Safeway shouldn’t expect a whole bunch of bids 24 Jun 2003 The UK's Competition Commission is hinting at playing hardball with the big grocers planning bids for the British supermarket chain. Hypothetically, it says it might even block bids outright. It could also force buyers to sell stores, setting the scene for a carveup.
Heineken warns on profits 23 Jun 2003 Either investors have underreacted or the rest of the industry is about to follow Heineken with a warning. Even with the earnings shortfall and decline in value, the group commands a richer multiple of earnings than all its European peers.
WestLB CEO falls on sword 23 Jun 2003 Sengera and other directors who oversaw Robin Saunders, the flamboyant Londonbased financier, deserve blame for the banks' lax controls. But WestLB's problems go deeper. They are a microcosm for Germany's unaccountable Landesbank sector. It needs a catharsis.
Fiat likely to tap shareholders for more cash 23 Jun 2003 It is hard to see how this would be in their interests especially if it allowed the banks to get off the hook. Fiat currently has the option to force its banks to take E3bn of equity at an inflated price. It should try to preserve this option.
Unipol pays E1.5bn for Winterthur Italy 23 Jun 2003 That s a massive bite for the Italian insurer, which will roughly double in size. And Unipol is paying a hefty price. One theory is that the historically leftwing groups that control Unipol could be strengthening the red financial alliance.
Cordiant shareholders refuse to submit 23 Jun 2003 Active Value, Cordiant's biggest shareholder, has kept stakebuilding. It could block WPP's token offer for the indebted ad agency's equity. Defiance when cornered is all very well. But WPP holds all the cards, and there is little sign of a rescuer on the horizon.
Bank Austria E1.2bn IPO priced to go 23 Jun 2003 The bank s German parent HVB has little choice. It desperately needs the extra capital, and can t afford to be greedy. The problem is that HVB is selling one of its best assets. Nor will the IPO cure HVB s capital shortage by itself. More needs to be done.
UK football rights auction gets going 20 Jun 2003 Broadcasting's key £450mayear content deal is up for renewal. Under EU pressure, the football authorities have set new auction rules. In theory, soccer could get more cash at less cost to individual broadcasters. But everything turns on Sky's need to monopolise live footy.
IASB rethinks fair-value accounting for derivatives 20 Jun 2003 International accounting standard setters are offering to soften new rules forcing banks to marktomarket their full derivatives exposure. Banks will still have to show when derivatives are in the red. But compliance costs will be less. Banks should not reject this olive branch.
Zaragozano effect strikes mid-sized Spanish banks 20 Jun 2003 First Banco Zaragozano sold itself to Barclays at three times book value. Now other midsized Spanish banks want to do the same. Banco Pastor is obviously dressing itself up for sale. Banco Atlantico is ready to sell too. Consolidation may lurch forward.
Swiss Re’s new boss issues profit warning 19 Jun 2003 John Coomber has made a bit of a gaffe in giving out a grim outlook in an interview with Reuters. Investors thinking that the market rebound means all the reinsurance sector's troubles are over need to think again.
Don’t fear a Credit Agricole share glut 19 Jun 2003 Investors are nervously eyeing the shedloads of new CA shares that are now on the market after the Credit Lyonnais takeover. In fact, several factors mean buyers should be standing by to absorb a large proportion of them.
Is a music merger on the agenda? 19 Jun 2003 AOL and Bertelsmann are talking about a tieup between their music arms. Yet Bertelsmann has said it is neither a buyer nor seller of music. It looks like the pair are mooting a joint venture aimed only at cost savings. That is yet more bearish news for the music industry.
Airbus wins pyrrhic victory over Boeing 19 Jun 2003 The European aerospace group may be pulling in more orders than its US rival. Witness the Paris air show. But that doesn't make it the stock to own. The cost is apparent in the underperformance of its parent Eads' shares visavis Boeing.
WPP takes Cordiant 19 Jun 2003 Sir Martin Sorrell's advertising giant has beaten Publicis's scheme to snatch the troubled agency. In doing so, he has demonstrated that a corporate giant can beat a vulture fund at the distressed debt game.
US dividend tax cut reveals the joys of yield 19 Jun 2003 Perhaps. But if a wall of money does speed across the Atlantic, it will be a bet on oldfashioned capital gains not dividend income. Some investors believe that European stocks will benefit most as they pay out twice as much in dividends as US equities.
Another black mark against Abbey National 18 Jun 2003 The UK mortgage bank has said it may take charges relating to capitalising certain expenses under previous management. These aren't material or fraudulent. They just show differences in opinion between old and new bosses. But it's another hit to sentiment.
Trichet is free to head ECB 18 Jun 2003 The governor of the Banque de France has been acquitted of charges connected with the collapse of Credit Lyonnais. What a relief for everyone. Trichet is the right man to provide muchneeded continuity and credibility at the ECB.
Hera in E1.1bn IPO hard sell 18 Jun 2003 The Italian group's City Hall owners are practically forced sellers. And Hera is a pretty unconvincing hodge podge of local utilities. The price could help get the issue out the door. But Hera is also hoping it can whet the appetites of parrochial Italian retail investors.
Knife out again for investment banking jobs 18 Jun 2003 UBS and Morgan Stanley are cutting jobs. Citigroup is also whetting the knife. But this may well be the last round. Any more job cuts, and the big banks ability to cover clients will suffer.
ManU transfers Beckham for E35m to Real Madrid 18 Jun 2003 Why has the world's most famous footballer fetched such a relatively paltry price? Because Beckham's brand value accrues largely to the player, not his employer.
Microsoft targets email spammers in court 18 Jun 2003 The world's top software company is admitting it cannot win the battle against spam with technology alone. It has now filed lawsuits against 15 spammers in a bid to slow down the growth of spam.
Spitzer set to cross the Atlantic 18 Jun 2003 But it is logistically easier for banks to apply Spitzer globally. What s more, European rivals may be stigmatised for not following suit. It looks like Wall St firms would be disadvantaged if they universally applied Spitzer s ban on using analysts to win corporate business.
Bouygues first-ever quarterly report misfires 18 Jun 2003 Bad weather is of limited interest to Bouygues shareholders. Its value really depends on quoted subsidiaries and the volatile mobile sector. The constructiontomobile conglomerate has been Paris's largest faller thanks to bad news it has tried to explain as seasonal.
Morgan Stanley continues to surf trading boom 18 Jun 2003 It is still making pots of cash from trading and this is covering up for the squeeze that s hitting the rest of the business. Investors seem to assume that the equity business will recover before fixed income fizzles. That may be a bold assumption.
H&M’s weak sales run continues 18 Jun 2003 May hasn t been a good month either. This could just be a protracted blip. But investors are itching to see a pickup. The conundrum is that the Swedish retailer is managing stock levels exceptionally well, and gross margins are powering ahead.
Buhrmann averts liquidity crisis 18 Jun 2003 The Dutch office products group s E746m sale of its paper merchant unit puts worries over its banking covenants to rest. But it chopped off an arm to save its legs: EPS are diluted, interest cover is little changed and it's highly exposed to the US economy.
Kingfisher limbers for the splits 17 Jun 2003 The UK retailer is demerging its Kesa electricals division on a high. The stock has bounced by some 50% since January. The DIY business has been pretty resilient, but hard times lie ahead for Kesa.
Bream scrabbles for new AWG bid backers 17 Jun 2003 It's still up in the air whether the investor consortium can pull together a bid for the UK water company by Wednesday's deadline. But even if it fails, other bidders may come forward to try and break up AWG.
France fears US investors may buy its military secrets 17 Jun 2003 This is paranoia. It ignores the fact that private equity firms are moneymaking ventures, not proxies for the Pentagon. Europe's defence industries need access to new markets in the US. Locking out US investors doesn't seem a good way to advance this.