spectrum auction on the horizon that holds the possibility of opening the door to further competitors, particularly if Industry Minister Tony Clement is willing to revisit foreign ownership restrictions.

The auction also provides an opportunity to address the second issue – wireless net neutrality.

The current "walled garden" approach adopted by Canadian carriers in which they frequently control the applications that run on their networks has already attracted the attention of the CRTC. It has ruled that new regulatory requirements are needed to counter the resulting competition concerns.

Transparency in pricing should also be addressed. Canadian carriers continue to levy system access fees as a separate charge, despite the fact that they are nothing more than an additional cost to consumers. Moreover, carriers often bury significant usage restrictions in the fine print, leaving consumers without a true sense of the cost of their mobile phones. Clear guidelines on disclosures would enable consumers to better choose among providers.

Fourth, the length of consumer contracts further stymies competition. Canadian wireless carriers attempt to lock consumers into contracts for far longer than virtually any other developed country, with three-year contracts considered the norm. Several years ago Canada instituted wireless number portability that allows consumers to keep their numbers when switching providers. While designed to fuel greater competition, the policy has largely failed, owing to the combined effect of a single GSM provider (meaning consumers often lose their device when switching providers) and long-term contracts.

Debates about wireless pricing may be addressing the right concern with the wrong question. Instead, Canadians should be focused on competition, walled gardens, pricing transparency and a cap on contractual terms.

Michael Geist holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. He can reached at mgeist@uottawa.ca or online at www.michaelgeist.ca.

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The Toronto stock market closed sharply higher as investors bought shares across most sectors after U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. economy is on the verge of a long-awaited recovery.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 130.67 points to 10,831.18 as sentiment also improved in the wake of oil prices that hit 2009 highs and positive U.S. housing sector data.

Despite the strong showing Friday, the Toronto market lost slight ground for a second week, shedding 16.83 points amid lingering concern about how much support U.S. consumers and Asian economies can lend to a recovery.

During an annual Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Bernanke said that "the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good."

He did warn, however, that lending is not back to normal, and that the difficulty consumers and businesses are having obtaining loans remain a challenge.

The energy sector rose 1.75 per cent as a strong advance on the main China market and good economic news from Europe helped send the October contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange up 98 cents to US$73.55 a barrel, after rising as much as US$74.72, the high for the year.

Oil prices have risen sharply since data was released Wednesday showing a large drawdown of U.S. crude inventories last week, raising hopes for demand.

Suncor Inc. (TSX: SU) improved $1.05 to $35.53 and Canadian Natural Resources (TSX: CNQ) rose $1.19 to $65.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.46 of a cent to 92.43 cents U.S. and the TSX Venture Exchange was ahead 7.56 points to 1,191.95.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrials surged 155.91 points to 9,505.96, gaining 184.56 points or 1.99 per cent on the week.

The Nasdaq composite index jumped 31.68 points to 2,020.9 while the S&P 500 index gained 18.76 points to 1,026.13.

Though Bernanke's positive assessment on the economy was encouraging, the market's challenges, including rising unemployment and sluggish consumer spending, are certainly far from over.

"You're still losing a quarter of a million jobs a month, you're losing income," observed Andrew Pyle, an investment adviser with Scotia McLeod in Peterborough, Ont.

"Until we stop losing jobs, I think it's ludicrous to talk about expansion in activity because you need something to expand with and if the consumer is still the bulk of the U.S. economy, how do you expect the consumer to deliver solid results without income growth free credit report online."

Meanwhile, a bigger-than-expected jump in U.S. home sales helped give stocks a boost. The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes rose 7.2 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million in July, from a pace of 4.89 million in June. Sales had been expected to rise to an annual pace of five million.

It was the fourth straight monthly increase and the highest level of sales since August 2007. The rise in sales came amid a sharp decline in home prices.

The Toronto market also received support from other commodity prices that moved higher. The December bullion contract on the Nymex gained $13 to US$954.70 an ounce while September copper climbed 13 cents to US$2.8805 a pound.

The base metals sector climbed 2.15 per cent with Teck Resources (TSX: TCK.B) ahead 49 cents to $28.88.

The gold sector gained 1.3 per cent and Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX: ABX) moved ahead 59 cents to $37.60.

The financials sector was up almost one per cent ahead of earnings reports coming down next week from most of the big banks. TD Bank (TSX: TD) climbed 61 cents to $63.90 and Manulife Financial (TSX: MFC) advanced 61 cents to $22.01.

In other corporate news, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has offered renewed backing for a bid for General Motors Co.'s Opel unit from Canadian auto parts maker Magna International (TSX: MG.A), saying in an interview published Friday that it is "the better concept."

Magna, in a consortium with Russian lender Sberbank, is competing for a majority stake in Opel with Brussels-based investor RHJ International SA and its shares were ahead 89 cents to $51.05.

Switzerland's Lonza Group AG is making a friendly US$458.5-million bid for Canadian drugmaker Patheon Inc. (TSX: PTI). Patheon says the offer trumps a hostile bid from New York based investment firm JLL Partners Inc. But JLL and its affiliate, JLL Patheon Holdings, issued a statement later Friday indicating it would fight the Lonza bid. Patheon shares surged 80 cents or 31 per cent to $3.38.

Open Text Corp. (TSX: OTC) shares rose 21 cents to $41.51 even as it warned that revenues will be lower than expected from its newly acquired Vignette Corp. online software business, but said it remains on track to meet overall growth expectations.

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Peter Haefele simply pays attention to customers at his NAPA Autopro repair garage in Scarborough.

And it works. His shop and the Autopro service chain have raced past their rivals to provide the best customer satisfaction among repair centres in Canada, according to a comprehensive industry study.

J.D. Power and Associates, a leading market research firm, said yesterday NAPA Autopro posted the top scores in its annual study of service satisfaction at 35 repair chains and dealerships plus hundreds of independent neighbourhood shops.

Autopro, which finished third in J.D. Power’s annual customer satisfaction index in 2008, jumped ahead of OK Tire, the previous leader, and PetroCan’s Certigard, another high-scoring chain of repair shops.

"We really try to do a good job for the customer," said Haefele, who has owned his Autopro shop near Ellesmere Rd. and Warden Ave. for 15 years. "It keeps them happy – and coming back."

Haefele, who operates eight service bays at his shop, added that Autopro’s continuing training and prompt responses to complaints also help.

"We make sure they get properly resolved," he said.

The J.D. Power study followed responses from 14,388 vehicle owners to a series of questions about their experiences between April and June in a market that generates more than $11 billion annually in Canada.

Owners of 3- to 12-year-old vehicles were asked about how their disabled auto got to the shop and were questioned about the facility, service adviser performance, work quality and the return of the vehicle.

J.D. Power’s study concluded Autopro, which operates 600 parts and repair stores in Canada, including more than two dozen in the GTA, performed well in all categories. Pennzoil and Jiffy Lube also finished near the top of the J.D. Power index, along with Autopro, OK Tire and Certigard.

As a group, independent repair shops achieved average scores near those of the industry leaders.

The chains that posted the poorest satisfaction scores included Costco, Wal-Mart, Ford Fast Lane, Canadian Tire, and Volvo and Mazda dealers affordable car insurance.

Officials for Canadian Tire and Wal-Mart could not be reached for comment.

In the past, Canadian Tire has said the company conducts a huge volume of repairs, which makes it difficult to maintain proper service levels. But the retailer said it was investing more in training and development to improve services.

Among new dealerships, only Acura and Hyundai posted satisfaction scores above industry average.

The study showed dealerships continue to lose business to repair chains and independent shops, which increased market share by 2 per cent to 59 per cent.

"While a two-percentage-point shift may not seem substantial, this equates to more than $220 million in lost revenue annually for dealers," said Darren Slind, who leads J.D. Power’s auto practice in Canada. "Given declining new-vehicle sales, which are down more than 16 per cent in Canada so far this year, dealers must rely more than ever on their service and parts operations."

J.D. Power said the results revealed that dealers performed well in the quality, convenience, comfort and cleanliness categories, but customers placed a higher priority on people, processes and service.

The study indicated more than half of vehicle owners left during the repair so they didn’t experience in-store advantages, Slind noted.

J.D. Power said the study also revealed that average spending on auto repairs will slide by about 7 per cent from $920 in 2008 to $856 this year because of the recession.

The research firm said the proportion of customers who acknowleged going to the cheapest outlet had grown from 17 to 23 per cent.

"In a difficult economy, vehicle owners seem to be delaying what they perceive to be non-essential maintenance or seeking out the lowest cost option," Slind said.

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New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, probing illegal marketing and sales of auction rate securities (ARS), is likely to file a lawsuit on Monday against Charles Schwab Corp for civil fraud, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

As a part of the lawsuit, Cuomo will likely present transcripts of recordings between Schwab brokers and customers that allegedly show how the ARS were misrepresented by brokers as easy-to-sell alternatives to cash, according to the paper.

Cuomo also claims that Schwab did not train brokers about the risks that the ARS market could stop functioning, leading to money being locked for a long time, the paper said.

Schwab, the largest U.S. online brokerage, which has maintained that the allegations are “without merit,” said in a statement that the filing of any charges against the company is “totally unwarranted.”

“The Attorney General’s demand that Schwab act as an insurer against an unprecedented market collapse that it did not cause and could not predict is legally unsound,” the company said in a letter to Cuomo, which it posted on its website payday loans.

Schwab said the letter was sent to Cuomo’s office on July 24.

Cuomo’s office could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.

ARS are long-term debts whose rates are set at periodic auctions. The credit crisis of 2007 put increasing pressure on the ARS market, and by February 2008 the market froze after brokerages stopped supporting the auctions.

Several brokerages targeted by authorities have agreed to buy back ARS from investors. Schwab, part of a small group that has not settled, said it did not create the products and had no involvement in the events that led to the collapse of the ARS market.

(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

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Ontario Power Generation's electricity output fell 19 per cent during its second quarter as lingering effects of the economic recession took their toll on power demand in the province.

The good news is that generation from OPG's fossil-fuel plants, primarily coal, plunged by two-thirds.

“This decrease was primarily due to lower electricity demand in Ontario and an increase in the electricity production from other Ontario generators,” the province-owned company said in a statement Friday.

Lower economic activity, a relatively cool and wet summer, and conservation programs in the province have combined to lower demand for electricity. The Ontario Power Authority has estimated that roughly 60 per cent of the fall in power demand is the result of reduced economic activity, with the rest coming from conservation and energy-efficiency initiatives.

The province also has new generation this year from wind and natural gas-fired plants that are easing reliance on coal-fired and nuclear power pay day loans.

OPG's electricity generation during the quarter was 20.9 terawatt-hours, of which 47 per cent came from regulated and unregulated hydroelecric generation and 44per cent from nuclear.

It means 91 per cent of OPG's generation during the second quarter was virtually free of greenhouse gases and other smog-causing emissions.

The company's profit for the period was $306 million, compared to $99 million a year earlier.

“In light of these conditions, we have intensified our efforts on prudent financial operations by instituting cost constraint measures and pursuing further cost reduction opportunities,” said OPG president and chief exective Tom Mitchell, in a statement.

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Sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly fell in July from June, a government report showed on Thursday, casting a shadow over an anticipated rebound in consumer spending in the third quarter.

The Commerce Department said total retail sales edged down 0.1 percent from increasing a revised 0.8 percent in June. Sales in June were initially reported to have risen 0.6 percent.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales rising 0.7 percent in July, expecting a boost from the government’s “cash for clunkers” program, which gives consumers cash to swap aging gas-guzzlers for new, more fuel efficient models.

Excluding motor vehicles and parts, sales fell 0 quick cash.6 percent in July after rising 0.5 percent the prior month. Analysts had expected a 0.1 percent gain in sales excluding autos.

Gasoline station sales fell 2.1 percent in July, reflecting a retreat in gasoline prices during the month, after surging 6.3 percent in June. Excluding gasoline, retail sales nudged up 0.1 percent. Sales of building materials were down 2.1 percent in July after falling 0.6 percent in June.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Neil Stempleman)

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