Brunei investor eyes $1 bln bid for Club Med-paper

July 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 18 (Reuters) – Brunei investment firm BMB Group is considering a bid for Club Med (CMIP.PA) that would value the French-listed holiday firm at about 800 million euros ($1 billion), the Sunday Times reported.

BMB Group, an investment office that manages money for the Sultan of Brunei’s family, has the support of three of Club Med’s four major shareholders, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources close to the situation.

Talks with the fourth and largest shareholder, Fipar, are expected to be finalised this week, it added.

Neither BMB Group nor Club Med could immediately be reached for comment. (Reporting by Mark Potter; Editing by David Holmes) ($1=.7706 Euro)

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Wartsila wins 23 mln euro Chinese ship engine deal

July 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 13 (Reuters) – Finnish engine maker Wartsila (WRT1V.HE) said on Tuesday it had won a deal worth more than 23 million euros ($29 million) from Brightoil Petroleum Group (BPG) in China.

The Finnish company said it will deliver 80 main engines for 40 new bunkering tankers ordered by oil company BPG, and it had also signed an eight-year service deal for all the engines. Wartsila said the deal was one of the largest orders it has ever received and the first 10 engines were scheduled to be delivered between December and next June. (Reporting by Helsinki Newsroom; Editing by Dan Lalor) ($1 = 0.7939 euro)

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BinckBank and Delta Lloyd set up pension venture

July 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 6 (Reuters) – Dutch online broker BinckBank N.V. (BINCK.AS) and insurer Delta Lloyd (DLL.AS) on Tuesday said they would establish a joint venture to offer group defined contribution pension schemes in the Dutch market.

“This new initiative is a Contributory Pension Institution … a new type of pension administrator that enters the Dutch market, alongside insurers and pension funds,” they said in a statement.

BinckBank and Delta Lloyd said the market for defined contribution pension schemes in the Netherlands is growing rapidly. In 2008 the market volume was 6.5 billion euros ($8.72 billion), according to the Dutch Association of Insurers.

The new entity, “BeFrank”, will actively enter the market after a new pension law comes into force on Jan. 1, 2011.

The start-up losses for the first three years will total 6 million euros, BinckBank and Delta Lloyd said. They expect BeFrank to contribute to the parent companies’ profits from 2014. (Reporting by Harro ten Wolde; Editing by Hans Peters) ($1=.7453 Euro)

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Enel sees OGK-5 EBITDA rising in coming years

July 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 6 (Reuters) – Russian power producer OGK-5 (OGKE.MM) will likely see EBITDA at 471 million euros ($632 million) in 2011, controlling shareholder Enel (ENEI.MI) said in a presentation on Tuesday.

Italy’s Enel, which has 55.86 percent stake in OGK-5, also forecast that the Russian company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation would rise to 1.077 billion euros in 2014.

In 2009, OGK-5 has an EBITDA of 7.74 billion roubles ($248 million). [ID:nLDE62E1DF] (Reporting by John Bowker; Writing by Toni Vorobyova; editing by Dmitry Sergeyev)

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PGNIG eyes eurobond issue worth up to 1.2 bln euros

July 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 29 (Reuters) – Poland’s gas monopoly PGNIG PGNI.WA plans to issue euro-bonds worth up to 1.2 billion euros ($1.48 billion), the company’s Deputy Chief Executive Slawomir Hinc was quoted on Tuesday as saying by daily Parkiet.

“We want to be ready with the programme of issuing these bonds in the fourth quarter. The sale itself can be conducted a little bit later, that is in the first quarter of 2011,” he also said in an interview. (Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Mike Nesbit) ($1=.8103 euros)

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MAN sees higher order intake in Diesel&Turbo ops

June 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 27 (Reuters) – German truckmaker MAN SE (MANG.DE) expects order intake in its Diesel & Turbo unit to rise above 3 billion euros ($4.03 billion) this year, more than the 2009 level, a German newspaper quotes the unit’s head as saying.

Industrials

“Orders are picking up again,” Klaus Stahlmann told Die Welt in an interview that was made available ahead of its official publication on Monday, adding that order intake in the unit would certainly be higher than 3 billion euros.

In 2009, the unit’s order intake was 2.9 billion euros.

However, Stahlmann said that revenues of the unit — which also makes turbines for power plants and produces engines for container and cruise ships — would remain stable in 2010 compared with the pre-year level of about 3.8 billion euros.

Stahlmann — who became head of the Diesel & Turbo unit at the beginning of the year — added that its operations would expand in Brazil: “This can happen through an acquisition or through setting up a plant,” he was quoted.

He also denied that the company was intending to sell the unit: “There are persistent rumours about that but there is nothing to it,” he said. ($1=.7453 euros) (Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Greg Mahlich)

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Greek CDS hits new high at 1,131 bps – CMA

June 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 25 (Reuters) – The cost of protecting Greek government debt against default rose to a record high on Friday, according to monitor CMA DataVision.

Five-year credit default swaps (CDS) on Greek government debt climbed to 1,131 basis points from 1,127 bps at the New York close on Thursday.

This means it now costs 1.131 million euros to insure an exposure of 10 million euros of Greek government bonds, up from 1.127 million euros.

Analysts said this was partly driven by the fact that Greek bonds will drop out of some major bond indexes at month-end after getting a second junk rating from Moody’s earlier this month.

The market was reflecting this in CDS prices rather than bond spreads, which are being held in by European Central Bank buying, analysts said. (Reporting by Ian Chua)

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UPDATE 1-Northern Petroleum sees output rising this year

June 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

LONDON, June 8 (Reuters) – Northern Petroleum (NOP.L) said it expects its production rate to rise about 33 percent this year helped by the first output from a further two gas fields in the Netherlands.

It expects production to have reached more than 1,750 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) by the end of 2010 compared with 1,320 boepd at the end of 2009.

The company also reported on Tuesday that it had swung to a pretax loss of 3.1 million euros ($3.7 million) in 2009, a year in which it made a record capital investment of 29.7 million euros to develop its reserves and resources.

(Reporting by Julie Crust; editing by Matt Scuffham)

($1=.8375 EURO)

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Italian funds see 3.5 bln eur outflow in May

June 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 7 (Reuters) – Italian fund managers had net outflows of 3.5 billion euros ($4.18 billion) in May, according to figures released on Monday by fund management association Assogestioni.

Financials

In April, they had seen net inflows of 76 million euros.

Equity funds registered net outflows of 1.6 billion euros and cash funds showed net outflows of 2.4 billion euros, Assogestioni said in a statement.

Bond funds had net inflows of 343 million euros.

Shares in Italian asset managers such as Mediolanum (MED.MI) and Eurizon, which is owned by Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI), are senstive to the data as inflows boost their income from fees.

Further details can be found on the association’s web site www.assogestioni.it.

($1=.8375 Euro)

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Court acquits Chandraswami in FERA case

June 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, June 5 — A Delhi court, on Saturday, acquitted self-styled godman, Chandraswami, in a 14-year-old Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had accused the godman of violating the FERA terms in a defamation suit filed by him 26 years ago.

Additional Metropolitan Magistrate A.K. Pandey said the ED failed to establish that the “accused Nemi Chand Jain alias Chandraswami had the knowledge about deposit of the money (6,000 Euros) in a defamation suit filed by him in 1986 in London against Lakhu Bhai Pathak.” Counsel for Chandraswami, Santosh Chauriah, said, “They did not know exactly who paid the money on his behalf.

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Iran to sell 45 bln euros, buy dollars, gold -Xinhua

June 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 2 (Reuters) – The Iranian central bank has announced that it will sell 45 billion euros from its foreign exchange reserves to buy dollars and gold, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday, citing unspecified Iranian media reports.

Currencies | Bonds | Global Markets

Xinhua said that the sales would be conducted in three stages and that the first had already begun, citing unnamed sources.

It also said that other Gulf states had also started cutting their euro holdings. (Reporting by Michael Wei and Simon Rabinovitch; Editing by Neil Fullick)

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EU clears EBS’s 875 mln euro recapitalisation for now

June 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 2 (Reuters) – EU competition regulators temporarily cleared 875 million euros ($1.06 billion) in emergency recapitalisation for Ireland’s Educational Building Society (EBS) on Wednesday.

“EBS needs a significant recapitalisation to comply – and to continue to comply in the coming years – with capital requirement rules,” Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a statement.

He said the measure, which was approved for six months, was appropriate to preserve financial stability in Ireland and that EBS would need to present a restructuring plan to restore its viability. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)

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Finland sees H2 l-term funding need at 7 bln euros

June 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 1 (Reuters) – Finland’s State Treasury sees the Nordic country’s second-half long-term funding need at around 7 billion euros ($8.6 billion), Deputy Director Ari-Pekka Latti told Reuters on Tuesday.

“One to two auctions could be in the cards,” Latti said, adding that given the summer holidays it was not likely Finland would sell debt on the long-term side before September.

Five-year bond syndications were also possible in September-October, he said.

Latti’s comments came after Finland said it had sold 1.5 billion euros of its 2020 benchmark bond with a bid-to-cover ratio of 1.6.

(Reporting by Brett Young; editing by Jason Webb)

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Finland sells 1.5 bln euros of 2020 bond

June 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 1 (Reuters) – Finland’s State Treasury gave the following information on Tuesday on the auction of its 2020 benchmark bond SUVQ.

The tap was the first for the bond, which was issued in March of this year [ID:nHEL009560] [ID:nLDE62821P].

Price/Yield: 104.77/2.813%

Total amount of bids: 2.42 billion euros

Accepted amount: 1.50 billion euros

Bid-to-cover ratio: 1.6

Outstanding stock after the auction: 5.5 billion euros

(Reporting by Brett Young)

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ECB calls for bids for 35 bln eur bond sterilisation

June 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 1 (Reuters) – The European Central Bank called for bids to absorb 35 billion euros in one-week funds from euro-zone money markets on Tuesday, to neutralise the monetary impact of its recent government bond buying activities.

The operation is a variable rate tender offering banks up to 1.0 percent on funds they deposit. Bids are due at 1005 GMT. (Click ECB 17 for full details)

The ECB is conducting the operations to counterbalance the cash it injects into the financial system when it buys government bonds, a tactic it turned to last month in a bid to calm the euro zone debt crisis.

The deposits can be used as collateral in the ECB’s lending operations. The ECB has said it plans to hold a repeat operation next week.

(Reporting by Marc Jones)

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Austria to issue 1.65 bln eur bonds on June 8

June 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 1 (Reuters) – Austria aims to raise 1.65 billion euros ($2 billion) by reopening 2018 and 2021 bonds in an auction on June 8, the country’s debt agency said on Tuesday.

The Austrian Federal Financing Agency (AFFA) will split the amount between the two bonds according to demand on auction day. It will sell 1.5 billion euros and keep 150 million euros for market-smoothing operations. (Reporting by Boris Groendahl; editing by Jason Webb)

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Libor 3-mth euro rate slips; spread at 24 bps

June 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

May 31 (Reuters) – The British Bankers’ Association released the following London Interbank Offered Rates (Libor) for euros at its daily fixing.

Dollar and sterling Libors are not fixed due to public holidays in the United States and Britain.

The spread of three-month Libor rates over three-month OIS rates, calculated from Reuters’ data, expresses the three-month premium paid over anticipated central bank rates, or Overnight Index Swap rates.

The change from the previous session is indicated in parenthesis.

EURO O/N 0.28000 (+0.00500) 1WK 0.31750 (-0.00063) 2WK 0.33375 (-0.00188) 1MO 0.39125 (-0.00313) 2M0 0.48688 (-0.00187) 3MO 0.63313 (-0.00125) 6MO 0.93813 (-0.00125) 1YR 1.23625 (-0.00125)

3MTH LIBOR/OIS SPREAD (BPs)

24 (+1)

For RICs to the above rates, go to <0#LIBORSUPERRICS>.

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Brit wins record £84million in EuroMillions draw

May 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 15 (ANI): A single Brit man has won the country”s biggest ever lottery after scooping more than 84.4 million euros on the EuroMillions draw.

The massive 100,037,101 euros win is the third largest in EuroMillions” six-year history.

“This is absolutely fantastic news – and the biggest ever lottery win in the UK.

“We”re delighted to have yet another massive UK win, following hot on the heels of Nigel Page”s amazing 56 million euros EuroMillions win in February,” Sky news quoted a Camelot spokesperson as saying.

The couple had given their old four-bedroom house to their cleaner, after spending 4 million euros on their own six-bedroom environmentally friendly mansion.

The largest ever EuroMillions win was the 126.2 million euros won by a 25-year-old Spanish woman in May last year. (ANI)

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Silvio Berlusconi ‘agrees to divorce’ second wife

May 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 10 (ANI): Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has reportedly agreed on a divorce settlement with his second wife/actress Veronica Lario.

According to reports, Lairo will receive “considerably less” than the 3.5 million Euros a month, she had demanded as maintenance.

Instead, Berlusconi, 73, has offered her up to 300,000 euros a month.

Also, she is likely to retain Villa Belvedere, her mansion at Macherio near Milan.

Legal sources revealed that the estranged couple, had “coldly shaken hands” after nearly five hours of talks at the Milan courthouse.

Nonetheless, they added that the outcome had been “satisfactory”.

Lario blamed the leader, who has been linked to different women in the past, for the split, reports the Times.

Meanwhile, Berlusconi’s aides suggested Lairo had an affair with a bodyguard.

Lario’s staff, however, denied the allegation.

The two have been married for twenty years and have three children together. (ANI)

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Portugal sells 2 bln euros in bonds, demand strong

April 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

April 14 (Reuters) – The Portuguese Institute for Public
Credit Management (IGCP) sold the following two treasury bond
issues in an auction on Wednesday, placing 2 billion euros — at
the top end of its indicative offer range.

2021 BOND:

(Previous )
Auction date: 14/04/10 10/03/10
Maturity 15/06/21 15/04/21
Settlement date: 19/04/10 15/03/10
Avg. yield (pct) 4.340 4.171
Avg. price (pct) 103.72 97.19
Highest yield (pct) 4.355 4.191
Lowest yield (pct) 4.325 4.145
Tail 0.015 0.02
Total bids 1.880 bln 1.580 bln
Allotment 1.195 bln 990 mln
Bid-to-cover ratio 1.6 1.6
Outstanding after auction 4.195 bln 7.076 bln

2012 BOND:

(Previous)
Auction date: 14/04/10 08/04/09
Maturity 15/06/12 15/06/12
Settlement date: 19/04/10 15/04/09
Avg. yield (pct) 1.715 2.708
Avg. price (pct) 106.89 106.86
Highest yield (pct) 1.733 2.717
Lowest yield (pct) 1.674 2.685
Tail 0.018 0.009
Total bids 2.015 bln 2.635 bln
Allotment 805 mln 1.000 bln
Bid-to-cover ratio 2.5 2.6
Outstanding after auction 7.641 bln 6.836 bln

For more information about the auctions please click on
IGCP09.

(Reporting by Andrei Khalip and Axel Bugge)

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