(BFW) GE Said to Face EU List of Concerns Over Alstom Bid Next Month

GE Said to Face EU List of Concerns Over Alstom Bid Next Month
2015-04-30 09:34:18.17 GMT


By Gaspard Sebag
(Bloomberg) -- General Electric faces a statement of
objections as soon as next month cataloging the European
Commission’s concerns over its bid to buy most of France’s
Alstom’s energy business, three people familiar with the matter
say.
* Statements of objections are “standard practice” in such
complex cases where no concessions have been made, says
Christian Filippitsch, a lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP
in Brussels, not involved in review
* “Unconditional clearance is still possible also after the
statement of objections, provided that GE sufficiently shows
that there remains credible competition,” Filippitsch says
* “Alternatively, the remainder of the review period will
focus on whether GE will be able to propose suitable
remedies to eliminate the commission’s allegations,” he
says
* The timing of the statement of objections would give GE and
Alstom, based in the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret, at
least two months to reach a compromise with the EU ahead of
its Aug. 6 deadline to rule on the deal
* NOTE: Firms that get an SO can request an oral hearing to
argue their case
* “We have a constructive dialog with the commission and we
continue to work toward a positive outcome,” Seth Martin, a
GE spokesman, says by e-mail; European Commission declines
to comment
* The EU has previously said the purchase may leave only
Siemens as GE’s main rival in Europe, probably stifling
innovation in the region and leading to price rises.
* While the companies will seek to address EU concerns
relating to the sale and servicing of heavy-duty gas
turbines, GE has said it disagrees with the regulators’
initial assessment
* SEE: Feb. 23: GE’s Alstom Deal Gets Full EU Probe on
Competition Concerns

Story Link:NSN NNM4796KLVRF<GO>

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--With assistance from Richard Clough in New York.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Gaspard Sebag in Brussels at +32-2-285-4317 or
gsebag@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Anthony Aarons at +44-20-3525-2227 or
aaarons@bloomberg.net
Peter Chapman

>>> Moody's: Impact of Greek exit from euro area should not be underestimated -

Moody's: Impact of Greek exit from euro area should not be underestimated 
- Moody's expects Greece (Caa2, Negative Outlook) to reach an agreement with its creditors and avoid default. However, lack of progress so far means the probability of a default, and of exit, is rising.
- Default would not necessarily lead to Greece's exit from the euro area; more immediate threat could be a shock to confidence that damaged the functioning of euro area government bond markets. The risk of that happening is lower than in 2012, in part because the euro area financial system and economy are in a stronger position than three years ago; Policymakers' response to exit would determine the extent of any contagion. 
- Should such a confidence shock occur, it would be particularly negative for periphery countries with high and rising debt burdens and ongoing fiscal consolidation challenges.

(Telegraph) Sell in May and go away? It only works 34pc of the time

Sell in May and go away? It only works 34pc of the time
Chart: Data going back to 1986 shows investors who follow the "sell in May" tactic make less money

Sell in May? 29 years of data shows investors are better off staying invested rather than trying to time the market

Does it really pay to follow the popular investing maxim that tells investors to: "sell in May and go away; don't come back till St Leger Day"?
The idea is that as stock market traders treat themselves to a leisurely summer "season", attending sporting events such as Henley, Wimbledon and Ascot, share prices dip because there are fewer people buying.
Once the St Leger Day horse race has taken place (this year falling on September 9) investors should return to the stock market, according to the old adage.
This causes "thin" trading volumes, which in the past has been blamed on exaggerating sharp sell-offs in the summer months.
But the old adage has its sceptics and seems far-fetched in today's globalised markets, where much trading is undertaken by overseas investors or automated programmes.

Data also casts doubt on whether the investment strategy lives up to its billing.
Analysis by Tilney Bestinvest, the broker, looked back at how the FTSE All Share has performed between the period of May 1 and the second week of September each year since 1986, the year when the ‘big bang’ reforms that deregulated financial markets took place.
It found the FTSE All Share delivered positive returns in 19 out of the past 29 years. In other words investors would have made money 66pc of the time by staying invested over the summer months.
Those that sold and reinvested in the second week of September would have missed out these gain, with the tactic only working 34pc of the time.
For a larger version of the chart click here
Overall, Bestinvest said investors who follow the strategy will have made less money, returning 9.8pc on average each year, while those who stayed the course would have made 10.9pc a year.
But there have been some summer months when the stock market fell heavily, conforming to the old City adage.
Steep sell-offs took place in 1992, 1998, 2001, 2002 , 2008 and 2011.
Jason Hollands, of Bestinvest, said: “These days if a City professional is off on summer holiday, they’re almost sure to be forever checking news from the markets on a mobile phone or tablet, as information is now incredibly accessible and the boundaries between working hours and personal time have eroded.
“Over this 29-year period, there is not a convincing case that it makes sense to generally exit the market between May and mid-September.”

Will 2015 be different in a general election year?
Stock markets hate uncertainty and in an election year when the outcome is too close to call a ‘choppy’ period is widely predicted.
But pre-election the UK stock market has been calm. The FTSE All Share is up 9pc since the start of the year, while the FTSE 100 yesterday is trading around the 7,000 mark.
Professional investors are divided over how to play the election.
Some including Richard Buxton, who runs the Old Mutual UK Alphafund, will “buy on weakness” in the event of stock markets taking a dive.
While others, such as Robin Geffen, manager of the Neptune Global Equity and Neptune Global Alpha funds, has sold all his UK-listed shares.
Mr Hollands pointed out it is “time in the market, rather than timing the market” which ultimately counts thanks to compounding effect of reinvesting dividends.
“Long-term investors should not lose sight of the fact that bouts of market weakness – whatever the time of year – are buying opportunities, not a time to sell,” Mr Hollands said.

(BFW) *TULLOW OIL CEO SAYS LOOKING FOR ACQUISITIONS IN AFRICA

BN 04/30 07:48 *TULLOW CEO BULLISH ON OIL PRICE, SEES $90/BARREL WITHIN 2 YRS
BN 04/30 07:48 *TULLOW CEO: IT'S BUYER'S MARKET FOR AFRICA EXPLORATION ASSETS
BN 04/30 07:48 *TULLOW OIL CEO SAYS LOOKING FOR ACQUISITIONS IN AFRICA
*TULLOW OIL CEO SAYS LOOKING FOR ACQUISITIONS IN AFRICA
2015-04-30 07:49:06.40 GMT

--CORMAC MULLEN

-0- Apr/30/2015 07:49 GMT

>>> Dairy/Milk : +ve WSJ Article, Fronterra CFA bullish on prices...


WSJ : Fonterra Is Bullish on Dairy Prices

CFO believes long-term outlook is strong despite recent declines

WELLINGTON, New Zealand—Fonterra Co-Operative Group Ltd. is upbeat on the longer-term outlook for world dairy prices despite their continuing volatility, believing the worst of the declines may be over.

“We are very bullish,” the dairy giant’s chief financial officer, Lukas Paravicini, said in an interview Thursday. “Clearly, the fundamentals are very positive in terms of long-term protein needs and supply, and not just for China but also India, Africa, South East Asia.”

While he expects an improvement, Mr. Paravicini acknowledged farmers would face continuing difficulty in the short-term.

Global dairy prices have dropped by about 50% over the past year, as world supply has risen and China’s stockpiles have increased. Russia’s ban on U.S. and European food imports, including dairy, has also weighed on prices.

Mr. Paravicini said he believed milk prices had touched bottom and that he expected some improvement soon. Among other factors, he said there were signs demand in China was picking up again.

“I think we have seen a turnaround, but the question is when it will trend upwards,” he added. Any increase in dairy prices helps New Zealand, 30% of whose exports are milk related. The country’s agriculture-rich economy has been supported in recent years by surging demand from Asia’s rising middle classes for its dairy exports.

Mr. Paravicini’s optimistic remarks come after Fonterra lowered its forecast payout to its 10,600 farmer shareholders to 4.50 New Zealand dollars (US$3.42) per kilo of milk solids for the 2014-15 season from a prior forecast of NZ$4.70, citing significant volatility in international commodity prices because of oversupply.

The sharply lower payout means that farmers will earn some NZ$6.7 billion less than they did in the prior season.

FT : Major Alcatel-Lucent shareholder calls deal ‘unacceptable’


Alcatel-Lucent’s second-largest shareholder has criticised the €15.6bn sale of the French telecoms equipment group to Nokia as “unacceptable”.
Odey Asset Management, the investment group, said the offer from the Finnish group undervalued the company. Odey’s funds own more than 5 per cent of Alcatel-Lucent’s stock.
“The deal has been dressed up as a takeover of Alcatel by Nokia,” the fund manager said in a quarterly update to its investors. “In reality the premium they are offering has the hallmarks of a merger. We therefore find the terms of the deal unacceptable.”

In a filing last week to the French financial regulator, Odey said that it would not tender its shares under the existing terms of the offer from Nokia.
But the investment group is unlikely to be able to affect the outcome of the deal because Alcatel shareholders will not vote on the deal, and just 50 per cent of Alcatel’s shares need to be tendered.
Nokia shareholders will vote to approve the transaction.
The position is striking given that the French government has actively supported the deal. One person close to the companies said that other shareholders had been supportive of the acquisition, which will create a stronger European telecoms equipment group to compete with Ericsson of Sweden and China’s Huawei.
Odey also admitted that there was “strategic logic”, saying that a “combined entity would create a stronger company with material synergy opportunities”.
Alcatel, Nokia and Odey declined to comment.
The all-share offer from Nokia values Alcatel-Lucent at €15.6bn, reflecting a premium of 28 per cent on the average share price for the three previous months. Each company’s board of directors has approved the terms of the proposed transaction, which is expected to close in the first half of 2016.
The management teams of Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent have been on global road shows over the past two weeks to explain the deal to shareholders. Some analysts have been concerned about potential problems integrating the two businesses. Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia were both created following costly, drawn-out integration processes.

The integration of the two companies is expected to cost about €900m, which executives have argued is reasonable. The merger is expected to result in annual cost and revenues savings of about €900m.
Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent have also sought to add more detail to the rationale behind the acquisition to investors. The companies have stressed the need to combine research on 5G technology to keep ahead of rivals.
Analysts have questioned why Nokia did not just acquire the wireless business from Alcatel-Lucent, but company executives have argued that there would have been difficulties in separating the operations given shared contracts with customers. Nokia was also won over by the progress made in other parts of Alcatel’s operations, according to one person close to the discussions.
Nokia has not yet decided where it will implement the job cuts but has appointed executives to oversee the process. Nokia has promised to protect jobs in France in particular to win over support from the government in Paris, however cutting staff in Finland would also be unpopular in its home market.
Odey’s criticisms come amid a wider debate in France on the issue of shareholder power. One area of concern is the so-called Florange law, which will automatically grant double voting rights from 2016 to shares registered for more than two years unless two-thirds of shareholders vote to overturn it.

>>> What to look at today - 30th of April 2015

Dow-0,41% S&P-0,37% Nasdaq-0,63% Russell-0,98% VIX @ 13.39 +7.9%
US Market Closed Lower After Q1 GDP missed exp., FOMC reiterated that the current policy stance will remain appropriate until there is reasonable confidence among members that inflation will move back to the 2.0% objective. Seven sectors registered losses while energy (+0.7%) outperformed throughout the session thanks to a 2.6% gain in crude oil, which settled at $58.52/bbl. The energy component was boosted by a storage report that showed a smaller than expected inventory build while dollar weakness also factored into the move higher...Volume were ahead of average @ 870mil shares...US After Hours GLUU +23.7% Tencent bought 21mil shres @ $6 vs $5.40), INUV +14%, FOE +8%, YELP -14.7%, DXCM -6.2%, FORM -5% following earnings/guidance...AAPL -0.7% after hours on report of default component on the iWatch...Japan today released Mar preliminary industrial production data. Results are better than economists have expected...Mkt was waiting from BOJ, no more easing for now...

Nikkei -2.30% Hang Seng -0.51% Shnaghai +0.21%

Eur$ 1.1089 RUB $ 50.91 EURCHF 1.0431 CHF 0.9407 GBP 1.54 WTI $58.56 (-0.03%)

S&P Unch EuroStoxx +0.12% Dax +0.29% SMI -0.32%


Macro :
- Greece Government Bond Rating Cut to Caa2 From Caa1 by Moody’s
- BOJ Refrains From Boosting Stimulus Even as Inflation Fades (2)

Keep an eye on :
- AIR FP : Airbus 1Q Rev. Misses Est; 2015 Forecast Confirmed
- AF FP : Air France-KLM 1Q Oper. Loss EU417m v Est. EU411m
- BAS GY : BASF 1Q Ebit Ex-Items, Rev. Beat Ests.; Confirms 2015 Outlook
- BAYN GY : Bayer 1Q Ebitda Ex-Items EU3b, Est EU2.98b; Raises Outlook on FX
- BNP FP : BNP Paribas 1Q Net Income Beats on Investment Banking Division
- BUCN SW : Bucher 1Q Sales CHF648.6m vs CHF712.5m; ‘Significant’ FX Effect
- DSV DC : DSV 1Q Pretax Profit Beats Ests.; Will Buy Back Own Shares
- FIS1V FH : Fiskars 1Q Sales Grow, Operative EPS Increases; Forecast Is Kept
- FRE GY : Fresenius Raises 2015 Net Income Outlook, Confirms Sales Goal
- FPE3 GY : Fuchs Petrolub 1Q Ebit EU81.7m; Raises 2015 Outlook on FX
- GTO NA : Gemalto 1Q Rev. EU686m vs Est. EU676m
- HOLN VX : Eurocement Says It Backs Holcim-Lafarge Merger
- HOLN VX : Holcim 1Q Sales, Net Attributable Below Ests., Confirms Outlook
- HOT GY : Hochtief 1Q Operational Net Profit Rises, Confirms Forecast
- HSBA LN : HSBC HQ Move Unlikely to Have Major Direct Credit Impact: Fitch
- KPN NA : KPN 1Q Sales, Ebitda Miss Ests.; Says EU170m Savings Realized
- LG FP : Lafarge 1Q Sales In Line, Ebitda Beats Ests., Confirms Forecasts
- LIN GY : Linde 1Q Oper. Profit Matches Estimate; Repeats 2015 Outlook
- MS IM : Adreani May Be Replaced as Mediaset CEO Today: Sole
- NOK1V FH : Nokia Networks 1Q Margins Drop; Sales Beat Ests., Profit Matches, Sees 2015 Networks’ Margin Near Midpoint of 8%-11% Range
- NOVOB DC : Novo Nordisk 1Q Net Beats Ests.; Raises 2015 Ebit Growth Outlook
- UG FP : Peugeot Needs 2% Margin at Auto Unit for Recovery: Les Echos
- RAND NA : Randstad 1Q Sales in Line; April Vol. Trend Better Than March
- RXL FP : Rexel Divests Ops in LatAm; 1Q Sales in Line, Confirms Targets
- SAN FP : Sanofi 1Q Rev., EPS Beat Est.; Forecasts Bigger FX Boost This Yr
- STL NO : Statoil 1Q Adj Profit NOK22.9b, Est. NOK16.8b; Div. NOK1.8/Share
- STM FP : STMicro Sees 2Q Gross Margin Rising to 33.8%; 1Q Net Loss Misses
- STMN SW : Straumann 1Q Sales Beat Ests.; Keeps 2015 Forecast
- SREN VX : Swiss Re 1Q Net Income Beats, Says on Track to Reach Targets
- TTK GY : Takkt 1Q Pretax Rises 26%; Confirms 2015 Forecast
- TLW LN : Tullow Says 1Q Production in Line; Keeps 2015 Guidance
- UCB BB : UCB 1Q Rev. Rises 19% to EU895m; Confirms 2015 Financial Outlook
- USG NA : USG 1Q Rev., Profit Rises; Additional Cost Cuts to Save EU20m/Yr

>>> European Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 30th of April 2015

>>> Up
*ASPEN PHARMACARE RAISED TO OVERWEIGHT AT JPMORGAN
*AURUBIS RAISED TO HOLD VS SELL AT BANKHAUS LAMPE
*BELLWAY RAISED TO BUY VS NEUTRAL AT CITI
*BKW AG RAISED TO BUY VS NEUTRAL AT UBS
*COMMERZBANK AG RAISED TO NEUTRAL VS SELL AT GOLDMAN {NSN NNLUI86S972A<Go>}
*MICHELIN RAISED TO OUTPERFORM FROM NEUTRAL AT EXANE; PT EU123
*NORDEX SE RAISED TO BUY VS NEUTRAL AT GOLDMAN
*SYMRISE RAISED TO BUY VS HOLD AT BANKHAUS LAMPE
*TELIASONERA RAISED TO HOLD VS SELL AT SOCGEN

>>> Down
*OSRAM LICHT AG CUT TO NEUTRAL VS BUY AT CITI
*SSE CUT TO UNDERPERFORM AT RBC CAPITAL
*SUEDZUCKER CUT TO HOLD VS BUY AT BANKHAUS LAMPE
*VALLOUREC CUT TO SELL VS HOLD AT SOCGEN

>>> PT Change


>>> Initiation
*AHOLD RATED NEW NEUTRAL AT UBS, PT EU19.3
*BOOKER GROUP RATED NEW SELL AT UBS, PT 140P
*CARREFOUR RATED NEW BUY AT UBS
*CASINO RATED NEW NEUTRAL AT UBS, PT EU86
*DELHAIZE RATED NEW NEUTRAL AT UBS, PT EU85
*METRO AG RATED NEW SELL AT UBS, PT EU30
*MORRISON RATED NEW SELL AT UBS
*OCADO RATED NEW BUY AT UBS
*RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION RATED NEW BUY AT CANTOR, PT 120P
*SAINSBURY RATED NEW BUY AT UBS
*TESCO RATED NEW BUY AT UBS
*VISCOFAN RATED NEW HOLD AT BERENBERG, PT EU60.65

>>> Call