BN 07/30 17:51 *INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP COMMENTS ON WEBSITE
BN 07/30 17:51 *IHG NOT IN TALKS WITH STARWOOD ON COMBINATION OF BUSINESSES
BN 07/30 17:51 *IHG NOT IN TALKS WITH STARWOOD ON COMBINATION OF BUSINESSES
InterContinental: Statement Regarding Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (“Starwood”)
2015-07-30 17:50:43.389 GMT
http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?PageID=116&NewsID=3487
PageExcerpt:
30 July, 2015 Statement Regarding Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (“Starwood”) NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION ...
2015-07-30 17:50:43.389 GMT
http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?PageID=116&NewsID=3487
PageExcerpt:
30 July, 2015 Statement Regarding Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (“Starwood”) NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION ...
Liberty Global Increases Its Stake In ITV, The Leading Commercial Broadcaster In The U.K., To 9.9%
>>> Up
*SOLVAY RAISED TO BUY FROM HOLD AT ING; PT RAISED TO EU145 {NSN NSC8MA6JIJUX<Go>}
*TECHNIP RAISED TO OVERWEIGHT VS EQUALWEIGHT AT BARCLAYS
>>> Down
*BOUYGUES CUT TO NEUTRAL VS BUY AT CITI
*ESSILOR CUT TO HOLD VS BUY AT SOCGEN
*INDRA CUT TO SELL VS HOLD AT SOCGEN
*JC DECAUX CUT TO EQUALWEIGHT VS OVERWEIGHT AT BARCLAYS
*LECTRA CUT TO HOLD VS BUY AT SOCGEN
*RAI WAY CUT TO NEUTRAL VS OUTPERFORM AT MEDIOBANCA
*SANTANDER CUT TO HOLD VS BUY AT KEPLER CHEUVREUX
*SCOR CUT TO NEUTRAL VS BUY AT GOLDMAN
>>> PT change
>>> Initiation
*BURBERRY RATED NEW HOLD AT JEFFERIES, PT 1,500P
*EXPERIAN RATED NEW OVERWEIGHT AT MORGAN STANLEY, PT 1,430P
*LUXOTTICA RATED NEW UNDERPERFORM AT JEFFERIES, PT EU55
>>> Call
Dow-0.03% S&P+0.01% Nasdaq+0.33% Russell+0.18% VIX 12.13 (-2.96%)
US Market closed near its flatline after bouncing from its lows. US Market faced some early weakness anf IMF reports on Greece and still some worries in China. Energy sector was busy with a lot of differentiation on numbers MPC-3.4%, COP-1.6% RDS+3.6%, Crude continue to be weak @$48.18 (-0.70%) this morning. Volume were below average @ 770mil shares. Today, Q2 Employment Cost Index will be released at 8:30 ET (consensus 0.6%) while the Chicago PMI for July (consensus 50.5) will be reported at 9:45 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the 10:00 ET release of the final reading of the Michigan Sentiment index for July (consensus 94.0)...Markets are trading mixed early Friday, but volatility is fairly subdued. The macro calendar is broadly in focus as a number of data points were released from Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea generated mixed takeaways. The yen turned higher following an uptick in Japanese June inflation, while the kiwi weakened after New Zealand business confidence slid to a six-year low. Chinese shares are lagging the region despite the CSRC announcing 24 trading accounts had been suspended for irregularities, as well as launching an investigation into automated trading. Financials are supporting the ASX 200, while Korea is under pressure amid mixed industrial production data.
Nikkei-1.24% Shanghai+0.12% Hang Seng+0.10%
Eur$1.0940 JPY 124.04 GBP 1.5609 EURCHF 1.0581 RUB $59.6944 WTI $48.20 ()-0.66%
S&P -0.01% EuroStoxx +0.28% Dax+0.25% SMI+0.37%
Macro :
- *CHINA TO ISSUE $160B BOND PROGRAM TO FUND INFRASTRUCTURE: RTRS
- China Vehicle Sales Will Follow Stocks Lower, Dealer Group Says
- Greece Capital Market Commission chief Botopoulos: To reopen Athens Stock Exchange on Monday, Aug 3rd - Greek press
Keep an eye on :
- AH NA : Ahold/Delhaize Said to Pay Advisers >EU80m in Fees: Telegraaf
- AIR FP : Airbus 2Q Profit Beats Est; FY Guidance Confirmed
- AKE FP : Arkema 2Q Ebitda, Rev Beat; Sees 2015 Ebitda Slighty Above EU1b
- AMS SM : Amadeus 1H Net EU390.5m vs EU354.9m a Year Earlier
- MT NA : ArcelorMittal 2Q Ebitda Beats; Maintains FY Forecast of $6b-$7b, Sees No Growth in 2015 Global Steel Use
- BBVA SM : BBVA 2Q Net EU1.22B Beating EU937.4M Estimate
- BNP FP : BNP Paribas 2Q Net EU2.56b vs Loss EU4.22b; CET1 Ratio 10.6%
- POP SM :
- EN FP : Bouygues Consortium Signs EU2B Monaco Contract, Echos Says
- CABK SM : CaixaBank 2Q Net EU333M in Line With EU334M Estimate
- CA FP : Carrefour 1H Recurring Oper. Income Up 1.3%, Keeps Outlook
- CCH LN : Coca-Cola Enterprises Said in Advanced Talks to Combine: WSJ Link : http://on.wsj.com/1M0KmOM
- CHW LN : Providence, WPP to Buy Chime for GBP374m or 365p/Share
- COFB BB : Cofinimmo 1H Adj. EPS EU3.35 vs Est. EU3.12
- DGE LN : WSJ Article on Growth strategy in Africa - sent by bbg - Link : http://on.wsj.com/1h9M17B
- EDP PL : EDP 1H Net Income Falls 7% Y/y to EU587m vs Est. EU472.9m
- RF FP : Eurazeo 1H Net Income EU1.27b Vs Proforma Net Loss EU31m
- FER SM : Ferrovial 1H Net EU267.1M Versus EU168.4M a Yr Earlier
- FCC SM : Spain’s FCC 1H Ebitda EU369.7m vs Est. EU388.5m
- GEO IM : Geox 1H Ebitda Up 28%, Confirms 2015 Outlook
- GMM GY : Grammer 1H Ebit EU24.6m Vs EU30.9m Y/y Due to Decline in Demand
- IDR SM : Indra 1H Net Loss EU435.7m vs Eu60.3m A Year Earlier
- IHG LN : Intercontinental Hotels Says Not in M&A Talks With Starwood
- IPN FP : Ipsen Raises 2015 Targets Due to Strong Somatuline Performance
- MMB FP : Lagardere 1H Sales Up; 2015 Recurring Ebit Growth Target Raised, 1H Solid, Broadly in Line, Barclays Says; Equal Weight
- KN FP : Natixis 2Q Net EU450m; Est. EU418m
- MS IM : Mediaset 1H Rev. Flat; Still Difficult to Make FY Forecast, 2Q No Ad Outlook Forecast May Mean Downgrades: Nomura
- OR FP : L’Oreal 2Q LFL Sales Growth Misses Ests., Oper. Profit In Line, Agon Blames Brazil for Slower 2Q Growth: Le Figaro
- PSON LN : Pearson to Put Some Proceeds From FT Sale Into Digital Ed: CEO
- PROX BB : Proximus Raises Rev., Profit Forecasts as 2Q Adj. Ebitda Beats
- FP FP : GBL Sells Forward ~EU500m Total Stake ; 1H Cash Earnings Up 6.3%
- UCB BB : UCB Raises Forecast for FY Rev. to EU3.65B-EU3.75b; Est. EU3.65b
- UMI BB : Umicore Narrows Forecast Range; 1H Adj EPS EU1.20 vs Est. EU1.04
- USG NA : USG People 2Q Rev. Beats Est.; Sees Positive Trends Continuing
- VK FP : Vallourec 2Q Ebitda Beats; FCF Positive; Rest of 2015 Difficult
- DG FP : Vinci 1H Rev. Beats, Sees Drop in 2015 Consolidated Rev.
- WAF GY : Siltronic 2Q Sales +17% EU247m; Sees Higher 2H Investmnents
- YOOX IM : Yoox 2Q Rev., Ebitda In Line With Ests.
Thirsty for Growth, Liquor Giant Taps African Market
Diageo targets even poorest consumers with liquor made locally and sold cheaply
NAIROBI, Kenya—For 20 years, Leonard Odhiambo has run a thriving business off a dirt path in Kibera, the biggest slum in sub-Saharan Africa. He brews changa’a, a potent spirit made from molasses and mashed grain. A half-liter bottle sells for just over a dollar.
Changa’a is illegal, but the police aren’t his biggest threat these days. Diageo PLC, the world’s largest spirits company, is selling inexpensive liquor barely a hundred yards from his door. The cheapest, a whiskey called Jebel Gold, costs about 10 cents for a 30-milliliter “tot”—about two-thirds of a shot.
Mr. Odhiambo says he is losing customers to the nearby liquor shack, which also offers non-Diageo branded products such as Napoleon Gold Brandy and King Horse Vodka. “They sell cheaper than they used to,” he says.
International spirits companies are expanding across Africa, targeting even the poorest consumers with liquor made locally and sold at dirt-cheap prices. In major cities and, increasingly, in rural areas as well, the world’s biggest liquor makers are launching low-price versions of big-name brands, forming partnerships with independent distillers and creating their own versions of local spirits.
Africa has emerged as a rare bright spot for London-based Diageo, which said Thursday that operating profit for the fiscal year ended June 30 fell 0.8% on weaker sales in North America, the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America and the Caribbean. In Africa, discounting the effect of acquisitions and currency fluctuations, sales rose 6%. Earlier this week, Diageo moved to wield more control over its growing business in South Africa, terminating a joint venture with Heineken NV.
The global spirits industry sees Africa as the final frontier—a potentially huge market that is largely untapped. Only 2% of the industry’s profits came from Africa and the Middle East in 2013, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Between 2013 and 2017, the continent’s liquor market is projected to grow by 45%, to $2.39 billion, Diageo has told investors.
There are wealthy consumers in Africa who can afford expensive Western liquor. But cheaper local brands dominate the rest of the legal market. Global giants such as Diageo and Pernod Ricard SA of France now realize that to compete effectively in Africa, they need to move down-market.
“All the real action is when you go below 200 Kenyan shillings,” around $2, says John Williams, marketing director at Kenya Breweries Ltd., a Diageo subsidiary.
Slum sales
To compete head-on with changa’a merchants like Mr. Odhiambo, Diageo is selling low-price products out of shacks in some of Kenya’s poorest slums. Jebel Gold is its cheapest brand, but others don’t cost much more. A tot of Liberty, a whiskey, sells for around 20 cents, while Kenya Cane, a white rum, goes for around 35 cents. Diageo says most sales of those brands have been to drinkers moving out of the illicit market.
Competitor Pernod Ricard offers its Passport Scotch whisky for $4 per half-liter bottle in many African countries. The brand has had the most success in Angola, where it sometimes was used in place of currency during the country’s decadeslong civil war, according to Laurent Pillet, Pernod’s top Africa executive.
Beer companies also see opportunity in the market for high-alcohol-content products. SABMiller PLC, the world’s No. 2 brewer by sales, last year started selling in Tanzania a blended three-year-old Scotch whisky called Fyfe’s. SABMiller already holds a nearly 30% stake in South Africa-based Distell Group Ltd., the No. 2 distiller in Africa by sales.
Diageo has invested more than $1 billion in Africa over the past five years. It controls about 25% of legal-spirits sales on the continent, according to research firm Euromonitor International, almost double the market share of Distell. Pernod Ricard is third with 6%, while other big names, such as Brown-Forman Corp., Bacardi Ltd. and Rémy Cointreau SA, have less than 2% each.
For Diageo, much of the rest of the world isn’t looking as promising. Sales growth has abated in the U.S., Western Europe and China. A global bourbon boom has largely passed the company by. Revenue from North America, Diageo’s biggest market, declined 1% in the year ended in June, excluding the effect of currency movements. Last month, Diageo said Chief Financial Officer Deirdre Mahlan would take over as president of its North America unit, replacing Larry Schwartz, who announced his retirement earlier in June.
The company also is contending with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into whether it has been shipping excess inventory to U.S. distributors in an effort to boost its results, The Wall Street Journal reported last week. Diageo said it is “working to respond fully to the SEC’s requests for information in this matter.”
Diageo’s competitors also are staking claims in Africa, and Kenya has become a battleground for the world’s two biggest spirits companies. Diageo has operated for nearly a century in the country, which has one of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest economies, but now faces pressure from Pernod Ricard, which opened a Nairobi office in 2012. Massive billboards for Pernod’s Jameson Irish Whiskey and Diageo’s Johnnie Walker Scotch dot the city’s skyline, while salesmen compete to get their brands into the hundreds of new bars and stores that open each year.
The battle for Nairobi is likely to be replicated across Africa in the next decade. “Africa is Asia in 15 years,” says Alexandre Ricard, Pernod Ricard’s chief executive. “That’s how important it can become for us.”
Diageo hit some bumps on its initial foray into the low end of the market. Three years ago, the company launched Jebel, a predecessor to Jebel Gold. It was packaged in plastic pouches to save on costs. When a smaller competitor introduced a rival brand in glass bottles, which are perceived as safer and more hygienic, Jebel’s sales collapsed. Jebel Gold is now sold out of a keg so customers can see the liquid being poured, alleviating concerns it has been tampered with.
Diageo thought it could apply global marketing techniques to its African spirits brands. “We’ve been guilty in the past of coming at it from a Diageo perspective of premiumization and total focus on the brand,” says Nick Cook, Diageo’s commercial director in Ghana. “It’s actually more about keeping a brand locally relevant and keeping the costs down. That’s something we’re not used to.”
Now, branded mugs and tablecloths are provided to bars in poor areas. In Ghana and Nigeria, herbs—regarded as essential for good health—have been added to products.
Diageo and other liquor companies are trying to lure away customers of illegal breweries of changa’a, a potent traditional spirit, in Nairobi’s Kibera slum. ENLARGE
Diageo and other liquor companies are trying to lure away customers of illegal breweries of changa’a, a potent traditional spirit, in Nairobi’s Kibera slum. PHOTO: NOOR KHAMIS/REUTERS
In Kenya, liquor makers market to the lowest rungs of the economic ladder by advertising on radio stations known as slum radio, which play to settlements across the country on constantly changing frequencies.
Radio is the “medium of choice” for many of Diageo’s lower-price brands in Kenya, said the company’s Mr. Williams. The distiller has reached customers who have never before consumed legal alcohol by using what it calls vernacular radio-stations broadcast in one of Kenya’s 67 different dialects, often to a single tribe or town. “We can use dialect or slang to reach tribes or areas we’d never have got to before,” Mr. Williams said.
The company is using motorbikes instead of trucks to transport its liquor to remote Kenyan communities.
In East Africa, one of Diageo’s top five global markets, the company’s liquor sales doubled in the last two years. In the last six months of 2014, sales of what Diageo calls emerging spirits—products sold for between $1 and $2.50—increased 28% in East Africa. During that same period, sales of beer priced at the same level fell 12%.
Health campaigners say the rapid expansion of spirits brands is compounding an existing problem. Although nearly half of African men abstain from drinking alcohol, those who drink have the highest prevalence of “heavy episodic drinking” of any region in the world, according to a report by the World Health Organization.
“In our society, drinking is a big problem,” said William Ntakuka, program officer for SCAD, a Kenya-based nonprofit organization that campaigns against alcohol and drug abuse. “It’s bad, and it’s getting worse.”
Diageo, Pernod Ricard and other international spirits companies operating in Africa all run responsible-drinking programs and say their products should be consumed in moderation.
Billboard ads
In many African countries, laws about marketing alcohol aren’t as strict as they are in much of the developed world. Many African governments, for example, allow billboard advertising of alcohol brands directly outside schools.
In the U.S., Diageo and other alcohol companies are prohibited from placing ads within 500 feet of schools. In Africa, some countries allow ads to be placed anywhere. Diageo says it abides by local laws and works with governments to improve advertising standards.
The growth of the African market has taken international liquor companies—many of them with emerging-markets experience in Asia and Latin America—by surprise.
Pernod Ricard in 2011 wanted to begin selling in Angola but had no local expertise. It moved an executive from Poland to Angola and start the business from a hotel room in Luanda, the country’s capital.
ENLARGE
In Uganda, Diageo needed to increase capacity quickly. Without waiting for approval from headquarters, executives ordered a $40,000 production line from a local supplier. It was delivered and operational within weeks.
In 2013, Diageo opened a mobile distillery in Accra, Ghana, that it calls “the cube.” Made from five 8-by-40-foot shipping containers, the cube produces 1,500 plastic bottles of liquor an hour. Setting up a new distillery with full production capacity would have cost around $45 million. Building the cube cost about $3 million. It operates 24 hours a day, six days a week.
If one area of Africa becomes saturated with a particular brand—or if consumers don’t take a liking to a new product—the distillery can be packed up and moved to a new location. Diageo currently operates mobile distilleries in Ghana, Nigeria and Mozambique, and has plans to expand throughout Africa.
In Ghana, the main product made in the cube is Orijin Bitters. It was created to satisfy local tastes. Ads for it around the city read “Herbs, Fruit, Alcohol.” A 750 milliliter bottle sells for just over $2.
“We could run three cubes and still not have enough,” says Eric Botchwey, the distillery’s production manager.
In Ghana, as in many African countries, liquor companies are trying to take market share away from beer brewers, which have long had a solid foothold on the continent. Around 10% of the beer industry’s global profits come from Africa and the Middle East, compared with 2% for the spirits industry, according to Bernstein.
A sign hanging in a liquor shack in Nairobi’s Kibera slum advertises Diageo products. ENLARGE
A sign hanging in a liquor shack in Nairobi’s Kibera slum advertises Diageo products. PHOTO: PETER EVANS/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
In Nairobi, Pernod Ricard is introducing its Jameson brand to beer drinkers by working with local bars to brew beer in casks used to make Jameson whiskey. Italy’s Gruppo Campari SpA suggests drinkers in Nigeria mix Campari, a bright red liqueur, with beer to create a cocktail known as a “Churchill.”
Diageo is one of Africa’s biggest brewers through its ownership of Guinness and numerous local breweries, so the company in many markets is competing against itself. In several countries, Diageo sells miniature bottles of Johnnie Walker Red Label Scotch whisky with a free mixer for the same price as premium lager.
There are signs that tastes are shifting. Total African liquor sales by volume increased 8.6% in 2014, according to research firm IWSR. Spirits have “suddenly started becoming something aspirational,” says Vignesh Ramachandran, head of marketing at Nakumatt Holdings Ltd., Kenya’s biggest supermarket chain.
As competition intensifies, Diageo is intent on defending its market share in Africa. “International players come and go,” says Charles Ireland, chief executive of Diageo’s East Africa Breweries Ltd. “But it’s our turf, and we fight hard to protect it.”
BFW 07/30 21:05 *COKE ENTERPRISES MERGER SAID VALUED `BILLIONS' OF DOLLARS: WSJ
BFW 07/30 21:04 *COKE ENT., IBERIAN, ERFRISCHUNGSGETRANKE SAID IN TALKS: WSJ
BFW 07/30 21:02 *COCA-COLA ENTERPRISES SAID IN ADVANCED TALKS TO COMBINE: WSJ
BFW 07/30 21:04 *COKE ENT., IBERIAN, ERFRISCHUNGSGETRANKE SAID IN TALKS: WSJ
BFW 07/30 21:02 *COCA-COLA ENTERPRISES SAID IN ADVANCED TALKS TO COMBINE: WSJ
Coca-Cola Enterprises Said in Advanced Talks to Combine: WSJ
2015-07-30 21:14:10.119 GMT
By Rita Devlin Marier and Clementine Fletcher
(Bloomberg) -- Coca-Cola Enterprises discussing a tie-up w/
other Coke bottlers Coca-Cola Iberian Partners and Coca-Cola
Erfrischungsgetranke, WSJ reports, citing unidentified people
familiar with the matter.
* Merger said likely valued at “well into the billions of
dollars”
* Terms not disclosed to WSJ
* Talks could still fall apart
For Related News and Information:
First Word scrolling panel: FIRST<GO>
First Word newswire: NH BFW<GO>
To contact the reporters on this story:
Rita Devlin Marier in Toronto at +1-416-203-5718 or
rdevlin5@bloomberg.net;
Clementine Fletcher in New York at +1-212-617-4132 or
cfletcher5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Clyde Eltzroth at +1-212-617-1879 or
celtzroth1@bloomberg.net
Joanna Ossinger
2015-07-30 21:14:10.119 GMT
By Rita Devlin Marier and Clementine Fletcher
(Bloomberg) -- Coca-Cola Enterprises discussing a tie-up w/
other Coke bottlers Coca-Cola Iberian Partners and Coca-Cola
Erfrischungsgetranke, WSJ reports, citing unidentified people
familiar with the matter.
* Merger said likely valued at “well into the billions of
dollars”
* Terms not disclosed to WSJ
* Talks could still fall apart
For Related News and Information:
First Word scrolling panel: FIRST<GO>
First Word newswire: NH BFW<GO>
To contact the reporters on this story:
Rita Devlin Marier in Toronto at +1-416-203-5718 or
rdevlin5@bloomberg.net;
Clementine Fletcher in New York at +1-212-617-4132 or
cfletcher5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Clyde Eltzroth at +1-212-617-1879 or
celtzroth1@bloomberg.net
Joanna Ossinger
After Hours Summary: MXWL +16.5%, EXPE +8.3%, AMGN +1.9%, OCLS -17.0%, FLR -7.5%, FEYE -5.2% following earnings/guidance
After Hours Gainers:
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings: MXWL +15.3%, YRCW +16.2%, COLM +11%, SKYW +10.8%, HTCH +10.3%, NSU +9.3%, ZLTQ +9%, ATEN +8.7%, CRAY +8.5%, EXPE +8.3%, SAND +7.8%, ELLI +7%, FRGI +6.4%, NGVC +6.3%, FIX +6.2%, CVEO +6%, IMMR +5.8%, PXLW +5.5%, DGI +5%, BCOR +3.4%, TNDM +3.1%, TPX +2.3%, AMGN +1.9%, UHS +1.8%, WU +1.7%, CATM +1.2%, RGC +1%, GMED +0.5%
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: MXWL +15.3% (selected as exclusive capacitive energy storage supplier by subsidiary of China's largest rail company, CRRC Corp; co also reported earnings), CCE +9.6% (strength attributed to WSJ report that co is in advanced talks to combine with other bottling companies), BCOR +3.4% (signed a three-year search and advertising deal to distribute Bing results through the Infospace network; co also reported earnings), TNDM +3.1% (entered into a non-exclusive Development Agreements with Dexcom (DXCM), to integrate future generation Tandem insulin pumps with the Dexcom G5 and G6 products; co also reported earnings), ENH +2.7% (to replace TMST in the S&P MidCap 400), JUNO +2.3% (announced FDA clearance of its investigational new drug application regarding JCAR015 for the treatment of adult relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia), IDI +1.4% (Mitchell P. Kopin disclosed 8.2% passive stake in 13G filing), EVAR +1.3% (announced acquisition of Silicon Valley-based Altura Medical), SALT +1.1% (10.31% stakeholder Monarch Alternative Capital issues letter to Board; believes co should resume its asset sale program and use the proceeds to buy back stock)
After Hours Losers:
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings: OCLS -17.0%, OMCL -16%, CPSI -11.9%, SYNA -11.7%, SZYM -10.9%, OCN -10.7%, OUTR -9.2%, HBI -8.6%, QLGC -7.7%, TSYS -7.6%, VVUS -7.5%, FLR -7.5%, COHR -6.4%, FEYE -5.2%, SAM -5.1%, LNKD -4.2%, CHEF -3.8%, BCOV -3.7%, EA -2.9%, MTD -2.8%, COHU -2.1%, MERC -1.9%, CALD -1.6%, KLAC -1.6%, TNAV -1.3%, AMCC -1.1%,
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: MILL -29.2% (NYSE to commence delisting proceedings; co expects to have delisting decision reviewed by the Board of Directors of the NYSE), FLR -7.5% (announced agreement to divest 50% of its shares in Fluor S.A, to a leading multinational Spanish construction company for EUR 39 mln; filed for mixed securities shelf offering; co also reported earnings), RAS -4.6% (commenced an underwritten public offering of 8 mln common shares), Q -1.1% (launched a 7 mln share secondary offering of common stock, by stockholders that include Bain Capital Investors)
Closing Market Summary: S&P 500 Ekes Out Slim Gain While Nasdaq Ends Ahead
The stock market ended the Thursday session on a slightly higher note after rebounding off its opening low. The S&P 500 settled just above its flat line while the Nasdaq Composite (+0.3%) outperformed.
Equity indices faced some early weakness after the overnight session saw renewed selling in China that sent the Shanghai Composite lower by 2.2%. Furthermore, equity futures dropped to new lows ahead of the opening bell after the advance reading of Q2 GDP pointed to an expansion of 2.3%, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 2.5%. Meanwhile, the first quarter reading was revised up to 0.6% from -0.2%.
This morning's GDP report was met with a rally in the Treasury market as the 10-yr note spiked off its low and continued advancing into the afternoon, dropping its yield three basis points to 2.26%.
Six sectors registered gains with the rate-sensitive utilities sector (+0.7%) holding the lead throughout the day. The sector extended its weekly gain to 2.9%, benefiting from today's decline in yields. Elsewhere among countercyclical groups, telecom services (+0.3%) settled in the green while health care (-0.2%) and consumer staples (-0.3%) registered modest losses.
Notably, the staples sector was pressured by Procter & Gamble (PG 77.44, -3.18) as the Dow component retreated 3.9% despite reporting better than expected results. For its part, the health care sector registered a slim loss after 50 sector components reported earnings. AstraZeneca (AZN 33.74, +0.73) climbed 2.2% in reaction to a bottom-line beat while Cigna (CI 143.90, -1.51) lost 1.0% despite beating earnings expectations. As for biotechnology, the high-beta industry group struggled early, but iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 378.96, +1.53) ended higher by 0.4%.
Staying on the high-beta theme, chipmakers helped the technology sector (+0.1%) erase its early loss, which also lifted the Nasdaq Composite. NXP Semiconductor (97.87, +6.07) was a standout performer, surging 6.6% in reaction to a bottom-line beat on cautious guidance. Meanwhile, the broader PHLX Semiconductor Index climbed 0.4%.
Similar to technology, consumer discretionary (+0.3%), financials (+0.1%), and materials (+0.5%) posted gains while other growth-sensitive groups ended in the red. The energy sector (-0.6%) finished at the bottom of the leaderboard after several sector components reported earnings. Marathon Petroleum (MPC 53.94, -1.87) gave up 3.4% in reaction to disappointing results while ConocoPhillips (COP 52.07, -0.83) lost 1.6% despite delivering a bottom-line beat. On the upside, Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A 57.37, +1.97) jumped 3.6% after reporting better than expected results and announcing plans to cut costs.
Today's participation was a bit below totals registered earlier in the week as 770 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.
Economic data reported today included Q2 GDP and Initial Claims:Tomorrow, the Q2 Employment Cost Index will be released at 8:30 ET (consensus 0.6%) while the Chicago PMI for July (consensus 50.5) will be reported at 9:45 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the 10:00 ET release of the final reading of the Michigan Sentiment index for July (consensus 94.0).
- GDP increased 2.3% in the advance estimate of for the second quarter, up from an upwardly revised 0.6% (from -0.2%) increase in Q1 2015 while the consensus expected an increase of 2.5%
- Real final sales, which exclude inventories, rose 2.4% in the second quarter, up a 0.2% decline in the first quarter
- Almost the entire increase in GDP was the result of a 2.9% increase in real personal consumption spending, which contributed 2.0 percentage points to second quarter growth
- Goods spending increased 4.8% after increasing 1.1% in the first quarter. That was the strongest increase in goods spending since a 6.7% gain in Q2 2014
- Services spending increased 2.1% for a second consecutive quarter
- The weekly initial claims level increased to 267,000 from an unrevised 255,000 while the consensus expected an increase to 272,000
- The four-week moving average dropped to 275,000 from 278,000, signaling a labor market that is nearing full employment
- The continuing claims level increased to 2.262 mln for the week ending July 18 from an upwardly revised 2.216 mln (from 2.207 mln) for the week ending July 11 while the consensus expected a decrease to 2.200 mln
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BN 07/30 16:52 *OHL AIMS TO RAISE UP TO EU1B IN CAPITAL
BN 07/30 16:50 *OHL TO PROPOSE CAPITAL INCREASE
BN 07/30 16:50 *OHL TO PROPOSE CAPITAL INCREASE
OHL Aims to Raise Up to EU1B With Capital Increase
2015-07-30 17:02:53.994 GMT
By Charles Penty
(Bloomberg) -- OHL calls extraordinary shareholder meeting
for Sept. 7 or 8, co. says in regulatory filing.
* Co. proposes capital increase up to EU1b, 1.67b shrs
* Funds to be used to strengthen capital structure under 2020
strategic plan
* Funds to be used to reduce net debt with recourse (~EU650m);
invest in developing new concessions awarded to co. outside
Mexico (~EU350m)
* Villar Mir group to commits to subscribe enough shares so
that it holds more than 50% of co. after capital increase
* For link to statement: Link
Link to Company News:{OHL SM <Equity> CN <GO>}
For Related News and Information:
First Word scrolling panel: {FIRST<GO>}
First Word newswire: {NH BFW<GO>}
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Charles Penty at +34-91-700-9654 or
cpenty@bloomberg.net
2015-07-30 17:02:53.994 GMT
By Charles Penty
(Bloomberg) -- OHL calls extraordinary shareholder meeting
for Sept. 7 or 8, co. says in regulatory filing.
* Co. proposes capital increase up to EU1b, 1.67b shrs
* Funds to be used to strengthen capital structure under 2020
strategic plan
* Funds to be used to reduce net debt with recourse (~EU650m);
invest in developing new concessions awarded to co. outside
Mexico (~EU350m)
* Villar Mir group to commits to subscribe enough shares so
that it holds more than 50% of co. after capital increase
* For link to statement: Link
Link to Company News:{OHL SM <Equity> CN <GO>}
For Related News and Information:
First Word scrolling panel: {FIRST<GO>}
First Word newswire: {NH BFW<GO>}
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Charles Penty at +34-91-700-9654 or
cpenty@bloomberg.net