Search results for

I have just got back from an enjoyable trip to New York, which I visited to attend Euromoney’s third annual Forex Forum USA. It was a great chance to meet up with some old friends and make new ones. The only downsides were that the visit was so brief and the journey back to London so awful. The conference saw some pretty lively debate, which is good – it’s opinions that make markets.

Pharmaceutical producer Pliva reports 72% y/y EBIT drop in Jan-Sep. The largest pharmaceutical producer in the region, Pliva, announced that its EBIT slumped by 72.3% y/y to USD 62.3mn on revenue decline of 12.2% to USD 797mn. The decline was expected given the exit of the company from the proprietary market and focusing on generics production launched last year. This reduced the revenues as the company no more received revenues from royalties on proprietary drugs. The sales of the company, however, increased by 3.8% y/y to USD 762.6mn, as generics drugs sale soared by 15.7% to USD 667.3mn. The largest growth was registered on the US market - of 42.7% y/y to USD 198.3mn, in Spain – of 22.6% to USD 20.7mn, in UK – of 26.2% to USD 23.4mn, in Russia - of 18.7% y/y to USD 56.5mn, and in Poland - of 16.4% to USD 73.9mn. A drop in generics sales was registered only in Croatia , by 6% y/y to USD 94.8mn, and in Italy , by 54.9% to USD 7.6mn. In addition, the planned changes to be discussed at the forthcoming general meeting of the company were said to include the possibility for capital increase to not more than HRK 929.6mn in the next five years.

Polish PM Yaroslav Kaczynski to visit Ukraine on Nov 15.Polish PM Yaroslav Kaczynski will visit Ukraine on Nov 15. The official will meet with president Victor Yuschenko, Ukrainian PM Victor Yanukovich, parliament speaker Oleksandar Moroz and foreign minister Borys Tarasyuk. During the visit, the sides plan to discuss in economic and military cooperation. In particular, the sides will talk about electricity production and transportation sectors.

Triglav reportedly interested in Vardar Osiguruvanje. Slovenia’s insurer Triglav is interested in local insurance company Vardar Osiguruvanje (Vardar Insurance), according to a publication in the Slovenian newspaper Dnevnik. It quotes unofficial information, according to which Triglav’s entry to the Macedonian market is part of the company’s plans for expansion in SEE.

Industrial output growth slows down to 9.7% y/y in September. The growth of the industrial production decelerated to 9.7% y/y in September, down from 14.3% y/y for the previous month, the Statistical Office reported. The manufacturing industry was mainly responsible for the slower growth as its output expansion rate dropped to 12.6% y/y. All important branches showed a weaker performance, led by the transport equipment sector. It exhibited a still robust production growth of 26.2% y/y for the month, driven by the gradual acceleration of production at the PSA car plant in Trnava while the slowdown was probably due to the operations of the VW car plant in Bratislava . Recently, the plant confirmed that the new Audi Q7 car models, produced by the facility, were found to have been installed with faulty engines and would be recalled, which might be a potential reason for the production drop. The other key industrial branches – metal processing, machinery, electrical engineering and textiles, also recorded some growth slowdown, which might be related to the appreciation of the crown exchange rate as the majority of their production is directed for export. The output of the utilities sector was down by 8.8% y/y in September and the mining sector production also dropped by 7.2% y/y for the month. The construction output posted a 11.4% y/y growth in September against year-high 21.6% y/y for August. Domestic construction services showed a more modest performance while the construction work abroad extended its downward trend, falling by 5.8% y/y for the month.

US consortium acquires 93% stake in Egyptian pharmaceutical company. An international consortium, comprising of City Group, Capital International and Concord Investment have finalised the purchase of 93% of Amoun Pharmaceuticals Company (Amoun). The deal has been finalised for a price of EGP 2.6bn (USD 452.6mn). The agreement for this purpose was signed in the presence of Egyptian PM Ahmed Nazif. Amoun Pharmaceuticals has issued 60mn shares and will be getting EGP 47 per share. Amoun Board’s Chairman Tharwat Bassili announced that the consortium plans to buy hundred% of the equity and will soon be making an official bid for the balance shares. Amoun is a leading private pharmaceutical company in Egypt and has a market share of 4.62%.

I have just got back from an enjoyable trip to New York, which I visited to attend Euromoney’s third annual Forex Forum USA. It was a great chance to meet up with some old friends and make new ones. The only downsides were that the visit was so brief and the journey back to London so awful. The conference saw some pretty lively debate, which is good – it’s opinions that make markets.

Building materials group Nexe posts EUR 14mn profit in Jan-Sep. The buildings materials and construction group Nexe grupa announced that its net profit grew by 21.1% y/y to HRK 105mn (EUR 14.3mn) in Jan-Sep on revenue growth of 16.7% to HRK 1.07bn. Exports contributed most for the good results doubling y/y to HRK 230.6mn while domestic sales dropped slightly to HRK 735mn. The total expenses of the group increased by 16.9% y/y to HRK 926.6mn. Nexe grupa includes 22 companies engaged in cement and brick production, as well as in construction.

Strong demand at 3-month T-bills auction, yields correct downwards. Investors demonstrated strong demand at the 3-month T-bills auction organised by the State Debt Management Agency (AKK). Total valid bids amounted to HUF 124.95bn against the HUF 30bn offer of AKK but no oversubscription was accepted. The average yield achieved at the auction stood at 8.09%, which is 3bps below the average yield achieved at the previous tender for similar papers (on Oct 31) and 6bps below Monday’s secondary market benchmark. The next auctions organised by AKK are scheduled for Thursday when the agency will offer HUF 75bn in 3-yesr T-bonds and HUF 20bn in 15-year papers. On a different note, the stock of 2-week deposits at the central bank increased by HUF 102.23bn to HUF 930.5bn. That outturn came as the result of HUF 531.2bn in new deposits and HUF 428.87bn in expiries.

I mentioned to a senior banker, Barry, that I would be in New York for a week. What did he think I should write about while I was there? “The only New York story is that there is no New York story,” Barry barked.

Stock exchange cuts price bands. The board of directors of the Macedonian Stock Exchange has halved the permitted daily price change bands in order to address the recent trend for dropping stock prices. The permitted static daily price fluctuations have been decreased from +/- 10% of the previous day’s official average price to +/- 5%. In addition, the dynamic price change bands have been cut from +/- 3% to +/- 1.5%. The decision becomes effective as of today and is applicable to all securities traded on the bourse. The bourse’s blue-chip index MBI-10 has dropped by as much as 4.23% yesterday, after decreasing by 3% on October 6. Yesterday, the prices of all stocks comprising the index have declined. The largest declines (in terms of closing prices) were posted by Alkaloid (8.7%), Komercijalna Bank (8.6%) and Makedonija Turist (6.9%). As recalled, Komercijalna Bank’s share price has dropped 9.9% on October 6 after the announcement that it has not received an acceptable takeover bid.

Central bank to resume forex purchase auctions soon. Durmus Yilmaz, head of the central bank, said that the monetary authority would resume its daily forex purchase auctions soon since the country needed high forex reserves. Yilmaz did not say when the auctions may restart. The central bank suspended its daily forex purchase auctions in May. Yilmaz noted that Turkey did not have enough resources for an early repayment of its debts to the IMF. The central bank governor commented that price stability has not been fully established and the bank will retain its cautious stance on monetary policy. Yilmaz noted the upcoming general elections in Nov 2007 and presidential elections also in 2007 as the potential risks and the central bank may change short-term interest rates to respond to possible tension. According to Yilmaz, if tension rises ahead of the elections, foreign investors may withdraw from the country that will affect exchange rates as well as investors’ confidence. The central bank governor reiterated the bank’s forecast that inflation will decline to 4% next year and will be between 1.7-6.5% in 2008.