joi, 11 august 2011
DIARY - European Market Holidays to December 2011
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DIARY - MidEast/African holidays to December 2011
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CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-Citi Asia prime arm on hiring spree as hedge fund industry booms
(Corrects company name to Citigroup from Citibank throughout the story)
* To raise headcount by a fifth to 80 in 2011
* Additions to cap intro, OTC, client service teams
* Unit oversees $6.69 bln from 90 clients-AsiaHedge
HONG KONG, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc will raise headcount at its Asian prime finance unit by 20 percent to 80 this year as it looks to fight for more hedge fund clients in an industry dominated by the likes of Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley .
The firm was boosting its capital introduction, OTC, client service and futures teams, Hannah Goodwin, head of prime finance in Asia-Pacific for Citigroup, told Reuters, as it prepares to gain from growth in interest and the number of hedge funds setting up in the region.
"We have been getting a number of new sole mandates and we are seeing second and third mandates coming in from existing Asia managers as well," Goodwin said.
"That has been a growth story for us and I think that's going to continue," said Goodwin, who joined Citigroup about six years ago from Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE).
Prime brokers provide services such as clearing trades and lending money to hedge funds.
The firm hired Martin Visairas as its regional head of sales and capital intro from financial conglomerate Old Mutual late last year. Rob Baigrie from HDH Capital and Carol Teng from Nomos Capital Partners have also joined the team.
Other hires include former JPMorgan executives Ian Nissen as head of futures and prime finance sales, Australia, and Chris Day into the exchange traded derivatives team.
The hiring comes as Citigroup and other relatively smaller players such as Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Barclays Plc try to exploit a window of opportunity opened by panic over counterparty risk during the financial crisis that forced hedge funds to look for multiple prime brokers.
Before the 2008 crisis, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley had a combined market share of about 60 percent, according to a survey by industry tracker AsiaHedge.
Their share has since halved, with Credit Suisse Group AG , Deutsche Bank and UBS AG gaining market share, making the fiercely competitive Asian prime broking industry more evenly matched than ever, the survey showed.
Goodwin, into her 17th year in the prime broking industry in Asia's hedge fund capital Hong Kong, said the region was contributing significantly to the firm's revenue and prime finance was also a focus area.
She said Citigroup's ability to provide services across custody and fund administration to trading execution and financing and potentially even distribution was a strength.
"Citi has pretty much everything and it's a matter of working out what works best for the client," said Goodwin, who earlier also worked at Morgan Stanley.
Citigroup's prime finance unit oversees $6.69 billion from 90 hedge fund clients, including 51 sole mandates, according to data from AsiaHedge. (Reporting by Nishant Kumar; Editing by Chris Lewis)
European Factors-Shares set to bounce from 2-year low
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BRIEF- Moody's withdraws Euro MTN program rating of JX Holdings
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Nikkei resumes fall on European debt woes
* Shift into defensives from cyclicals continues
* Yen pressures carmakers, exporters
* Banks fall after peers tumble, but volumes lukewarm
* Internet stocks charge higher as retail investors cover shorts
* Support seen at March 17 intraday low of 8,639.56
* Foreign net selling of Japan stocks highest since June 2010
By Antoni Slodkowski
TOKYO, Aug 11 (Reuters) - The Nikkei average resumed falling on Thursday following a rebound the day before, after rumours about the health of French banks re-ignited concerns over the euro zone's debt crisis, but declines were limited by a rise in U.S. stock futures.
Carmakers such as Nissan Motor , which slumped 3.5 percent, were among the hardest hit as funds continued their shift into domestic-demand related and defensive sectors like pharmaceuticals and retail, on worries over the global economy and the strong yen.
Banks and other financials, already trading well below book value, also dipped after rumours about the financial health of Societe Generale , which the bank denied, triggered a selloff in European and U.S. banks.
"European problems are not directly related to Japanese banks and have not originated here, so we didn't see a sell-off in these stocks today," said Yuuki Sakurai, CEO and president of Fukoku Capital Management, whose company manages around $8 billion in assets.
"I'm not pessimistic about Tokyo stocks, especially looking at domestic-demand related ones which will benefit from the post-quake recovery, but we need to wait until oversees markets calm down. Right now it's hard to buy anything even on dips."
The benchmark Nikkei average closed down 0.6 percent at 8,981.94, while the broader Topix shed 0.8 percent to 770.88. The indexes trimmed initial losses after U.S. stocks futures climbed 1.5 percent.
Support for the Nikkei looms at 8,639.56, its intraday low hit on March 17.
Echoing Sakurai's comments, other institutional fund managers were mostly confident about assets and some have been trying to position their portfolios to gain when equities bounce and bond yield spreads over Treasuries tighten.
The Nikkei is hovering some 11 percent off its post-quake closing high hit on July 8, after investors sold equities due to concerns about the health of the global economy and debt woes in the United States and Europe.
Reflecting those concerns, foreign investors sold Japanese stocks for the second straight week in the week ended Aug. 6. They stepped up their selling to a net 390 billion yen ($5.1 billion), the largest amount since June 2010, Ministry of Finance data showed.
Volume was steady with some 2.2 billion shares changing hands on the main board, a bit above last week's daily average of 2.0 billion shares.
BANKS' DECLINES LIMITED
"Losses in Japanese banks are limited because they started falling from levels that were already much lower than their overseas peers," said Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management in Tokyo.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group , Japan's largest bank by assets, fell 1.9 percent to 357 yen, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group dropped 1.8 percent to 2,225 yen on relatively steady volume. Both banks were missing from the top four most-actively traded stocks by turnover on the main board.
By comparison, the index of European banks dropped 6.7 percent, while Bank of America Corp and Goldman Sachs both fell more than 10 percent.
"Japanese banks aren't as exposed to the peripheral debt as European banks, but they can still suffer contagion if there's any sort of financial crisis again," said a trader for a U.S. brokerage who did not want to be named.
"If we're going to see a sustainable bounce, it's going to be led by real estate, brokers and banks to a certain extent. But until we see price action there, and I don't see it coming, then people will sell into any of those short-term rallies."
Another factor supporting the Nikkei was the strong presence of retail investors, who covered their short positions in red-hot Internet stocks.
Gree Inc , a social networking service operator, rocketed to another all-time high in heavy trade. It rose 7 percent to 2,185 yen, boosted by earnings results and forecasts that beat market expectations.
This week the stock has gained more than 20 percent, compared with the Nikkei's near 4 percent slump. Rival DeNA rose 3.8 percent to 3,945 yen. ($1 = 76.500 Japanese Yen) (Editing by Chris Gallagher)
UPDATE 1-Novozymes Q2 EBIT misses consensus
(Adds details, quotes, share price)
* Q2 EBIT 578 mln DKK vs avg Reuters poll estimate 612 mln
* Company keeps main full-year 2011 guidance intact
* Raises guidance for 2011 free cash flow
* Announces 1:5 share split and share buyback programme
COPENHAGEN, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Industrial enzymes producer Novozymes (NZYMb.CO) missed market forecasts with a slight increase in second-quarter operating profit as sales slowed.
Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose to 578 million Danish crowns ($110 million) in April-June from 574 million in the same quarter last year.
The result lagged an average estimate of 612 million crowns in a Reuters poll of analysts whose EBIT forecasts ranged from 553 million to 645 million.
Novozymes stood by its previous forecast for full-year 2011 EBIT and sales in Danish crowns to grow by 8-11 percent and its EBIT margin to be around 22 percent.
But it bumped up its guidance for 2011 free cash flow to a 1.1-1.2 billion crowns from an earlier range of 1.0-.1.1 billion.
The company, whose enzymes are used to make a wide range of consumer products from detergents to biofuels, said it would carry out a 1:5 stock split by Dec. 1 to make its stock more accessible to retail investors.
It said it would launch a share buyback of up to 2 billion crowns and gradually increase dividends starting in 2012.
"Although we're seeing increasing general uncertainty concerning the global economic situation and increased volatility in our end markets, we're able to maintain our sales and earnings growth guidance for the full year," Chief Executive Steen Riisgaard said in the statement. ($1 = 5.254 Danish Crowns) (Reporting by John Acher)
DIARY - Americas Market Holidays to December 2011
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Europe stocks halt slump as SocGen bounces back
PARIS | Thu Aug 11, 2011 3:07am EDT
PARIS Aug 11 (Reuters) - European stocks surged early on Thursday in a tentative rally, as reassuring comments from Societe Generale's CEO and France's renewed effort to trim its deficit eased fears over the euro zone debt crisis for now.
At 0702 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was up 2.3 percent at 931.50 points after tumbling 4 percent to a two-year closing low on Wednesday.
The euro zone's blue chip Euro STOXX 50 .STOXX50E index was up 2.9 percent at 2,215.50 points.
"We're getting more and more signals pointing to the formation of a temporary low, with momentum indicators pointing to "oversold" levels and strong gaps between prices and 50-day and 200-day moving averages," said Alexandre Le Drogoff, technical analyst at Aurel BGC in Paris.
Shares in Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) rose 6 percent, bouncing back from 15 percent drop on Wednesday, after the bank's Chief Executive Frederic Oudea dismissed rumors of liquidity problems as "absolutely rubbish" late on Wednesday. (Reporting by Blaise Robinson)
UPDATE 3-New China Life files for up to $4 bln IPO - sources
* A1 filing sets stage for HK, Shanghai IPO in coming weeks
* New China Life IPO among $35.4 bln in banks, insurer offerings by yearend
* Guangfa Bank says needs good window to launch $5.5 bln IPO - report (Edits)
By Elzio Barreto
HONG KONG, Aug 11 (Reuters) - New China Life, the country's third-largest life insurer, has filed an application to list in a dual Hong Kong and Shanghai IPO, sources said, braving volatile markets to raise up to $4 billion.
New China Life, in which Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services has a 15 percent stake, filed its A1 listing document with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday, pushing ahead with plans for an IPO in coming weeks, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the plans.
The sources could could not be identified because the details have not been made public.
Chinese companies including China Everbright Bank and Guangfa Bank plan to raise up to $35.4 billion in share sales in Hong Kong and China by the end of the year, according to Thomson Reuters calculations.
A worsening global stock market condition, however, could disrupt the IPO pipeline and companies are expected to price their offerings conservatively to ensure healthy demand for their shares, analysts said.
"Weak market will hurt sentiment in IPOs too," said Cheng Yi, an investment adviser with the sales department of Xiangcai Securities in Shanghai.
"Previously, clients were also worried that IPO shares might fall on listing day. We have been telling them they still can make money from IPO shares as companies have priced their IPOs more conservatively nowadays," he added.
Founder Securities , the Chinese partner of Credit Suisse , surged 44 percent on its Shanghai stock market debut on Wednesday, aided by a shift in investor sentiment after a massive equities selloff that investors think was overdone.
New China Life had originally planned to raise as much as $4 billion with a dual listing as soon as September, local and state media reported.
The company aims for a hearing with the Hong Kong exchange's listing committee on Sept. 22, with the IPO set for sometime in October, two sources said.
New China Life hired BNP Paribas , Bank of America Merrill Lynch , Deutsche Bank
To proceed with the dual-listing, New China Life must also obtain approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) for the Shanghai-portion of the offering.
'WAITING FOR GOOD WINDOW'
Another big insurance IPO expected to hit the market later this year or early next year is People's Insurance Company of China Group's (PICC) $5-6 billion dual-listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Taikang Life Insurance Co Ltd, in which Goldman Sachs has a 12 percent stake, is also eyeing a Shanghai listing, local media reported.
Guangfa Bank, previously known as Guangdong Development Bank, is waiting for a "good window" to launch its 35 billion yuan ($5.5 billion) dual-listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, a local newspaper reported on Thursday.
"We are not in urgent need of capital. We just want to wait for a good window," Chairman Dong Jianyue was quoted as saying by the Dongfang Daily.
The Chinese lender, part-owned by Citigroup Inc , initially planned to launch the IPO in the third quarter of this year. (Additional reporting by Jing Song at IFR and Soo Ai Peng in SHANGHAI; Editing by Vinu Pilakkott and Lincoln Feast)
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