Will tobacco fall from favour? 2 Mar 2005 The previously neglected sector became a market darling as investors focused on cash. European tobacco stocks roughly tripled since 2000. But the sector also has poor growth prospects, especially given the risk of smoking bans. Valuations now look stretched.
InBev integration continues to deliver results 2 Mar 2005 Brewing industry mergers have a nasty habit of destroying value. But Interbrew s acquisition of Ambev last year bucked the trend. Despite falling sales in western Europe, InBev has still managed to meet its targets.
Boerse rebels see sweet LSE deal for Euronext 2 Mar 2005 Some of the rebels seem to be banking on Euronext buying the LSE on the cheap if they thwart Deutsche Boerse s proposed bid. But given the LSE s stance, that would necessitate Euronext going hostile. And it s not clear it has the guts for that.
JP Morgan exits private equity 1 Mar 2005 The decision was inevitable given that JPM was increasingly seen as a rival by the very private equity houses that paid its fees. These conflicts may also have held back JP Morgan Partners returns. Hiving off the business neatly solves both issues.
Landesbanken divide credit ratings agencies 1 Mar 2005 Moody s gives a lot more weight than S&P to the implicit state support Germany s regional banks will receive after losing their guarantees. For now investors seem to be following Moody s approach. But they should watch out.
Boots warns on profits 1 Mar 2005 If this is the consumer downturn, it s pretty ugly. The UK chemist s likeforlike sales are now flat to negative. This will be a blow to the whole UK retailing sector. And for Boots, it raises the risk is that it will have to cut prices even more.
Sanofi-aventis delivers big cost cuts 1 Mar 2005 The merger that created the French pharma giant may have made the markets sick, but it looks surprisingly successful so far. Proposed synergies from combining the two companies always involved vague promises, but the group is ahead of schedule.
KPN to cut nearly 30% of workforce 1 Mar 2005 The Dutch telecoms group is investing in a new internetbased network so that it can slash jobs to offset falling revenues. If this presages another round of telecoms restructuring, it bodes ill for the French and Germans, who would find it harder to cut jobs.