The Intelligent Investor U.K. The Economic Monitor Series. Free Edition. The FTSE 100 was down by 4.13 points, or 0.07 percent, at 5,965.08. British 10-year gilt yields touched an eight-month high on as futures prices drifted lower in line with German Bunds. The spread versus 10-year Bunds was steady at around 50 basis points. Sterling rose against the dollar on Thursday, drawing support from expectations the Bank of England could raise interest rates by mid-year and underpinned by a broad dollar weakness. Sterling was up 0.26 percent on the day at $1.5939, having climbed to a to a session high of $1.5991 and tripping buy stops following its break through $1.5945 earlier in the session. Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes, down 11/32 in early dealings, were down just 1/32, yielding 3.42 percent. Gold slid nearly 2 percent to three-month lows of $1,319.39 an ounce, as a dearth of haven interest curbed fresh investment, with the dollar's recovery from lows pushing prices through key technical levels. Spot gold was bid at $1,320.90 an ounce at 1628 GMT, against $1,346.36 late in New York on Wednesday. ICE Brent remained higher, above $98 a barrel, but off an earlier high of $98.95. MARKETS AT A GLANCE STOCK INDICES CURRENCIES FUTURES INDEX LAST PRIOREuro (EUR/USD) 1.3683 1.3691 UK Pound (GBP/USD) 1.5903 1.5899 Japanese Yen (USD/JPY) 83.03 82.3 All prices are at 12:04 PM ESTLAST CHANGE Crude Oil 85.97 -1.36 Natural Gas (Mar) 4.347 -0.154 Gold, (Feb) 1321.6 -12.9 Copper (Mar) 430.55 3.85 All prices are at 11:53 AM EST27 January 2011 INSIDE THE REPORT Stock recommendations and price targets from top brokerage firms Analysis and views on Ubiquisys’ portable femtocell and 3i's investments Economic Indicator Watch Important Events Scheduled on January 28 Economic Events & Indicators GFK Consumer Confidence Survey (January) Corporate Events KCom Group - trading updates Experian- Investor Seminar Breaking News U.K. retail sales growth slows in Jan OFT settles on banking fees probe BSkyB reports double-digit H1 growth Astra beats forecasts Britvic Q1 sales soar A.G. Barr sees good growth in Q4 INDEX LAST CHNG % CHNG FTSE 100* 5965.08 -4.13 -0.07 FTSE Tech Mark 100* 2161.59 -2.28 -0.11 FTSE Eurofirst 300* 1154.92 2.21 0.19 DAX* 7155.58 28.23 0.4 CAC 40* 4059.57 10.5 0.26 Stoxx Europe 600 282.98 0.51 0.18 * CLOSING VALUES
Transcript
8/7/2019 Intelligent Investor UK edition January 27 2011
The FTSE 100 was down by 4.13 points, or 0.07 percent, at5,965.08.
British 10-year gilt yields touched an eight-month high on asfutures prices drifted lower in line with German Bunds. The spreadversus 10-year Bunds was steady at around 50 basis points.
Sterling rose against the dollar on Thursday, drawing supportfrom expectations the Bank of England could raise interest rates
by mid-year and underpinned by a broad dollar weakness. Sterlingwas up 0.26 percent on the day at $1.5939, having climbed to a toa session high of $1.5991 and tripping buy stops following itsbreak through $1.5945 earlier in the session.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes, down 11/32 in early dealings,were down just 1/32, yielding 3.42 percent.
Gold slid nearly 2 percent to three-month lows of $1,319.39 anounce, as a dearth of haven interest curbed fresh investment, withthe dollar's recovery from lows pushing prices through keytechnical levels. Spot gold was bid at $1,320.90 an ounce at 1628GMT, against $1,346.36 late in New York on Wednesday.
ICE Brent remained higher, above $98 a barrel, but off an earlierhigh of $98.95.
MARKETS AT A GLANCE
STOCK INDICES
CURRENCIES
FUTURES
INDEX LAST PRIOR
Euro (EUR/USD) 1.3683 1.3691
UK Pound (GBP/USD) 1.5903 1.5899
Japanese Yen (USD/JPY) 83.03 82.3
All prices are at 12:04 PM EST
LAST CHANGE
Crude Oil 85.97 -1.36
Natural Gas (Mar) 4.347 -0.154
Gold, (Feb) 1321.6 -12.9
Copper (Mar) 430.55 3.85
All prices are at 11:53 AM EST
27 January 2011
INSIDE THE REPORT
Stock recommendations and price targets from topbrokerage firms
Analysis and views on Ubiquisys’ portable femtocell and
3i's investments
Economic Indicator Watch
Important Events Scheduled on January 28
Economic Events & Indicators
GFK Consumer Confidence Survey (January)
Corporate Events
KCom Group - trading updates
Experian- Investor Seminar
Breaking News
U.K. retail sales growth slows in Jan
OFT settles on banking fees probe
BSkyB reports double-digit H1 growth
Astra beats forecasts
Britvic Q1 sales soar
A.G. Barr sees good growth in Q4
INDEX LAST CHNG % CHNG
FTSE 100* 5965.08 -4.13 -0.07
FTSE Tech Mark 100* 2161.59 -2.28 -0.11
FTSE Eurofirst 300* 1154.92 2.21 0.19
DAX* 7155.58 28.23 0.4
CAC 40* 4059.57 10.5 0.26
Stoxx Europe 600 282.98 0.51 0.18
* CLOSING VALUES
8/7/2019 Intelligent Investor UK edition January 27 2011
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts are their own, and not that of IBTimes or its management. We advise users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
STOCK RECOMMENDATIONS BY BROKERAGE HOUSES
BROKERAGE/COMPANY ACTIONS RATING PREV CLOSE
Peel Hunt
Severfield Cuts price target to 330P from 360P Buy 295.75p
Panmure
Hyder Cuts to hold from buy Hold 439.50p
Mouchel Raises price target to 155P from 105p Buy 139.50p
Robert Wiseman Cuts to hold from buy Hold 340p
SIG Raises price target to 165P from 150p Buy 146p
THE NEXT TRADING DAY
Economic Events
No major economic events are scheduled.
Company Events
British telecom provider KCom Group will release its trading updates and analysts believe the group to continue to trade in line with current marketexpectations. Investors will be looking for updates on net debt as the company which has almost completed its restructuring in over two years, isforecasted to see a further drop in debt. KCom has cut its net debt to about 112 million pounds ($178.7 million) from 181 million pounds over thelast two years and expects to reduce it further by the year end. Executive Chairman Bill Halbert had earlier stated that they would expect to run thebusiness at a net debt between 1 and 1.5 times our EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization). He said the company'sgrowth strategy includes getting business from existing customers. He also added that they are moving from a phase of restructuring andrepositioning into a growth phase over the next five years. The company, which has renewed a contract with British Airways recently, is also gettingadditional business from new customers such as mobile phone retailer Phones4U. KCom has also secured a new 200 million pound ($319.1 million)revolving credit facility, with maturity in July 2015, replacing its existing 250 million pound facility, which was to expire in March 2012.
Experian, the global information services company, will host a seminar for analysts and investors on Jan 28, 2011. Senior executives will be updatinginvestors on the ongoing delivery of strategy, as well as providing greater awareness and understanding of Experian's global business. Thecompany’s guidance for FY 2011, as communicated at the Q3 results on 19 January 2011, remains unchanged.
GfK NOP will release its Consumer Confidence Survey for the month of January 2011 on 28 Jan, 2011 at 0001 am (29 Jan, 2011).
British consumer confidence stayed at its lowest level since July this month, and only shoppers' desire to bring forward big purchases before nextmonth's rise in value-added tax stopped a further fall.
The GfK NOP December consumer confidence barometer was unchanged at -21, slightly better than the -22 analysts had forecast but two pointslower than the same time last year. The survey's "climate for major purchases" gauge jumped 10 points, but all other components fell. Economistsreckon as many as half a million public sector jobs could be lost over the next four years.
Nick Moon, managing director of GfK NOP Social Research said: "At the moment consumer confidence is being propped up by one thing – a belief that the run-up to Christmas and the VAT hike is a good time for big- ticket retail purchases.”
"This element of the index has distorted the overall index to make it appear static when in fact it is teetering on the brink. Every other measure hasfallen and without this one positive, consumer confidence would have fallen to its lowest level in over a year."
He said that the real test will come in January when the Christmas spend fest ends and VAT goes up to 20%. "Then we will finally see the full impactof how consumers are reacting to the first wave of austerity measures."
ECONOMIC INDICATOR WATCH ON JAN 28, 2011
8/7/2019 Intelligent Investor UK edition January 27 2011
Can Ubiquisys portable femtocell make international roaming cheaper?By IBtimes
U.K. start up Ubiquisys has rolled out a portable cell phone signal - dubbed the attocell - that allows people travelling abroad to make and receivecalls as if in their home country.
According to the Google-backed company, the new smartphone accessory - a personal femtocell for the iPhone - works with any 3G phone and hasalso been tested with Blackberry, Nokia and Android smartphones. Femtocells are low-power wireless base stations, providing 3G coverage for cellphones and route the calls through the Internet.
Ubiquisys, which develops 3G and LTE intelligent cells, says in a blog post that the world’s first attocell "doesn’t incur ro aming charges because thephone is not roaming, and does not connect to the visiting country’s networks. Instead it travels over the internet to the ho me country."
The company says the device with a range so tiny connects to a user’s laptop via USB that provides power and an internet connection. The devicethen analyses the IP address and radio environment to determine which country it is in, and sets its 3G radio power accordingly to below thelicenced level. In some countries its range will be just 5 millimeters, in other countries, it could cover a whole room.
In 5mm mode, the traveller simply lays the iPhone on top of the device to enable an automatic connection and calls can be made using a Bluetoothor wired headset , or by using the iPhone’s speaker.
The attocell continuously monitors its radio environment to ensure that there is zero impact on existing mobile networks, says Ubiquisys. This,combined with its tiny power output, is likely to make the attocell exempt from regulatory controls and the requirement for type approval. Thedevice is the first to offer coverage for international travelers, though wireless network operators including AT&T, Sprint Nextel, Verizon Wireless andVodafone have already launched their femtocell services.
Formed in 2004, Ubiquisys rolled out the first residential femtocell for less than $100 in December 2009. The company's other investors include tier 1VCs and T-Mobile. The company counts Nokia Siemens Networks, NECandEricsson among its engagement partners. "The attocell innovation is a
direct response to meet a specific requirement from mobile operators," says Ubiquisys chief executive Chris Gilbert.
A study from ABI Research forecasts that by 2011 there will be 102 million users of femtocell products on 32 million access points worldwide.
"Already in the US, femtocells outnumber outdoor cell towers, with subscribers installing these plug-and-play access points to greatly improvewireless coverage in their homes and offices," says Simon Saunders, chairman of the Femto Forum. "And, while coverage is a key benefit, there area variety of other advantages that femtocells enable including improved battery life and faster data speeds that will allow for advanced consumerapplications and services."
Ubiquisys says it will showcase the attocell at next month's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
ANALYSIS AND VIEWS
3i's investments jump in Q3By IBTimes
British private equity firm 3i Group said it made "some high quality" new investments and had significant realisations from the portfolio at gooduplifts in the third quarter.
3i said it invested 183 million pounds ($291 million) during the quarter, up from 59 million pounds in the same period of last year. By business lines,buyouts comprised 166 million pounds of investments in the third quarter.
This brings the total investment in the nine months to December 31, 2010 to 510 million pounds, more than double the 249 million-poundinvestment in the year-ago period.
Realisations were 105 million pounds for the third quarter, bringing realisations to 398 million pounds for the nine month period. Realisations,excluding co-investment funds, were 270 million pounds for the third quarter last year, bringing realisations to 777 million pounds for the ninemonths to December 2009.
As at December 31, 2010,the group said it had cash, cash deposits and undrawn committed facilities of 1.91 billion pounds, compared with 2.13billion pounds as at September 30, 2010.
3i is focused on buyouts, growth capital and infrastructure, investing in Europe, Asia and North America. The company actively invests in sectors suchas Industrials & Energy, TMT, Business and Financial Services, Healthcare and Consumer. For the half year ended Sept. 30, 3i reported a profit and arise in net asset value, and it lifted its interim dividend by 20 percent to 1.2 pence. Net asset value rose to 3.16 billion pounds from 2.75 billionpounds.
ANALYSIS AND VIEWS
Disclaimer - All information used in the publication of this report has been compiled from publicly available sources that are believed to be reliable, however we do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this report. This is not a solicitation or inducement to buy, sell, subscribe, or underwrite securities or units. This document is provided for information purposes only and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation for investment. This document has not been prepared in accordance with the legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and is not subject to any prohibition on dealing ahead of the dissemination of investment research. It may be difficult or not possible to buy, sell or obtain accurate information about the value of securities mentioned in this report.Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance.
8/7/2019 Intelligent Investor UK edition January 27 2011
Confederation of British Industry said that the retail sales growth for the month of January slowed as expected last month but the impact from arise in sales tax at the start of the month was partly offset by widespread discounting. The CBI distributive trades survey's stated sales balance fellto +37 in January from +56 in December, which was an 8-1/2 year high. Analysts had forecast a fall to +35. They forecast the upcoming few months
to be tough as household finances come under pressure from the value added tax rise and muted wage growth. CBI chief economic advisor IanMcCafferty said that seasonal sales and price discounting may have helped mitigate some of the impact of the VAT increase on volumes, however,retailers expect the pace of sales growth to slow further next month and orders placed with suppliers have flattened out. The CBI said there was aparticularly sharp fall in durable goods, while the strongest sales growth was reported by grocers, clothing and footwear stores.
OFT settles on banking fees probe
The Office of Fair Trading said that though the present system of equity underwriting that allows banks to make billions of pounds from helpingcompanies raise money may not be working well, but it won’t be referring the industry to the Competition Commission. It said that the concernsaround the level of fees can be handled most efficiently by companies and institutional shareholders rather than further intervention by thecompetition authorities. Six-month study revealed that the market remains uncompetitive, allowing major players like Morgan Stanley, GoldmanSachs, JP Morgan and Citigroup to increase already huge fees since the beginning of the financial crisis. It recommends companies to demand abreakdown of proposed fees, use competitive tendering more often, agree staged payments for different services and get some professional advice.
BSkyB reports double-digit H1 growth
Pay-TV firm British Sky Broadcasting reported "record" product sales and strong double-digit growth in profit and revenue for the first half. Thecompany, which lifted its interim dividend by 11 percent to 8.74 pence, said the business has achieved milestone of 10 million customers and totalnet product growth was 2.193 million. BSkyB said high definition continued to grow strongly and it achieved its highest broadband growth for morethan two years. For the half year ended December 31, pretax profit from continuing operations rose to 467 million pounds from 371 million pounds.Revenue grew 15 percent to 3.2 billion pounds ($5 billion), helped by strong growth in retail subscription, wholesale and advertising, it said. "Lookingahead, we are cautious on the economic outlook for 2011, while remaining very confident in the long term opportunity for the business," said chief executive Jeremy Darroch. Next week, BSkyB said it will launch Sky Atlantic, a premium channel featuring outstanding entertainment from the USand the UK, available to Sky TV customers at no additional charge. Later in the year, it will launch a new service, Sky Anywhere.
Astra beats forecasts
AstraZeneca said that strong growth in other markets, helped it to overcome the pain of competition in the US from generic versions of its drugslast year. Revenue for the full year was same on a constant exchange rates (CER) basis at $33,629m, while dividend was increased by 11% from2009's level to $2.55. Considering only fourth quarter, revenue on a CER basis was down 3% to $8,617m. The company expects that 2011 revenuecould range from flat to a low-single digit decline compared with 2010 revenue on a constant currency basis, with the extent of generic competitionamong the variables that could determine actual performance within the range.
Britvic Q1 sales soar
The soft drink manufacturer, Britvic reported a rise in revenue in its first quarter trading period. The group said that its total revenue was up 20 percent in the period to £288.2 million in the period. In Great Britain Britvic saw its sales increase 0.8 per cent to £191.7 million thanks to strong sales of carbonated drinks offsetting a decline in still drinks. In Ireland Britvic sales declined 8.4 per cent to £42.1 million, while sales in the group's newlyacquired French business were £48.6 million. In other international markets Britvic sales increased 41.5 per cent to £5.8 million. Gerald Corbett,Chairman of Britvic, said, "Whilst we expect the consumer and cost environment to remain challenging, we are confident in our ability to competestrongly in the markets in which we operate.”. He further added that they remain optimistic as they enter second quarter and also on the outcome
for the full year as they continue to execute our organic and international strategies.
A.G. Barr sees good growth in Q4
A.G. Barr said that strong fourth quarter sales were "especially pleasing" given that it faced not just the heavy snow, but tough comparatives with theprevious year. The group said that sales of Irn-Bru were doing well in its core market and had seen good growth in the North of England. In additionrevenue from A.G. Barr's Rubicon brand has increased 30 per cent in the last year to around £50 million. In an outlook statement A.G. Barr said thatthe investments the company has made in their asset base to improve efficiency together with tight cost control and price increases will continue tohelp offset rising commodity costs.
