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EUROPEAN EQUITY OPENING HEADLINES INCLUDING: France Telecom is to review its assets outside of Europe and is also likely to withdraw from Portugal
ASIA
The Nikkei closed up 1.10% at a three-month high, shrugging off a disappointing earnings season for Japanese firms as robust jobs data boosted confidence in an economic recovery in the US. (RTRS)
Top performing sectors in Nikkei 225: Industrials (+1.90%), Consumer Goods (+1.69%), Consumer Services (+1.59%)
Worst performing sectors in Nikkei 225: Technology (-1.19%), Oil & Gas (-0.60%), Telecommunications (-0.33%)
US
US equities rallied on Friday following the strong US economic data, and remained close to their session highs into the close despite dwindling volumes ahead of the weekend. The financials were strong all week, finishing Friday up 2.64%. Investors will be expecting a quiet start to this week as there is little in the form of economic data on Monday. Finally the DJIA finished up 1.22% at12860.57, the S&P 500 finished up 1.45% at and the Nasdaq 100 finished up 1.34% at 2529.17
Top performing sectors in S&P 500: Financials (+2.64%), Oil & Gas (+1.88%), Industrials (+1.73%)
Worst performing sectors in S&P 500: Utilities (+0.20%), Health Care (+0.52%), Telecommunications (+0.71%)
Bank of America – Co. has abandoned plans to auction its MBNA Europe unit after potential buyers have been deterred by new capital rules. (Sky News)
Goldman Sachs – Co.’s COO Gary Cohn said that the bank was aiming to gain a bigger market share in Europe across all business areas (Finanz und Wirtschaft)
AIG – Fitch affirmed the Co.’s ‘BBB’ IDR rating and upgraded the outlook to positive from stable. (Sources)
Du Pont – Co. are said to be contacting potential buyers for their Performance coatings unit which is valued at around USD 3bln. (Sources)
Exxon – Co has found gas deposits in the Romanian part of the Black Sea continental shelf. Although it is too early to determine commercial viability, a Co. executive said previously that between USD 3-10bln could be invested. (Sources)
Boeing - Co. is inspecting its newest plane, the 787 Dreamliner for possible repairs to the carbon fiber composite structure of the plane. (CNBC)
General Motors – Co. may earn about USD 8bln in net income when it reports earnings on 16th February. Co. is aiming to earn more than USD 10bln a year. (WSJ)
UK
Glencore/Xstrata – Glencore may have to offer three of its own shares for every Xstrata share in order for the proposed deal to proceed, bringing the total offering to USD 40bln. Details of the merger could be announced on Tuesday. (Oriental Daily/Sunday Times)
BP – Co. is expected to increase its dividend 14% to USD 0.08 per shares when it announces Q4 earnings this week. Meanwhile, Moody’s affirmed the co.’s rating at A2/P-1; Outlook stable (Independent/Sources)
Vodafone – Co. have abandoned plans to merge their Greek unit with Largo. (Sources)
Rio Tinto – Co. is expected to ramp up its dividend this week by as much as 40% thanks to record profits as a result of the global commodities boom. (Sunday Times)
Barclays - Co. is expected to announce that it has exceeded its Government-set lending targets and made profits of as much as GBP 6bln in 2011 despite tough trading conditions, although sources indicate that Q4 performance is likely to be subdued in particular from the bank’s BarCap unit. (Sunday Telegraph)
Investec – Co. said that troubled markets had pulled its operating profit down by more than 5% in the nine months to December. (FT-More)
Tesco – Co. is undercutting its own website’s prices to compete with Amazon, and trading via the Amazon site under the trading name of Oakwood Distribution Ltd. (Mail)
Reckitt Benckiser – Co. is set to ditch quarterly reporting of profits amid fears that the long-term growth of the company is under threat, the Co. CEO is also expected to announce a shift from European and American markets to emerging markets. (Sunday Telegraph)
Rolls-Royce – The Co. is set this week to break through the GBP 1bln profit level for the first time. It is expected to lift the dividend by 8% to about GBP 0.17p. (Sunday Times)
Randgold Resources – Co. 2011 profit USD 433.4mln, up 259%. Co. sees basic EPS of USD 4.13. Co. Q4 profit USD 136.2mln and proposes USD 0.40 annual dividend. (Sources)
Intercontinental Hotels – Co. chairman set to resign after 8 years in the job. (Sunday Telegraph)
BG Group – GDF Suez is keen to buy co.’s 65% stake in Gujarat Gas. (Economic Times)
Companies paying dividend: BT Group (GBP 0.2888)
OTHER UK
Misys – Co’s merger talks with Swiss rival Temenos could attract further bidders into the fray with Fidelity National Information Services a leading candidate to make an offer. (Finanazs und Wirtschaft)
Premier Oil – Co. says East Fyne Appraisal Well to be abandoned. Decision on whether commercial development is viable in the Greater Fyne area expected by the end of Q2 2012. (Sources)
FRANCE
EADS – Co.’s Airbus unit will deliver more aircraft than last year and sees “a considerable increase in profit” according to the CFO. (Sources)
France Telecom – Co. is to review its assets outside of Europe and is also likely to withdraw from Portugal. (L’Agefi)
Axa – Co. will seek to raise a fund of several billion EUR which Co. will lend to medium-sized businesses, citing the Head of Structured Finance. (Le Figaro)
GERMANY
German banks – German banks oppose a potential loosening of the type of collateral lenders must provide to borrow from the ECB. (Handelsblatt)
Siemens – Chief of co.’s energy unit expects stable orders for the year with a moderate rise in sales and an operating profit margin of 10-15%. (Sources)
RWE – Co.’s incoming CEO plans to create EUR 1bln in additional savings on top of the EUR 1.5bln already envisaged for 2013-14. A spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the savings would be staffing level related. (RTRS)
SAP – According to press reports, co. plans to increase software licenses sales by 25% or EUR 1bln, to EUR 5bln this year. (WirtschaftsWoche)
Volkswagen/Daimler/Renault – Co.s are mulling cooperation on the production of cargo vans according to reports. (Automobilewoche)
Deutsche Boerse – Johannes Witt, a board member representing the interest of labour said that co. CEO should step down. (Euro am Sonntag)
PAN EUROPEAN
EU banks – The EBA is to challenge a significant proportion of the capital restructuring plans put forward by the continent’s leading banks to meet tough new capital requirements, say three people familiar with the process. According to one person close to the process, as much as half of the measures outlined in those plans do not look credible. (FT_More)
Spanish Banks – Domestic regulators may force further provision requirements upon Spanish banks which will be on top of the already announced EUR 50bln at the beginning of the month. (La Vanguardia)
Italian Banks – Moody’s have commented that Bank of Italy’s buyback measure is credit positive for Italian banks. (Sources)
Santander – Co. is targeting EUR 13bln in profits in 2014, with profit from Spain for that year amounting to EUR 3.15bln. (Cinco Dias)
Fiat SpA – Co. foreign long term creditwatch negative at S&P. (Sources)
Banco Popolare – Co. says buyback to target full nominal value of bonds for up to EUR 4bln. (RTRS)
Banco Monte dei Paschi – Fondazione MPS seeks to sell a 15% stake (estimated EUR 600mln) in the Co. to private Italian shareholders. (La Stampa)
Eni SpA - Co. Sunday confirmed it had shut down some production in Nigeria's Niger Delta after militants claimed they had sabotaged one of its facilities. (capital.gr)
Intesa Sanpaolo - The new CEO of the co. plans to shake up top management, as Italy’s biggest bank by market value seeks to reinvent itself as “less Italian” and more of a global player. (FT-More)
Airlines – French trade unions have called a strike from Feb. 6-9 in protest against a draft bill aimed at ensuring a minimum service for air travellers. (RTRS)
SMI
Julius Baer – Co. FY operating income CHF 1.75bln vs. Exp. CHF 1.78bln. Co. FY pretax CHF 473.6mln vs. Exp. CHF 492.2mln. Co. says inflows offset by market performance and currency fluctuations, adding that Co. new share buyback program will be up to CHF 500mln and proposes FY dividend of CHF 0.60, with special dividend of CHF 0.40. (Sources)
