(Manager Magazin) Volkswagen works council boss demands leaner Group

Volkswagen works council boss Bernd Osterloh calls for a leaner corporate structure. The world's top automakers need "no huge board with bloated staffs," Osterloh said the manager magazin (release date May 22). "Do we need ever again consolidated production board, we need a long-term responsible for the Group Sales Director?" Osterloh gave examples. Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn announced internally to present to October a new structure of the company. Details he had not called.

The employee representatives at Volkswagen for half a year already discussed with the Executive Board on a better corporate structure, Osterloh said. Besides some functionally responsible management board members such as financial and personnel manager the committee should continue to belong to the most important brand managers and the chairman of the Truck-Holding, the council boss explained the position of workers. Brand groups are the future only useful if their chiefs then 'think the meaning of the Group and act "in, added the council boss in the interview. It would often costly deviations required by the modular, "to make the cars supposedly a little nicer."
Osterloh criticized the power of corporate headquarters


Osterloh criticized the power of the corporate headquarters. "Here in Wolfsburg some believe they know what cars want to drive the Brazilians, what cars the Americans and the Indians fell," said the council boss the manager magazin. ". The strange thing is that these cars then sometimes not meet the tastes of customers with more responsibility to the regions there might be the Budget Car already; not only for China but also for Brazil." The Budget Car is a cheap VW, with the CEO Winterkorn wants to open up new groups of buyers. The board has not yet decided on the project, despite several attempts.
The resignation of Ferdinand Piëch will sometimes overrated, Osterloh said the manager magazin on. "Here not every decision has been made in Salzburg," he added. Also "at the Volkswagen CEO requires a certain distance to the Supervisory Board". Just so he could act freely. Piëch had resigned before less than a month after a dispute with CEO Winterkorn. Osterloh said it was not been able to settle this dispute.

The council boss was asked first by the then chairman of the board and then also by Piëch CEO Winterkorn almost a year ago, if he wanted to go as a personnel manager in the Executive Board. The offer is valid on. Osterloh joined a change is not enough. "That would be an interesting challenge," he said. The question did not arise at present but. "We will decide in November on the succession," he added, and there are enough people in the group that were suitable for the task. The contract of the current personnel director Horst Neumann expires at the end of the year. He is 65 years old and does not intend to extension.

(Barcap) Greece : A crisis to avert a crisis (full note attached)

Despite some progress in the Greek programme negotiations, large disagreements in key areas persist, and Greece’s liquidity situation is deteriorating further. It is also unclear whether another Greek attempt for a ‘political’ solution at the EU leader summit (21-22 May) will be successful. We think that the policy commitments needed for a programme agreement may only be achieved after some form of government crisis that serves as the catalyst for political change (see Scenarios for Greece, 27 April 2015). Although we still believe that an agreement will ultimately be reached, the dynamics of the necessary process are highly uncertain. Without an agreement, Greece could descend into what would effectively be an ‘exit’ from the euro area, where defaults and capital controls become a permanent feature

(MS) Tom Tom Upgrade to OW - PT €12.20 - Mapping Core Value!!!! (pdf att.)

Nokia's potential disposal of HERE could leave TomTom as the only independent mapping provider globally, putting it in a strong position to monetise mapping IP. The valuation read from HERE is positive, and we raise our PT to €12.2. Move Overweight.

* Nokia's strategic review of HERE - and its potential disposal - suggest meaningful upside for the TomTom valuation. 
Recent press articles on the potential disposal of HERE have placed its value between €2bn (its current book value at Nokia) to $4bn (a mooted but unconfirmed joint bid by Uber, Baidu and private equity, according to Bloomberg, 18 May). In the worst case, the read for TomTom is only partial - its revenue base in Licensing and Automotive, and its R&D assets are small relative to HERE. However, the assets are similar in terms of coverage (TomTom 44 million km, HERE 43 million) and they are both making investments in future autonomous driving applications.
On this basis, and given broader M&A discussion in the industry, we think the market should at least start to take into account the potential strategic value of the business to Automotive / OTT partners. We do not believe it has done so adequately so far, and upgrade to OW.

* Where is the value in the map? 
Mapping assets are critical to the delivery of location-based services today, and highly automated driving applications in the future - as we discussed in our blue paper (November 6, 2013). The ability to monetise these assets to date has been limited - in part due to the deflationary impact of Google on the industry. However, in a world where Google is developing autonomous vehicles - and Automotive OEMs, Uber and the like are competitors rather than partners to Google - we think the value of independent mapping assets (HERE and TomTom) could be significantly higher. We reflect this in our new base case SOP, which rises to €12.2 per share.

* Where could we be wrong? 
Our earnings-based valuations for TomTom derive valuations around the current share price, so our PT does reflect some optionality around autonomous driving applications. Management has stated that its mapping assets are not for sale, so investors could have a long wait to crystallise value. HERE also has a higher share than TomTom in the Autos industry today, which could affect relative valuation.

(BFW) *SÜDZUCKER SEES EARNINGS SLIDE TO CONTINUE, CUTS DIV

warning

BFW 05/21 08:01 *SÜDZUCKER SEES EARNINGS SLIDE TO CONTINUE, CUTS DIV
BN 05/21 08:01 *SÜDZUCKER SEES EARNINGS SLIDE TO CONTINUE, CUTS DIV
Suedzucker AG: Südzucker expects earnings slide to continue and cuts dividend
2015-05-21 08:00:37.565 GMT

http://www.suedzucker.de/en/Presse/Aktuelle_Meldungen/Archiv_2015/2015/IR-21_05_2015/

PageExcerpt:
Südzucker AG Financial press Dr. Dominik Risser Maximilianstraße 10 68165 Mannheim Tel.: +49 621 421-205 Fax: +49 621 421-425 public.relations@suedzucker.de Investor Relations Nikolai Baltruschat Maximilianstraße 10 68165 Mannheim Tel.: +49 621 ...

(BFW) Altice’s Suddenlink Deal to Raise Cable Valuations, Analysts Say

Altice’s Suddenlink Deal to Raise Cable Valuations, Analysts Say
2015-05-21 07:31:56.884 GMT


By Kasper Viita
(Bloomberg) -- Altice’s acquisition of Suddenlink signals
that U.S. cable M&A is “far from over,” Raymond James says in
note.
* Deal price is likely to keep cable valuations higher, may
challenge Charter’s ability to acquire Time Warner Cable if
Altice is interested as well
* Suddenlink is already well-run, “skeptical” of Altice’s
ability to drive significantly higher Ebitda margins
* U.S. rural markets are price sensitive, may be more
challenging for cost-cutting than Altice believes
* U.S. rural markets are price sensitive, may be more
challenging for cost-cutting than Altice believes</li></ul>
* Goldman (conviction buy on Altice) says Suddenlink deal has
“strong industrial rationale”
* Altice’s ability to create value via its turnaround
capabilities is underestimated
* High US programming costs make restructuring harder than
in Europe, co.’s track record merits benefit of the
doubt
* PT raised to EU160 from EU135 on potential accretion
from deal, scope for further M&A
* PT raised to EU160 from EU135 on potential accretion
from deal, scope for further M&A</li></ul>
* NOTE: Altice agreed to buy U.S. cable operator Suddenlink
yday in $9.1b transaction, Cablevision jumped 17% on
speculation Altice deal will spur sale
* NOTE: Time Warner Cable said to get takeover approach from
Altice

For Related News and Information:
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To contact the reporter on this story:
Kasper Viita in London at +44-203-525-9219 or
kviita1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
James Ludden at +44-20-3525-2645 or
jludden@bloomberg.net
James Cone

(GS) Global Opp. Asset Locator : downgrade commodities & credit

>>> Cross-asset risk premia & yields; downgrade commodities & credit

Risky assets are likely to digest higher yields eventually
Recent increases in yields have led to drawdowns in some equity markets.
After the intense search for yield drove down required returns across
assets, they are getting upward pressure from higher yields. We expect
yields to increase further towards the end of the year. Risky assets should
be able to digest higher yields as risk premia fall. But, if rates increase
without a pick-up in growth, such a ‘rate shock’ can drive drawdowns
across assets. This has resulted in a negative bond yield/equity correlation,
similar to during the ‘taper tantrum’ period. We think a pick-up in growth
will lower risk premia and, in turn, stabilise valuations.

Equity drawdown risk remains; credit sentiment linked to oil
Until US growth picks up, equity drawdown risk still appears elevated in
the near term. Also, there are increased risks from Greece during the
summer. We think equity puts are attractive. To minimise negative carry,
we recommend EURO STOXX 50 puts at least partially financed by S&P
500 puts. For credit, we think the carry-friendly environment will stay, but
we see risks to credit sentiment from a lower oil price. In addition, rate
volatility might spill over to credit spreads – US HY puts appear attractive

OW equities, UW bonds; downgrade commodities and credit
We remain Overweight equities but continue to recommend selective
hedging strategies, owing to elevated drawdown risk. We also remain
Underweight government bonds, and our fixed-income team upgraded its
bond yield forecasts. We downgrade credit to Neutral on a 3-month basis,
as spreads should narrow and yields increase more gradually; we stay
Underweight on a 12-month horizon. Also, US HY credit sentiment might
suffer from a lower oil price near term. We downgrade commodities to
Underweight on a 12-month basis and stay Underweight on a 3-month.