NY Post : No plans for a HBO stock spin-off: Time Warner CEO

There are no plans for an IPO or tracking stock for HBO, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes asserted Wednesday at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference.
Bewkes said that after years of hard work getting Time Warner reduced to a three-part core — HBO, Turner and Warner Brothers — he didn’t want to mess with the plan.
It’s “not hard to look at Time Warner today and see its value.” Bewkes asserted, saying he would soon lead an education offensive to get the word out on Wall Street.
“The burden is on us to communicate every part of the company,” Bewkes told the investor-packed audience. “That’s why I’m here.”
Much of that same audience, meanwhile, was there to hear what Time Warner’s boss had to say about spurning a rich take-over offer last summer from 21st Century Fox.
And on that, Bewkes also delivered: “We studied it and took it very seriously,” he said.
In the end, it was determined that integrating Time Warner into Fox would be such a “large undertaking” that shareholders on both sides would be exposed to incredible and unnecessary risks, Bewkes said.
Separately, Sony, too, is standing pat and not looking to sell or spin-off one of its crown jewels: Sony Entertainment.
Despite speculation thoughout the media world and Wall Street, such a move is not being considered, according to Michael Lynton, CEO of the entertainment unit, which include TV, film, music, video and gaming operations.
“Nothing’s in the cards,” he said after giving an overview of the business at confab. After his unit was streamlined by Sony Corp. boss Kazuo Hirai, things are looking up Lynton said.
Of all sectors he oversees, Lynton seemed most bullish on music.
“The future of music is actually very, very bright right now,” he said.“We really want the subscription model to thrive,” he said.

>>> RadioShack misses by $0.33, misses on revs --> +26.7% pre open (15k traded)

RadioShack misses by $0.33, misses on revs

Reports Q2 (Jul) adj. loss of $1.00 per share, $0.33 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.67); revenues fell 21.9% year/year to $673 mln vs the $726.28 mln consensus.
  • Comparable store sales were down 20.0% (vs. -10.5% estimates) driven by traffic declines and soft performance in the mobility business.
  • Consolidated gross profit was $506.3 million, or 35.9% of net sales, compared with $642.4 million last year, or 37.6% of net sales. The decline in gross profit dollars was primarily driven by a 24.7% decrease in sales in the mobility platform.
    • Excluding inventory reserves related to store closures, our consolidated gross profit was $500.2 million, or 35.5% of net sales.
Cash/liquidity:
  • The Company ended the quarter with total liquidity of $182.5 million at August 2, 2014, including $30.5 million in cash and cash equivalents and $152.0 million of availability under the 2018 Credit Agreement.
  • This availability is net of letters of credit totaling $89.4 million and $43.0 million in borrowings outstanding at August 2, 2014.
  • The Company's total debt was $658.0 million at August 2, 2014, which matures between 2018 and 2019.

>>> BOE's Kohn (FPC member): Stimulus exit will not threaten financial stability

BOE's Kohn (FPC member): Stimulus exit will not threaten financial stability - BBA comments 
- Should be prepared for a possible sharp rise in long-term interest rates and other unpredictable developments as central banks start to unwind the highly accommodative policies they pursued in the wake of the financial crisis
- Rate hike to be a positive event for the UK economy and financial markets since it will probably occur in the context of continued good gains in output and employment

>>> ECB's Visco (Italy): Mid-term inflation expectations have decreased signific

ECB's Visco (Italy): Mid-term inflation expectations have decreased significantly, core inflation is more and more sensitive to weak demand levels 
- Must avoid dis-anchoring of medium term inflation expectations
- Demand weakness at the heart of the EU economic crisis
- Need to prioritize infrastructure investment, developing capital markets and reviving securitization
- Restarting investment is critical for driving eurozone recovery, EU
- wide policy changes and member
- state reforms are both needed

>>> lululemon athletica beats by $0.04, beats on revs--> +6.8% Pre open

--> LULU +6.8% Pre market only 2k shares traded bid / offer 41/41.99

lululemon athletica beats by $0.04, beats on revs; guides Q EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides FY15 EPS in-line, revs above consensus

Reports Q2 (Jul) earnings of $0.33 per share, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.29; revenues rose 13.4% year/year to $390.7 mln vs the $376.8 mln consensus.
Metrics:
  • LULU reports Q2 comps of 0% (flat) vs down low-to-mid single digits prior guidance and -2.7% estimate. Comparable store sales for the second quarter decreased by 5% on a constant dollar basis and direct to consumer revenue increased 30% on a constant dollar basis.
  • LULU reports Q2 gross margin of 50.5% vs 50-51% prior guidance and ~50.5% estimate
Guidance:
Q3
  • Co issues in-line guidance for Q, sees EPS of $0.36-0.38 vs. $0.38 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q revs of $420-425 mln vs. $422.07 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
  • LULU sees Q3 comparable store sales increase in the low single digits vs +1.8% estimate

FY15
  • Co issues upside guidance for FY15, sees EPS of $1.72-1.77 vs. $1.74 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY15 revs of $1.78-1.80 bln vs. $1.78 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
  • LULU sees FY15 comparable store sales of increase in the low single digits vs +low single digits and +2% estimate

(BFW) *FIAT BOARD WILL EVALUATE ALL OPTIONS ON CAPITAL END OCT: CEO

BN 09/11 10:12 *FIAT CEO MARCHIONNE SAYS 3Q `SHOULD BE GOOD'
BN 09/11 10:09 *FIAT BOARD WILL EVALUATE ALL OPTIONS ON CAPITAL END OCT: CEO
BN 09/11 10:08 *FIAT TECNHNICALLY DOESN'T NEED CAPITAL INCREASE: MARCHIONNE
BN 09/11 10:08 *MARCHIONNE PLANS TO BOOST FERRARI VOLUMES TO MORE THAN 7,000
BN 09/11 10:06 *MARCHIONNE PLANS TO GRADUALLY BOOST FERRARI PRODUCTION
BN 09/11 10:01 *MARCHIONNE SAYS `U.S. DOING WELL, EUROPE TOUGH, BRAZIL TOO'
BN 09/11 09:59 *FIAT CEO MARCHIONNE SPEAKS IN BALOCCO, TURIN
BN 09/11 09:59 *FIAT CEO CONFIRMS GUIDANCE 2014
*FIAT BOARD WILL EVALUATE ALL OPTIONS ON CAPITAL END OCT: CEO
2014-09-11 10:11:44.269 GMT

--BRIAN LYSAGHT

-0- Sep/11/2014 10:11 GMT

NY Post : EMC explores selling stake in VMware

EMC Corp., a $60 billion tech giant specializing in cloud-based applications, has decided to explore selling its stake in VMware, a 16-year-old software services company, The Post has learned.
The decision to consider putting the Palo Alto, Calif., unit on the block means Joe Tucci, EMC’s chairman and CEO, has given in to billionaire Paul Singer’s pressure, according to a well-placed source familiar with the situation.
Singer’s Elliott Management, which has been famously suing Argentina over some $3 billion in defaulted bonds, has reported a 2 percent stake in EMC and has been pressuring it to exit its 80 percent stake in VMware, which helps computer servers run operating systems.
The company has a $42 billion market cap and provides back-office business software. It operates independently and partners with some EMC competitors
Hewlett-Packard is a possible VMware buyer, one source said. But no category competitor will likely be interested in it, the source added.
“VMware is more of a distraction than anything else,” the source said.
EMC, while weighing the sale of the stake, may also look to put another asset or assets on the block, a second source said.
EMC bought VMware for $600 million in 2004, which has made it a very successful investment over time.
An EMC spokesman declined to comment.
“We have not heard from Elliott Management other than their call to us stating that they are or intend to be one of EMC’s larger investors,” Tucci said on a July earnings call.
“[Elliott] also requested a meeting with me and I have agreed to meet with them as I periodically do with all of our large investors,” Tucci added.
“For the record, and I deeply believe in this principle, we, and we as management and our board of directors, are always open and welcome a dialogue with all of our shareholders,” the EMC chief said. “And we respectfully listen to their ideas and beliefs as we form our strategic direction and policies.”
Singer has been racking up wins in the tech industry.
This month private-equity firm Thoma Bravo agreed to buy Compuware Corp. after Elliott successfully pushed for a company sale.
EMC closed Wednesday up 1 percent to $29.50, near a 52-week high.
Over the past two years, EMC stock has risen less than 10 percent, well below the S&P 500 index’s 40 percent rise.
EMC creates the infrastructure for cloud-computing storage and is building a hybrid cloud allowing customers to either store data in the public or private cloud.