RTRS - GREECE EXPECTED TO PRESENT DRAFT REFORM LEGISLATION TO INTERNATIONAL LENDERS ON WEDNESDAY
Anglo American rises amid talk of GBP 16-per-share break-up bid; Mick Davis tipped as bidder
Shares in Anglo American climbed yesterday, 28 April, amid increasing speculation of a takeover, The Daily Mail reported. Dealer chatter suggested a break-up bid for the UK-based miner could be imminent, priced at more than GBP 16 (USD 24.36) per share, the newspaper’s market report said.
Dealers believe the former Xstrata chief executive Mick Davis could be a potential buyer via his X2 Resources vehicle, which has in excess of GBP 3bn firepower for deals, the item reported. It added that Davis may alternatively be interested in Anglo’s De Beers subsidiary, the diamond miner considered to be the crown jewel of the group.
The UK-listed Swiss commodity-trading company Glencore was also suggested as a possible bidder for Anglo American, which has a GBP 15.7bn market capitalisation on the London Stock Exchange and was trading at GBP 11.29 by yesterday’s close.
The original article appeared in print, page 80.
Source Daily Mail
Cepsa seeks EUR 2bn-EUR 4bn acquisition target
Cepsa, the Spanish oil group, is seeking a EUR 2bn - EUR 4bn acquisition target, Expansion reported without citing sources. Owner the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund IPIC plans in total EUR 10bn investments until 2019 for growth.
Cepsa currently has a book value above EUR 9bn and wants to reach more than EUR 18bn, the Spanish-language report said. Target regions include Latin America, Africa and Asia.
All options would be considered, including supply contracts from Iran, the paper went on to say. Cepsa will focus its business in areas where it has a large market share, such as making oil components. The company is divesting in plastics manufacturing assets, Expansion added.
Expansion
The chief executive of Whitbread has said he will step down from the leisure group next February as the group announced an 18.5 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £488.1m at its final results, but said a demerger of coffee chain Costa was “not on the agenda”.
“I am 58 in two days’ time. I have been a chief executive of three public companies for 18 years. It is time to do something a little bit less demanding,” said Andy Harrison, who has headed Whitbread since September 2010 after joining from easyJet.
Stating that he would be retiring from “a full-time executive role” he said he would retain his chairmanship of Dunelm, the home furnishing company that he joined last July.
He made the announcement as Whitbread announced a 13.7 per cent rise in full-year revenues to £2.6bn, with strong growth at both Costa Coffee and hotel chain Premier Inn, and a 19.4 per cent rise in the full-year dividend to 82.15p. The company’s share price rose 1.97 per cent in early trading to £54.40.
Costa Coffee saw its sales rise by 17.9 per cent and its operating profit rise by 20.7 per cent. The company is Britain’s biggest coffee shop chain and sold 464m cups last year.
But Mr Harrison said that speculation that Whitbread would demerge Costa was misplaced. “That is definitely not on the agenda,” he said. “Whitbread has had a very clear, consistent strategy for the past five years. We have laid out new five-year milestones.
“Costa has grown its profits by 21 per cent. Whitbread wants to grow [Costa’s profits] by 80 per cent over the next five years. We have created a huge amount of value. The company has got a very strong brand, a strong management team. It is performing really well. Why would you change anything?”
He added that Costa was flourishing within Whitbread because of the company-wide approach to customer service. “The culture spans Premier Inn and Whitbread and is an important factor behind the growth in our like-for-like sales,” he said.
Over the next five years, Whitbread said it would increase the number of Premier Inn rooms from 59,138 to 85,000 and hoped to boost Costa’s sales from £1.4bn to £2.5bn. Mr Harrison said there would be no deviation in Whitbread’s strategy, despite his departure.
“We are focused on delivering these milestones. We are investing a lot. In the new financial year there will be £700m of organic investment. We are focused on delivering on the brands we have,” he said.
Mr Harrison, who was one of 100 business leaders who signed a letter to the Telegraph supporting the Conservative party ahead of the UK election, said Whitbread was apolitical, but that he supported the reduction in corporation tax carried out by the government, which had saved the group £60m.
Simon French, an analyst at Cenkos, said Mr Harrison’s departure had been rumoured for some time. “We are relaxed [about his departure] because of the strength of the senior management team. We expect the new chief executive to be Chris Rogers, currently the managing director of Costa and previously the group chief financial officer,” he said.
He added that Mr Harrison’s departure may delay any demerger of Costa until the new chief executive has reviewed the business.
Dow+0,4% S&P+0,28% Nasdaq-0,10% Russell+0,53%
US Market Closed Mixed but mostly higer except for Nasdaq. AAPL Pull back prevent Nasdaq to close higher. Cons. conf. didn't help the market neither. Twitter numbers released before the close pushed the stock 18.2% lower...COH -6.3% on numbers...Volume were in line with average @ 760mil shares...US After Hours GPRO +8.9%, GNW +6.1%, CLF +3.2%, ESRX +2.1%, IG -36.1%, SSYS -17.5%, WYNN -10.4% following earnings/guidance...XPO +11% on news they will buy Norbert Dentressangle (GND FP) for $3.53bil (will pay 36.7% premium vs yest close)...Asian equity indices are mixed with little direction going into an extremely active US and overseas session tomorrow. Stateside, the initial Q1 GDP print will be followed by the FOMC decision, with expectations now firmly biased toward rate liftoff in September. In Asia, RBNZ and BOJ decisions highlight the docket. Tokyo earnings season will also resume in earnest after today's holiday break, with Fujitsu, JAL, and Japan shippers all set to post results.Shanghai Composite traded down by over 1.6% in the morning session but came well off those lows. Among the key developments on the mainland attributed to the decline, CSRC issued a warning to retail investors about the risks of equity investment, calling for a "slow and healthy" bull market. CSRC also warned against excessive margin trading, just as Citic announced it will stop accepting hundreds of securities as collateral for margin. Note this also marks the 8th instance that CSRC has warned on market risks.
Nikkei +0.38% Hang Seng -0.11% Shanghai +0.10%
Eur$ 1.0972 RUB $51.5959 EURCHF 1.0496 CHF 0.9568 GBP 1.5349 WTI
S&P -0.11% EuroStoxx +0.22% Dax +0.185 SMI +0.43%
Macro :
Keep an eye on :
- ABBN VX : ABB 1Q Operational Ebita $949m vs $1.04b
- AC FP : Accor Sells 29 Hotels Under EU234m Sales, Franchise-Back Accord
- ADS GY : Adidas Extends Bayern Munich Deal Until 2030, Sport Bild Says
- AKER NO : Aker Solutions 1Q Net Attrib. NOK220m vs Est. NOK302.7m
- BBVA SM : BBVA 1Q Net EU1.54B Beating EU1.36B Estimate
- GBB FP : Bourbon 1Q Rev. Up 15%; Sees Stable, Slight Drop in 2015 Adj Rev
- CLN VX : Clariant 1Q Ebitda Ex-Items In Line; Confirms 2015 Outlook
- DELB BB : Delhaize 1Q Total Rev., U.S., Belgium Comp Sales Beat Ests.
- DRW3 GY : Draegerwerk Posts 1Q Loss; Ebit Margin Declines, Orders Rise
- DSM NA : DSM 1Q Sales EU1.89b, Est. EU1.8b; Sees 2015 Ebitda Ahead of ’14
- DTE GY : T-Mobile CEO: Open to Deals, Partnerships With Cable Companies
- ELE FP : Euler Hermes 1Q Net EU87.1m vs EU82.7m y/y
- ENI IM : Eni 1Q Adj. Net EU648m vs Est. EU446.2m; Production 1.697mboe/d
- FUR NA : Fugro 1Q Rev. EU593.4m; Says Ebit Margin Improves
- GN DC : GN Store Nord 1Q Rev., Pretax Profit Miss Ests.; Keeps Forecast
- SHBA SS : Handelsbanken 1Q Net Income, NII Beat Ests.
- RMS FP : Hermes 1Q Sales In Line; Japan, Leathergoods Beat Ests.
- IPN FP : Ipsen Boosts 2015 Specialty Care, Core Operating Margin Targets
- MEO GY : Metro Plans Kaufhof Sale; Karstadt, Hudson’s Bay Interested: WWD
- MHG NO : Marine Harvest Reports 1Q Operating Ebit NK932m
- GND FP : XPO Logistics Buying Norbert in $3.53 Billion European Deal, will pay 217.50/share vs 159.10 yest +36.7% premium.
- NDA SS : Nordea 1Q Net Income Beats Est.
- NHY NO : Norsk Hydro 1Q Underlying Net Income NOK2.2b; est NOK2.1b
- OSR GY : Osram Confirms Recent Outlook for Fiscal Year 2015
- RNO FP : Nissan Considers Exporting Russian-Made Cars, Nikkan Kogyo Says
- SGO FP : Saint-Gobain 1Q Rev. Beats Est.; Year Targets Affirmed
- STCBV FH : Stockmann 1Q Loss Wider Than Ests.; Keeps 2015 Outlook
- RYA LN : Ryanair Hit by $5m Account Hacking, Irish Times Says
- SAA1V FH : Sanoma 1Q Posts 1Q Loss as Sales Decline; Keeps 2015 Forecast
- SGL GY : SGL Carbon Narrows 1Q Loss, Confirms 2015 Outlook
- STR AV : Strabag 4Q Net Income EU113.7m vs EU116.7m, Reiterates Outlook
- FP FP : Total Sees Deal Targets Still Too Expensive After Crude Crash
>>> Up
*ELI LILLY RAISED TO BUY VS NEUTRAL AT CITI
*JCDECAUX RAISED TO BUY VS SELL AT GOLDMAN
*NYRSTAR RAISED TO BUY VS NEUTRAL AT GOLDMAN
*TULLETT PREBON RAISED TO HOLD VS SELL AT LIBERUM
*VODAFONE RAISED TO BUY VS HOLD AT BERENBERG
*VOLVO RAISED TO NEUTRAL VS SELL AT GOLDMAN
>>> Down
*AHOLD CUT TO MARKETPERFORM VS OUTPERFORM AT BERNSTEIN
*ANTOFAGASTA CUT TO UNDERWEIGHT AT MORGAN STANLEY
*CAP GEMINI CUT TO NEUTRAL AT UBS
*DEUTSCHE BANK CUT TO SELL VS HOLD AT BERENBERG
*RYDER CUT TO NEUTRAL VS BUY AT GOLDMAN
>>> PT Change
>>> Initiation
>>> Call
>> Stock
*SWISSCOM ADDED, ASTRAZENECA REMOVED FROM CITI FOCUS LIST EUROPE
*Jenoptik, Voestalpine Added to Baader-Helvea European Top Picks
>> Sector
*AMERICAS TRUCKING SECTOR CUT TO NEUTRAL AT GOLDMAN
Credit Suisse cites the ability to finance, proxies on corporate confidence being consistent with
well above-average levels of M&A, is cheaper to buy than build and PE for first time willing to pay higher multiples vs strategic buyers.
- For Europe, Credit Suisse combines topdown quant screens where it is cheaper to buy vs build, where M&A is self-financing, with Credit Suisse HOLT M&A screen with bottom-up, analyst-identified potential targets
- Says following are on more than one screen: Genel Energy, Lonmin, Actelion, Spectris, Atos and Technip
- Adds Wolseley, Arkema, Weir, Euronext, Kingfisher appear on analyst screen, are cheap on HOLT
- For U.S., Credit Suisse highlights Lam Research and DDR
Asian Mid-session Update: Shanghai falls again as CSRC warns on margin trading risks
***Economic Data***
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND MAR TRADE BALANCE (NZD): 631M V 300ME (3rd consecutive month of surplus)
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND APR ANZ ACTIVITY OUTLOOK: 41.3 V 42.2 PRIOR; BUSINESS CONFIDENCE: 30.2 V 35.8 PRIOR
- (KR) South Korea May Business Manufacturing Survey: 82 v 80 prior; Non-Manufacturing Survey: 78 v 74 prior
***Index Snapshot (as of 02:30 GMT)***
- Nikkei225 closed, S&P/ASX -1.3%, Kospi -0.7%, Shanghai Composite -0.4%, Hang Seng -0.4%, Jun S&P500 -0.1% at 2,110
***Commodities/Fixed Income***
- Jun gold -0.3% at $1,210/oz, Jun crude oil -0.3% at $56.90/brl, May copper -0.4% at $2.77/lb
- (AU) Australia MoF (AOFM) sells A$700M in 2025 bonds; avg yield: 2.6077%; bid-to-cover: 3.23x
- (US) API Petroleum Inventories: Crude: +4.2M v +3Me; Gasoline: +0.41M v +0.5Me; Distillate: +0.75M v +1Me
***Market Focal Points/FX***
Asian equity indices are mixed with little direction going into an extremely active US and overseas session tomorrow. Stateside, the initial Q1 GDP print will be followed by the FOMC decision, with expectations now firmly biased toward rate liftoff in September. In Asia, RBNZ and BOJ decisions highlight the docket. Tokyo earnings season will also resume in earnest after today's holiday break, with Fujitsu, JAL, and Japan shippers all set to post results.
Shanghai Composite traded down by over 1.6% in the morning session but came well off those lows. Among the key developments on the mainland attributed to the decline, CSRC issued a warning to retail investors about the risks of equity investment, calling for a "slow and healthy" bull market. CSRC also warned against excessive margin trading, just as Citic announced it will stop accepting hundreds of securities as collateral for margin. Note this also marks the 8th instance that CSRC has warned on market risks.
Economic data was contained to mixed reports out of New Zealand. Terms of trade marked the 3rd straight month of surplus that was also higher than expected, boosted by a near 30% rise in shipments to the US, even though China shipments fell 29% and overall exports of dairy were down 20%. ANZ business activity slumped however, and ANZ inflation expectations gauge was also unchanged well below 2%. NZD/USD hit session highs above 0.7730 after trade numbers but then sold down below 0.7690. In other FX majors, AUD/USD consolidated its latest gains after crashing the upside of $0.80 on overnight hawkish comments from Gov Stevens.
New cult name GoPro is sharply higher after beating estimates and guiding well above consensus. WDC was softer afterhours on poor earnings and guidance. TWTR is a big loser, both on earnings and the bungled delivery, as the leaked Q1 results sent shares down nearly 20%. In Asia corporates, Samsung Electronics reported its final Q1 results. Net profits fell 40% as handset segment struggled on oversaturation and ahead of this quarter's release of the latest Galaxy model.
***Equities***
US equities / ADRs:
- XPO: To Acquire Norbert Dentressangle SA for €3.24B; +11.0% afterhours
- GPRO: Reports Q1 $0.24 v $0.17e, R$363.1M v $341Me; Guides Q2 $0.24-0.26 v $0.15e, R$380-400M v $335Me; Did not see a significant FX impact in Q1 - conf call; +9.9% afterhours
- LOGM: Reports Q1 $0.33 v $0.27e, R$61.1M v $60.5Me; +4.1% afterhours
- BGFV: Reports Q1 $0.11 v $0.11e, R$243.6M v $243Me; +4.0% afterhours
- TPX: Reports Q1 $0.55 v $0.48e, R$739.5M v $720Me; +2.0% afterhours
- VRSK: Reports Q1 $0.67 v $0.61e, R$459.4M v $439Me; +1.9% afterhours
- ESRX: Reports Q1 $1.10 v $1.10e, R$24.9B v $24.3Be; +1.7% afterhours
- OI: Reports Q1 $0.44 v $0.42e, R$1.40B v $1.44Be; -0.2% afterhours
- KRFT: Reports Q1 $0.72 (incl items) v $0.81e, R$4.35B v $4.44Be; -1.0% afterhours
- POST: Reports Avian Influenza at Third Party Supplier that accounts for 10% of egg supply; Reports preliminary Q2 Adj EBITDA at $148-150M; -1.5% afterhours
- TWTR: CEO: expect factors that impacted Q1 results will also impact our FY15 guidance - conf call; -1.6% afterhours
- WDC: Reports Q3 $1.87 v $1.92e, R$3.55B v $3.64Be; Guides Q4 $1.50-1.60 v $1.95e; Rev $3.3-3.4B v $3.7Me; GM 27-32% - conf call comments; -1.9% afterhours
- AFL: Reports Q1 $1.54 v $1.55e, R$5.23B v $5.39Be; -2.2% afterhours
- PNRA: Reports Q1 $1.20 v $1.44e, R$649M v $658Me; -3.7% afterhours
- AKAM: Reports Q1 $0.61 v $0.62e, R$527M v $527Me; Guides Q2 R$532-547M v $547Me - conf call; -5.7% afterhours
- X: Reports Q1 -$0.07 v $0.27e, R$3.27B v $3.50Be; -6.9% afterhours
- OTEX: Reports Q3 $0.66 v $0.87e, R$447.6M v $476Me; Increases dividend 16% to $0.20/share; -7.0% afterhours
- BWLD: Reports Q1 $1.52 v $1.66e, R$440.6M v $454Me; -9.7% afterhours
- WYNN: Reports Q1 $0.70 v $1.34e, R$1.09B v $1.21Be; cuts dividend to $0.50 from $1.25/shr; -10.2% afterhours
- SSYS: Reports prelim Q1 $0.02-0.04 v $0.32e, R$171-173M v $202Me; Lowers FY15 $1.20-1.70 v $2.10e; Rev $800-860M v $948Me; -16.6% afterhours
Notable movers by sector:
- Financials: Haitong Securities 6837.HK +1.0% (Q1 results); China Merchants Bank 600036.CN +1.6% (Q1 results); Financial Street Holdings 000402.CN -3.2% (Q1 results)
- Materials: Resolute Mining RSG.AU +10.5% (production results); Sims Metal Management SGM.AU -7.0% (H2 forecast); Shin-Etsu Chemical 4063.JP +1.5% (FY14/15 results); Maanshan Iron & Steel 323.HK -2.8% (Q1 results)
- Energy: Senex Energy SXY.AU -8.7% (Q3 results)
- Industrials: East Japan Railway 9020.JP +1.2% (FY14/15 results)
- Technology: Panasonic Corporation 6752.JP +1.0% (FY14/15 results); Samsung Electronics 005930.KR +0.2% (Q1 final results)
After Hours Summary: GPRO +8.9%, GNW +6.1%, CLF +3.2%, ESRX +2.1%, IG -36.1%, SSYS -17.5%, WYNN -10.4% following earnings/guidance
After Hours Gainers:
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings: GPRO +8.9%, AMCC +6.6%, GNW +6.1%, HAWK +5.3%, BGFV +4%, HELE +4%, SMSI +3.9%, CLF +3.2%, KTCC +2.7%, LOGM +2.4%, ESRX +2.1%, IACI +1.9%, VRSK +1.9%, CCUR +1.9%, MTSI +1.1%, ACHC +0.9%, RSYS +0.5%, NCR +0.2%, RRC +0.1%
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: XPO +11.0% (confirmed it will acquire Norbert Dentressangle SA for ~$3.53 bln; acquisition expected to more than triple XPO's EBITDA), WNC +0.9% (signed a new exclusive five-year agreement with Aurora Parts & Accessories), ACT +0.7% (announced initial results of ACCESS IUS in the medical journal Contraception; study found that LILETTA 52 mg, is 99.45% effective for the prevention of pregnancy for up to three years),
After Hours Losers:
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings: IG -36.1%, SSYS -17.5%, INAP -16.1%, WYNN -10.4%, BWLD -10%, OTEX -9.7%, NVDQ -7.8%, GPRE -7.2%, AKAM -6.7%, X -6.7%, HASI -4.6%, ALQA -3.9%, SLCA -3.6%, PNRA -3.5%, ULTI -3.3%, AFL -2.2%, AUY -2%, TWTR -1.9%, FARO -1.9%, CRUS -1.8%, POST -1.5%, CALX -1.2%, KRFT -1%, PSEM -0.8%, TE -0.7%, AZPN -0.6%, OHI -0.5%, SBCF -0.4%, TSS -0.3%, OI -0.2%
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: ASND -12.0% (announced results from Phase 1 study of TransCon Treprostinil, stating that injection-site tolerability issues did not meet the criteria defined in the target product profile), HASI -4.6% (announced commencement of a 4 mln share, public offering of common stock; co also provided Q1 earnings guidance in-line with estimates), SVU -4.4% (Stephen Feinberg (Cerberus Capital) discloses 8.0% active stake in 13D filing; filing did not mention any plans to hold discussions with management), ALQA -3.9% (announced proposed public offering of common stock, amount not disclosed; co also provided downside Q1 rev guidance), BGS -1.7% (announced intention to offer 4.2 mln shares of its common stock), POST -1.5% (reported information regarding an avian influenza incident at one of its Michael Foods Group segment third party contracted egg suppliers), SPB -0.8% (confirmed it will acquire Armored AutoGroup for $1.4 bln)