WSJ : Disney Reveals Movie Lineup Through 2027

Disney Reveals Movie Lineup Through 2027
Planned film slate augmented by franchises from the acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets

Walt Disney Co. unveiled its new slate of movies through 2027 following the $71.3 billion acquisition of the major entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox.

The company on Tuesday listed several former 21st Century Fox properties, including the release date of “Avatar 2” in 2021, a new untitled “Kingsman” movie and “New Mutants,” from the “X-Men” series, in 2020.

“Avatar,” released in 2009, is the highest-grossing film of all time, making $2.79 billion globally. According to the schedule, Disney plans to make four more films from that franchise between 2021 and 2027.

Disney also said it plans to release three future untitled “Star Wars” films every two years between 2022 and 2026.

Disney acquired Lucasfilm and the rights to “Star Wars” in 2012 for $4 billion. The company set a goal of releasing a new film in the series every year.

Its first installment, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in 2015, is the top-grossing domestic film of all time, earning $937 million.

But the strategy faced scrutiny after “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” got mixed reviews among fans in 2017, followed by disappointing box-office returns for “Solo: A Star Wars Story” when it was released in 2018. The Han Solo origin story is the lowest-grossing “Star Wars” title in history, collecting $214 million domestically.

Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger had said earlier this year that the film franchise will go on hiatus after December’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” release.

On the Marvel side, two new untitled films will be released next year and Disney plans to release three untitled movies from the Marvel franchise in both 2021 and 2022.

“We’re excited to put in place a robust and diverse slate that lays the foundation of our long-term strategy,” Cathleen Taff, president of Disney’s theatrical distribution, said in a statement.

REuters - Occidental seen as a rare victory for hedge funds tracking corporate j

Occidental seen as a rare victory for hedge funds tracking corporate jets - https://reut.rs/2J87Pmp

Hedge funds paying upward of $100,000 per year to track the flights of corporate jets were vindicated when Occidental Petroleum Corp announced two deals last week that matched locations the U.S. oil and gas company’s private plane had recently visited.

Yet Occidental’s example may represent the exception rather than the rule.

Tracking corporate jets often fuels speculation that makes predicting where a company’s next deal may come from harder rather than easier, according to several hedge fund analysts interviewed by Reuters.

“Historically, flight tracking services have not been that useful,” said one hedge fund analyst who asked not to be named because he was not permitted to speak with the media. “But they hit two home runs back-to-back on Occidental, which makes them look pretty good right now.”

Research firm Gordon Haskett Research Advisors wrote a note on April 29 speculating that Warren Buffet’s investment firm, Berkshire Hathaway Inc may be preparing to invest in Occidental, citing data from Quandl, which tracks corporate jet flights and identified Occidental’s plane as visiting Buffett’s hometown of Omaha.

The following day, Berkshire announced a $10 billion cash infusion into Occidental to back its $38 billion cash-and-stock offer for Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

Last week, a flight by Occidental’s jet to Paris preceded an announcement that Occidental planned to sell $8.8 billion worth of Anadarko’s assets in Africa to Total SA.

Occidental did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the correlation between the deals and the routes of its corporate jets.

Flight tracking services have been gaining prominence, partly because they helped some hedge funds foresee Johnson & Johnson’s $30 billion acquisition of drugmaker Actelion in 2017, but their track record before and after this success has been somewhat spotty.

Corporations can evade monitoring by hedge funds by scheduling deal-related meetings in locations where neither the target or acquirer are headquartered or by using jet leasing services like NetJets Inc - the luxury plane unit of Buffett’s Berkshire - rather than flying their own private planes.

And even when hedge funds do dredge up usable data, there is no guarantee that a corporate flight out to a particular city means that the company intends to do a deal there.

“We recently got excited when we saw that a company’s jet was flying out to New York,” one analyst said. “Until we realized that they were holding an investor conference there that week, where we were already scheduled to meet with them.”

>>> Gedi unhappy with F2i offer for Persidera - report 08 MAY 2019 Gedi, the Ita

Gedi unhappy with F2i offer for Persidera - report
08 MAY 2019
Gedi, the Italian publisher that holds a 30% stake in Persidera, the multiplex TV broadcasting unit of Telecom Italia (TIM) [BIT:TIT], is not happy with the offer from F2i, the infrastructure fund, according to a newswire report. The Reuters report from yesterday cited a person familiar with the deal and said that the EUR 240m - EUR 250m offer from the Italian fund has the potential to be improved.
TIM CEO Luigi Gubitosi had ironed out in early 2018 a plan to revive the Italian telecommunications company, and the sale of the 70% stake it holds in Persidera is a part of the plan, the Reuters report said.
The Telecom Italia board reckons that the offer from F2i for the whole of Persidera is fair, according to the Reuters item.
Approval from Gedi is required for the deal to progress, the Reuters item said.
Telecom Italia's activist investors are Amber Capital and Elliott Management.

Reuters : EXCLUSIVE-China backtracked on nearly all aspects of U.S. trade deal-s

EXCLUSIVE-China backtracked on nearly all aspects of U.S. trade deal-sources - Reuters News

08-May-2019 10:46:53

By David Lawder, Jeff Mason and Michael Martina

WASHINGTON/BEIJING, May 8 (Reuters) - The diplomatic cable from Beijing arrived in Washington late on Friday night, with systematic edits to a nearly 150-page draft trade agreement that would blow up months of negotiations between the world's two largest economies, according to three U.S. government sources and three private sector sources briefed on the talks.

The document was riddled with reversals by China that undermined core U.S. demands, the sources told Reuters.

In each of the seven chapters of the draft trade deal, China had deleted its commitments to change laws to resolve core complaints that caused the United States to launch a trade war: theft of U.S. intellectual property and trade secrets; forced technology transfers; competition policy; access to financial services; and currency manipulation.

U.S. President Donald Trump responded in a tweet on Sunday vowing to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 to 25 percent on Friday – timed to land in the middle of a scheduled visit by China's Vice Premier Liu He to Washington to continue trade talks.

The stripping of binding legal language from the draft struck directly at the highest priority of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer - who views changes to Chinese laws as essential to verifying compliance after years of what U.S. officials have called empty reform promises.

Lighthizer has pushed hard for an enforcement regime more like those used for punitive economic sanctions – such as those imposed on North Korea or Iran – than a typical trade deal.

"This undermines the core architecture of the deal," said a Washington-based source with knowledge of the talks.



"PROCESS OF NEGOTIATION"

Spokespeople for the White House, the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a briefing on Wednesday that working out disagreements over trade was a "process of negotiation" and that China was not "avoiding problems".

Geng referred specific questions on the trade talks to the Commerce Ministry, which did not respond immediately to faxed questions from Reuters.

Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were taken aback at the extent of the changes in the draft. The two cabinet officials on Monday told reporters that Chinese backtracking had prompted Trump's tariff order but did not provide details on the depth and breadth of the revisions.

Liu last week told Lighthizer and Mnuchin that they needed to trust China to fulfil its pledges through administrative and regulatory changes, two of the sources said. Both Mnuchin and Lighthizer considered that unacceptable, given China's history of failing to fulfil reform pledges.

One private-sector source briefed on the talks said the last round of negotiations had gone very poorly because "China got greedy".

"China reneged on a dozen things, if not more ... The talks were so bad that the real surprise is that it took Trump until Sunday to blow up," the source said.

"After 20 years of having their way with the U.S., China still appears to be miscalculating with this administration."



FURTHER TALKS THIS WEEK

The rapid deterioration of negotiations rattled global stock markets, bonds and commodities this week. Until Sunday, markets had priced in the expectation that officials from the two countries were close to striking a deal.

Investors and analysts questioned whether Trump's tweet was a negotiating ploy to wring more concessions from China. The sources told Reuters the extent of the setbacks in the revised text were serious and that Trump's response was not merely a negotiating strategy.

Chinese negotiators said they couldn't touch the laws, said one of the government sources, calling the changes "major."

Changing any law in China requires a unique set of processes that can't be navigated quickly, said a Chinese official familiar with the talks. The official disputed the assertion that China was backtracking on its promises, adding that U.S. demands were becoming more "harsh" and the path to a deal more "narrow" as the negotiations drag on.

Liu is set to arrive in Washington on Thursday for two days of talks that just last week were widely seen as pivotal – a possible last round before a historic trade deal. Now, U.S. officials have little hope that Liu will come bearing any offer that can get talks back on track, said two of the sources.

To avert escalation, some of the sources said, Liu would have to scrap China's proposed text changes and agree to make new laws. China would also have to move further towards the U.S. position on other sticking points, such as demands for curbs on Chinese industrial subsidies and a streamlined approval process for genetically engineered U.S. crops.

The administration said the latest tariff escalation would take effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday (0401 GMT), hiking levees on Chinese products such as internet modems and routers, printed circuit boards, vacuum cleaners and furniture.

The Chinese reversal may give China hawks in the Trump administration, including Lighthizer, an opening to take a harder stance.

Mnuchin - who has been more open to a deal with improved market access, and at times clashed with Lighthizer – appeared in sync with Lighthizer in describing the changes to reporters on Monday, while still leaving open the possibility that new tariffs could be averted with a deal.

Trump's tweets left no room for backing down, and Lighthizer made it clear that, despite continuing talks, "come Friday, there will be tariffs in place."

FT : Germany’s Wirecard lifts profit forecast on rising payment volumes Group ex

Germany’s Wirecard lifts profit forecast on rising payment volumes
Group expects rise in key earnings metric with payment processing volume up 37%

Wirecard has lifted its operating profit forecast after the volume of payments processed by the German financial services company that is in the midst of an accounting scandal grew vigorously at the start of this year.

The group said on Wednesday it now expects earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation for this year of between €760m and €810m, compared to the previous target of €740m to €800m. It had generated ebitda of €560.5m in 2018.

Wirecard’s ebitda between January and March was 41 per cent higher than in the same period a year ago, the company reported on Wednesday. At €158m, it was slightly above average analyst expectations according to data by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The German company said payment volumes jumped 37 per cent to €36.7bn in the first quarter.

Wirecard had confirmed its previous guidance only two weeks ago when it reported 2018 results. An accounting scandal in its Asian operations had forced the Aschheim-based group to postpone the publication of its annual report by three weeks.

Wirecard disclosed that some employees may face criminal liability in the group’s Singapore unit, where it is embroiled in a police investigation into suspected forgery and fraudulent accounting.

According to the report of Wirecard’s auditors, there is no evidence that 2018 annual results need to be corrected with regard to the Singapore accounting issues. However, it said the investigation by police in the city-state may lead to new insight that could affect the accounting of Wirecard.

Wirecard said that an independent investigation by an external law firm found that the suspicious transactions in its Singapore division had “no material impact” on its financial reports.

In the first quarter of 2019, Wirecard reported a 35 per cent increase in revenue to €567m and a 50 per cent increase in net profit to €106m.

>>> SNC-Lavalin Group considers breakup that would involve spinning out business

SNC-Lavalin Group considers breakup that would involve spinning out businesses like WS Atkins - report
08 MAY 2019
SNC-Lavalin Group [TSE:SNC], the Montreal, Quebec-based engineering, procurement and construction services company, is considering a possible breakup, The Globe and Mail reported on 7 May.
A report from the newspaper's website on Tuesday cited two people as saying that the company informed investors at a private luncheon last week that it is weighing the possibility of spinning out numerous businesses, such as WS Atkins in the UK, before its criminal case advances to the trial stage. The two people cited, including David Taylor from Taylor Asset Management, attended the Friday meeting that was hosted by TD Securities, according to the report.
Taylor said that the company referred to the possible breakup-move as "Plan B". This plan would focus on generating further value for stakeholders and spinning out some businesses.
Taylor added in the report that SNC, which bought WS Atkins in 2017 for CAD 3.6bn, informed investors that it believes that the company is valued at more than it was when bought.
Asked about last week's meeting, SNC spokesperson Daniela Pizzuto said in the report that the company continues to consider all possible alternatives to boost stakeholder value.
According to the report, Neil Bruce, CEO of the company, has been attempting to stop the SNC's stock value from falling after SNC announced last October that it would not be allowed to negotiate a settlement with federal prosecutors concerning bribery and fraud charges.
The company's market cap is CAD 4.89bn.

FT : Société Générale chief says banking mergers make sense in Europe Frédéric O

Société Générale chief says banking mergers make sense in Europe
Frédéric Oudéa thinks consolidation will start once eurozone banking union is completed

The chief executive of French bank Société Générale has said mergers between big European lenders “make sense” and are likely to start once the “fundamental obstacles” to consolidation of the sector are lifted. 

Frédéric Oudéa was speaking to the Financial Times less than two weeks after Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank abandoned merger talks having decided that integrating Germany’s two biggest banks would be too difficult and costly.

European rivals such as ING, UniCredit, BNP Paribas and SocGen are all seen as potential suitors for Commerzbank. Analysts say the sector is ripe for consolidation, pointing to a competitive and fragmented market and a low interest rate environment that compresses banks’ profit margins.

Mr Oudéa, who declined to comment on the speculation about Commerzbank, said that long-term “consolidation should make sense”. He added that this is impeded by national regulations on capital and liquidity, as well as a different legal framework for bankruptcy laws in different countries across the bloc. 

While the eurozone has made progress on banking union in areas such as a single supervisory mechanism and a single resolution authority, slow progress in other areas means the project remains incomplete. 

SocGen is engaged in a far-reaching overhaul to eliminate 1,600 jobs and cut €500m of costs after missing financial targets because of poor performance in its trading unit. Its shares have fallen over a third in the past year, underperforming most rivals.

Meanwhile, as part of the restructuring SocGen is refocusing its global markets business. “We’ve decided to review our full spectrum of activities and focus on where we have a definite edge,” said Mr Oudéa, who is due to give a presentation to investors and analysts on Tuesday. 

The bank aims to strengthen its position in cross-asset investment solutions and beef up its financing division, while closing some areas including over-the-counter commodities and proprietary trading. It is downsizing both its prime services division and its fixed income and currencies trading operations.

Mr Oudéa said he expects this year will mark an “inflection point” for SocGen’s retail bank in France, where years of low interest rates have weighed on returns. He said revenues in the French retail bank “will go back to growth next year” and predicted operating costs will also start to decrease from 2020. “We are on the verge of reaping the fruits of the investments made in the last three or four years,” he added.

In France, the group’s retail activities are split across its Crédit du Nord and SocGen networks, and its online bank Boursorama. Mr Oudéa said it is focusing on “digitising the processes” for daily banking transactions, such as accessing loans and mortgages online, “but also having a human presence to deliver advisory services, in particular for important projects or wealth management”.

As part of its plan to accelerate growth in online banking, Mr Oudéa said SocGen had set a new target of growing Boursorama’s client base from 1.8m to more than 3m by 2021.