RTRS - JULIUS BAER CEO SAYS COULD AFFORD TO BUY A BANK WITH ASSETS OF UP TO 15 BLN SFR WITHOUT RAISING FRESH CAPITAL
Reportedly Instagram is seeing users spend less time on the platform
- AdWeek A recent study conducted by SimilarWeb found that Americans spent less time on the four largest social networks in the first part of this year than they did during the same time period of 2015. More specifically, the study saw a 36.16 percent decrease on Instagram, 27.94 percent on Twitter, 19.21 percent on Snapchat and 6.7 percent on Facebook.
GoPro: Shares spike on chatter that co is cancelling out of a conference; we are seeing shares retreat from highs at the momtn
The elite French MBA provider is teaching the basics of business to those aged between 15 and 17
Business school students are notorious for pulling all-nighters to meet work deadlines. That ought not to be the case with a group arriving this month for a €5,200 course at Insead, the elite French purveyor of MBAs.
Far from working until the small hours, these students will be expected to be tucked up in bed, with lights out, at 11pm (except on Fridays and Saturdays, when they get to stay up an extra hour).
For the second year, Insead is hosting 15-17 year olds at a two-week residential summer school, promising to give them “a unique and transformative experience” at its campus amid the forest of Fontainebleau, on the southern outskirts of Paris.
A typical day on the Summer@Insead scheme, which is taught in English, will run from 8.30am to 5pm, with a mix of classes, company visits and guest speakers — all aimed at increasing the teenagers’ “business awareness”.
In strategy class, they will be asked to ponder what managers can do “to drive performance and growth in the face of fierce competition in an uncertain world”.
In decision-making, elements of applied psychology will be introduced to examine how to make better choices amid uncertainty. In negotiation, they will learn how to discern a counterpart’s underlying needs.
Visits will include trips to hot Paris start-up BlaBlaCar (founded by an Insead MBA graduate) and an innovation centre run by consultant Accenture. In the late afternoon and evenings there will be sport, games and other more relaxing activities.
Peter Zemsky, Insead deputy dean and director of the summer school, says the course is a powerful way for it to reconnect with alumni, rather than being a standalone moneymaker.
Almost all the 70 teenagers signed up for the course are children of former Insead students, who feel that the school is “a little bit of the family fabric”, he says.
The alumni network has also been tapped to provide counsellors in their twenties to help mentor the students and direct extracurricular activities.
Alumni received a 10 per cent discount on the fee but this goodwill gesture could pay off if they end up donating to the school or signing up for one of its executive education courses.
Such an approach could leave Insead vulnerable to criticism that it is creating a closed loop of entitlement.
Prof Zemsky acknowledges the risk and says this is likely to be addressed in future iterations of the course if it continues, through scholarships to “bring in less privileged kids”.
However, he stresses that the geographic and cultural diversity of Insead’s MBA students is even greater at the level of their children, given the peripatetic lives many of their families have led in pursuit of their elite careers.
Insead is by no means the only body selling courses to teens, their parents and schools, with the promise of helping these young people get ahead in business in their later lives.
But there are lots of sceptics who doubt the real-world value of an MBA — can an MBA-style taster be worth the money when the participants are so far from entering the world of work?
Prof Zemsky says the teaching has been adapted for the younger cohort, while tensions between business and society will also be discussed during the fortnight.
Getting introduced to subjects such as decision-making ought to benefit the teens as they make key choices in young adulthood, he adds. “We are not trying to make them little business people.”
Hammerson reports British property value drop
Hammerson, the FTSE 100 retail property group, has revealed a decline in the value of its British portfolio in a further sign of the faltering commercial property market.
Hammerson, which owns British shopping centres such as Brent Cross and a stake in the Bullring in Birmingham, said that £51m was wiped off the value of its UK properties in the six months to the end of June.
The company blamed the increase in stamp duty in April and prices weakening for retail parks, and added that the value of its shopping centres had remained flat in the period.
Hammerson’s first-half results signalled that weakening values in parts of the commercial property market have now begun to show up in the books of some of Britain’s largest listed landlords.
Analysts at Peel Hunt on Monday declared “the long bull market in physical real estate is over” and lowered its expectations for net asset values for a series of property companies including Hammerson.
The drop in Hammerson’s UK assets was more than offset by the rise in value of its French portfolio in the first half of its financial year, however, while the group said it was “reassured” by activity in the leasing and investment markets since the Brexit vote.
Hammerson’s French portfolio increased in value by £69m and the value of its outlet malls also rose, resulting in a 2.4 per cent overall boost to net asset value per share to £7.27. Some 40 per cent of its portfolio is held overseas.
Profit declined by more than 50 per cent to £162.5m — a reflection in part that the previous year’s results had been boosted by fast rises in property values — while like-for-like rental growth was 2.1 per cent against a year earlier.
Hammerson said it had agreed 20 new leases since the vote to leave the EU, while a “blip” in footfall after the Brexit vote was swiftly followed by a return to business as usual.
The group said it had almost completed a £500m programme of disposals, but had taken a loss of £12.6m against the latest valuations on three properties sold for a total of £296m during the first half of the year.
“We are heartened and reassured by the business that has taken place since the referendum,” said David Atkins, chief executive.
“Consumer confidence has returned to its pre-referendum level.”
It will increase its interim dividend by 6.3 per cent to 10.1p a share.
Analysts at Liberum said the group’s portfolio of “largely defensive retail assets” should make it less vulnerable than some rivals to cyclical movements in the property market.
But Peel Hunt on Monday downgraded its expectations for Hammerson’s net asset values by 7 per cent as part of a broader post-Brexit downgrade of the property sector. The broker said it was most concerned about the future values of London offices, but added “we also have concerns over retail”.
“Yields were under-pressure before the vote and the fall in the pound and consumer confidence combined with the continued move towards online shopping will dampen retailers’ leasing plans,” its analysts said.
The group also announced Monday it would seek a dual listing in Johannesburg in early September as it aims to tap into a pool of South African capital that has shown strong appetite for overseas real estate assets.
Hammerson has received at least a short-term boost from an unexpected quarter — the hit augmented reality game Pokémon Go.
It said footfall on the weekend following the game’s UK release had seen double-digit growth from the same weekend a year earlier, as players hunted virtual monsters around “gyms”, “pokestops” and “lures” located around Hammerson’s properties.
Caterpillar: June world total machine retail sales -12% (vs. -12% in May), Energy & Transportation retail sales -26% (vs. -30% in May)
Total Machines (June 2016 vs May 2016)
- Asia Pacific: -7% vs -13%
- EAME: -4% vs -4%
- Latin America: -38% vs -31%
- North America: -12% vs -12%
- World: -12% vs -12%
Total Energy & Transportation (June 2016 vs May 2016)
- Power Gen -24% vs -19%
- Industrial -19% vs -15%
- Transportation -4% vs -33%
- Oil and gas -35% vs -41%
- Total -26% vs -30%
Reminder: CAT reports earnings tomorrow.
Apple target raised to $168 at Maxim Group -- Buyers heading into AAPL's lame duck quarter as survey data indicates on precipice of multi-year investment upcycle
Maxim Group raises their AAPL tgt to $168 from $157. For Q3, firm continues to model $41.8B (down 16% y/y) in rev (guidance is $41B to $43B), largely driven by a 21% y/y decline in iPhone units (sell-in) to 37.8M units. Notably, firm is modelling for iPhone units sell-out to be down 21% q/q, which compares to a past 4 year average of down 18% q/q, which is conservative if the iPhone SE is proving to drive a proportionately higher number of incremental users into the iPhone ecosystem than the iPhone 6C. For Q4, firm continues to model $45.1B in rev (down only 9% y/y), largely driven by a moderation in the iPhone y/y unit decline to 11% y/y to 42.1M units. Importantly, utilizing the Sept 2015 quarter channel inventory level (look ahead basis) of 3.4 weeks, firm models for an 8% q/q decline in iPhone unit sell-out, which compares favorably to the past 5 year average of down 3% q/q.
Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance: CEMI -5.3%, WAB -4.8%, KMB-2%
M&A news: YHOO -1.0% (confirms it will sell its operating business to Verizon (VZ) for ~$4.83 bln in cash)
Select metals/mining stocks trading lower: AG -1.9%, AUY -1.5%, NEM-1.3%, ABX -1.1%, GOLD -1%, GDX -1%, SLV -1%, AU -0.8%, .
Other news:
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance: CEMI -5.3%, WAB -4.8%, KMB-2%
M&A news: YHOO -1.0% (confirms it will sell its operating business to Verizon (VZ) for ~$4.83 bln in cash)
Select metals/mining stocks trading lower: AG -1.9%, AUY -1.5%, NEM-1.3%, ABX -1.1%, GOLD -1%, GDX -1%, SLV -1%, AU -0.8%, .
Other news:
- TBRA -64.5% (announces results from its CENTAUR Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of cenicriviroc for the treatment of NASH in 289 adults with liver fibrosis; study did not meet primary endpoint)
- OCUL -13% (receives CRL from the FDA regarding its NDA for DEXTENZA)
- SC -6.3% (delays the release of its 2Q16 earnings release, co in discussions with current & previous independent accountants primarily related to the discount accretion and credit loss allowance methodologies)
- RDY -2.6% (still checking)
- CLB -1.6% (discloses in 10Q being contacted by the DOJ regarding an investigation into Unaoil)
Analyst comments:
- SBRA -2.6% (downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/Merrill)
- DATA -2.3% (downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank)
- AGCO -1.7% (downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray)
- CNHI -1.5% (downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray)
- DE -1.4% (downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray)