ING’s ING U.S. IPO was priced between $21 and $24 per share. Using the midpoint of this price range, the U.S. company is valued at $5.8 billion, which represents approximately six times 2012 operating earnings. ING Group is planning to float 25% of the company in this IPO, and the divestment is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2016, as part of an agreement with the Dutch government. The total offering would be $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion, based on this price range. Gross proceeds to ING U.S. and to ING Group will be $600 million and $800…
Author: Ryan Wallace
Westamerica Bancorporation reported an 18% yearover- year decline in first-quarter profits, which came to $17.3 million, or $0.64 a share, down from $21.0 million, or $0.75 a share, in 2012’s first quarter. We are taking a closer look at our assumptions, but at this time we are not planning on dramatic changes to our $39 fair value estimate. We continue to think that Westamerica has a narrow economic moat. Net interest income, which makes up the largest portion of Westamerica’s net revenue, tumbled 16% to $39.2 million. As we expected, the bank was hurt by a continuing compression in the…
Webster Financial reported net income to common shareholders of $39.2 million or $0.44 per diluted share, compared with $38.3 million or $0.42 per diluted share a year ago. While total loans declined slightly on a sequential quarter basis, total loans grew 6.1% compared with a year ago especially in commercial and commercial real estate loans. Net interest margin slipped again to 3.23% for first quarter from 3.27% last quarter as asset yield pressures continued. WBS’s efficiency ratio equaled 62.2% at the end of first-quarter 2012, which is above their goal of a 60% efficiency ratio. At this time, we are…
Last year we downgraded our issuer rating on Alstom to BBB+ to reflect the past couple of years’ continued increase in leverage that occurred because of a combination of factors, including debt incurred to finance the Areva acquisition and increased working capital requirements. Since the end of fiscal 2009, total debt has more than tripled to EUR 5.0 billion. As a result, TD/EBITDA has climbed from less than 1.0 times to approximately 2.3 times for the latest 12 months ended Sept. 30. Alstom’s Business Risk rating reflects strong positioning in its two primary business segments, power generation and rail transportation…
Commerce Bancshares reported net income to common shareholders of $61.0 million or $0.67 per diluted share, compared with $65.8 million or $0.70 per diluted share a year ago. The quarter was highlighted by solid deposit growth that funded consumer and commercial loan growth. However, the positive impact of the balance sheet growth was outweighed by the effect the low interest rate environment has had on asset yields. Asset quality continued to improve, allowing CBSH to keep its loan loss provision low. At this time, we are leaving our moat rating and fair value estimate unchanged. Commerce’s net interest margin declined…
Calpine management held its investor day April 10. The company raised its 2013 adjusted EBITDA guidance range to $1.8 billion-$1.96 billion, from its previous range of $1.76 billion-$1.96 billion, as it increased its overall hedge profile. The revised guidance is in line with our adjusted EBITDA estimate of $1.91 billion. We are reaffirming our fair value estimate of $26 per share, full-year 2013 earnings per share estimates, no-moat rating, and positive moat trend. Management announced 995 megawatts of new capacity additions in 2015-17 in the North and Texas regions. Management identified 300 megawatts of low-cost upgrade opportunities in Texas, which…
Global sourcing expert Li & Fung reported fiscal 2012 results that reflected tepid consumer demand in the U.S. and Europe, a competitive pricing environment for the retail products it sourced, and a troubled U.S. distribution business unit. The results are in line with analyst’s projections after the firm issued a warning in January that core operating profits will likely decline by 40% in 2012. Total turnover in 2012 was roughly flat at $20.2 billion as a moderate increase in sourcing volume was offset by price deflation. Core operating profits fell by 42% to $511 million, which the firm attributed to…
Generali delivered a mixed set of results for the fourth quarter. In life insurance, operating profit dropped 18% to EUR 462 million, as the business unit suffered from unfavorable claims experience and weaker-than-expected investment income. For the full year, life insurance operating profit increased to EUR 2.7 billion, as repricing actions and product enhancements started to take effect. Property and casualty insurance’s combined ratio improved by approximately 1% to 95.7%, despite the impact of natural catastrophes. P&C’s full-year operating income was EUR 1.7 billion, representing a 5% increase from last year. The company took an asset impairment charge of EUR…
Although British American Tobacco sold 2% fewer cigarettes in 2012, its wide economic moat–achieved through its strong brands, addictive product, and vast distribution system–helped the firm increase revenue, expand margins, and grow EPS. During 2012, the firm’s Global Drive Brands grew volumes 3% to 232 billion sticks, led by Lucky Strike (plus-11%) and Pall Mall (plus-3%). While these strong brands helped to increase constant currency revenue 4% for the year, unfavorable foreign exchange movements resulted in reported revenue declining 1% to GBP 15.2 billion. Improved price-mix combined with the savings realized from factory rationalizations and productivity programs helped to increase…
Commerzbank said on Wednesday that it plans, once again, to ask shareholders to put in more cash. In today’s announcement, the no-moat bank gave a broad outline of its plans, with more details to be published on March 18. To expedite the capital raise, Commerzbank has moved the date of its annual general meeting forward to April 19, when shareholders will vote on the plan. The first step of the proposal is a 10:1 reverse split. This will be followed by a fully underwritten EUR 2.5 billion rights offering, which will allow the bank to repay the remaining EUR 1.6…
In what’s likely to be its final earnings release before swallowing Xstrata whole, Glencore continued to emphasize the “resilience” of its business model, calling out a comparably strong 2012 financial performance versus mining peers in multiple slides of its presentation to investors and analysts. The relative resilience of underlying profits is perhaps the most important question investors must answer in valuing Glencore, especially the big black box that contains its trading and marketing operations. The headline numbers from Glencore’s 2012 would certainly seem to back up management’s narrative. Excluding the stake in Xstrata, Glencore’s EBITDA dipped a mere 3% in…
E.ON reported nine-month operating income of EUR 4.0 billion and adjusted EBITDA of EUR 8.8 billion. Both are up substantially from 2011, as we expected, and remain in line with our full-year projections. Management reaffirmed its 2012 earnings guidance of EUR 4.1 billion-4.5 billion and EBITDA guidance of EUR 10.4 billion-11.0 billion. Management also reaffirmed its intent to pay a EUR 1.10 per share dividend. However, management said it was reviewing its 2013-15 outlook, given increased uncertainty since it issued its outlook in March and reaffirmed it in May. Management initially forecast 2013 net income of EUR 3.2 billion-3.7 billion…