>>> Accenture beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q2 revs below consensus; rai

Accenture beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q2 revs below consensus; raises FY14 EPS slightly, in-line, reaffirms FY14 constant FX rev

Reports Q1 (Nov) earnings of $1.15 per share, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.10; revenues rose 1.9% year/year to $7.36 bln vs the $7.25 bln consensus.

Consulting net revenues for the quarter were $3.94 billion, a decrease of 1% in U.S. dollars and flat in local currency compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2013. Outsourcing net revenues were $3.42 billion, an increase of 5% in U.S. dollars and 6% in local currency over the first quarter of fiscal 2013. New bookings for the first quarter were $8.7 billion and reflect a negative 2% foreign-currency impact compared with new bookings in the first quarter last year. Consulting new bookings were $4.3 billion, or 49% of total new bookings. Outsourcing new bookings were $4.4 billion, or 51% of total new bookings.

Co issues downside guidance for Q2, sees Q2 revs of $6.95-7.25 bln vs. $7.28 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

Co issues in-line guidance for FY14, raises EPS to $4.44-4.56 from $4.42-4.54 vs. $4.49 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY14 revs +1.5-5.5% (including 50 bps FX headwind, down from 100 bps) to ~$28.99-30.13 bln vs. $29.62 bln Capital IQ Consensus.

During Q1, Accenture repurchased or redeemed 9.7 million shares for a total of $722 million, including ~8.0 million shares repurchased in the open market.

*ASTON MARTIN AND DAIMLER SIGN TECHNICAL PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS

*ASTON MARTIN, DAIMLER SIGN SUPPLY, DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS
*ASTON MARTIN, DAIMLER TO DEVELOP, SUPPLY ENGINES
*DAIMLER TO RECEIVE UP TO 5% EQUITY IN ASTON MARTIN
*DAIMLER, ASTON MARTIN PLAN E/E COMPONENT SUPPLY


FT : Mercedes-Benz to take Aston Martin stake

Aston Martin has reached an agreement with Mercedes-Benz under which the German carmaker will supply engines in exchange for as much as a 5 per cent stake in the British sports car company.
Aston, which has struggled to compete with better-funded luxury carmakers in recent years, will announce the agreement on Thursday, two people with knowledge of the deal told the Financial Times.

Aston and Daimler, Mercedes’ owner, signed a letter of intent in July to begin talks on a partnership. Daimler will get observer status on Aston’s board in addition to an initial 4 per cent stake in the non-cash deal.
The German company will increase its holding to 5 per cent of non-voting shares in Aston, dependent on further development of the agreement, such as a looming deal for Daimler to share development of its electronic systems and parts, the people said.
The British brand, famed for its role in the James Bond novels, will win access to the technical expertise of Mercedes’ high-end AMG division, in order to develop new V8 engines to power its next generation of models, seen as key to the company’s attempts to reboot itself after years of underfunding and ownership changes.
Aston’s sales slumped during the credit crunch and the company struggled to match investments made by rival marques such as Jaguar Land Rover or Bentley, which are owned by large automobiles groups with deep pockets and colossal research and development budgets.
The agreement will enable Aston, which plans to announce its new chief executive to succeed Ulrich Bez in the first quarter of 2014, to avoid the huge costs associated with developing its own engines.
It also gives Daimler a foothold in one of the world’s most prestigious car brands. Aston’s current engines are developed in conjunction with Ford, its previous owner.
Daimler will join a company jointly run by Investindustrial, an Italian private equity fund, and The Investment Dar, a Kuwaiti investment group, which bought the carmaker in 2007.
The agreement will enable Aston, which plans to announce its new chief executive to succeed Ulrich Bez in the first quarter of 2014, to avoid the huge costs associated with developing its own engines
Following the initial 4 per cent stake taken by Daimler, Investindustrial will own 36 per cent of Aston and a suite of Kuwaiti investment vehicles will own a total of 58.2 per cent. The remainder is held by individuals.
Investment Dar became overextended in the global financial crisis and underwent a long and complex debt restructuring, which has sapped its appetite for further investment into the carmaker.
Investindustrial, the Italian private equity group that won plaudits for its turnround and sale of Ducati, the superbike brand, took an initial 37.5 per cent stake in the carmaker last December.
Investindustrial, which bought Ducati in 2005 and sold it to the Volkswagen Group in 2012, is expected to be targeting a similar seven to 10-year turnround at Aston, with a possible exit through an initial public offering, one of the people said.
Aston, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire, and one of the last remaining independent luxury car brands, is currently in the middle of a five-year, €625m product plan investment to develop its new V8 and DB9 models, ahead of a targeted increase in sales to 7,000 by 2016 from 4,000 this year.

>>> Facebook To offer 70M shares (3% of shares outstanding)


Facebook To offer 70M shares (3% of shares outstanding) - filing
- Facebook, Inc. is offering 27,004,761 shares of its Class A common stock and the selling stockholders are offering 42,995,239 shares of Class A common stock. We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholders.

- Our principal purpose for selling shares in this offering is to obtain additional capital. We intend to use the net proceeds to us from this offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes; however, we do not currently have any specific uses of the net proceeds planned. Additionally, we may use a portion of the proceeds to us for acquisitions of complementary businesses, technologies, or other assets.
- Pending other uses, we intend to invest the proceeds to us in investment-grade, interest-bearing securities such as money market funds, certificates of deposit, or direct or guaranteed obligations of the U.S. government, or hold as cash. We cannot predict whether the proceeds invested will yield a favorable return. Our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds we receive from this offering, and investors will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of the net proceeds.
- We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of Class A common stock by the selling stockholders. Mark Zuckerberg, our Chairman and CEO, will offer and sell 41,350,000 shares in this offering. We expect that the majority of the net proceeds Mr. Zuckerberg will receive upon such sale will be used to satisfy taxes that he will incur in connection with the exercise, in full, of an outstanding stock option to purchase 60,000,000 shares of Class B common stock.

(BN) *FACEBOOK FILES AUTOMATIC STK SHELF FOR 70M CLASS A SHRS

 BN 12/19 11:15 *FACEBOOK OFFERING 27M SHRS, HOLDERS 42.995M SHRS
BFW 12/19 11:14 *FACEBOOK FILES AUTOMATIC STK SHELF FOR 70M CLASS A SHRS
 BN 12/19 11:14 *FACEBOOK FILES AUTOMATIC SECURITIES SHELF
*FACEBOOK FILES AUTOMATIC STK SHELF FOR 70M CLASS A SHRS
2013-12-19 11:14:43.500 GMT

 
The Securities and Exchange Commission filing is accessible at:

{FB US Equity CF <GO>}       (for the company's Edgar filings)
         or
{FB US Equity CN <GO>}       (for all company news)
 

-0- Dec/19/2013 11:14 GMT

(BFW) Uralkali 3Q Rev. -19% Y/y to $856m; World Mkt at 58-60mt in ’14

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Uralkali 3Q Rev. -19% Y/y to $856m; World Mkt at 58-60mt in ’14 2013-12-19 10:17:42.889 GMT

By Benjamin Dow and Yuliya Fedorinova Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Net revenue for 3Q falls 21% y/y to $697m. * Average 3Q FCA export price $272/t falls 27% y/y; 3Q potassium chloride sales 2.6mt * 9-month sales volumes 6.9mt down 9% y/y; revenue $2.47b, net revenue down 27% y/y to $2.05b * Confirms 2014 global potash demand at 58mt-60mt * Sees strong Brazil demand in 2014; co. to continue focus on market share growth there * Says INR depreciation affected importers to India in 3Q; demand from farmers still “relatively moderate”; co. sees Indian potash imports at 3mt-3.2mt for 2013 * Chinese potash inventories seen falling to 3.5mt at end 2013 vs 4.9mt at end 2012 * “Very strong demand” seen in U.S. next year * Call 1pm U.K., webcast registration here * NOTE: Co. reported 9-month potassium chloride production 7.2mt on Oct. 3

Link to statement:NSN MY1TWL3HBS3L <GO>

For Related News and Information: First Word scrolling panel: FIRST<GO> First Word newswire: NH BFW<GO>

To contact the reporters on this story: Benjamin Dow in Moscow at +7-495-771-7735 or bdow2@bloomberg.net; Yuliya Fedorinova in Moscow at +7-495-771-7707 or yfedorinova@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Ludden at +44-20-7673-2645 or jludden@bloomberg.net

(ManagerMag.de) Telekom intensified austerity program for Europe

Link to article in German {http://bit.ly/19zUGJQ}
Link to Google Translation : {http://bit.ly/1c3h4fa}

Telekom intensified austerity program for Europe

REUTERS

The future head of Deutsche Telekom, Tim Höttges, plans further cost and personnel-reduction programs. Job cuts are planned in the department of European leader Claudia Nemat.
Hamburg - In addition to recently become known plans, T-Systems cut jobs in the business customer segment, Höttges issued internally the objective to increase significantly in the future in the European Division efficiency. The experienced manager magazin online by several people familiar with the situation.
Höttges, who officially takes over as CEO earlier this year, but already its operations, and have also Europe-leader Claudia Nemat made the requirement to improve margins significantly, manager magazin learned online from the environment of the company. Already ongoing austerity measures such as cuts in marketing budgets, cooperation in purchasing or consolidations of functions within the department are now, therefore, be significantly tightened in 2014.
In addition, a stand "significant staff reductions" before, says the company. The topic of efficiency in European business was the subject of the last board meeting of Telekom, on 12 December took place.
Austerity measures in the national companies
A spokesman for Deutsche Telekom said that a comprehensive reduction program for the Europe Division was not planned. But in the individual country organizations it may well come at a cost-saving measures as "stop 2014, the pressure on operating results and margins" are. The met national companies of Telekom among others with "efficiency efforts - particularly with the reduction of indirect costs." The spokesman added: "At a cost savings may vary by country to administrative expenses and staff restructuring proceed as in the past the respective national society will provide information on concrete measures.".
This Höttges proposes to his office on a similar path as his predecessor René Obermann at its startup. The outgoing Telekom boss had promptly leave at the beginning of the CEO transition spin off 50,000 employees in service companies - and had set off to harsh confrontation with the unions.
Redundancies would be breaking a taboo
Such features in Bonn again from, since it was announced that Höttges around 6000 points in the business customer division T-Systems plans to cut and evidently also layoffs does not preclude - a taboo in Bonn.
The exact dimensions of the austerity measures at T-Systems T-Systems wants Höttges the Supervisory Board on 22 Inform of January. The division achieved in the last quarter, a margin of about 2.3 percent. Default is now, these heave to a level of about 6 percent, executives said.
Clean-up work will now be done in Europe resort. There currently are shrinking revenues and profitability. Thus, the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization decreased (EBITDA) in the third quarter of 2013 by 10.6 percent compared to the previous year. The margin was 33.8 percent - a drop of 2.5 percentage points. For comparison, in Germany business this stood at 41.9 percent. Europe boss Nemat is intended to the internal margin targets have failed several times until the third quarter, according to Bonn. The top manager - as her portfolio - should thus be in the new year along with T-Systems under the special observation of the new CEOs Höttges.

>>>(GS) OIL SERVICES rating changes; remain cautious

Europe: Energy: Oil Services

Clear signs of deterioration emerging; remain Cautious

* Recent profit warnings highlight deteriorating outlook
We have seen four European oil service companies profit warn in the last
week, with Wood Group, Technip, PGS and CGG all lowering expectations
for 2013 or 2014. The common factors behind these announcements in our
view are offshore project delays (for Wood Group and the seismic
companies) and a reining in of spending by the major international oil
companies. In 2013, 11 of the 18 oil service companies under coverage
have profit warned, with six of these occurring in the last few months.

* This theme likely has legs, and capacity continues to build
We believe that the major oil companies will re-focus on capital discipline
as we move into 2014, and are not likely to expand E&P capex budgets. We
believe we will continue to see delays to more marginal offshore projects
where costs have risen, particularly following the Macondo oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico. Into this more cautious demand environment, supply
continues to build across the offshore supply chain, with the potential to
put pressure on pricing and returns in a stagnant growth environment.

* What’s next? We downgrade TGS Nopec and Prosafe to Sell
We downgrade TGS Nopec to Sell from Neutral with a Nkr124 price target,
as we believe that higher competition and lower multi-client spend in 2014
will drive revenue lower. We are 10%/13% below consensus for 2014/15E
EPS. We downgrade Prosafe to Sell from Neutral as we see 53% new
capacity over the next three years putting pressure on pricing and
utilisation. We are 19%/31% below consensus for 2014/15E EPS.

* Remain Sell on TECF, upgrade CGG to Neutral, remove SUBC from Conviction List
We lower our price target and remain Sell rated on Technip, where the
stock does not look inexpensive on 2014 estimates even after the recent
underperformance, and returns no longer justify a premium multiple. We
remain skeptical on the 2015 Subsea margin rebound. We upgrade CGG to
Neutral from Sell following significant underperformance, although we
remain negative on the seismic space. We remove Subsea 7 from the
Conviction Buy List, although the stock remains Buy rated, as we believe it
could take some time for the market to give credit for the earnings given
the ongoing risk around Guara-Lula.

>>> Bristol-Myers Squibb Co Guides initial FY14 $1.65-1.80 v $1.91e after sale o

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co Guides initial FY14 $1.65-1.80 v $1.91e after sale of Diabetes Business
Additional Diabetes Business sale details
- The company expects to receive $3.4 billion in the first quarter of 2014, which includes $2.7 billion in an upfront payment and an additional $700 million assuming regulatory approvals of dapagliflozin. The transaction is expected to be accretive to non-GAAP EPS in the near-term and likely dilutive to non-GAAP EPS toward the latter part of the decade.