British Airways (LSE: BA) lost ₤375 million ($595 million) in the 12 months ending March 31, 2009. This is down from a profit of ₤712 million ($1.1 billion) the year before. The airline, which was privatized in 1987, has never sustained a loss this great. As a result, British Airways will not pay any dividends to shareholders -- or bonuses to the management team.

Weaker demand and spikes in fuel costs are cited as the reasons for the year-over-year record loss. Revenue was up 2.9% (₤8.99 billion) year-over-year, but this was not enough to offset a 45% increase in fuel costs -- to ₤2.97 billion. Demand problems struck in the fourth quarter, with revenue dropping 8.4% to ₤1.9 billion.

Its previous record loss was ₤200 million for the year ending in 2002.

British Airways: worst loss in 20+ years originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 May 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc (NYSE: BUD) is going to turn down InBev's unsolicited $46.35B takeover offer and that may come before week's end, the Wall Street Journal reported. InBev is then expected to pursue a hostile takeover and Anheuser will say the offer undervalues the company. Instead, Anheuser will attempt to boost its share price by selling non-core assets such as its theme parks.
• The Wall Street Journal also reported that Belgian-Dutch financial firm Fortis NL (OTC: FORSY), in a move to increase its solvency, will attempt to raise $12.54B, and will also cancel its interim dividend and sell some assets.
• According to people familiar with the situation, the Wall Street Journal reported that JP Morgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) reportedly dropped out of the bidding for General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) $30B credit-card business. The sources said Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C), Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) and Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) are not expected to submit bids, as a result of charge-offs and rising delinquencies in their own credit card portfolios.
• The Financial Times reported that the London Stock Exchange, in a joint venture with Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (NYSE: LEH), unveiled a pan-European equities trading platform to fight rivals that are hurting its market share.

Newspaper wrap-up: Anheuser-Busch prepares to battle InBev originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Chrysler LLC is discussing shuttering or selling Mopar, its auto parts unit, and Chrysler Transport, the overseer of supplies to Chrysler's plants, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• Tomorrow, troubled condo developer WCI Communities Inc (NYSE: WCI) is expected to vote Carl Icahn and two of his representatives to the company's board, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Barron's Online's (subscription required) "Inside Scoop" column reported that Pep Boys (NYSE: PBY) director James Mitarotonda, a director since August 2006, purchased over $1.2M in stock through his equity fund Barington Companies Equity Partners on Aug. 23 and 24 according to SEC data.
• The sale of a 20% strategic stake in Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (NYSE: SMI), China's biggest chipmaker, has stalled, as the company's board is reportedly undecided about how to proceed, reported the Financial Times (subscription required).

• Nasdaq Stock Market Inc (NASDAQ: NDAQ) has agreed to seek the approval of London Stock Exchange CEO Clara Furse before it sells its minority stake in the British exchange to any single buyer, reported the Independent.

Newspaper wrap-up: Carl Icahn expected to join WCI board originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Aug 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What kind of money will the Nasdaq be able to receive for the LSE? Recently, the LSE's market value on the London Stock Exchange was $5.2 billion. Assuming Nasdaq sells its 31% block for a 20% discount, the Nasdaq would stand to get nearly $1.3 billion for the stake. Unfortunately, Nasdaq paid $1.33 billion for this stake originally so, unless the Nasdaq can receive the full value of its stake (which is unlikely), it stands to lose money on the deal. According to the company, this sale should produce about 35 cents in EPS next year.

Nasdaq would use this money to buy back stock, retire debt, and increase its offer for the OMX. According to the Bloomberg article, about $1 billion of the proceeds will be used to improve the financial condition of the company (via share buybacks and retiring debt) -- a move that should improve EPS on two fronts.

Continue reading Nasdaq (NDAQ) considering sale of LSE stake

Nasdaq (NDAQ) considering sale of LSE stake originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Aug 2007 12:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Mohamed Abdulmohsin Al Kharafi & Sons WLL, a Kuwaiti-based firm led by the Al Kharafi family, recently bought 1.25 million shares of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc (NYSE: KKD) and now owns 7.37, or 11.4% of Krispy Kreme, according to Barron's Online's "Inside Scoop" section.
• The board of Dow Jones & Company Inc (NYSE: DJ) is taking over talks on the company's future, reported the Wall Street Journal, which added in a different article that Brad Greenspan, the former CEO of MySpace says he will seek a non-controlling stake in Dow Jones through a $60-per-share Dutch auction.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that the London Exchange is discussing a possible merger with Italian stock exchange operator Borsa Italiana.

• The Telegraph reported that state-run Russian gas company Gazprom (OTC: OGZPY) wants to nix an Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM)-led project to supply Russian gas to China.
• The Telegraph also reported that Vodafone Group plc (NYSE:VOD) will have to pay about $900 million to avoid having its stake in Verizon Wireless reduced by 1%, as joint venture partner Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) has the right to increase its share to 56% from 55% if Vodafone does not pay the additional money.

Newspaper wrap-up 6-21-07: More Dow Jones headlines originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The London Stock Exchange would seem a fairly attractive property. It is the major exchange in the UK and lists some of the world's largest multinationals include BP (NYSE: BP) and GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK). Nasdaq (NASDAQ: NDAQ) tried to buy the exchange but was repeatedly rebuffed. The US company still has a 30% stake.

But, asked if it had any interest in owning the exchange, NYSE/Euronext's (NYSE: NYX) answer [subscription required] was "no". The recent merger with Euronext was taking up all of management's time.

The answer from the NYSE may be a bit too cute. It is likely that it does not want to get into a bidding war with Nasdaq, which, under UK law, can make another run at the LSE next year. Dubai International Financial Centre has been reported to be interested in the London exchange, but it has made no formal bid.

The London Stock Exchange's problem may be that, without a partner from outside Europe, it cannot become a part of the sort of global trading platform that NYSE and Nasdaq are trying to build. There are even reports that The Tokyo Stock Exchange is looking at several partnerships in Europe and the US.

Being left out of a global alliance means being local. And, with trading having moved across borders, that is not good.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

No one wants The London Stock Exchange originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 15 Jun 2007 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) has been trying to emulate The NYSE (NYSE:NYX) buy picking up another exchange. It has not had much success in Europe, Asia, or even Africa.

About a year ago, the NYSE Group bought Euronext, a pan-European exchange, and put together company that had a market cap of about $26 billion. Last November, Nasdaq tried to buy the London Stock Exchange for $5.1 billion. Nasdaq had made an unofficial approach before. The offer was rejected and Nasdaq went through a period of modest humiliation.

Wall Street has been kind to NYSE Group and has given its strategy of becoming a more global exchange a mark of approval. Shares in the company are up over 40% in the last year. Not so the Nasdaq. Its shares are up less than 10%, much less than the S&P 500.

Today, Nasdaq got its wish, but its shareholders did not The company bought the Nordic exchange OSX in Stockholm for $3.7 billion. Nasdaq's shared promptly dropped almost 6% talking away about $250 million in market cap. The OSX does tend to list shares in technical companies including Ericsson (NASD:ERIC) and Nokia (NYSE:NOK).

But, it really isn't the same as owning an exchange in London.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Nasdaq buys a little exchange originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 25 May 2007 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Barclays Plc.'s (LON:BARC)$80 billion deal to buy European rival ABN Amro Holdings NV (NYSE:ABN) will add to the pressure on banking and financial services sector stocks which have performed poorly this year amid concerns about the economy and the housing market.

A combined Barclays-ABN Amro would be a formidable competitor. There's little geographic overlap between the two banks and about the only area where there is duplication is in fixed-income investment banking, according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

The merger would be the largest ever in the financial services sector and would create the second-largest bank in Europe, according to Bloomberg News.

This has not been a good year for financial services stocks.

Shares of Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE:MER) are down 12 percent, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) is down 9 percent, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has fallen 6 percent while Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) has plunged 4 percent. Even Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) has only managed to gain 2 percent.

If these stocks don't start to perform significantly better, you can bet more mergers of the size of Barclays-ABN Amro will occur.

U.S. firms will feel the heat from Barclays-ABN merger originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For the second time, NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ:NDAQ) failed to take over its tough prey, the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The battle has been going-on for nearly a year.

In fact, NASDAQ only received 0.41% of the vote from LSE shareholders. Obviously, it wants a higher price. After all, there has been a surge in valuations in stock exchanges.

NASDAQ does have some leverage however: It owns roughly 29.16% of the LSE. But it will have to wait another year to make a bid (this according to UK regulations).

In the meantime, there may be other suitors for the LSE. Keep in mind that it has been the subject of four hostile bids in the past two years.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

NASDAQ's play for the LSE: Strike two originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Feb 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

LSE and NASDAQ: Why can't we all just get along? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 25 Jan 2007 12:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Merger mania: is it catching?

Merger mania: is it catching? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Nov 2006 13:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With the New York Stock Exchange is making a move for Euronext, things have been a bit scary for the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Oh, there is something else too. Seven investment banks -
Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE:C), Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) -- said they will create their own European exchange.

Well, things look much more interesting this week with the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) launching a $5.1 billion bid for the LSE. Actually, Nasdaq already had a 28% position in the company.

If the deal gets done, the new entity will be a powerhouse consisting of about 6,400 listings with a market cap of nearly $12 trillion. In fact, because of tough regulations in the U.S. (such as Sarbanes-Oxley), companies have been listing their shares on exchanges such as the LSE.

Although LSE's management has been resistant to Nasdaq, this may be fruitless because the LSE's shareholders appear to want some action (especially in light of the increased competition).

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates InvestorOffering.com.

Nasdaq wants Europe for $5.1 billion, does LSE have a choice? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Nov 2006 09:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.