>>> Bata France receives offers from three suitors – report (translated)

Bata France receives offers from three suitors 

French shoe retailer Bata France, put into receivership by the Commercial court of Nanterre, has received offers from three potential buyers, French daily Les Echos reported. The unsourced report said that the potential buyers include Spanish group Yorga, a consortium grouping together retailers Yves Rocher, Okaidi, Etam, Courir, and others, and privately-owned retailer Vivarte, which has joined forces with JD Sports’ Spodis and e-retailer Spartoo.

The report said that the lawyer for the works council of Bata France is asking the court to reopen and delay the proceedings, as the court is meeting today Thursday to select the final buyer for the business.

Bata France operates 72 points of sales with 355 employees.

Les Echos

>>> Street Pre-Market Indications - 14/04/2016

CS:
ASML -0.5% Peer Taiwan semi reports weaker numbers
Burberry -7-8% Q4 sales -5% on LFL basis vs est for flat
Casino +1-2% Q1 French retail sales EUR4.548bn vs EUR4.52bn
Debenhams +2-3% H1 numbers ahead, keeps FY guidance
Ent One +10% Spec ITV Plc is pursuing a takeover
Hays +2-3% Europe performing well, UK a bit disappointing
JMAT +1-2% CS upgrade to OUTPERFORM (Structural growth)
Lonza -1% Spec on Reuters Lonza looking at Catalent
Mothercare -1% UK fine but International weak, underlying profit inline
Miners -2% Copper -0.25%, Brent -1.55%, Iron Ore +0.70%, China +0.11%
Nestle +0.5-1% Q1 Sales CHF 20.9b est CHF 21.1b, maintains 2016 outlook
Patrizia Immo +1% Buys German real estate portfolio from Savills worth EU320m
Persimmon -1% Positive company update but RICS survey will weigh
Poundland -3% LFL light and reducing store openings
Post NL +1% To continue to invest in German operations
PZ Cussons M/P FY outlook remains unchanged
Rocket Int -2% FY sales lightnet loss and cash position better
Sodexo M/P EBIT inline, organic growth better, kept FY targets
Software UNCH CFO talking positively on guidance
Trav Perk +1-2% Bid spec mentioned in the FT
UK Hbuilders -1% UK RICS houseprice survey 42 vs 50 expected
Umicore +1-2% CS add to the FOCUS LIST (Structural growth)
Unilever M/P Numbers inline with market expectations


JPM:
BURBERRY Miss. Q4 lfl -5% vs e-2%. Outlook cautious. W'sale guidance weak-5%
CASINO LFL inline w cons. LatAm reported recently, France the focus -1%
DEBENHAMS H1 results in-line and FY guidance reiterated +1%
E ONE ITV Said to Pursue Takeover +5+10%
ITV Said to be in talks with ETO. Mkt would like said acqn +1%
LONZA Reports co approached Catalent. Would likely need equity raise -2%
MOTHERCARE UK continues to recover, but Int'l worse than expected -2%
NESTLE Beat with strong org growth - reassuring given concerns into Q +3%
POUNDLAND Core trading broadly inline, 99p guidance reiterated unch
REFRESCO JPM upgrade to OW +1%
ROCKET Financial for proven winners broadly inline. No new targets -1%
SODEXO EBIT -1.5% vs cons (higher revs but lower margins) -2%
UNILEVER Not enough. Q1 underlying sales growth +4.7% inline w cons -1-2%
SEMIS Likely to be soft. -ve read from TSMC - 4% miss on Q2 rev guid -1%


ShoreCap:
HOUSEBUILDERS - RICS at 42 vs 50 est,new buyer enquires at 3 v 15 in Feb....-1%
ENTERTAINMENT ONE - ITV said to be weighing bid,no price mentioned (bbg)....+3%
PZ CUSSONS - overall trading inline,Nigeria remains challenging...........-1.5%
PERSIMMON - fwd sales revs +8%,selling prices +5.8%,well placed............UNCH
POUNDLAND - disappointing Q4,99p stores converted early,f'cast reductions...-2%
BURBERRY - total revs -1%,comparable -2%,weak outlook for 2017..............-4%
JD SPORTS - strong headline no's,revs +20%,oper.pft +56%,well positioned....+4%
STOCK SPIRITS - revs +29%,strong start to 2016,net debt reduced by €13m.....+3%
UNILEVER - Q1 sales growth 4.7%(Est4.6).Sees growth ahead of markets........+2%
VERNALIS - Successful completion of CCP-07 Bioavalibility study............UNCH
HAYS - Says Q3 performance gives confidence in Fy prospects.................+1%
DEBENHAMS - H1 ptp +5.5%.On track for FY profit.Gross martgin +20bp.........+1%
SCAPA - Trading profits,margins ahead of last year & expectations...........+2%
MOTHERCARE - Sales +2.1% during Q4.Overall profit in range of estimates....UNCH


Mainfirst:
*NESTLE-RIG 3%(2.5),Sales 20.9b(21.1),Org S/Grth 3.9%(3.6).........+1.5%
*CASINO-French Sales 4.548b(4.52),Latam OG 8.3%,E-Comm -8.3%.......-1%
*SODEXHO-Org S/Grth 3.7%(3.4),Sales 10.6b(10.5),OP 658m(666.5).....-1%
*LONZA-Said to approach Catalent with purchase offer - Reuters.....-0.5%
*SWISS RE/L&G-Said to weigh bids for DBK's Abbey Life worth £1b....U/C
*ROCKET-FY Rev 128.3m,Ebitda -200.8m,Ebit -226.1m,Net -202.5m......-1%
*ALLIANZ-Pimco Assets rose for the first time since 2014 in Q1.....+0.5%
*BURBERRY-Rev 1.41b(1.42),Retail 1.06b(1.07),Retail -2%(0.4).......-5%
*UNILEVER-Sales Grth 4.7%(4.6),Rev 12.5b(12.8),V/G 2.6%(2.5).......U/C
*AMSL-Read across from TSMC numbers this morning,which are weak....-1%
*ITV-Said to pursue a takeover of Entertainment One worth $964m....-1%

(Il Sole 24 Ore) Anche Fmi promuove il fondo: «Va in direzione giusta»

English (Google Translation)
WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund promotes the initiative of the creation of Atlas, the private vehicle intended to lighten the burden of suffering of lenders and to facilitate capital increases.

The positive assessment came yesterday from Jose Vinals, head of the monetary and capital markets department in the institution of Washington, in response to a question of Sole 24 Ore during the press conference of the Global Financial Stability Report: "We welcome the recent initiative, announced yesterday by the Italian authorities with regard to this fund Atlas, which has a name that refers to good things in the future, as another step in the direction of clean up bad loans in the Italian banking system, "said Vinals. "And we also consider - he continued - as something that could help financial institutions to raise more easily the capital which is needed to keep going for those banks that need it." And there is another aspect to be taken into account: "To the extent that - noted Vinals - it is a solution by the private sector, I think it's good that the private sector is involved. We'll have to give it time and see how it will work, but I think we try to involve the private sector in the solution to facilitate the collection of capital and trying to engage private interests in the purchase of some of the bad loans of Italian banks, it is part of a general strategy which is important. "

The same positive opinion was expressed Tuesday night, also by the Executive Director for Italy of the IMF, Carlo Cottarelli.Ieri, however, the head of the Monetary Department did not hide that, in the opinion of the Fund in Italy performing loans remain high and you need to act. Although it stressed that the Italian credit banking sector is very diversified with "many banks of different sizes, from the popular to the big banks."

The report presented yesterday, as indeed happens for several years, remains very concerned about the situation of European banks as a whole: the estimate that reproduce experts again this year for the banking sector of the euro-area is 900 billion euro in non performing loans. It is pointed out that the banking systems in the continent with the highest amount of non-performing loans are those who have suffered a greater decline in stock prices, particularly in Greece and Italy, and to a lesser extent in Portugal and in some cases in Germany. It is, according to the agency in Washington, the reflection of a number of factors: structural problems of excess banking capacity, high levels of bad loans and business models that are poorly adapted. The Fund also cites the legal costs among the major weaknesses.

In the document presented by the Washington there is also a table from which it follows that the bad loans in Italy is 11.2% of total loans, and that this average is higher by 6.7% in Spain, by 2.8% in the UK and 4.3% on average of a group of Member-euro "defined core area" (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands).

In the calculations made by the economists of the Fund, in addition, the share of Unicredit loans is 10.8% compared with 10.7% of Intesa Sanpaolo; the average of the other Italian banks is 12.2%. Texas ratio (ratio of non-performing loans and equity assets, an indicator used in the past in the United States to assess the sustainability of the suffering) for Italy is estimated at 58.7%, with 58.3% of Unicredit and Intesa San Paul to 52.2%. In this case, however, it is Spain, despite the strong public support obtained for its banks in recent years, still hold a negative record, with 60.4% average and 91.3% for smaller banks dimensions.

More generally, the report says that, although the February financial turmoil are behind us and now the situation on financial markets appears much improved, there is still a long way to go, on the part of policy makers and the same financial system to get in safety compared to global challenges. Challenges that call Brexit, called China (where loans potentially at risk enterprises amounted to 1.3 billion dollars and if not governed could result in potential losses for banks amounted to 7 percent of GDP). For politicians, in particular, the board of Vinals not continue to rely only on the ultra-accommodative monetary policy pursued by central banks. With a policy mix appropriate for supporting growth and a careful strategy of financial stability could increase global growth by 1.7 percentage points over the next five years. Instead, letting go of the situation, the global scenario could worsen in the period by 3.9% In other words: a year of lost global GDP.

Italian
WASHINGTON - Il Fondo monetario internazionale promuove l’iniziativa della creazione di Atlante, il veicolo privato finalizzato ad alleggerire il peso delle sofferenze degli istituti di credito e a facilitare gli aumenti di capitale.
Il giudizio positivo è arrivato ieri da Jose Vinals, responsabile del dipartimento monetario e dei mercati dei capitali nell’istituzione di Washington, come risposta a una domanda del Sole 24 Ore nel corso della conferenza stampa di presentazione del Global Financial Stability Report: «Accogliamo la recente iniziativa, annunciata ieri dalle autorità italiane riguardo a questo fondo Atlante, che ha un nome che rimanda a buone cose nel futuro, come un altro passo nella direzione di ripulire i crediti in sofferenza nel sistema bancario italiano» ha detto Vinals. «E la consideriamo anche - ha proseguito - come qualcosa che potrebbe aiutare le istituzioni finanziarie a raccogliere più facilmente il capitale del quale c’è bisogno per andare avanti per quelle banche che ne hanno bisogno». E c’è un altro aspetto di cui tener conto: «Nella misura in cui - ha osservato Vinals - si tratta di una soluzione da parte del settore privato, penso che vada bene che il settore privato sia coinvolto. Dovremo dare tempo al tempo e vedere come funzionerà, ma penso che provare a coinvolgere il settore privato nella soluzione di facilitare la raccolta di capitale e cercando di impegnare interessi privati nell’acquisto di alcuni dei crediti in sofferenza delle banche italiane, fa parte di una strategia generale che è importante».

Lo stesso giudizio positivo era stato espresso martedì sera, anche dal direttore esecutivo per l’Italia del Fmi, Carlo Cottarelli.Ieri, tuttavia, il responsabile del dipartimento monetario non ha nascosto che, nell’opinione del Fondo in Italia i crediti deteriorati restano elevati ed è necessario agire. Anche se ha sottolineato che il settore bancario creditizio italiano è molto diversificato con «tante banche di diverse dimensioni, dalle popolari alle grandi banche».
Il rapporto presentato ieri, come accade peraltro da qualche anno, resta molto preoccupato per la situazione delle banche europee nel loro complesso: la stima che gli esperti ripropongono anche quest’anno per il settore creditizio dell’intera euro-area è di 900 miliardi di euro di non performing loans. E viene messo in evidenza il fatto che nel continente i sistemi bancari con l’ammontare di crediti deteriorati più elevato sono quelli che hanno subito una flessione maggiore nelle quotazioni azionarie, in particolar modo in Grecia e in Italia, e in misura minore in Portogallo e in alcuni casi in Germania. Si tratta, secondo l’organismo di Washington, del riflesso di una serie di fattori: problemi strutturali di eccesso di capacità bancaria, alti livelli di crediti in sofferenza e modelli di business che si sono scarsamente adeguati. Il Fondo cita anche i costi legali tra i fattori di debolezza.
Nel documento presentato dall’organismo di Washington c’è inoltre una tabella dalla quale si desume che le sofferenze bancarie in Italia sono l’11,2% del totale degli impieghi e che questa media è più alta del 6,7% della Spagna, del 2,8% del Regno Unito e del 4,3% medio di un gruppo di Stati dell’euro-zona definiti “core”(Austria, Belgio, Francia, Germania e Olanda).
Nei calcoli effettuati dagli economisti del Fondo, inoltre, la quota delle sofferenze di Unicredit è il 10,8% contro il 10,7% di Intesa Sanpaolo; la media delle altre banche italiane è del 12,2%. Il Texas ratio (rapporto fra i crediti deteriorati e patrimonio equity, un indicatore usato in passato negli Stati Uniti per valutare la sostenibilità delle sofferenze) per l’Italia è stimato al 58,7%, con Unicredit al 58,3% e Intesa San Paolo al 52,2%. In questo caso è però è la Spagna, nonostante il forte sostegno pubblico ottenuto per le proprie aziende di credito negli anni passati, a detenere tuttora un primato negativo, con il 60,4% medio e il 91,3% per le banche di minori dimensioni.
Più in generale, il rapporto afferma che, anche se le turbolenze finanziarie di febbraio sono alle spalle e oggi la situazione dei mercati finanziari appare molto migliorata, c’è ancora parecchio da fare, da parte dei policy maker e dello stesso sistema finanziario per mettersi in sicurezza rispetto alle sfide globali. Sfide che si chiamano Brexit, si chiamano Cina (dove i prestiti delle imprese potenzialmente a rischio sono pari a 1,3 miliardi di dollari e se non governati potrebbero tradursi in perdite potenziali per le banche pari al 7 per cento del Pil). Per i politici, in particolare, il consiglio di Vinals è non continuare a fare affidamento solo sulla politica monetaria ultra-accomodante portata avanti dalle banche centrali. Con un policy mix appropriato per il sostegno alla crescita e una strategia accurata di stabilità finanziaria si potrebbe innalzare la crescita globale di 1,7 punti percentuali nei prossimi cinque anni. Invece, lasciando andare la situazione, lo scenario globale potrebbe peggiorare nel quinquennio del 3,9% Come dire: un anno di Pil mondiale perduto.

(CS) European Autos : Headwinds for OEMs : Schaeffler looks best to benefit

* Cost set to increase by tighter regulation. As part of the Credit Suisse Connection Series, we outline increasing costs for the automotive industry driven by tighter regulation (Drive Train to Supply Chain). Costs for the OEMs are set to increase meaningfully over the next few years in order to achieve the emission targets. From 2014 to 2020/21 we estimate that the European OEMs have to reduce the CO2 targets on average by 27 grams with the German OEMs as well as FCA having the biggest gap to reach the target while Peugeot and Renault look somewhat better positioned. Assuming average cost to reduce one gram of CO2 at €40 (fine is €95/gram from 2019 onwards), the cost increase ranges from €760 to €1,280 per car for companies under coverage.

* Tightening NOx targets put further pressure on OEMs: In addition to meaningful reduction in CO2 levels, costs for diesel engines will also increase given higher required content per vehicle. NOx regulation was already tightened with Euro 6 implementation, which sets a limit of 80mg/km (180mg/km for Euro 5). However, according to the European Commission currently produced Euro 6 diesel cars exceed the NOx limit 4-5 times on average in real driving conditions (RDE) versus laboratory testing (360mg/km taking the mid-point). Under Euro 6c, tests will be carried out under real driving conditions, which will start from September 2017. In a first step, car manufacturers will have to bring down the discrepancy to a conformity factor of maximum 2.1 (110%) for new models.
Assuming 2.1x on 80mg/km, this would imply c.168mg/km under real mdriving conditions or -53% versus current levels (360mg/km – taking the mid-point of 4-5 times indicated by the Commission). Cost for SCR technology is around €450.

* Schaeffler (OP) well positioned. Among the suppliers, we see Schaeffler well positioned to benefit from ongoing downsizing and efficiency gains for the gasoline engine versus the diesel engine. We estimate that the content for Schaeffler in a gasoline engine is 2x higher versus diesel. This stands in contrast to Conti, which has a disproportional high content in diesel engines versus gasoline (delta of +60% in diesel).

(CS) European Chemicals Upgade JMAT & Reit. UMI

We forecast significant changes to the global automotive landscape over the coming years driven by emissions targets, the VW debacle and the lower oil price. We assess the impact of these changes on the entire auto supply chain to screen for companies that appear best positioned. We identify companies that look best positioned to capture above-market growth regardless of the industry outcome and assess where we believe the market has not fairly valued this opportunity. We have upgraded JMAT (O/P (from N), and maintain O/P on Umicore, Schaeffler and Victrex.

Stock calls: We flex our model to run base case, conservative and progressive market scenarios. We identify companies that look best positioned to capture above-market growth regardless of the industry outcome and assess where we believe the market has not fairly valued this opportunity. 
We have upgraded JMAT (O/P (from N), TP £31), and maintain O/P on UMI (TP €50 from €42, European Focus List stock), BYD (TP HK$80), Hyundai Mobis (TP KRW300,000), Delphi (TP $88), Magna (TP $50), Schaeffler (TP €15.3), Victrex (TP £20), and Tesla (TP $280, Global nd US Focus List stock). We maintain U/P on Ford (TP$13).

Les Echos : Vente-privee multiplie les acquisitions.

Vente-privee multiplie les acquisitions.

EXCLUSIF Le leader français du déstockage achète Privalia, numéro un espagnol. Il prend une participation majoritaire dans le site suisse eboutic.ch.

Jacques-Antoine Granjon, le président-fondateur du site Vente-privee.com, met le turbo. Et avec lui, son directeur général, Charles-Hubert de Chaudenay, ancien banquier d'affaires, qu'il a installé dans sa fonction en novembre dernier. Après une première opération de croissance externe avec le rachat du site belge Vente-Exclusive en septembre 2015, avant que n'arrive son nouveau dirigeant (qui était néanmoins administrateur de Vente-privee depuis 2008), le pionnier français du déstockage de produits de marque sur Internet imprime son empreinte sur l'Europe.

Il doit annoncer ce matin l'acquisition de 100 % du capital de Privalia, leader du secteur en Espagne (et présent aussi en Italie, au Brésil et au Mexique), et une prise de participation majoritaire dans eboutic.ch en Suisse, soit un chiffre d'affaires additionnel total (TTC et avant retours) de près de 480 millions d'euros en année pleine. « Ces opérations sont financées sur fonds propres et par de la dette. Cumulé à notre croissance organique attendue à 17 % cette année, ces acquisitions devraient permettre au groupe de franchir la barre des 3 milliards d'euros de chiffre d'affaires en 2016 », se félicite JacquesAntoine Granjon.

Il s'agit de répondre à l'offensive du géant américain de l'e-commerce Amazon, qui investit massivement dans la mode, et à la croissance forte de sites comme l'anglais Asos ou l'allemand Zalando. « Nous sommes sur un marché concurrentiel très vaste, où de multiples acteurs on line et off line s'affrontent pour la promotion et la distribution des collections des grandes marques de mode », poursuit le fondateur de Vente-privee.

A l'instar du modèle établi avec l'acquisition de Vente-Exclusive, le groupe français va conserver les dirigeants des deux entreprises, dont il prend le contrôle, et installer son offre sur leurs sites, ce qu'il a fait avec succès sur les marchés du Benelux. « Nous allons travailler les synergies potentielles et partager nos savoir-faire mutuels pour continuer de développer nos activités sur chacun de ces marchés ; et offrir ainsi le meilleur service à nos marques partenaires en leur proposant une offre globale », explique Jacques-Antoine Granjon.

Un premier pas vers une marque unique pour affronter à armes égales les autres géants du Net ? Le patron de Vente-privee n'entend pas mettre la charrue avant les bœufs. S'il sait bien que sa marque française n'est pas facilement exportable (comme en témoigne son échec aux Etats-Unis), il entend d'abord mener à bien le chantier visant à construire une plate-forme européenne.

« Nous nous donnons quelques mois de réflexion sur le maintien ou non des différentes marques dans les pays où elles ont le plus souvent une notoriété forte. Il est bien possible qu'il ne faille pas forcément une même marque sur tous les marchés », estime Jacques-Antoine Granjon. Dans ce mouvement de consolidation d'un marché de la démarque qui s'industrialise (lire ci-dessous), Vente-privee ne s'interdit pas de nouvelles opérations de croissance externe en Europe. En Allemagne, où Vente-privee réalise un peu moins de 100 millions d'euros de chiffre d'affaires, il privilégiera la croissance interne. Echaudé par son aventure américaine, le français entend rester à l'écart du Royaume-Uni, un marché compliqué, où il a une petite activité.