Seifert should leave Deutsche Boerse 29 Apr 2005 The exchange chief may have dropped unpopular plans to buy the LSE, but he still personifies a strategy opposed by many of his shareholders. He s also lost the confidence of some of his largest investors. Clinging on with only shaky support is not in the company s interest.
Eurozone bond spreads only hint at reality 29 Apr 2005 Spreads between strong and weak government credits have widened, but are still much too tight. That's mostly the fault of the ECB. European governments have failed to discipline themselves since the euro's launch. It's time to give the market a go.
Mittelstand goes down blind alley 29 Apr 2005 German familyowned companies need capital, as local bank loans dry up. They could raise equity but they don't want to cede control. Quasiequity instruments look like one solution. But as Italy found a few years ago, issuers may just be storing up trouble for themselves.
Deutsche dazzles in first quarter 29 Apr 2005 The investment bank has jacked up revenues especially in the debt trading business without taking on much more risk. Deutsche is well placed to hit its returnonequity goal. But with a third of revenues coming from debt, it remains an unbalanced franchise.
ABN wins hollow victory 28 Apr 2005 The Dutch bank has finally received authorisation to boost its stake in Antonveneta to 30%. But with the shareholders meeting on Saturday, that doesn t leave ABN much time to buy and register new shares.
Daimler backs Chrysler to keep growing 28 Apr 2005 The German carmaker is pinning its hopes on new models and deepening problems at Ford and GM to maintain the recovery seen last year. Maybe it's right to do so. But it will need a blockbuster to counter the price war in the US. Daimler may yet have to eat its words.
Glaxo resolves Puerto Rico snarl-up 28 Apr 2005 Worries about substandard manufacturing at its Puerto Rico plant had temporarily halted the drug group s rerating. But with Puerto Rico largely out of the way and a healthy pipeline of new drugs, Glaxo s rerating should continue.
Marconi’s shares tumble after BT drops it 28 Apr 2005 It's not just that Marconi has lost a big contract from major customer it now risks missing out on the next big wave of telecoms upgrades. Marconi is up against rivals with lower cost bases or greater capacity to write lossmaking business. Its best hope now is consolidation.
Oil bankers get over-excited about M&A 28 Apr 2005 The Chevron/Unocal and Valero/Premcor mergers have raised hopes that a series of mega copycat deals will follow soon. The idea is fuelled by the idea that high oil prices are here to stay. Yet historically, consolidation takes place when oil prices are low.
Private equity firms contemplate IPOs 28 Apr 2005 The temptation for partners at Carlyle, Blackstone and elsewhere to cash out at the industry s zenith must be unbearable. But that doesn t make a compelling prospect for the public markets. Indeed, these firms have no reason whatsoever to raise equity capital.
Schmuck insurance gains currency in buyouts 27 Apr 2005 With so many quick flips reaping enormous windfalls for private equity firms, sellers are looking increasingly flatfooted. But those like Time Warner that keep their options open can avoid looking like big schmucks and reward shareholders, too.
ABN to speed up investment banking job cuts 27 Apr 2005 The Dutch bank missed out on the investment banking boom in Q1. Yearonyear revenues fell in all three units of its wholesale bank. ABN lacks the scale to compete with bulgebracket rivals. But evidence has yet to emerge that it has a credible strategy as a niche player.
Kingfisher warns on profits 27 Apr 2005 The retailer blames the consumer slowdown. As a bigticket DIY group, it gets hit faster and harder than the high street. But with likeforlike sales at the UK arm B&Q down by an estimated 8%, it looks as if Kingfisher is faring worse than its rivals.
Kleinfeld effect wears off at Siemens 27 Apr 2005 The German conglomerate s shares rose ahead of Kleinfeld taking over as boss in January. Since then they have fallen to sixmonth lows. The Q2 results, particularly mobile, are a further disappointment. Kleinfeld has to move on from strategy to execution.
Rhodia’s future hinges on legal battles 27 Apr 2005 The troubled French group will find it hard to pay back its E1.9bn debt with the cashflows from its chemical business. But favourable results from two lawsuits particularly a E2.9bn one brought on its behalf by de Lasteyrie would change the maths.
Labour’s business-speak shows new priorities 27 Apr 2005 In 2001, the UK s governing party emphasised "competition" and "Europe" in its business manifesto. This time it s "employment" and "local". Freemarketers and proEuropeans will be disappointed. But there s a silver lining. "Freedom" has entered the vocabulary.
Rivals consider counterbid for Allied Domecq 26 Apr 2005 Allied is the spirits industry's last major consolidation play. That's why Constellation and BrownForman may try to counter Pernod's offer. But a counterbid is likely to trigger the same costs with fewer synergies. It will be hard to pull together.
Intesa pursues jumbo E10bn loan sale 26 Apr 2005 The Italian lender is breaking new ground by trying to sell a giant chunk of its nonperforming loans, all in one go. That would help clean up Intesa s balance sheet. But it s not clear that agglomerating the loans for sale is the best way of creating value.
Italian policing of concert parties is a joke 26 Apr 2005 Look at the Antonveneta battle. There is an intricate cat s cradle connecting Lodi, with 29% of the shares, and other investors with 14%. Consob, the regulator, is investigating. But given past form, there s precious little chance that it will judge this to be a concert party.
Eurotunnel revolution devours its own children 26 Apr 2005 The rebels kicked out management last year because they felt a rescue plan involving a debtforequity swap was "appeasement" of creditors. Now, having failed to come up with anything resembling a plausible plan, they face an even bigger haircut.
Reed Elsevier is UK’s biggest internet stock 26 Apr 2005 Yet it trades on only 15 times earnings, a fraction of the multiple enjoyed by internet stocks. It deserves a rerating. Those who think the company is boring confuse its output pointyheaded specialist publications with its business, which is growing.
Are NYSE seat-holders getting ripped off? 25 Apr 2005 Goldman Sachs s role in stitching up the Archipelago merger is being used by opponents to trash the deal or even drum up a rival offer. But by reversing into a public entity, NYSE boss John Thain has given a tangible, and difficult, valuation benchmark to exceed.
Barclays stretches offer for Absa stake to £2.8bn 25 Apr 2005 That s almost a third higher than the price first bandied about when the UK bank entered talks with the South Africans last year. The price is already at the limits of what can be justified. Sooner or later Barclays must tell Absa to take it or leave it.
M&S shouldn’t rule out Myners 25 Apr 2005 The retailer s interim chairman has shown he can make time for the job. He wants it, and there's no evidence he is too close to CEO Rose. Myners shouldn t be a shooin, of course. But to exclude him would be pure boxticking.
Higher renminbi would not end US trade deficit 25 Apr 2005 China processes much more than it produces for export. A cheaper dollar would mean lower costs for components imported into China. So Chinese exports to the US will stay quite competitive. The US needs much more than a currency tweak to get back into trade balance.
UK plc must be more ambitious 24 Apr 2005 Public companies are investing too little, in part because they haven t adjusted to a lowreturn environment. They have also misunderstood the demand for share buybacks. All this puts them at a disadvantage to private equity.
Serono takes surprise $725m legal charge 22 Apr 2005 The Swiss biotech has set aside 9% of the group s market capitalisation following the indictment of four executives on kickback charges. The unexpected size and suddenness of the charge reflect poorly on management s credibility.
It’s open season for bashing hedge funds 22 Apr 2005 The chairman of Cadbury is behind the latest highprofile attack on hedge funds in particular their relationship with investment banks. With an exbanker now heading wholesale regulation at the FSA, such outbursts will doubtless heighten regulatory scrutiny of this area.
FSA warns on IFRS 22 Apr 2005 The UK's financial regulator wants disclosure under the new accounting rules to be fast, full and helpful for investors. That is likely to be wishful thinking. The standards provide too many opportunities to bamboozle.
Pharma offers rich seam for consumer goods deals 22 Apr 2005 There s little financial, managerial or logical sense in big drugs companies pushing toothpaste, aspirin and suntan lotion. With their stocks trading at a discount, now is the time for drugmakers to sell these businesses to consumer products groups.