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Puma has waived its annual forecast of taxable income due to the potential cost of litigation in Spain, after posting interim results below expectations.

During a conference call, Jochen Zeitz's chief executive, said that "it would not be prudent" to maintain its pre-tax profit target given the potential costs associated with the lawsuit brought against the company Estudio 2000 on the rights of its mark in Spain.

The world's third largest industry, behind the U.S. and fellow Nike Adidas, had previously set a growth target of pretax profit of at least 70%.

A few minutes from the close of trading in Frankfurt, Puma shares fell 7.4% to 218.45 euros, while at the same time the index of average values in Germany yielded 0.65%.

In contrast, the German sports equipment manufacturer said its forecast for the second half was strong and maintained its growth target for revenue of between 1 and 5%.

Puma has also confirmed a rise in 2010 operating profit before exceptional items compared to 2009, while its gross margin should remain unchanged.

"THE PERFORMANCE OF THE GROUP is disappointing"

The group, which hopes to benefit from a recovery of the global market, said he hopes to meet its target of sales of four billion euros by 2015.Puma will conduct an update of its forecasts in October.

The adjusted operating profit of Puma came out in the second quarter up 1.7% at 64.1 million euros, slightly below the Reuters poll that gave 69 million.

Turnover increased 2.5% to 615.4 million euros, while analysts had expected 628 million, while net income increased 16.4% to 44.8 million, against 49 1 million expected.

"The flow of news should be better, but the group's performance remains disappointing compared to its competitors," said Oddo Securities.

Adidas has reported better than expected results last week.

The subsidiary of PPR, which also announced Thursday the start of a program to repurchase shares were trading 13.7 times its expected results over one year, whereas this ratio is 15.1 and 17 for Adidas, 1 for Nike by Thomson Reuters StarMine.

Since the beginning of the year, as Puma has one of the worst performing sector by having only gained 1%, while Adidas and Nike have respectively increased by 12% and 10%.

"Based on published figures, we see no reason why this situation should change, especially since the announcement of share repurchase program is expected to reduce speculation on a takeover offer from PPR," said Society General.

BBVA has done better than expected by analysts in the first half, registering a decline in net income limited to 9.7% due to a decline in bad debts and its overseas operations, which offset the difficulties encountered in Spain.

The second Spanish bank has published a half-year net income of 2.53 billion euros, while analysts polled by Reuters had expected 2.45 billion.

In the second quarter, the company posted a net profit of 1.287 billion euros, up 3.8% over the first three months of the year.

The net interest income rose 1.2% to 6.94 billion euros, against 6.83 billion expected.

The level of bad debts in relation to the whole group's loan portfolio decreased to 4.2% at end-June, as widely expected by the market, thanks to the decline in new bad debts recorded in the quarter. In late March, the ratio was 4.3%.

BBVA and Santander, Spain's biggest bank, have easily passed the stress tests passed by 91 European institutions, unlike the five other Spanish groups who were among seven banks failed the stress test.

Singapore Airlines, world's second largest airline by market value, said that the resumption of passenger and freight is expected to continue in the near future, having reported earnings above expectations for the first quarter.

The group reported a net profit of 253 million Singapore dollars (143 million euros) for the quarter April to June, higher than analysts' forecasts of 232 million Singapore dollars.Over the same period last year, the company had posted a loss of 307 million Singapore dollars, its first quarterly loss in six years.

Singapore Airlines and displays its largest quarterly profit since the period October to December 2009, where she had posted a net profit of 404 million Singapore dollars.

Airlines resumed after the worst recession experienced by the sector, but some analysts question whether this rebound can be sustained, the debt crisis threatening the European demand for long-haul flights.

"The book shows that the recovery from one year to another passenger and returns, clearly visible in the second quarter of the year, should continue until the end of 2010," said the company.

"Similarly, key (…) suggest that the recent resurgence of air cargo is expected to continue in the near future, although the growth rate should decline.

BUSINESS RESUMPTION

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated in early June that airlines emerge from accumulated profit of 2.5 billion dollars (2.1 billion euros) this year, a dramatic turnaround since anticipated in March losses of 2.8 billion.

The recovery was briefly questioned by the disruption caused by the cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland. This episode has cost 50 million Singapore Airlines Singapore dollars.

"Despite the negative effects on short-term generated by the Icelandic volcano, I think it's off again very hard to Singapore Airlines," said Sukhor Yusof, an analyst at Standard & Poors.

"An increase of 15% yield (passenger) is considered relevant given that they have not increased their capacity or their fleet outside of scheduled deliveries," he adds.

For the analyst, the cost of fuel and the stability of the European demand should be the main factors monitored by investors by the end of the year.

The U.S. government acknowledged Friday that the economy had to face "headwinds" and that the fiscal outlook remained bleak, however, but has lowered its estimate of the deficit in 2010.

According to the White House, the current trend is favorable, but the deficit and debt remain too high.

"The economic situation is still difficult.Too many Americans are still unemployed, and long-term fiscal outlook of the country are not sustainable, "said the White House on the occasion of the annual mid-year budget.

The government has cut $ 84 billion, to 1.470 billion dollars, the projected deficit for 2010 compared to the previous estimate, which dated from February.

The projected deficit for 2011 is 1420 billion dollars.

The Republican, who hopes to regain control of Congress in the midterm elections in November, was immediately seized upon these figures, seeing evidence that the economic policies of President Barack Obama does not work.

"This report confirms that our national debt will double in five years and triple in ten years.It confirms that our deficits are not sustainable, "says the Republican leader of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, in a statement.

The White House has also updated its forecast for growth and employment.

The gross domestic product growth is expected at 3.2% this year and 3.6% in 2011 and 4.2% in 2012. Unemployment is projected to decline slowly to fall to 8.1% in 2012 and remain above 6% until 2015.

These forecasts are based on data up to early May and updated in June

U.S. Laboratories Eli Lilly and Bristol-Myers Squibb on Thursday posted quarterly results above expectations, despite a tighter price controls in Europe, fluctuations in exchange rates and costs of health reform in the U.S. .

Eli Lilly has taken its game in the second quarter thanks to cost control and higher prices in the U.S. on some of its best sales.

Its competitor Bristol-Myers Squibb's side took advantage of its management fees and costs considerably less.

At 5:47 p.m. GMT, Eli Lilly took 0.52% to 35.13 dollars, while Bristol-Myers Squibb advanced 0.81% to $ 24.95.

Eli Lilly has posted a profit of 1.35 billion dollars (1.04 billion euros), $ 1.22 per share, against $ 1.16 billion, or $ 1.06 per share for the same period the previous year.

Excluding items, bpa the group stood at $ 1.24 per share, well above the consensus of $ 1.10 Thomson Reuters set I / B / E / S.

MARKETS REASSURE

Turnover was up 9% to 5.75 billion dollars against 5.58 billion expected by markets.The increase would have been only 8% if the dollar had not been so low.

"(Eli) Lilly beat the consensus for the quarter because its sales are greater than expected, about 3%, largely thanks to the Zyprexa and Cymbalta," said Barbara Ryan, analyst at Deutsche Bank.

Bristol-Myers Squibb's side recorded a profit of $ 1.27 billion, or 53 cents per share, against $ 1.17 billion, or 44 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding extraordinary items, the company posted a bpa to 54 cents, almost exactly what the consensus predicted.

Group sales rose 2% to 4.77 billion dollars, less than the expected $ 4.86 billion.

For the current fiscal year, Eli Lilly raised its earnings estimates for 2010 to between 4.50 to $ 4.65 per share, excluding exceptional items, against 4.40 to 4.55 dollars per share originally anticipated .

Bristol-Myers Squibb has meanwhile confirmed its earnings guidance for fiscal 2010.

According to Seamus Fernandez, an analyst at Leerink Swann, the results published by Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers, Abbott Laboratories and Johnson & Johnson also allayed the fears of investors, who worried about the state of the U.S. pharmaceutical industry.

"The worst forecasts of international prices, exchange rates and reform the health system are not met," adds the analyst.

He said investors may be reassured by these macroeconomic factors and focus more on the fundamentals of each group.

The Thai Berli Jucker main conglomerate said Wednesday he was keen to bid for Carrefour's local activities within the framework of its development.

"We expect the details of the tender of Carrefour, said Asavin Techacharoenvikun, CEO of Berli Jucker reporters.

Carrefour has already indicated its desire to separate its operations in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

The French distributor was unavailable for comment.

Around 8:40 GMT, the title took 1.46% to 35.025 euros, evolving in line with the sector index (1.45%).

Carrefour has already left several Asian countries, Japan and South Korea for example, focus on the penetration of states have experienced rapid growth as India and China.

According to sources close to the situation contacted by Reuters, a first round of bidding should take place in September.

Bankers expect to see at least four or five bids for the assets that the French want to sell in the region.Groups of capital may also be interested but it is more likely that the development is won by a strategic buyer.

"This is an area difficult to manage," he told Reuters leader of a group of private equity.

Dairy Farm, listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange and Tesco could be part of potential buyers, said sources familiar with the matter.

Neither Tesco or Dairy Farm have agreed to comment on this information.

Asia in 2009 accounted for 7.9% of 85.9 billion euros in worldwide sales made by Carrefour and Thailand has contributed 9.1% of sales of Asian French.

The Thai broker Phillip Securities said that Carrefour's local assets could be sold between 16 and 19 billion baht (380 to 450 million euros).

In total, the French retailer has 626 outlets in Asia, including 424 in China.

It has 76 stores in Indonesia, 65 in Taiwan, 19 in Malaysia, 40 in Thailand and two in Singapore.

His presence on the territory of Thailand is approximately 2% of the retail market, behind CP ALL, Tesco and Big C Supercenter, in which French Casino has an interest.

Sources have told Reuters that BIG C, second supermarket operator in Thailand, could make a bid, but the group refused to comment on this information.

The Australian Woolworths could also take a look at Carrefour's assets but its direction does not seem inclined to buy them.

Philips has raised its margin target for 2010 after better than expected results for the second quarter driven by strong sales in emerging markets.

The Dutch consumer electronics was confident of being able to exceed its margin target of 10% EBITA before exceptional items this year as he previously thought just to reach this goal.

"The performance in terms of turnover was particularly strong in emerging markets," said CEO Gerard Kleisterlee in a statement.

EBITA in the second quarter amounted to 527 million euros, against 118 million euros last year and 486 million euros expected, for a turnover of 6.2 billion euros.

Net profit stood at 262 million euros, higher than expected 241 million euros.

This is the sixth consecutive time that the results of Philips are superior to expectations.

The European leader in consumer electronics has reduced the cost during the crisis and the beginning of economic recovery, which helped to generate profits even in difficult times.

Daimler pledged on Friday to raise its earnings forecast 2010 before the end of the month after publishing strong preliminary results for the second quarter, supported by the results of its upscale subsidiary Mercedes-Benz.

The German carmaker said on Friday an operating profit of 2.1 billion euros for the period April to June, against a loss of one billion euros a year ago and Thomson Reuters consensus I / B / E / S $ 1.49 billion.

The division of cars Mercedes-Benz recorded an operating margin of 9.8%, a figure higher then predicted that the group would reach so far that only 10% from the second half 2012.

"The main factors are a positive development in sales, especially in China and the United States, a range of products well made and better penetration of the prices and positive exchange rate effects," Daimler said in a statement.

"The Daimler Group will raise its forecast for 2010 operating profit when it publishes its quarterly results, July 27," the manufacturer.

Mercedes, which has registered record sales in June had raised its forecast in April to add a little extra positive the following month when he said that Rex would be in the top of the range between 2.5 and 3 billion dollars for the division.

The sales manager Joachim Schmidt said he expects a significant increase in sales volumes in the third quarter, manufacturers of luxury cars full benefit of rising living standards in China.

Having gained ground, the action Daimler fell by 0.35% in late afternoon, slightly less than the index STOXX sector in Europe.

Rival BMW has raised its earnings outlook for 2010 and taxable sales Tuesday, citing better than expected results in its automotive operations and a more favorable global environment.

Novartis AG Thursday unveiled figures in line with expectations in the second quarter of 2010 but has attracted attention in revising upward its forecasts for the current year.

The laboratory in Basel now expects growth at constant exchange rates, its revenues would fall between the middle and upper range of a single-digit rate (excluding Alcon).

In addition, operating margin and operating margin should increase core group "in the wake of the continued expansion and sustained improvement in productivity," said Thursday pharmaceutical company in a statement.

Novartis states that these projections do not account for the acquisition of a 77% stake in Alcon, adding hope to close the deal by the end of the year.

The CEO Joe Jimenez said during a teleconference that the price for the minority shareholders would not overcome and that Novartis was always 100% of Alcon.

These forecasts a little more spice to the presentation of second quarter figures, generally above expectations.

The net sales grew 11% to 11.7 billion dollars (9.2 billion euros), while analysts polled by Reuters had expected $ 11.5 billion.In the Pharmaceuticals Division, sales have improved to 7.7 billion, while markets were expecting 7.6 billion.

Net income rose 19% to 2.44 billion, slightly better than the 2.43 billion expected by the markets. Operating income increased by one quarter to 2.96 billion, exceeding forecasts of 2.8 billion.

Earnings per share has grown to $ 1.06 for a consensus which saw 1.05.

For the six months, Novartis recorded a turnover of 23.85 billion, up 18%. Net income rose 34% to 5.38 billion and operating 37% to 6.47 billion.

The UK retailer specializing in luxury Burberry Tuesday reported a turnover exceeding expectations under its first fiscal quarter due to strong demand in Asia and Europe.

Turnover rose 24% to 282 million pounds (337 million euros) for the period April to June, excluding currency effects and taking into account the restructuring of its Spanish branch, with the increase demand.

Analysts had expected 263 million pounds on average.

Sales in stores posted a growth of 16% and 10% in comparable stores.Wholesale sales jumped 46%.

In Exchange, Burberry was down 0.25% to 787.5 pence in morning in a market up 0.7%.

The luxury groups have mostly rather good start in 2010, thanks to the release of recession in some countries.But the decision of several countries to limit their debt through tax increases and cuts in public spending have raised fears of a further slowdown in demand.

Burberry has gone through the recession better than many of its competitors, thanks to a policy of cost reduction, employment, inventories and its range.

In May, the group announced its intention to accelerate its expansion, thanks to emerging markets and e-commerce.

It plans to open 20-30 outlets during the year, mainly in the Americas, Asia and Oceania.

The turnover of the licenses rose 14% in the first quarter but is expected to drop 5 to 10% on the year mainly because of non-renewal of a license in the field of leather goods in Japan.