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 |  Subject: ADVFN Morning Euro Markets Bulletin - August 6th 2010  Fri Aug 06, 2010 9:23 am | |
| By ADVFN.comADVFN offer FREE streaming stocks and shares data form around the world. SEE | London Markets Report |
London’s blue chips have made a bright start with Royal Bank of Scotland dominating the morning headlines after the bank returned to the black.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is “on track” to achieve goals set out in its five-year recovery plan after posting a pre-tax profit of £1.16bn for the second quarter of 2010. The bank, which lost £21m in the first quarter and made a small profit of £59m this time last year, made £1.14bn for the half-year, up from a paltry £15m in the first six months of 2009.
Talking to reporters, chief executive Stephen Hester conceded that there is still a long way to go for the state-owned bank.
South African insurer Old Mutual saw operating profit before tax jump 43% in the first half, thanks to a strong performance particularly in the South African retail markets and in Wealth Management. The group also announced it agreed to sell its US Life operations to affiliates of Harbinger for $350m.
Software group Logica is reviewing its UK public sector business as it expects new projects will be slow in the second half, though its guidance for the year is unchanged. Underlying interim profits dipped slightly to £125m from £127m in the half-year to June, on revenues down 1% at £1.87bn. Pre-tax profits, excluding one-offs, rose to £86m from £24m.
Mobile phone satellite group Inmarsat’s first half profits surged forward as earthquakes in Haiti and Chile boosted the use of its broadband service. Online gaming firm PartyGaming grew underlying interim profit by 14% and has continued to trade in line with expectations at the start of the second half.
Underwriter Catlin said first half profits were hit by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico , record catastrophe losses and adverse foreignexchange movements. Pre-tax profit fell to $86m in the six months ended 30 June from $240m last time. This includes $49m in foreign exchange losses. |
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| | UK Event Calendar for today |
INTERIMS
Brammer, Catlin Group, Inmarsat, Logica, Old Mutual, PartyGaming, Royal Bank of Scotland, Stanley Gibbons, Tomkins
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
CareTech Holding, Chemring Group, Heavitree
QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
Investors Capital Trust 'A' Shares
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Consumer Credit (US) (20:00)
Industrial Production (GER) (11:00)
Non-Farm Payrolls (US) (13:30)
Unemployment Rate (US) (13:30)
Q2
Inmarsat
GMS
Corero, Polo Resources, Renewable Power & Light
EGMS
Ruffer Investment Company Ltd.
AGMS
Alpha Tiger Property Trust, Carpathian, Majestic Wine, Pathfinder Minerals , Tanzanite One
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Industrial Production (09:30)
Manufacturing Production (09:30)
Producer Price Index (09:30)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Aurora Inv Trust, Establishment Inv Trust, F&C Global Smaller Companies, Halfords Group, Hyder Consulting, Invensys, Investment Company (The), Monks Inv Trust, Mothercare, Shanks Group, Telecom Plus, Vodafone Group, Walker Greenbank, Wincanton, Workspace Group |
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| | European Market Reports |
European shares are on the rise early on Friday as investors mull results from RBS and Allianz and upcoming US job data.
The US government's closely watched monthly nonfarm payrolls report will be published later today.
Across the market, the Dax in Frankfurt is up 30 points at 6,363, while the Cac in Paris advanced 13 points to 3,777.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is “on track” to achieve goals set out in its five-year recovery plan after posting a pre-tax profit of £1.16bn for the second quarter of 2010. The bank, which lost £21m in the first quarter and produced a small profit of £59m this time last year, made £1.14bn for the half-year compared with a paltry £15m in the first six months of 2009.
There was an operating profit of £869m for the three months to 30 June compared with a loss of £3.35bn in the second quarter of 2009 as impairment losses fell to £2.49bn from £4.66bn a year ago.
German insurance giant Allianz saw second-quarter operating profit rise 23% to €2.19bn and reiterated its full-year operating profit outlook.
Air France-KLM said July passenger traffic rose 1.2% on the year.
CAC 40 - Risers
Technip (TEC) € 54.27 +1.65%
Credit Agricole (ACA) € 11.19 +1.63%
Societe Generale (GLE) € 45.93 +1.56%
ArcelorMittal SA (MT) € 25.72 +1.46%
Renault (RNO) € 34.99 +1.41%
Cap Gemini (CAP) € 37.76 +1.36%
Unibail-Rodamco (UL) € 154.50 +1.31%
Alstom (ALO) € 42.67 +1.28%
Michelin (ML) € 64.88 +1.25%
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) € 2.35 +1.12%
CAC 40 - Fallers
Dexia (DEXB) € 3.89 -1.92%
Veolia Environnement (VIE) € 21.39 -1.43%
Vivendi (VIV) € 18.47 -1.04%
L'Oreal (OR) € 79.63 -0.67%
Lagardere SCA (MMB) € 29.26 -0.65%
Suez Environnement Company (SEV) € 14.90 -0.47%
Sanofi-Aventis (SAN) € 45.97 -0.16% |
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| | US Markets Report |
US shares marked time ahead of tomorrow's non-farm payroll numbers as investors wait for some clear signs of the direction of the US economy.
Dole claimant figures suggested the US could be slowing again. Initial jobless claims rose to 479,000 last week, against expectations of a small drop to 455,000.
Non-farm payrolls are expected to fall by around 65,000. Private payrolls are expected to increase with the fall coming from government workers laid off after the completion of the census.
Across the markets, the Dow was 5 points lower at 10,674, with the Nasdaq dropping 10 points to 2,293. The S&P 500 fell one point to 1,125.
On the corporate front, New York-based retailer Saks saw July same-store sales at locations open more than a year rise 6.4%.
However, that was a rare bright spot with JC Penney, Big Lots and Ross Stores all growing sales more slowly than expected.
Agricultural companies were higher after Russia banned grain exports. Archer-Daniles-Midland, Monsantoand CF Industries were beneficiaries.
LED lighting companies have been hit by news that Taiwanese LED firms are short of orders. Veeco Instruments, Cree and Aixtron are all lower.
The US Export-Import Bank has approved a loan guarantee for Ford which will enable it to export $3.1bn worth of cars and trucks to Canada and Mexico.
Pay as you go mobile firm MetroPCS Communications beat market earnings expectations by 69%.
S&P 500 - Risers
Metropcs Communications Inc. (PCS) $9.45 +7.51%
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM) $30.25 +5.73%
CIGNA Corp. (CI) $33.96 +5.63%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $49.00 +4.06%
S&P 500 - Fallers
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) $22.12 -7.68%
Big Lots Inc. (BIG) $32.18 -6.59%
Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG) $22.68 -4.87%
Jabil Circuit Inc. (JBL) $14.23 -4.50%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $71.96 +1.18%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $73.20 +0.73%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $11.59 +0.61%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $59.86 +0.52%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
American Express Co. (AXP) $43.22 -2.02%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $16.19 -1.52%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $25.36 -1.44%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $14.02 -1.20% |
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| | Press round-up: Royal Bank of Scotland, Wheat, Barclays |
Royal Bank of Scotland is today expected to announce the sale of the UK’s leading credit card payment processing business to private equity in a £2bn ($3.18bn) deal expected to generate an £800m to £900m book gain.
People close to the transaction said RBS hoped to announce the sale of its Global Merchant Services arm to Advent International and Bain Capital with the bank’s first-half results today. Both sides were still negotiating the deal last night, however, the FT reports.
Europe is enjoying an unexpectedly strong economic rebound as financial market strains ease, the President of the European Central Bank said yesterday. In a cautiously optimistic assessment, Jean-Claude Trichet said some of the concerns surrounding the future of the eurozone this year have subsided as traders fret about the American economy. Eurozone data from the second quarter and last month have been firmer than the ECB had expected, Mr Trichet told a press conference after leaving interest rates unchanged at 1%., the Times reports.
North Sea oil companies, including BP, are considering whether to build a giant cap to contain future oil spills like the Gulf of Mexico disaster in a move that could raise the cost of drilling. Oil & Gas UK, the North Sea industry body, yesterday asked engineers from Wood Group to look at whether it would be economically viable for British companies to build emergency containment systems for potential leaks, the Telegraph reports.
Russian premier Vladimir Putin has ordered a halt to all exports of wheat and other grains from August 15, raising the stakes dramatically in the crisis over wheat supplies. "This is very serious," said Abdolreza Abbassanian, chief grain economist at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. "It's a desperate situation because it has caught everybody off guard. We're not facing the situation of two years ago but there is a risk of destabilising panic," the Telegraph reports.
The Independent adds the world faces an inflationary time bomb as shortages of food threaten to push prices to fresh all-time highs. A variety of freakish weather conditions across the world has sent the price of staples including wheat, pork, rice, orange juice, coffee, cocoa and tea to fresh highs in recent weeks. Yesterday's decision by the Russian government to ban the export of wheat to protect home consumers saw grain prices jump 8% on the day, on what was already a two-year high.
The scale and speed of cuts to the NHS became apparent yesterday as confirmed job losses this year reached 11,000 and union leaders threatened to take the Government to a judicial review over the pace of reform. Unison, the biggest public sector union, accused ministers of “conning” voters with claims that they were protecting frontline services, the Times reports.
3i has hired investment bankers to sell the two biggest companies – with a combined value of more than €1bn (£830m) – in its German portfolio in moves aimed at reducing its debt. Rothschild has been asked to prepare an initial public offering of Norma Group, a maker of metal and plastic engineered joining products, which is planning a listing next year with an enterprise value of about €700m, the FT reports.
General Motors raised the bar for manufacturers seeking ways to tempt recession-hit consumers back into showrooms when it became the first carmaker to offer a “lifetime warranty” on all its new Opel and Vauxhall cars in Europe. The US carmaker said the warranty would apply to the first owner of any of its German and UK marques registered from this month, and remain valid through the life of a car until it has registered 100,000 miles, the FT reports.
Ofcom has pledged to give up some of its powers over the media industry, amounting to deregulation “in a host of areas”. Last month the Government published plans to trim the regulator’s remit, with further cutbacks to come in 2012.
The head of Barclays has warned that Britain risks becoming an uncompetitive place for banks to be based amid a slew of new taxes and restrictions. John Varley highlighted the new Government’s levy on banks’ balance sheets, which comes into force in January, as a cause for concern and emphasised the need for a “level playing field”, reports the Times.
Barclays set aside a £1.7bn bonus pool for its staff in the first half of the year as profits surged to £3.9bn. The bonus pool will be benefit 150,000 staff, but the lion's share will go to Bob Diamond's investment bankers at Barclays Capital. The profit figure was up 44 per cent on the same period last year, although it was flattered by accounting technicalities, adds the Independent.
Barclays has launched a spirited defence of its approach of combining retail and investment banking under one roof, with executives on Thursday delivering a thinly veiled warning to the UK government that a break-up could force it overseas. John Varley, chief executive, said Barclays’ so-called universal model had proved its resilience and profitability through the financial crisis, the FT adds. |
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