Business & Financial News

Enea, the last group of Polish utilities still controlled by the state, should fall into the hands of a French EDF and GDF Suez, which have the greatest potential for synergies, analysts said.

EDF seeks to locate in Poland to increase its chances of participating in the nuclear program that Warsaw intends to implement, while GDF Suez has sufficient capacity to address current shortcomings of Enea.

The Polish government wants to sell by the end of the year to 51% of Enea estimated at around 5.9 billion zlotys (1.48 billion euros) under the privatization plan for generate revenue to reduce the deficit.

Poland has shortlisted five candidates in August to the potential recovery of this participation: apart from the two French groups are on the list of Spanish utility Iberdrola, Kulczycki Investments, the investment vehicle of Polish businessman in January Kulczyk and Czech Energetický has Prumyslovy Holding.

The remaining candidates have until Oct. 5 to submit a firm offer.

Enea has 2.9 gigawatts of installed capacity in its central Kozienice and 2.3 million customers, individuals and businesses.

This portfolio of clients is by far seen as its greatest asset.

"The main asset of Enea, what are its customers and its market share (in distribution).Poles are reluctant to change their electricity supplier, "said Robert Zadjler, analyst Instytut Sobieskiego.

"The generation assets are old and need to be modernized, so it is difficult to estimate their value."

STRENGTHS

For now, demand from customers Enea is greater than its production capacity, which forces it to buy power on the wholesale market.

This situation calls for GDF Suez, which has a power plant Polaniec in south-eastern Poland, and has yet to expand its customer base.

The market share of Enea, about 16%, EDF has something of interest that, if he does not yet have significant production capacity in Poland, wants to take forward the Government's plans to build at least two nuclear power plants with a total capacity of six gigawatts.

Warsaw named EMP, first group of local utilities, to conduct this project, of which 49% should be sold to an investor.

"In the context of nuclear program, offers French have the best chance of winning," said an analyst.

The other groups, whether Iberdrola or financial investors do not have the same strengths that EDF and GDF Suez, which makes their offerings less competitive.

In August, a deputy Treasury Minister said he expected that the applicant submit a higher bid from 20% to the market valuation, which amounts to more than 26 zlotys per share.

Analysts are showing less optimism. Nine of them, interviewed by Reuters, evaluate the group at 23 zlotys per share, or 9.8% above Tuesday's closing price, valuing the group at 51% of 5.2 billion zlotys.

This difference is mainly due to the recent decision of the Swedish Vattenfall to change strategy and to consider selling some of its assets, particularly in Poland.

"Vattenfall's decision is bad news for the record, for two reasons.The first is that in future there will be more assets to sell and the second is that it highlights the difficulties and challenges of this market, "said another analyst.

Wall Street is down slightly in early trading Tuesday as investors awaiting the index of consumer confidence after a Standard & Poor's / Case-Shiller index, which measures the price of houses, in line with economists' expectations.

Taking advantage of signs that the U.S. economy strengthened, the U.S. stock market was up about 9% since the beginning of the month.The Standard & Poor's / Case-Shiller has not challenged this scenario, players will point out that consumer confidence will give this to the market trend.

This index, whose publication would be done after a half hour of trading, is expected to 52.5 for the month of September against 53.5 the previous month.

After ten minutes of trading, the Dow Jones, which had opened up slightly, falling 38.44 points, or 0.36%, to 10,773.60.The S & P 500 lost 4.20 points (-0.37%) to 1,137.96 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 13.66 points (-0.58%) to 2356.11.

Research In Motion, the developer of the BlackBerry, lost 2.79% to 47.01 dollars on Monday after presenting a multimedia touch pad called Playbook, designed to compete with Apple iPad.

Pfizer was unchanged after announcing the cessation of clinical studies of Sutent, an experimental treatment for prostate cancer, results have shown that the molecule brought no significant improvement in patient survival.

Caracas has allowed BP to negotiate the sale of its local assets, said on Sunday oil minister Rafael Ramirez.

It warned last month that BP would need government approval if the British oil group (between 630 and 740 million euros) wanted to sell two minority stakes it holds in the PDVSA oil conglomerate and its Petromonagas share.

The assets in question are valued between 850 million and one billion dollars.BP is seeking to raise funds needed to finance the benefits it will have to pay after the oil spill that has polluted the Gulf of Mexico.

"We were consulted and asked us if we would be problematic and we said no," said Rafael Ramirez told reporters gathered outside a polling station.

Venezuelans to the polls Sunday for parliamentary elections in a test for President Hugo Chavez.

U.S. stock markets opened sharply higher Friday after the publication of statistics on durable goods orders in the United States, interpreted positively by investors.

In early trade, the Dow Jones industrial gained 30 106.56 points, or 1.0%, to 10,768.98 points. The S & P-500, broader took 11.75 points, or 1.04% to 1136.58 points while the Nasdaq Composite advanced on his side of 27.16 points (1.17%) to 2354.24 points .

Orders for durable goods fell more than expected in August, signing their biggest drop in one year, hit by declining orders for aircraft and vehicles.Excluding transportation, orders were however rebounded more sharply than expected.

The market is now awaiting the release at 1400 GMT for new home sales in August.

On the values front, Nike takes 4.5% to 81.21 dollars after having published the day before quarterly earnings well above expectations due to strong demand in North America and China.

The semiconductor manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices jumped 6.7% to 6.83 dollars after announcing a forecast for the third quarter that did not surprise investors.

The Australian insurer AMP take at least a month to decide whether to renew its offer for the manager Axa Asia Pacific Holdings, it was learned Wednesday.

After removal of the competing bid issued by National Australia Bank (NAB) last week, AMP would seek to raise its initial offer, have identified two sources familiar with the matter.

An MPA spokesman declined to comment this information, while confirming that Axa Asia Pacific, 54.4% owned by French Axa could be a strategic acquisition at the right price.

AMP covets Axa Asia Pacific for its activities in Australia and New Zealand.Such redemption would allow him to become the leading Australian wealth management, which weighs 1,000 billion dollars.

AMP then resells the Asian operations of Axa Asia Pacific to Axa. It remains to know how the French insurer is willing to pay for these assets in Asia, says it stressing AMP does not wish to align with the highest bid of NAB.

AMP had already issued an initial offer last November but was taken aback by the NAB, a $ 12 billion (nine billion euros).After suffering a veto of Australian competition authorities earlier this month, NAB has finally abandoned its bid.

AMP remains interested in buying assets of Axa Asia but has not formally decided to propose another offer and would therefore fall, say the sources.

According to her, the decision could be taken in the weeks to come.

A source also dismissed the possibility of a cash-only highlighting AMP could only offer more of its own shares to improve its offer. NAB had made a cash offer to $ 6.43 per share.

Dieter Rampl, UniCredit Chairman, will be appointed Tuesday night by Acting Executive Director the first Italian bank to replace Alessandro Profumo, who should resign until a successor is found, it was learned from a Italian government source.

According to this source would have been decided at a meeting last Sunday between foundations Italian bank's shareholders and Dieter Rampl.

The Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera reported on his side on his website that Alessandro Profumo resigned, information however denied by a spokesman for the bank.

Financial sources had earlier reported that Alessandro Profumo could be forced to resign, undermined by the growing power of shareholders and the Libyan bank's results were lower than its competitors.

The current managing director of UniCredit, which has threatened to leave the group if it did not obtain shareholder support its strategy, expected to tender his resignation at a special meeting of the board of directors which will begin on Tuesday 16:00 GMT, it was learned from two sources of funds.

Alessandro Profumo has led the transformation of UniCredit in establishing a European scale, and some analysts fear that his departure leaves the bank adrift when they are struggling to recover from the financial crisis and after have made several acquisitions.

LIST OF ALTERNATES

A source close to the situation, a list of candidates is ready to replace Alessandro Profumo, and the board of directors of the bank plans to grant three weeks to the President to appoint a successor outside the establishment.

To replace Alessandro Profumo, the Italian press quotes the names of former Goldman Sachs Claudio Costamagna and Matteo Arpe, former chief executive of the bank Capitalia, UniCredit bought in 2007.

In case of internal choices, the four deputy directors Sergio Ermotti, head of investment banking, Paolo Fiorentino, head of international banking division, Roberto Nicastro, head of retail banking, and Federico Ghizzoni, head of activities in Central and Eastern Europe are among the favorites.

At 13:00 GMT, UniCredit yielded 1.86%, after falling nearly 4% in the morning, while at the same time the Stoxx 600 index comprising the major European values gained 0.67%.

Some investors believe that the change of managing director will bring new blood and new ideas to improve the traditional activity of the group and reduce bad debts, while Alessandro Profumo is one of the oldest leaders in place at the head a European bank, said a dealer in Milan.

Alessandro Profumo is accused by some shareholders and part of the Italian political class, to leave Libya up to the capital without informing management.

DEGRADATION OF RELATIONS WITH THE PRESIDENT

The Libyan Central Bank and the Libyan sovereign fund, the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), together hold a stake of around 7.6% in Unicredit.

The relationship between Alessandro Profumo and Dieter Rampl deteriorated over the last six months, the last of which was hooked the silence of the managing director of Libyan investors, said a source at HVB, Munich branch of the bank Italian.

A turnaround is still possible, the source said, adding that it would build not all his money on a resignation Alessandro Profumo.

The Italian market authority, Consob and the Bank of Italy requested clarification on shareholdings and if the two Libyan investors were independent of each other.The Italian banking regulations prohibits a shareholder from holding more than 5% of voting rights.

Alessandro Profumo added Analysts also weakened by the results of the bank, still suffering the effects of the financial crisis.

The return on equity of UniCredit is 2.85%, roughly half of what is found for banks in the euro zone, according to data from Thomson Reuters.The cost of risk, based on the amount of bad debt expense funded, has also declined slightly in the second quarter.

The shareholders of UniCredit led by the Italian political foundation associated with areas of the peninsula had to undergo two capital increases for a total of seven billion euros during the financial crisis, and a scrip dividend on the results of 2009, the bank wanted to build its own funds.

When he arrived at the headquarters of the bank Tuesday, Alessandro Profumo did not speak to journalists.

A source had told Reuters in March Alessandro Profumo had threatened to resign following a disagreement with the Italian foundations on its restructuring plan in Italy. The CEO, however, had denied this information.

The Bank of Italy and the Italian Ministry of Economy are concerned about the effects on the economy of the instability of UniCredit, said on Tuesday the newspapers Corriere della Sera and La Stampa.

The Minister of Ecology Jean-Louis Borloo, wants an entry in the capital of EDF and Areva hopes to see "a breakthrough by the end of the year" in this case closely followed by the Elysee.

The government number two made the statement in an interview with the newspaper Les Echos dated Monday.

In early September in a speech at Montbard in Gold Coast, President Nicolas Sarkozy had said it would closely monitor the evolving relationship between EDF and Areva for the two groups work together.

"We have made decisions for Areva and EDF stop compete," he said in an allusion to the partnership agreement in late July forced the two groups by the Elysee.

The possible rise in the capital of EDF, Areva and confirmation of its role as leader of the French nuclear intervene while EDF itself must carry out its nuclear plans in the United Kingdom and the United States while ensuring the proper operation of its fleet hex.

An analyst recently noted that "in 'saving' the French nuclear industry and taking the head of its rebirth, we believe that EDF will also end up with problems of inheritance."

Another analyst felt that his side of the strategic partnership between EDF and Areva imposed by the Elysee could raise "political interference" in the electrician and "limiting" its ability to choose alternative suppliers of nuclear reactors Areva parts.

For its part, Areva would receive new money through EDF, the rise of the electrician be engaged in an additional capital increase planned for some time.

The Minister of Culture Frederic Mitterrand confirmed Friday that a moratorium of two years until January 2014, concerning the abolition of advertising in the day on the TV public service.

The law ended in January 2009 after 20:00 to advertising on the channels of the public operator and a progress report would be prepared to determine whether it was possible to remove the advertising spots aired during the day, between 06:00 and 20:00.

Earlier this week, the president of the UMP group in the National Assembly, Jean-Francois Cope, had estimated that for budgetary reasons it was difficult to remove advertising from public television from 30 November 2011, as planned .

"We are heading toward a moratorium, and I can confirm I have also advised members of the Cultural Commission," said Frederic Mitterrand on RTL.

"This is not surprising since we have always said that it would be a route point. We do it just a little earlier than expected, two months earlier than expected," he said.

"So, from November 2011, the moratorium is in place and for two years.He had to decide for everyone organized in terms of advertising budgets, "said Frederic Mitterrand, adding that the moratorium will apply until January 2014.

Anticipating this confirmation, Nonce Paolini, CEO of TF1, wished Tuesday abolition of the tax France Television to compensate for the cost of phasing out advertising on public channels.

Frederic Mitterrand said he would get Friday afternoon Nonce Paolini and Nicolas de Tavernost, CEO of M6 to discuss this issue.

"This is normal. They are communicating vessels," said Minister of Culture. Asked if he planned to abolish the tax on private channels, he replied: "No, we'll see.We'll talk about it.

Another consequence of this moratorium, Publicis Group and Lov, family holding businessman Stephane Courbit, had waived Thursday to take control of the authority of France Television.

Lov and Publicis, which had begun in February 2010 for exclusive negotiations to take over 70% of France Television Advertising believed that conditions were more consistent due to a schedule "delayed" and "fuzzy".

The World Trade Organization (WTO) released Wednesday the preliminary findings of its work on the legality of state aid provided by the U.S. government to Boeing, a key element of conflict between Americans and Europeans to support the aviation industry.

The confidential decision that should not be officially published until six to twelve months, was presented to representatives of the United States and the European Union (EU).

The office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) was found to have the WTO report, but said he could not discuss its contents.

Some European and American sources have said that the report should support some of the claims of the EU that Boeing had received illegal state aid and unfair for a total of 24 billion dollars (18 billion euros).

The European Commission hopes that this report will encourage the U.S. to negotiate an agreement to resolve their dispute, which is the largest trade dispute between the two sides of the Atlantic.

The United States opposes any discussion until the EU does not abandon its support for financing the development of new aircraft Airbus A350, which Washington treats grants condemned by the WTO.

"Excited to see the WTO FINDING"

For its part, Boeing argues that public aid which he is charged are nothing compared to those received by Airbus and recalls the June decision of the WTO on its competitor, the Geneva organization but noted that some of launch aid Airbus received were contrary to international trade rules.

"We are excited to see the outcome of the WTO in its preliminary decision today on U.S. practices, none of which the market-distorting launch aid What, or even n approach the level of European practices for grants, "said Boeing in a statement released before the release of the report of the WTO.

Although the two cases are the subject of separate reviews at the WTO, they are part of the battle between Brussels and Washington on behalf of their respective aircraft manufacturers.

The findings of the WTO are expected to give both parties a better idea of the type of public assistance considered acceptable in the aviation sector, whether for Boeing or its major European rival EADS, Airbus's parent company.

Washington, however, has a slight tactical advantage because the U.S. is able to take commercial retaliation if the EU before the U.S. victory was achieved in June confirmed. The record is far from settled, both parties appealed.

Around 1515 GMT, EADS and Boeing respectively, yielded 0.83% and 0.48%.

Bruno Lafont, CEO of Lafarge, said Tuesday in The Tribune that disinvestment does not strengthen the financial structure of the cement group if the asset is not strategic.

Asked whether the transfer of Gypsum, the smallest division of Lafarge, could be the order of the day, Bruno Lafont responds: "The best way to succeed in sales is certainly not to tell the advance. "

"However, what I said and I can confirm is that no disinvestment is taboo, since it is non-strategic assets for the group."

"In this context, all geographies and all activities can be affected."

Lafarge, which had secured in late July for 350 million euros of asset sales, expects to exceed this year's target of 500 million in divestitures.He plans to continue this policy next year but has not yet quantified its intentions for 2011.

Division plaster, particularly exposed to mature markets accounted for 8% of 2009 sales of the group stood at 15.9 billion euros, against 60% for cement and 32% for concrete and aggregates.

After placing the debt in early August from 15.2 billion euros from Lafarge on negative watch, Standard & Poor's affirmed its rating credit early September in view of measures to reduce costs and debt already incurred and the asset sales to come.