UPDATE 1-Melexis increases guidance after Q2 beats hopes

July 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

BRUSSELS, July 29 (Reuters) – Belgium’s Melexis (MLXS.BR) said it now expects sales to increase by 60 percent for the full-year as it sees increased demand for its microchips, which make cars more environmentally friendly.

The company, which designs and tests chips, said it had experienced its highest ever quarterly sales and its market had yet to reach its peak.

“Ramping up production output so much faster than anticipated was a substantial challenge,” Chief Executive Francoise Chombar said in a statement on Thursday.

Melexis said net income for the second quarter was 12.1 million euros ($15.75 million), beating 8.50 million expected by four analysts polled by Reuters.

It said revenue for the quarter was 55.8 million euros, beating 49.6 million expected in the poll.

When it announced its first quarter results in April it forecast that revenues would rise by over a third. [ID:nLDE63K13Z] (Reporting by Ben Deighton; Editing by Mike Nesbit) ($1=.7684 euro)

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Audi CEO says positively surprised by H1

July 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) premium car maker Audi (NSUG.DE) expects sales this year to be significantly above 1 million units, the unit’s head said on Tuesday.

“We are positively surprised by how we’ve started in 2010,” Audi Chief Executive Rupert Stadler said late on Monday in remarks set for release on Tuesday.

“We will also have a good second half of the year,” he said, adding that he would give a more precise sales forecast with Audi’s first-half report on Friday.

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Audi CEO says positively surprised by H1

July 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 27 (Reuters) – Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) premium car maker Audi (NSUG.DE) expects sales this year to be significantly above 1 million units, the unit’s head said on Tuesday.

“We are positively surprised by how we’ve started in 2010,” Audi Chief Executive Rupert Stadler said late on Monday in remarks set for release on Tuesday.

“We will also have a good second half of the year,” he said, adding that he would give a more precise sales forecast with Audi’s first-half report on Friday.

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BP’s Hayward to be offered role at TNK-BP: report

July 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – BP Plc Chief Executive Tony Hayward is to be nominated for a board position at its Russian venture TNK-BP when he steps down from his current role, Sky News reported, citing sources.

TNK-BP declined to comment on the Sky News report on Monday when contacted by Reuters.

BP is expected to install American Bob Dudley as CEO, sources close to the company said, replacing Hayward who has come under fire for his gaffe-prone handling of the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Dudley, the U.S. executive managing the response operation to the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, is poised to get the top job in the next 24 hours, a move that could soften U.S. criticism of the British oil major.

Shares in BP closed up 4.6 percent at 417 pence, valuing the business at about 80 billion pounds ($123.6 billion).

(Reporting by Rhys Jones; Additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by David Holmes)

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BP says no plans to issue statement on CEO

July 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – BP said it had no plans to issue a statement about a board meeting on Monday which sources close to the company said discussed whether to confirm a plan to ditch Chief Executive Tony Hayward.

BP’s board was due to confirm a plan to replace Hayward with Bob Dudley, who is currently heading BP’s oil spill response, sources close to the company said.

BP is due to issue its second quarter results on Tuesday at 0600 GMT/2 a.m. EDT.

(Reporting by Tom Bergin, Editing by Sandra Maler)

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Raiffeisen eyes acquisitions in Poland-magazine

July 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 25 (Reuters) – Raiffeisen International (RIBH.VI) is eyeing Poland as a place for potential acquisitions, Chief Executive Herbert Stepic told Germany weekly magazine Wirtschaftswoche.

Raiffeisen only expands into markets where it can gain significant market share and strengthen its positioning, Stepic told the magazine.

“Poland is without a doubt a market where this is the case,” Stepic was quoted as saying in an advance copy of the magazine’s Monday edition. (Reporting by Edward Taylor; editing by Karen Foster)

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BP to discuss CEO Hayward’s exit on Monday -sources

July 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 25 (Reuters) – BP Plc’s (BP.N) board will discuss the future of Chief Executive Tony Hayward when it meets on Monday to discuss the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the firm’s second-quarter results, sources familiar with the matter said.

They said the focus will be on the timing of Hayward’s departure, rather than whether or not he would stay with the company.

“The details are being worked out,” one source said. (Reporting by Tom Bergin, editing by James Davey; editing by Karen Foster)

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SGX says volumes seen up 10 pct if lunch break cancelled

July 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 23 (Reuters) – Singapore Exchange (SGXL.SI) may see increased trading volumes of up to 10 percent if it does away with the lunchtime break, chief executive Magnus Bocker said on Friday.

But the exchange is still in talks with brokers and it was too early to say when continuous trading will be implemented, he told the Singapore Foreign Correspondents Association.

(Reporting by Kevin Lim; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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UPDATE 1-Stora cautious on Q3 after strong Q2 profit

July 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

HELSINKI, July 22 (Reuters) – Top European paper and board maker Stora Enso (STERV.HE) reported on Thursday better-than-expected earnings, helped by improving demand and cost cutting, but warned third-quarter outlook was still uncertain.

Stora reported underlying April-June operating profit rising more than four-fold from a year ago to 213 million euros, beating all expectations in a Reuters poll of analysts, which ranged from 96 million to 160 million.

Net sales rose 23 percent to 2.7 billion euros, also beating all expectations.

The global paper industry has struggled to emerge from a long slump caused by soft demand and overcapacity that was exacerbated by last year’s recession, which hammered advertising spending.

While demand has slowly started to recover, the upturn has been uneven, with segments like newsprint and magazine paper still struggling but areas like pulp growing strongly.

“The outlook for the third quarter is mixed and still uncertain,” Chief Executive Jouko Karvinen said in a statement.

“Although volumes have recovered from the very low levels of 2009, clearly market demand in all paper segments has still been and will for a long time remain clearly below the pre-crisis levels of 2008,” he said.

(Reporting by Helsinki Newsroom)

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UPDATE 1-NicOx says key drug rejected by FDA

July 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

PARIS, July 22 (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has rejected NicOx’s (NCOX.PA) pain drug Naproxcinod, recommending further trials, the French biotechnology group said on Thursday.

NicOx, which has spent about 10 years and 100 million euros ($127.6 million) to fund the U.S. launch of its lead anti-inflammatory drug, said it would hold talks with the FDA as soon as possible to discuss potential next steps.

Citing a response letter, NicOx said the FDA had recommended conducting more long-term controlled studies to assess the safety of Naproxcinod on a cardiovascular and gastrointestinal level.

An FDA advisory panel had already voted against approving the drug in May, sending NicOx shares to a four-year low. [ID:nLDE64C05Z]

NicOx Chief Executive Michele Garufi told Reuters last month he remained hopeful for the drug, even as some analysts questioned the group’s drug development technology. [ID:nLDE65F295] (Reporting by Lionel Laurent and James Regan; Editing by David Holmes) ($1=.7836 Euro)

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UPDATE 1-Technip keeps targets after Q2 earnings drop

July 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

PARIS, July 22 (Reuters) – French oilfield services company Technip (TECF.PA) posted an 8.7 percent drop in second-quarter net profit on Thursday after subsea sales fell almost one-fifth.

Chief Executive Thierry Pilenko said the group remained on track to meet its 2010 earnings targets, however, helped by a pickup in the North Sea, growth in Brazil and strong prospects in the Middle East and Asia. Net income fell to 106 million euros ($135.3 million) in the second quarter from 116 million in the year-earlier quarter, the company said in a statement. Sales fell 14 percent to 1.48 billion, of which 688 million came from subsea.

The company carries out infrastructure projects mostly for oil companies in the onshore, offshore and subsea sectors, and has 23,000 staff in 48 countries. It expects to have a fleet of 19 vessels by 2011.

The BP (BP.L) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has not had an impact on Technip so far, meanwhile, CEO Pilenko said, though he added that it was difficult to predict the repercussions.

U.S. authorities said last month that Technip agreed to pay $338 million to settle U.S. allegations involving a scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials for contracts to build liquefied natural gas facilities there. [ID:nN28265604]

In February, Technip set aside some $300 million for possible fines in the case.

Shares in the group have fallen slightly so far this year, giving the company a market value of around 5.3 billion euros. ($1=.7836 Euro) (Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Hans Peters)

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AXA Asia says Hong Kong business ‘very profitable’

July 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 22 (Reuters) – Takeover target AXA Asia Pacific Holding’s (AXA.AX) Hong Kong business is very profitable with sales growing by 20 percent in the first half, its chief executive said on Thursday.

“We will show in a couple of weeks, the business is very profitable,” Chief Executive Andrew Penn said, referring to the company’s first half earnings announcement on August 4.

“Growth is accelerating in Hong Kong,” he said to a question on whether Hong Kong was dragging the companies earnings.

The wealth manager disappointed the market on Wednesday, flagging first-half operating earnings that were about 8 percent below analysts’ forecasts. Analysts said the shortfall appeared to be due to slowing growth in its Asian operations.

AXA Asia Pacific, a unit of France’s AXA SA (AXAF.PA), is the target of an $11.5 billion takeover offer from National Australia Bank (NAB.AX), which was extended last week to give NAB time to address concerns raised by Australia’s competition watchdog. (Reporting by Sonali Paul; editing by Balazs Koranyi)

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TeliaSonera says raised sales outlook for 2010

July 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 20 (Reuters) – TeliaSonera’s (TLSN.ST) new outlook for sales growth in local currencies in 2010 is an upgrade of its previous outlook, the company said on Tuesday.

The company said it now expected growth in net sales in local currencies and excluding acquisitions for 2010 to be in line with the first half of 2010.

Previously the company forecast “somewhat higher” net sales.

“This is an upgrade of the year’s growth forecast,” a Telia spokesman quoted Chief Executive Lars Nyberg saying.

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UPDATE 1-SThree profit falls; makes strong start to H2

July 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 19 (Reuters) – British recruiter SThree Plc (STHR.L) posted a 35 percent drop in first-half adjusted pretax profit, due to a reduction in permanent placements, but said it made a strong start to the second half as some of its markets started improving.

The staffing company, which counts finance, oil and gas, and pharma recruitment among its niche areas, said although some markets staged a robust recovery, others were still subdued by normal standards.

“Having a strong sense of where the market is heading remains difficult, but on the basis of the currently available data we remain cautiously optimistic,” Chief Executive Russell Clements said in a statement.

For the six months ended May 30, the company said its pretax profit before exceptional items fell to 7.3 million pounds ($11.2 million) from 11.2 million pounds last year.

Revenue fell 21 percent to 221.7 million pounds, while permanent placements fell 14 percent to 2,842.

The company maintained its interim dividend at 4 pence.

SThree shares closed at 293 pence on Friday on the London Stock Exchange. ($1=.6541 POUND) (Reporting by Tresa Sherin Morera in Bangalore; Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair)

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ICICI Bank CEO sees 20 pct credit growth in FY11

July 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 19 (Reuters) – ICICI Bank (ICBK.BO), India’s second-largest lender, expects 20 percent credit growth in this fiscal year to March 2011, its chief executive said on Monday.

The bank is not planning to launch the initial public offering of its broking arm, ICICI Securities, during this fiscal year, Chanda Kochhar told reporters. (Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy)

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Abu Dhabi Islamic sees double-digit growth in H2 – CEO

July 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 18 (Reuters) – UAE lender Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank ADIB.AD expects to report “double digit” profit growth in the second half of the year, its chief executive said on Sunday.

“Our plan is to continue to show double digit growth for the rest of the year,” Chief Executive Tirad Mahmoud told Reuters.

The bank, the second largest Islamic lender in the UAE, posted a 56 percent rise in second-quarter profit earlier in the day as provisions fell. [ID:nLDE6650AH] (Reporting by Stanley Carvalho, Editing by Andrew Callus)

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UPDATE 1-Premier Oil sees H1 output rising 17 pct

July 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 15 (Reuters) – Britain’s Premier Oil (PMO.L) said it expects average first-half production to rise 17 percent and that its full-year production remains in line with previous guidance.

Estimated average group production for the first half was 46,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) while forecast full year production continues to be around 44,000 boepd.

“Premier continues to make good progress towards its 75,000 boepd production target for 2012,” said Chief Executive Simon Lockett. “Our major projects are progressing well and the recent Catcher discovery will now move rapidly into development.”

Earlier this month, Premier raised its reserves estimate for the Catcher/Catcher East area in the UK Central North Sea to a range of 60 million to 100 million barrels of oil. [ID:nLDE6640AA]

(Reporting by Julie Crust; editing by James Davey)

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Kuwait’s Zain may invest in MidEast-report

July 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 14 (Reuters) – Kuwaiti telecom firm Zain (ZAIN.KW) is open to investing in communications and the Internet in the Middle East, its chief executive said in remarks published on Wednesday.

The state news agency KUNA quoted Nabil bin Salama as saying the company’s profits for the first half will be “good.” He did not provide any figures.

Zain sold most of its African assets to India’s Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO) in a $9 billion deal last month. It overhauled its management in line with its new strategy to concentrate on Middle East operations. [nLDE6591RK]

Bin Salama said Zain was interested in acquiring the telecoms company it operates in Lebanon, MTC Touch, if the government decides to sell it.

(Reporting by Diana Elias; Editing by Andrew Callus)

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UPDATE 1-Low & Bonar profit rises; keeps upbeat FY view

July 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 13 (Reuters) – British specialist materials group Low & Bonar Plc (LWB.L) posted a 31 percent rise in adjusted first-half pretax profit, helped by growth in transport and leisure sectors, and kept an upbeat full-year trading outlook.

The company, which supplies yarn, fabric and fibre to end-markets like civil engineering, transport, sport and leisure, said it would pay an interim dividend of 0.5 pence.

“The much improved sales pattern established throughout the second quarter, has continued into the start of the second half,” Chief Executive Steve Good said in a statement.

In June, the company had forecast full-year trading ahead of its own expectations.

Analysts on average expect Low & Bonar to post a full-year pretax profit of 18 million pounds ($27.1 million) on revenue of 329.4 million pounds, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

For the six months to end-May, the company reported a pretax profit of 6.7 million pounds before amortisation and one-time items, compared with 5.1 million pounds a year ago.

Revenue rose 11.7 percent to 155.8 million pounds.

Low & Bonar lowered its net debt by almost 32 percent to 67.4 million pounds at the end of the period.

Shares of the company closed at 43 pence on Monday on the London Stock Exchange. ($1=.6655 Pound) (Reporting by Aditi Samajpati in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon)

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RPT-SAfrica’s Village seeks gold mine to generate cash -paper

July 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 13 (Reuters) – South African junior miner Village Main Reef Gold Mining (VILJ.J) plans to buy a gold mine within the next year to generate cash for its other venture, Business Day on Tuesday quoted the chief executive as saying.

Village earlier this year bought a controlling interest in the Lesego Platinum exploration project, for which it plans to complete a bankable feasibility study within three years.

In the meantime, the company plans to buy a mine to avoid pitfalls suffered by other junior miners reliant on one asset only.

“Our first strategic objective is to buy a cash-generative asset,” CEO Bernard Swanepoel was quoted as saying. (Reporting by Agnieszka Flak, Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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