3:49 am Home Retail Group: J. Sainsbury (JSAIY) to acquire Home Retail Group for ~GBP1.1 bln (HMRTY) :
The Boards of J Sainsbury and Home Retail Group announce that they have reached agreement on the key financial terms of a possible offer for Home Retail Group by Sainsbury's
- The Possible Offer implies a value of ~GBP1.1 bln for Home Retail Group's share capital, based on the closing price of Sainsbury's shares on 1 February 2016. T
- he Possible Offer and Proposed Capital Returns together imply a value of ~161.3 pence per Home Retail Group share, based on the closing price of Sainsbury's shares on 1 February 2016, and a value of approximately GBP1.3 bln for Home Retail Group's share capital.
- Under the terms of the Possible Offer Home Retail Group shareholders will receive per Home Retail Group share:
- 0.321 New Sainsbury's shares
- 55 pence in cash
3:42 am BP misses by $0.03; dividend remains unchanged (BP) :
- Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.01 per share, $0.03 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.04.
- Underlying replacement cost profit1 for the full year was $5.9 billion, compared with $12.1 billion reported for 2014, down 51%. The underlying result for the fourth quarter was $196 million compared with $2.2 billion for the fourth quarter of 2014.
- Underlying operating cash flow2 for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $5.9 billion, bringing the total for the year to $20.3 billion, compared with $32.8 billion for 2014, down 38%.
- BP also today announced a dividend of 10 cents per ordinary share for the quarter, payable in March. The dividend remains unchanged.
- Organic capital expenditure for 2015 was $18.7 billion. BP expects annual organic capital expenditure to remain between $17 and $19 billion in 2016 and 2017 and to be at the lower end of that range in 2016.
- BP's Upstream segment reported an underlying pre-tax replacement cost loss1 of $0.7 billion for 4Q 2015 compared with a profit of $2.2 billion a year earlier. This was mainly due to significantly lower oil and gas prices as well as lower gas marketing and trading results, offsetting lower costs including the benefits from simplification and efficiency activities.
- Overall Group production of oil and gas4 in the quarter averaged 3.4 million barrels equivalent a day. Excluding Russia, reported production for the quarter was 8% higher than a year ago; after adjusting for entitlement and portfolio impacts, underlying production was 2% higher. BP also today reported a reserves replacement ratio5, excluding acquisitions and divestments, of 61% for 2015.
3:31 am TowerJazz acquires Maxim's (MXIM) Fabrication Facility in San Antonio (TSEM) :
TowerJazz (TSEM) announced that it completed its previously announced acquisition of an 8-inch wafer fabrication facility in San Antonio, Texas, from Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM).
- This acquisition will expand TowerJazz's current worldwide manufacturing capacity, cost-effectively increasing its production by about 28,000 wafers per month. The availability of capacity is needed to serve the Company's current and forecasted robust customer demand.
- As part of the transaction, the companies signed a long-term supply agreement of 15 years, under which TowerJazz will manufacture products for Maxim in the San Antonio facility, in quantities which will allow for a gradual ramp of third party products.
3:29 am B Communications sells its 4.18% stake in Bezeq (BCOM) :
Co announced it sold 115,500,000 Bezeq shares.
- The Company is expected to receive gross proceeds of NIS 8.50 per share, or NIS 982 million in the aggregate (~$248 million), from the sale on February 1, 2016. The Company, through SP2, will retain a 26.34% ownership interest in Bezeq, following the closing of the transaction.
3:28 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :
- Toshiba (TOSBF) announced that it is gearing up for future expanded production of "BiCS FLASH", its proprietary 3D flash memory, by acquiring 150,000m2 of land adjacent to its Yokkaichi Operations memory production complex in Mie prefecture. The land borders the eastern and northern parts of the complex, and will cost ~JPY3 billion.
- Canon (CAJ) announced the new EOS-1D X Mark II DSLR camera. With a new 20.2 megapixel 35mm Full Frame Canon CMOS sensor and Dual DIGIC 6+ Image Processors, the EOS-1D X Mark II professional digital camera delivers stunning image quality and speed.
- Total (TOT) has signed long-term liquefied natural gas sale and purchase agreements with state-owned Indonesian company Pertamina for the supply of LNG volumes increasing from 0.4 to 1 million tonnes per year over a period of 15 years beginning 2020.
3:26 am BE Aerospace reports EPS in-line, misses on revs; reaffirms FY16 EPS guidance, revs guidance (BEAV) :
- Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.81 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.81; revenues rose 3.4% year/year to $659.2 mln vs the $709.11 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
- Bookings during the fourth quarter of 2015 were approximately $690 million and the book-to-bill ratio was approximately 1.05 to 1.
- Record bookings for full year 2015 were approximately $3.0 billion, an increase of approximately 10 percent as compared to the prior year, representing a book-to-bill ratio of ~1.1 to 1.
- Co reaffirms guidance for FY16, sees EPS of ~$3.20 vs. $3.22 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY16 revs of +3% YoY to ~$2.81 bln vs. $2.83 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
3:22 am Fiat Chrysler provides an update on its diesel emmissions; takes voluntary measures to adapt to new standards (FCAU) :
In response to issue of diesel emissions, FCA has conducted a thorough internal review of the application of this technology in its vehicles and has confirmed that its diesel engine applications comply with applicable emissions regulations.
- FCA acknowledges that public attention is shifting towards measuring emissions performances under conditions that more closely reflect real-world driving conditions, and is debating the choice of an alternative to NEDC.
- FCA is responsive to this change and is taking proactive steps to prepare its emissions calibrations to more quickly adapt to the developing RDE standard.
- As a voluntary measure, not mandated or requested by any regulatory authorities, FCA will be updating its Euro 6 calibrations with new data sets to improve emission performance in real driving conditions. These new calibrations will be ready starting from April 2016 and will be available on all new vehicles sold on or after that date, and will be made available to all other owners of Euro 6 FCA vehicles at no charge, as part of vehicle calibration update programs that are implemented on a regular basis. This does not constitute a recall campaign
3:19 am UBS misses by CHF0.08 (UBS) :
Reports Q4 EPS of CHF0.25 vs CHF0.33 Capital IQ consensus
- Net interest margin (bps) of 170 vs 167 in Q3
- Wealth Management delivered adjusted1 profit before tax of CHF 505 million (reported CHF 344 million). Net new money outflows were CHF 3.4 billion, with inflows from Asia Pacific and Switzerland being more than offset by outflows in emerging markets and Europe.
- Asset Management recorded adjusted1 profit before tax of CHF 153 million up 12%
(reported CHF 171 million). Net new money outflows excluding money markets were CHF 8.9 billion. Outflows were largely from lower-margin passive products, driven by client liquidity needs. - Investment Bank posted adjusted1 profit before tax of CHF 223 million (reported CHF 80 million), including the annual UK bank levy of CHF 98 million, as revenue declines in Equities and Corporate Client Solutions were partly offset by strong year-on-year performance in Foreign Exchange, Rates and Credit.
- CET1 capital ratio 14.5% and fully applied Swiss SRB leverage ratio at 5.3%
3:12 am American Campus Communities prices 15.6 mln shares of common stock at $41.25 per share (ACC) :
3:11 am Tenaris provides updates on two previously reported proceedings; believes that it is not probable that the ultimate resolution of either tax assessment will result in a material obligation (TS) :
Co updates the market on recent developments concerning two previously reported proceedings: (i) the tax assessments against Tenaris's Italian subsidiary Dalmine relating to allegedly omitted withholding taxes, and (ii) the arbitration proceedings in connection with the expropriation by Venezuela of Materiales Siderurgicos, a producer of hot briquetted iron
- On January 27, 2016, a first-instance tax court in Milan rejected the appeal filed by Dalmine against a tax assessment made by the Italian tax authorities in December 2013 related to allegedly omitted withholding taxes on dividend payments made in 2008 -- the last such distribution made by Dalmine. This first-instance ruling, which held that Dalmine is required to pay an amount of Euro 220 million (~$240 million)
- Tenaris continues to believe that it has correctly applied the relevant legal provisions; accordingly, Dalmine will appeal the January 2016 first-instance ruling against the second-instance tax court and will also request the suspension of its effects.
- Based, among other things, on the rulings on the 2007 assessment, Tenaris believes that it is not probable that the ultimate resolution of either tax assessment will result in a material obligation
3:04 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :
- Missouri American Water, a subsidiary of American Water (AWK), announced the company's acquisition of the Jaxson Estates water system located near Wentzville, Mo. The system was previously owned by Ciana Realty.
- Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) introduced inFlux, a new lineup of high-flux, linear LED modules optimized for industrial lighting applications such as plants, parking lots and warehouses. Vapor Corp (VPCO) announced the results of its Special Meeting of Stockholders which approved an amendment to the Company's Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to effect a reverse stock split of the Company's common stock at a ratio between 1-for-10 and 1-for-70, such ratio to be determined by the board of directors
3:01 am FireEye acquires Invotas International; terms not disclosed (FEYE) :
Co announced the acquisition of privately held Invotas International Corp, a provider of security automation and orchestration technology. The transaction closed on February 1, 2016.
- The acquisition enables FireEye to deliver one of the world's premier security orchestration capabilities as part of the FireEye global threat management platform.
- FireEye will leverage the technologies of Invotas Security Orchestrator to unify cyber attack detection results, threat intelligence and incident response elements of an organization's security program into a single console, giving enterprises the ability to respond more quickly to attacks through automation.
2:59 am Banc of California prices 5 mln depositary shares of its 7.000% Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series E at $25 per depositary share (BANC) :
2:55 am Tesoro misses by $0.24, beats on revs (TSO) :
- Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.83 per share, $0.24 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of $2.07; revenues fell 25.7% year/year to $6.27 bln vs the $5.92 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
- Total refinery throughput for the quarter was 807 thousand barrels per day, or 95% utilization. Direct manufacturing costs in the fourth quarter were $5.62 per barrel up $0.78 per barrel from the third quarter.
- This increase was primarily due to unplanned repairs and maintenance during the quarter.
- Tesoro expects to deliver between $400 and $500 million of improvements in 2016 through driving operational improvements and growth in the Company's logistics and marketing business segments.
2:47 am Tesoro Logistics LP misses by $0.09, reports revs in-line (TLLP) :
- Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.58 per share, $0.09 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.67; revenues rose 53.7% year/year to $292 mln vs the $293.17 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
- Distributable cash flow up 104% to $104 million for fourth quarter, full year 2015 distributable cash flow up 92% to $422 million
- Rockies natural gas business 2015 adjusted EBITDA contribution of $285 million, exceeding $275 million target
2:42 am Albemarle receives approval to increase its currently authorized lithium brine extraction rate in Chile; signs MOU with the Chilean Government defining the terms for an increased lithium quota (ALB) :
Co announced it has been granted approval by the Environmental Assessment Commission of the Antofagasta Region to increase its currently authorized lithium brine extraction rate at the company's facility in the Salar de Atacama, Chile. The increase will enable the company to meet the accelerating demand for lithium, especially high purity lithium compounds required for the production of lithium batteries.
- In addition, the company announced that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chilean Government defining the terms of a partnership for an increased lithium quota consistent with the principles and goals of the Lithium National Commission, as established in its final report issued in January 2015.
- The MOU provides Albemarle with sufficient lithium to support the production, over a 27-year period, of 70,000 MT annually of technical and battery grade lithium carbonate and 6,000 MT annually of lithium chloride
2:38 am Targa Resources: ISS, Glass Lewis and Egan-Jones all recommend vote in favor of the proposals related to TGRP acquiring all of the outstanding common units of Targa Resources Partners (NGLS) (TRGP) :
2:27 am Dominion Diamond receives approval for the Jay Project Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board (DDC) :