(MS) Cross-Asset Dispatches - All about Values

* All About Values
We explore the reliability and effectiveness of different valuation metrics in predicting future returns across asset
classes.

* Does value work? Yes it does, but not in the short run. One cross-asset challenge we face is defining 'value' for different asset classes, and finding out what really works. In this note, we test for what's effective.

* It does not work for all valuation metrics: More often than not, what one valuation metric claims is 'cheap' does not show up as 'cheap' on another. We compare the average returns from buying during periods when each valuation
metric is 'cheap' and find substantial differences between valuation metrics in each asset class.

* More useful valuation metrics: What's better at explaining future returns?
Price/book and price/sales ratios for equities, REER and spot/PPP for FX, outright spreads and spreads per leverage for credit.

* Surprisingly ineffective valuation metrics: The trailing price/earnings ratio for equities is surprisingly ineffective. Real yields differentials for FX is another.

* Is anything cheap now? GBP, Mexican assets, HSI and HSCEI are all assets that screen cheap on valuation metrics which have proven to be effective historically, and that have upside based on our underlying strategists' forecasts. Meanwhile, US equities, US credit and Brazilian equities are expensive, and our strategists are cautious about them.

(MS) Utilities : The impact of taxes and levies on retail electricity tariffs

The impact of taxes and levies on retail electricity tariffs

Centrica highlighted its average consumer tariff increase of just 1% p.a. in the UK since 2009 this week. Higher taxes and
levies have been offset to some degree by lower wholesale prices. But with levies unlikely to ease, we look at electricity tariffs across Europe, and the future impact.

* Centrica has shown a 1% increase in its residential tariff on average since 2009:
Whilst delivery costs and environmental and social policy costs have continued to rise, wholesale energy costs have fallen leading to limited average tariff growth. With rising wholesale prices, upside pressure could come - we have
already seen some UK suppliers announce large tariff increases starting in March.

* German tariffs have risen more than UK tariffs: 
These are up 3% per annum on average since 2009, and 4% since 2006, driven by the increasing cost of delivery and renewables subsidies. German households now pay €35bn for taxes and levies on energy each year, according to the utility association BDEW. Tariffs are at record highs (although wholesale prices are not).

* We look at how electricity tariffs compare across European geographies, ranking the overall tariff, as well as looking at the amount of levy and tax within it. We also show the increase in this levy since 2012. We would expect taxes and levies
to continue to rise here - if commodities tick up, this could put further pressure on consumers in liberalised markets.

>>> Parmalat offer by Lactalis ruled unfair to minority shareholders by advisor



From: LAURENT CHEKROUN (MAKOR SECURITIES LO) At: 02/26/17 20:30:25
Subject: >>> Parmalat offer by Lactalis ruled unfair to minority shareholders by advisor
Parmalat offer by Lactalis ruled unfair to minority shareholders by advisor (translated)
26 FEB 2017
Intermonte, the advisor commissioned by activist investor Amber and minority shareholders association Azione Parmalat, has ruled in its fairness option that Lactalis’ bid for Parmalat [BIT:PLT] undervalues the company, Italian language daily Il Messaggero reported.
The article cited a statement by Intermonte noting the EUR 2.8 per share being offered by Lactalis is unfair, and estimated Parmalat's shares to be worth between EUR 3.02 and EUR 3.52 a share based on market multiples and EUR 2.9 and EUR 3.58 a share based on actual cash flows.
In December, privately owned Lactalis announced it would launch a voluntary tender offer for all outstanding ordinary shares of Parmalat at EUR 2.80 per share, or EUR 636.7m in total.

WSJ : Bond Market Is Flashing Warning Signal on Trump Reflation Trade

Bond Market Is Flashing Warning Signal on Trump Reflation Trade
Rising bond market seen indicating that valuations of riskier assets may be stretched

Stocks and bonds are again moving in tandem after diverging in recent months—a sign some investors may be losing faith in the so-called reflation trade.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has soared more than 1,000 points so far this year and closed at a record of 20821.76 Friday. Bond prices, too, are rising, driving down the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note to 2.317% Friday, the lowest since late November, from 2.446% at the end of 2016. Yields fall as bond prices rise.
It is a shift from late last year when investors were selling bonds and buying stocks, anticipating that large fiscal stimulus from President Donald Trump would lead to accelerated growth and higher inflation, a bet known as the reflation trade.

The new pattern is generating debate among investors.
Some money managers and traders believe that a rising Treasury bond market, often seen as a haven for investors, is a warning that valuations of riskier assets—such as stocks, corporate bonds and emerging-market assets—may be stretched. The Dow closed at a record for an 11th consecutive session Friday, the longest such streak since 1987.
James Sarni, senior managing partner at asset-management firm Payden & Rygel, is among those who bought Treasurys in recent weeks.
“The bond market is showing a more realistic view on the fiscal policy outlook than the stock market,’’ Mr. Sarni said. “The bond market has it right.”
Yield Pressure
Stocks have soared amid exuberance for President Donald Trump's policy outlook, but demand for havens has also sent Treasury yields lower. Short bets on Treasury futures have also piled up, raising the risk yields could fall further if investors exit the short positions quickly.
Yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury


Dow Jones Industrial Average
Weekly net bets on Treasury futures
Term premium on the 10-year Treasury yield

Sources: Ryan ALM (yield); WSJ Market Data Group (DJIA); TD Securities (net bets); Federal Reserve Bank of New York (Treasury term premium)
Julien Scholnick, portfolio manager at Western Asset Management Co., said he bought Treasurys earlier this year while cutting junk-bond holdings.
“At some point the stock and bond markets need to be reconciled,’’ said Mr. Scholnick. He laid out two scenarios for bonds: the 10-year Treasury yield could rise to 2.75% or higher if “everything works out well” with fiscal policy, but the yield could fall to 2% if policy details disappoint.
Other disagree, pointing to factors that remain supportive of riskier assets: improving economic outlooks in the U.S., Europe and China; U.S. corporate earnings rebounding from a recent slump; a gradual approach by the Federal Reserve in raising short-term interest rates and continued bond buying by central banks in the eurozone and Japan.
Mr. Trump is scheduled to speak on Tuesday to a joint session of Congress. Investors will zero in on updates to his proposals for an expansive fiscal policy.
Another sign of caution on the reflation trade is the pullback of the U.S. dollar. The ICE dollar index, which measures the currency’s value against counterparts including the euro and the yen, was 101.12 late Friday, down from 103.82 on Jan. 3, the highest since 2002, according to data provider CQG.

Higher prices for stocks and bonds may also simply reflect investors’ quest for income in a very low-yield world, mirroring a trend in recent years in which both haven bond markets and riskier assets were boosted by major central banks’ unprecedented monetary stimulus.
Treasury yields, the foundation for global finance and a yardstick for valuations of riskier assets, remain relatively high compared with government bonds of Germany and Japan, increasing demand for them.
Money managers say political risk in Europe, skepticism over an imminent rate increase by the Fed and less appealing yields in other major government-bond markets are also stoking demand for Treasurys.
Many investors are not convinced the Fed will act as quickly as once thought given the uncertainty on the U.S. fiscal outlook and elections in France. Investors viewed the Fed’s minutes from its Jan 31-Feb 1 meeting, released last week, as a sign that the Fed may wait before moving rates higher again, even though Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen signaled earlier this month that a rate increase in March was still on the table.
On Friday, the yield on the two-year German government bond hit a record low of minus-0.959%, according to Tradeweb. The yield on the 10-year German bund was 0.188% and the 10-year government bond yield in Japan was 0.06%.
Some investors are still buying risky corporate bonds, or junk debt, where the yield premium above Treasurys dropped last week to the lowest since the summer of 2014. Emerging-market stocks and bonds have strengthened this year.

In addition, investors have reduced their short bets on Treasurys, suggesting some investors returned to the bond market as buyers, causing prices to rise and yields to fall. Wagers betting on lower prices and higher bond yields, or shorts, had sent the 10-year Treasury note’s yield higher from the record closing low of 1.366% set in July.
Net wagers on higher bond yields via Treasury futures were $73 billion for the week ended Feb. 21, down from a recent peak of $100.7 billion in January, according to TD Securities.
Jack McIntyre, portfolio manager at Brandywine Global Investment Management, said bond bears risk “getting squeezed” should many dial back shorts at the same time—a scenario that could intensify the upswing in bond prices.
Even in the stock market, there have been signs of skepticism.
Utilities companies in the S&P 500, often considered bondlike because of their dividends, were up 3.7% last week, making them the best performers. Other income-heavy sectors, including telephone and real-estate shares, also posted gains. Meanwhile, financial and industrial companies in the S&P 500 lagged behind, marking a reversal from the days after the election, when investors flooded shares of banks and manufacturers while selling government bonds and their stock-market proxies.

FT : LSE-Deutsche Börse deal in jeopardy over antitrust hurdle

LSE-Deutsche Börse deal in jeopardy over antitrust hurdle
UK exchange says it cannot meet deadline on new condition to sell Italy-based MTS

The planned €29bn combination between the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse is in jeopardy after the LSE said it would not be able to meet a new condition proposed by antitrust regulators in Brussels.

In a statement late on Sunday, the UK exchange said it would not be able to sell a fixed income trading platform by a sudden deadline imposed by officials to ensure that the main remedy that the exchanges have offered Brussels will work in practice.

The request from EU watchdogs on February 16 was an unexpected demand on the companies, but the LSE said it would not be able to submit a proposal to sell MTS, an Italy-based venue, by midday central European time on Monday.

“Based on the [European] Commission’s current position, LSEG believes that the commission is unlikely to provide clearance for the merger,” the UK company said.

Furthermore, the LSE added that its sale of MTS would damage its relationships with regulators in Italy if it went ahead, and so would not submit a remedy for the unit.

Deutsche Börse declined to comment.

The dispute puts the merger, which has been more than a year in the making, at risk of collapse. The deal to link London and Frankfurt, Europe’s two largest financial hubs, has been criticised by politicians in both countries, particularly after the UK voted to leave the European Union in June last year.

The deal envisaged the holding company being based in London, with Deutsche Börse’s Carsten Kengeter as chief executive of the merged company.

Critics argued that the changing political landscape has altered the deal’s implications for both London and Frankfurt as financial hubs. More recently, Mr Kengeter has also been under scrutiny for share trading before the deal was made public.

The LSE said it remained convinced about the rationale of the deal and that it would continue to implement the merger. However, it added that it was also confident in its standalone prospects.

The LSE has a 60 per cent stake in MTS, with a consortium of 26 shareholders, mainly European investment banks, owning the rest.

So far the companies have only offered to sell the French arm of LCH, a clearing house majority-owned by the LSE that processes equity, fixed income and derivatives.

It has agreed to sell the unit to Euronext, the Paris-based operator, in a €510m deal. The narrow offer highlights that Brussels’ concerns about competition in derivatives clearing, seen as the most likely block to the deal, were receding after intense discussions with the exchanges.

But Brussels regulators are concerned that the disposal of LCH could be compromised if the trading flow from fixed income that is usually sent to the clearing house were diverted to an asset within the combined LSE-Deutsche Börse group, according to three people who have heard their concerns.

MTS trades sovereign and cash bonds and repo markets, a key market for banks for their short-term financing, and competes with Deutsche Börse’s Eurex and BrokerTec, a platform owned by Nex Group.

It is primarily based in Italy, Europe’s largest market for trading electronic sovereign debt, although it has subsidiaries in the UK, France and the US. Average daily volumes usually exceed €100bn.

In 2015, LCH SA cleared €72.6tn across 15 European government markets. Most of the LSE’s fixed-income business is traded through MTS and cleared through either its UK, French or Italian clearing units.

In a questionnaire to market participants this month, Brussels focused on whether competition could be curbed in two areas of clearing; products that are traded privately between two parties, or that are traded electronically but cleared independently in a triparty agreement. In the latter, the clearing house sits between large banks as they swap their collateral from short-term loans.

FT : The price of power: how to renew a broken policy

Every strategy reaches the point where renewal is necessary. Time erodes what once seemed logical. Technology transforms the range of possibilities. Assumptions turn out to have been false flags. That is the situation now for the UK’s energy policy as spelt out in a report published last week by the economics committee of the UK House of Lords*.

The existing strategy flows from the 2008 Climate Change Act, which gave priority to the reduction of carbon emissions. A target of an 80 per cent reduction by 2050 was entrenched in law and, although it has never been clear how it would be enforced, the existence of a legally binding target has shaped decision-making in Whitehall. The goal, to be reached in five-year steps, overrides every other consideration — including cost and security of supply.

Several assumptions underpinned that legislation:

Nations were about to adopt a common approach to climate change at the Copenhagen conference so there could be no worries about the costs of action damaging UK competitiveness or of emissions simply being produced elsewhere
The prices of oil and gas would inexorably rise because of a combination of growing demand and scarcity of supply
As hydrocarbon prices rose, even heavily subsidised supplies from offshore wind or new nuclear would look cheap
In the process, the UK would build a great new industrial sector providing hundreds of thousands of low-carbon jobs.
The risk of designing a policy around wishful thinking could hardly be better illustrated.

The problems caused by these false assumptions have been compounded by mistakes in implementation. Rather than allowing the target to be met by open competition to find the least expensive answer, ministers promoted specific technologies irrespective of cost. Commitments to intermittent sources such as wind were taken without regard for their impact on the economics of other businesses, such as gas-fired power generation — which is low cost and relatively low carbon.

Some potential solutions, like improving energy efficiency, have been neglected or, as in the case of the so-called Green Deal home energy-saving scheme, laughably ill-designed and ineffective. Investment in research has also been neglected — almost all the recent gains in solar and wind technology have come from the US and China. The figures produced by witnesses to the committee such as Sir Richard Friend, Cavendish Professor of Physics in Cambridge, demonstrate how much UK investment in research has fallen back.

Each unintended consequence of the mis-steps has led to more intervention with government transferring detailed decision-making to Whitehall. That has left ministers and officials vulnerable to lobbying by those in search of what Americans would call corporate welfare. Hinkley Point is the most expensive example of this but it is not the only one. The funding of wood chips as a supposedly low-carbon fuel was exposed in a paper from Chatham House published last week.

Security of supply has been made more vulnerable by the clumsy way renewables have been promoted. The lights are not likely to go off but consumers will find themselves paying through the nose to keep them on. The costs will grow still further if the promised supplies from new nuclear (supposed to provide up to 14 per cent of generating capacity by 2030) do not come onstream on time for technical or financial reasons.

The critique by the Lords committee may be dismissed by some as the work of climate deniers. That is not justified. The report does not question the 2050 target but rather the effectiveness of the policies chosen to reach it. Nor does it dispute the need for the government to be involved. A strategic direction is essential but micro management is not.

The committee’s recommendations start with a reordering of priorities to establish security of supply as the overriding objective. Within a overall strategy set by government, an independent and professional energy commission would be responsible for delivery — for instance by managing open, transparent auctions to identify the cheapest ways of meeting the objectives of security and emissions reduction.

Perhaps most important is the call for a properly funded research centre modelled on the US national laboratories. Following the example of the Crick Institute, set up to advance biomedical science, a UK National Energy Laboratory should be established to identify new ways to deliver a system that would be both low cost and low carbon. As a brilliant recent report on disruptive technology from the Grantham Institute demonstrates, that is how real progress will be made and is where Britain’s skills could make a difference to the global challenge of climate change. I will return to the Grantham Institute’s work in a future post.

The paper from the Lords is not the last word. There are many more aspects of policy to be re-examined — from the North Sea, which is slipping dangerously towards terminal decline, to the transport system and implications of the prospect of significant electrification over the next two decades. In the retail market there is an unresolved issue of trust. But the report is important because in a very careful and judicious way it demonstrates the extent to which the existing strategy has failed and opens the door to a serious debate on what should come next.

*I had the daunting privilege of being an adviser to the committee, which includes senior businessmen and academics, two former chancellors and three former permanent secretaries.

NY Post : Vice CEO pitching hedge funds for $400M investment

Vice CEO pitching hedge funds for $400M investment

Vice CEO Shane Smith needs another hit of the green stuff.

Despite several investment rounds from the likes of Disney and its joint-venture partner, A&E Networks, the bearded Brooklyn-based boss of the millennial-focused media outlet spent the weekend trying to separate hedge funds from their cash piles, The Post has learned.

Smith pitched hedgies and other deep-pocketed folks in New York last next week, sources said, before heading to LA for Oscar night, where he was expected to attend the swank Vanity Fair Oscar party.

Next week, Smith will make his pitch in San Francisco.

Vice Media, which launched the Viceland cable channel in the US a year ago this month, is hoping in this latest go-round to raise as much as $400 million, sources said.

The last valuation on the company was $4 billion.

Vice has tapped Morgan Stanley, which is working with Raine Group, to raise the money, sources said.

A report by Bloomberg News last week indicated Vice was looking to raise money to help fund scripted programming — which are more expensive than reality shows.

The amount to be raised was previously not reported before today.

A part of the money will go to keep Vice’s aggressive global expansion plans on track.

A widely discussed plan to execute an initial public offering doesn’t appear on the horizon anytime soon, sources added.

Vice, which also produces saucy videos, like the one that asks, “Would You Have Sex With Your Drug Dealer?” — has 5.9 million Facebook follows and in December ranked No. 39 among the Top 50 US Web destinations.

Viceland, an accompanying cable TV channel, launched in the UK in September — followed shortly by a move into France. Next month, it will roll into Belgium and the Netherlands.

Smith is believed to be committed to fast-tracking growth here and abroad, and on Feb. 22 told The Daily Beast that he is trying to get interviews with top White House officials.

The Canadian-born co-founder, who like President Trump frequently bashes CNN, has predicted at several media events a “bloodbath” of consolidation.

“We’re looking at acquisitions,” he told the Daily Beast. “We’re looking at expanding exponentially.”

In addition to TV distribution, Vice has mobile-content aspirations.

In the US, Vice has a deal with HBO to carry a documentary series and to provide a daily news show. That show, under the aegis of Josh Tyrangiel, a former deputy managing editor of Time magazine, is averaging around 300,000 viewers a night.

>>> Jeronimo Martins watchful of acquisitions in existing and neighbouring count

Jeronimo Martins watchful of acquisitions in existing and neighbouring countries

Jeronimo Martins (JM) [ELI:JMT], a listed Portuguese food retailer, is eager to expand further in Colombia and other regions, including through acquisitions, said Ana Luisa Virginia, chief corporate center officer.
In addition to recently entered Colombia, JM is monitoring other members of the Pacific Alliance (Chile, Peru and Mexico) for expansion opportunities, said Virginia, who spoke to this news service on the sidelines of its results conference.
It is also eyeing opportunities in countries that neighbour Poland, where it has a chain of hard discount supermarkets called Biedronka, she said. It is interested in analyzing proposals from advisers of opportunities in these regions.
Virginia noted that in terms of the countries where it already operates, it has anti-trust limitations in Portugal and Poland, while Colombia, where JM has been present since 2013 only, offers more expansion opportunities. JM expects to open 150 stores in the country this year, having ended 2016 with a total of 221 stores in the country.
Last year JM reportedly studied the auction of Profi Rom Food, a Romanian supermarket chain, which was eventually acquired by Mid Europa Partners in December in a EUR 533m deal. Virginia declined to comment on JM’s participation in this process.
According to one Lisbon-based analyst, a EUR 500m investment is relatively easy for JM. It would make more sense for JM to acquire a chain of supermarkets in a new country and smaller chains or individual stores where it operates, he said. Aside from Latin America and countries neighbouring Poland, JM was interested in entering Ukraine but pulled out because of the political unrest and chose Colombia instead, he said.
A second Lisbon-based analyst noted that JM has identified seven regions in Colombia where it wants to expand its supermarket network, which could include the acquisition of smaller, regional supermarket chains. These seven regions include the main cities of Bogota, Medellin, Pereira, Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena and Bucaramanga.
In terms of new countries, countries near Poland make more sense than near Colombia, he said. Profi Rom Food in Romania was a natural expansion of JM’s Polish operations, he said.
JM has a conservative net debt to EBITDA ratio of between 0.3 to 0.35 and could comfortably increase this to 0.5 to raise EUR 400m to EUR 500m for an acquisition, he added. It would make sense for JM to eventually enter the western part of Ukraine, bordering Poland, he concluded.
Recent acquisitions include some individual stores of the Portuguese Alisuper supermarket chain in the Algarve it bought in 2015. Last year Rothschild advised JM on the sale of Monterroio – Industry & Investments B.V., its Netherlands-based food distribution company, to Sociedade Francisco Manuel Dos Santos, the holding company of the family which controls JM.
At the company’s 2016 results conference JM announced a EUR 700m investment for 2017, though Virginia explained that any potential M&A is not included in this amount. A large portion of the EUR 700m capex will be spent on logistics – for building three new distribution centers in Colombia, one in Poland and one in Portugal.
The sale of Monterroio for EUR 310m helped JM post EUR 593m in profit in 2016. If the Moterroio deal is excluded, JM’s profit would be EUR 361m.
JM’s EBITDA in 2016 came to EUR 862m on sales of EUR 14.62bn. Because of its strong results, JM decided to propose a dividend payment of EUR 380.2m, corresponding to EUR 0.605 per share.

>>> What to look at today - 27th of February 2017

Asia equities down slightly again as divergence from modest increases in US indices continues; Nikkei225 the biggest decliner on stronger JPY. USD was under added pressure on Friday while yields on the longer-end of the curve come in more notably; GBP also falls by as much as 80pips on UK press report that Scotland is preparing to call for another referendum when PM May triggers article 50 next month. AUD briefly rises after Q4 corporate profits data. Ahead of US President Trump's address in front of Congress on Tuesday, Treasury Sec Mnuchin says the cabinet will not call for social spending program cuts but will seek sharp increase in defense funding.

Nikkei -0.91% HAng Seng -0.46% CSI -0.66% Shanghai -0.65%

Eur$ 1.0566 CNH 6.8629 CNY 6.8749 JPY 112.11 GBP 1.2419 CHF 1.0077 RUB 58.0052 WTI$ 54.31 +0.59%

S&P +0.07% EuroStoxx +0.25% Dax +0.19% FTSE +0.28% SMI +0.14%

Macro :
- Trump to Ask for Sharp Increases in Military Spending Mon.: NYT
- Banks Near Decision on Post-Brexit EU Hubs: Boersen-Zeitung
- Sweden Aims to Propose New Bank Tax Before 2018 Elections
- Italy Backs Brexit Talks Once U.K. Assures on Exit Bill: FT
- London-Shanghai Stock Connect May Start Soon: Global Times
- Moody's affirms German credit rating at AAA

Keep an eye on :
- ABN NA : Nordea unlikely to be interested in ABN Amro again
- AZA IM : Alitalia to Cut Up to 4,000 Jobs as Part of New Plan: Messaggero
- AAPL US : Berkshire’s Average Purchase Price for Apple Was $110.17
- ARAMCO IPO : Mitusbishi Fin. Said to participate in underwriting Saudi Aramco IPO - Nikkei
- BMW GY : BMW Said to Mull German Electric Mini Production Post-Brexit: HB
- BRK/b US : Berkshire Hathaway 4Q Oper EPS $2,665, Est. $2,717
- CLN VX : Clariant Isn’t a Takeover Target, CEO Tells FUW
- DBK GY : Deutsche Bank to Conclude Most Large Legal Cases in 2017: FAS
- DOW US : Berkshire Booked $1.2 Billion Gain on Dow Conversion, Sold Stake
- EDF FP : EDF Closed Hinkley Point B Unit for Maintenance Yesterday
- EDL FP : Disneyland Added EU68b to French Economy in 25 Years: Figaro
- FCA IM : Fiat Chrysler Says U.S. Unit Prepaid $1.8b Term Loan
- FCT IM : French Industry Minister says Fincantieri must have less than 50% stake in STX France
- JMT PL : Jeronimo Martins watchful of acquisitions in existing and neighbouring countries
- KATE US : Michael Kors, Coach Seen in Kate Spade 2nd Round Auction: Rtrs
- LHN VX : LafargeHolcim Shares Could Rally 25%, The cement giant has been a roll, thanks to cash generation and stronger markets. Returning cash to shareholders could help, too. - Barron's
- LMN SW : Lastminute.com Sees Plenty of Acquisition Options in Europe: FUW
- LIFE SW : Lifewatch in talks with alternative buyers in attempt to prevent takeover by Aevis Victoria
- IAM FP : Maroc Telecom 2016 Ebitda Up 1.0% From Prior Yr to MAD16.9b
- NESN VX: Nestlé Shares Could Rise by 16%, It’s a high-quality company that is trading cheaply because of political and economic worries in Europe - Barron's
- NOKIA FH : Nokia to Supply Xiaomi With Fiber Optic Network
- NOKIA FH : Nokia’s Suri Says Network Gear Demand May Pick Up This Yr: Rtrs
- PLT IM : Parmalat offer by Lactalis ruled unfair to minority shareholders by advisor
- PNL NA : PostNL 4Q Underlying Operating Profit Falls 25%; Adjusts Outlook
- PRS SM : Amber Seeks Support to Replace Prisa’s Cebrian: El Economista
- REC BB : Recticel Sees Growth in 2017 Combined Sales, Combined Adj Editda
- RYA LN : Ryanair in Advanced Talks With Aer Lingus, Norwegian: NZZ
- SAN FP : Sanofi, Lonza to Invest $288 Million in New Biologics Facility
- SAX GY : Stroeer Can Spend Up to EU1b on Acquisitions: Euro Am Sonntag
- SAZ GY : Stada Starts ‘Structured Bidding Process’ for Company
- SOP FP : Sopra Steria 2016 Net EU150.4m; Est. EU143.2m
- TEF SM : O2 CEO Evans Says He Has Been Briefed to Prepare for IPO
- TEC FP : TechnipFMC 2016 Pro Forma Net Income $457.9 Million
- TSLA US : Panasonic Transfers Tesla Shares to Its U.S. Unit to Boost Ties
- UCG IM : UniCredit’s CIB Can Generate Growth Organically: Papa to Sole
- UNA NA : Dijsselbloem Says Unilever Shouldn’t Abandon Long-Term View

>>> Nordea unlikely to be interested in ABN Amro again - report (translated)

Nordea unlikely to be interested in ABN Amro again - report (translated)
27 FEB 2017
Nordea, the Nordic bank, is unlikely to be interested in acquiring the Dutch ABN Amro, according to Talouselama. The item cited Antti Saari, a share strategist from OP Bank who was commenting on Nordea’s results.
Nordea's share has risen since last summer by 60%, the item said, adding that there could be a M&A move from Nordea. Saari, however, said that it is unlikely Nordea will make another attempt to acquire ABN Amro after the Dutch election. According to him, it was merely a signal to show that Nordea my not keep its HQ in Sweden forever.
Talouselama is a Finnish business weekly, which is behind a paywall.