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25 October 2012

UK Corporate Announcements

Segro states that it has achieved its disposal target in today’s interim management statement

Debenhams announces full year total sales gained 2.6% and a pre-tax profit of £158m from £160m

Anglo American details that it is moderating its 2012, 2013 explorations and was evaluating its spending, citing the market conditions

Inchcape announces Q2 revenues of £1.518bn and states it delivered a robust trading performance

WPP cuts its full year sales growth forecasts to 2.5-3% from the previous targets of 3.5% , its second cut in two months

Unilever announces Q3 sales of €13.4bn in line with forecasts, on underlying sales growth of 5.9% ahead of expectations of 5.3%, and has no material change to its financial position

Asos announces 5 month pre-tax pre-exceptional profit of £13.25m on sales of £231m and keeps its positive outlook for 2013

AZ Electronics states that it is trading in line with the expectations

Go Ahead Group announces its chairman is to step down

AstraZeneca announces a Q3 core EPS of $1.51, ahead of forecasts of $1.45bn seen, on revenues of $6.68bn and maintains its full year 2012 EPS targets

UK Market News

The UK is expected to officially emerge from recession today with GDP numbers at 09:30, while The Times suggest that double dip recessions cost each Briton £1,800 every year

The FSA announces that it is banning  ‘Liar Loan’ mortgages from 2014, where mortgage applicants will be required to give proof of income to arrange mortgages, looking to end the ‘self cert’ practise, cited as having a major impact during the last housing boom

The FT highlights that Walker is looking at a major reshuffle at the board at Barclays

Bwin detailed late yesterday a deal with Zynga where the US group will provide a number of new games, including Poker and BlackJack

UK based Dyson has sued Bosch in the UK High Court alleging that it unlawfully obtained secret technology

UK Analyst Upgrades

Interserve Raised To Hold Vs Sell At Panmure

Home Retail Pt Raised 38% To 90P At Exane; Kept At Underperform

Reckitt Benckiser PT Raised 6% to 3,700p at Exane

UK Analyst Cuts

National Express Pt Cut 12% To 210P At Barclays

UK Insider Buying

Aggreko Plc, (AGK), 1 insider(s) bought 3,750 shares, £20.51

Avesco Group Plc, (AVS), 1 insider(s) bought 20,000 shares, £1.6

Devro Plc, (DVO), 1 insider(s) bought 3,200 shares, £3.20

Kingswalk Investments Lt, (KWI), 1 insider(s) bought 714,285 shares, £0.58

UK Insider Selling

Cupid Plc, (CUP), 1 insider(s) sold 610,228 shares, £2.02

Major European Companies Reporting

Essilor, Safran, Logitech, Novartis, Technip, AXA, Air Liquide, Schneider Electric, Santander, France Telecom

European Market Summary

The IMF states that Portugal has less room to move as its debt levels remain high

Norway details that its SWF, the world’s largest, has to buy stocks as they fall as part of its newly detailed rebalancing plan, the fund must keep 60% of its value in stocks, as it pursues its 4% return target

Axa announces nine month sales gained to €68.3bn from €65.9bn and just ahead of the consensus, citing strength in Mexico and the Gulf region

Berlusconi responds to talk and states that he does not plan to run for prime minister next year

Volkswagen had deliveries in China up 21% last quarter, well ahead of the growth seen by the likes of GM, and as it continues with its plans to become the world’s largest carmaker

Major US Stock Movers After Hours

Zynga gained over 10% in late trading on the Bwin deal

Symantec gained over 9% as it cites strong corporate demand for its online security

Crocs came off around 10% as it announces disappointing Q3 revenues and guided lower for the key quarter ahead

Best Buy came off 6% as it warns that Q3 profit will fall significantly

US Market News

VIX trading is in the news as open interest on the volatility play has moved out to its highest ever levels, as investors prepare for volatility around the US elections, and as it moves up towards H2 2012 highs around 18

Coca-Cola, Hershey, AutoNation, Proctor & Gamble, International Paper, Aetna, Altria, Raytheon, ConocoPhilips and Sprint Nextel are amongst the S&P 500 companies detailing results today

Ford is expected to detail today that it is closing its Southampton, UK van factory, with the loss of around 500 jobs, its first European closures for a decade,  and Bloomberg details how US companies have announced plans to cut 62,000 jobs since the start of September, the largest two month drop since early 2010

The former Goldman director Rajat Gupta was sentenced to two years in prison over the insider trading case, and the judge fines him $5m

The US Dept. of Justice has sued Bank of America for more than $1bn on the first suit over ‘defective home loans’ sold to the likes of Fannie Mae

Overnight Market News

Samsung has lost the latest of its court battles against Apple as the US international Trade Commission rules it has infringed upon four of Apple’s patents, and as the recent global pattern continues, where Samsung has some success in international courts, but loses when the case is heard in the US

Singapore Airlines announces that it is to end non stop services to LA and New York citing the higher fuel costs and slower demand

Major Global IPOs Due Today

Hess AG, 2.3m €15.5

MPLX LP, 15m $19-21

Timbercreek US, 7.5m $10

Whitewave Foods, 20m, $14-16

FX Summary

The New Zealand Dollar has moved up towards six month highs against the yen today after its central bank leaves interest rates unchanged

The Indian central bank is expected to consider dropping interest rates for the first time since April at its October 30 meeting

Commodity Summary

Bloomberg details that Aluminium stockpiles in China have reached the highest levels for two years as world demand outweighs subdued demand

Economic Data Due

09:00 Eurozone September M3, 3.1% exp. 3.2% previous

09:30 UK Q3 GDP, 0.6% exp. -0.4% previous

13:30 US September durable goods, 7.5% exp. -13.2% previous

13:30 US Weekly Initial Jobless Claims, 3260k exp. 3252k previous

15:00 US September Pending Homes m/m 2.5% exp. -2.6% previous