UK Banks – UK's chancellor George Osborne has stepped up the pressure on banks by pledging to force the industry to sign up to a code of practice on tax avoidance within a month. (Sources)
UK
FTSE – Dividend payments by UK-listed firms fall less than expected this year after payouts grew in Q3, the first time since Q1 of 2009, Capita Registrars said. (RTRS)
BP (BP: 41.49 +0.87 +2.14%) – TNK-BP will buy BP Venezuela and Vietnam assets for USD 1.8bln. (Sources)
Vodafone – Co. is moving closer to the sale of its 45% stake in SFR to Vivendi. (Mail on Sunday)
BHP Billiton (BHP: 82.26 -0.15 -0.18%)/Rio Tinto (RIO: 65.44 -0.97 -1.46%) – Cos scrapped their proposed USD 116bln iron –ore venture as expected, caving in to opposition from regulators, steelmakers and major investors 16 months after unveiling the plan, no break fee to be paid. (RTRS)
BHP Billiton – The Canadian industry minister has confirmed that no new counter offers have been made for Potash Corp. (Telegraph)
Shire – Co. CEO has said that acquisitions would take precedence over dividend payouts. He added he sees no reason for a sale of the company. (Finanz und Wirtschaft)
BAE Systems – Co. is under pressure to renegotiate contracts to offer better value in the future ahead of the UK strategic defence review. (Telegraph)
SABMiller – Co.'s H1 final performance in line with expectations and their H1 organic lager volumes rise 1% vs. Exp. 0.5%. (Sources)
Centrica – Co. has launched its biggest asset sell-off since 2003 with a GBP 400mln auction of North Sea oil and gas fields. (Sunday Times)
Reckitt Benckiser – Activist investors are trying to refund part of the Co. CEO's GBP 90mln pay package following the Co. being fined GBP 10.2mln for anti-competitive tactics.
Vedanta – Co. has drawn up plans for a floatation of its GBP 4bln Zambian copper subsidiary. According to sources, co.'s Zambian offshoot KDC could seek to raise GBP 500mln in a London listing. (Observer)
US
Equities finished mixed as financials remained under pressure on concerns of potential implications that the recent foreclosures scandal may have on banks' balance sheets. The DJIA finished in negative territory after being weighed by less than impressive earnings from General Electric (GE: 16.25 -0.05 -0.31%) (-5.01%). On the contrary, the NASDAQ 100 outperformed its peers being led by Seagate Tech (STX: 15.92 +0.41 +2.64%) (+22.22%) after speculation co. may be taken private and Google (GOOG: 617.71 +16.26 +2.70%) (+11.19%) after co. reported stellar earnings. At the closing bell the DJIA closed down 0.29% at 11062.78, the S&P 500 closed up 0.20% at 1176.19 and NASDAQ 100 closed up 2.10% at 2097.73.
Bank of America (BAC: 12.34 +0.36 +3.01%)– Co. has been sued by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago. (Sources)
AIG (AIG: 42.26 +0.79 +1.90%) – Co.'s remaining shareholding in AIA Group after is listing is not of concern to investors, AIA CEO Mark Tucker said. Co. is also to set to set close the institutional book for AIA IPO on Tuesday, two days ahead of schedule due to strong demand. Sovereign wealth fund China Investment and ping an insurance co. of China are among Chinese institutional investors eyeing significant stakes in AIA Group. (RTRS/FT)
Europe
Allianz – Co. is preparing a surprise GBP 2bln bid for the Channel tunnel rail link. (Sunday Times)
Commerzbank – Co. is considering a EUR 10bln rights issue in 2011 to pay back sum of the state aid it received. (WirtschaftsWoche)
Daimler – Barron's gave a positive write-up on co.'s shares, saying that a big reason for being optimistic about the co. is China. Also writes that there's a chance that the dividend will be reinstated next year. (Barron's)
Volkswagen – Co.'s Turkish sector has set an aim to increase its sales this year by 9% from a year ago to 40,000 units. (Sources)
K+S – Co. CEO has said the company would examine takeover offers (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)
Total – Co. finds gas and condensate in well drilled in North Sea, and co's discovery has better reservoir quality than expected, according to Norway Directorate. (RTRS)
GDF Suez – According to sources, co. plans to double its number of clients in Italy in the next two years. (La Repubblica)
AXA – Co. is continuing talks with AMP on whether to bid for Axa Asia Pacific Holdings, and has made progress. (Australian)
LVMH – Co. may sell Moet-Hennessey division to Diageo, in order to raise funds to acquire Hermes. (Evening Standard)
EDF – Constellation Energy has offered to sell the Unistar joint venture to the Co. for USD 117mln. (Sources)
Schneider Electric – Co. is targeting accelerated sales growth in Germany next year with energy saving technology. (Financial Times Deutschland)
Alstom – Co. says that its Indian sales growth is expected to outpace local economy. (Sources)
Banco Santander (STD: 13.46 +0.26 +1.97%) – Co. has reduced the value of its UK unit by 20% to GBP 16bln, ahead of a possible IPO next year. (Sunday Express)
Intesa Sanpaolo – Co. has agreed to acquire 51% of Banco Monte Parma for EUR 159mln. (Sources) Co. CEO has also said that the Co. may consider making acquisitions in Eastern Europe, and that the Co. is still committed to listing its asset management unit Banca Fideuram. (RTRS)
Enel – Co. has confirmed the IPO price for Enel Green Power unit at between EUR 1.80 and EUR2.10. Valuing the unit at between EUR 9bln and EUR 10.5bln. Co. plans to float 32.8% of the unit. (Il Sore 24 Ore) In other news, the Enel Green Power unit is open to acquisitions, according to the unit's Chief. (Handelsblatt)
Telecom Italia – Co. may consider simplifying their operations in South America in order to boost their credit rating. (Il Giornale)
Philips – Co.'s Q3 net EUR 525mln vs. Exp. EUR 338mln, Q3 sales EUR 6.16bln vs. Exp. EUR 6.14bln. And co. is cautious on Q4 revenue development. (Sources)
Credit Suisse (CS: 45.08 +1.24 +2.83%) – Co.CEO has said that the Co. could transfer systemically important units to either units such as Neue Aargauer Bank, or to an entirely new bank. (Der Sonntag)
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