Tuesday 13 December, 10:15 AM GMT (Thomson Financial): European markets
have opened slightly lower, with the oil & gas sector bucking the trend as
Royal Dutch Shell announces a capital investment programme of around US$19
billion for 2006. Elsewhere, Pernod Ricard has signed an agreement to sell its
Dunkin' Brands unit for US$2.425 billion, while FirstGroup is awarded both the
Greater Western and Thameslink/Great Northern rail franchises in a deal is
worth over 1 billion pounds in revenue per annum.
Cadbury expects revenue growth to be around the top end of its range for
the year, while EMI Group has reached an agreement to sell its CD and DVD
manufacturing business in Japan to a consortium led by Memory-Tech
Corporation. Finally, The European Court of Justice says the U.K. is wrong to
prohibit Marks & Spencer from deducting losses made in France, Belgium and
Germany if the company could not claim the losses in those countries.
London's FTSE-100 Index is up 3.20 points or 0.06% to 5504.70, while
Paris's CAC-40 Index is flat at 4673.11. Frankfurt's DAX Index is down 4.12
points or 0.08% to 5297.09 and Milan's S&P MIB Index is down 4.0 points or
0.01% to 34,882. The pan-European blue chip Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index is up
0.53 points or 0.02% to 3339.61.
* Royal Dutch Shell has announced a capital investment programme for 2006
of around US$19 billion in support of its strategy of more upstream and
profitable downstream. Planned 2006 Upstream investment is around US$15
billion, with the remaining investment in its Downstream operations.
* Pernod Ricard has signed an agreement to sell its Dunkin' Brands unit
together with other related assets to a consortium of buyers made up of
Bain Capital, The Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners for US$2.425
billion. The sale of Dunkin' Brands is in line with the group's policy
of focusing on its core Wine & Spirits business.
* Cadbury Schweppes says trading has continued in line with expectations
since its last update in early October. It expects revenue growth to be
around the top end of its range for the year. Growth has been strong in
2005 in its confectionery business across the world and in its beverage
businesses in the Americas and Australia. The group is benefiting from
increased investment in growth, with innovation playing a significant
role in driving market share gains.
* Novartis says new data from a clinical study have showed that its Femara
drug has led to 69% reduction in risk of breast cancer returning even
years after completing standard tamoxifen therapy. Meanwhile, studies
have also shown that the potential use of its Glivec treatment for
leukemia have demonstrated two-year disease free survival rates of up to
87% and one-year overall survival of up to 84%.
* FirstGroup plc, the UK's largest surface transport company, has been
awarded both the Greater Western and Thameslink/Great Northern
franchises from the Department for Transport (DfT). The deal is worth
over 1 billion pounds in revenue per annum and will commence operations
on 1 April 2006.
* U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer has been granted a 30 million pounds
rebate from its UK tax bill, granted by The European Court of Justice.
It says the U.K. is wrong to prohibit the company from deducting losses
made in France, Belgium and Germany if the company could not claim the
losses in those countries. This paves the way for other companies to
offset foreign losses against group profits if they can't get tax relief
in those foreign countries.
* EMI Group has reached an agreement to sell its CD and DVD manufacturing
business in Japan to a consortium led by Memory-Tech Corporation. This
initiative represents the final major step in EMI's drive to outsource
its manufacturing capability, making these costs fully variable.
Simon.Tse@Thomson.com; Thomson Financial
This is Thomson Financial Corporate Services Europe Market Commentary. The
information herein is believed to be true and accurate. If you have any
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SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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