Time Warner has exceeded expectations and raised its forecast

Time Warner publishes a quarterly profit above Wall Street expectations after posting the largest increase in sales for two years.

It also raised its forecast for the full year, saying that now rely on an increase of at least 20% of its current earnings per share.

The U.S. media group has achieved in second quarter net earnings of $ 562 million (425 million), or 49 cents per share, against 524 million (43 cents / share) for the same period last year.

Its earnings per share (EPS) stood at 50 cents adjusted, five cents above Thomson Reuters consensus I / B / E / S.

The quarterly revenue rose 8% to $ 6.4 billion while analysts were waiting to 6.2 billion.

The turnover of the Division "Networks", which includes Turner Broadcasting and HBO, has increased 11% to $ 3.2 billion.

The film division, which includes Warner Brothers, has a turnover up 8% to $ 2.5 billion, thanks in part to the success of "Clash of the Titans" and "Sex and the City 2" .

The revenues of its magazines, which include People, Time, remained stable at 919 million dollars.

Towards a slow recovery cycle for French property

The interim results of French property has been marked by a slight overall decline in rental income in a consumer environment "soft" and wait for business.

The leaders and industry experts believe, however, after two years of falls, rents in prime (good quality and well placed) are stabilizing.

However, in the absence of strong growth, they do not expect any real upturn in rents for office before long.

"Rents have been falling, but we do not expect them back soon.It would take a rather long period of growth to produce scarcity (office) and I do not see it happen before two years, "said the president of the Federation of property development companies and (BIF).

"We are very close to a down cycle, but the recovery will be slower than usual.It will probably take four or five years to find a peak due to weak economic growth, "he told Reuters Jean-Paul Dumortier, President and CEO of Land Paris France, last week to mark the publication of accounts results.

The Director General of Gecina, Christopher Clamageran, had also held that the rent had come "after the fall" but were "not ready" to bounce back.

"We know that the market is at its low point, but we do not know the slope of the recovery," summarizes Diesbach Samuel Henry, an analyst at Kepler Capital Markets.

At constant perimeter, side offices, Gecina published rental income down 1.8%, Icade down 0.6% and Land Regions up 1.7%, while on the commercial real estate Klépierre has announced a recall of 0.7% of its revenues and Unibail-Rodamco, a slight increase of 0.4%.

LAST REFUGE

In this context, the vacancy rate rose again slightly and should continue to deteriorate by the end of the year. But some signs of stabilizing rents are beginning to be felt, experts note.

"There is still some wait on the rental market, but there is a return visits over approximately two months," said Jean-Paul Dumortier."There is also a certain arrest of gifts that we are requested (for businesses)."

In terms of the value of assets, the land could take advantage of investor enthusiasm for institutional direct property, as a last refuge in an economic environment and high-risk markets.

After a further decline of 10% to 15% of property prices for office last year, the capitalization rate asset "premium" have relaxed to 25-50 basis points in six months.

This interest in the stone, especially from insurance companies, led to a revaluation of the assets of land during the first six months of 2010.

On a comparable basis compared to late 2009, Icade has seen its assets revalued by 1%, 2.3% Gecina, Land Regions 1.7%, 4.7% and Unibail Klépierre 1.8%.

Despite uncertainty about the resumption of the cycle, the land began to position themselves to make the most of a recovery cycle.

Several of them have resumed their pipeline projects or have initiated slowly in development operations in white, and prepare for a possible wave of consolidation expected with the crisis.

"From a strategic perspective, the land showed that they positioned themselves in the next cycle," said Valérie Guez, an analyst at Exane BNP Paribas."They should make growth to offset the rental environment difficult, with development projects such as Unibail Klépierre Gecina and Silic particular, and consider participating in a possible consolidation as stated Gecina," says it.

Alcatel-Lucent is still on track despite stock shortages

Alcatel-Lucent confirms its annual targets despite the impact, for the second straight quarter, problems associated with shortages of components in the industry.

The telecoms equipment has limited the impact of these shortages on its quarterly results and has released figures broadly in line with expectations, but in return it has consumed more cash to stockpile components.

"It's not over yet, we see throughout the industry.But I think we have found a way to better manage (the shortage), "said Chief Executive Ben Verwaayen, during a conference call.

Alcatel expects a surge in demand in the second half and confirmed target for 2010 operating profit of between 1% and 5% of its revenues, while some analysts feared a downward revision of annual objectives Due to shortages of components.

The action has opened up sharply on the Paris Bourse, the head of the CAC 40.At 9:30, the title earned more than 6% to 2.193 euros, compared with a decline of 0.2% of the sector index of technology stocks.

"The second quarter has been impacted by shortages of components, as reported in the first quarter, but to a lesser extent than in competitors Ericsson or CSN," commented an analyst based in London.

Alcatel posted a turnover of 3.8 billion euros for the second quarter, sequential increase by 17.4%, while adjusted operating income stood at 28 million euros.

The net loss per share of 0.08 euro has emerged as reported and adjusted of 0.06 euro.

The Reuters consensus was expecting a turnover of 3.6 billion euros, based on 11 estimates, and adjusted operating profit of 20 million, based on estimates of 9.He expected a net loss per share of 0.03 euro only.

LESS CASH, MORE STOCKS

Several analysts have estimated that the consumption of cash was the main weakness of this publication, also in line with expectations.

"Our stocks rose for the first time in three or four quarters, which meant we had to consume cash," said Chief Financial Officer of Alcatel, Paul Tufano, during the conference call.

Net cash increased to 107 million euros in late June 2010, compared with 512 million at the end of the first quarter, the group said it had registered an increase of 202 million of its need for operating working capital, a stock measure.

"We increased our inventory in anticipation of a surge in demand from our customers in the second half (…), but we will have to focus on optimizing our inventory in the future," said Paul Tufano.

The Franco-American had previously reported in the first quarter from a negative impact of component shortages on its sales, while its rivals Ericsson and Nokia-Siemens Networks had raised these same issues when publishing their results last week .

These components, used in many industries, including automotive and electronics, are affected by a rapid recovery of demand.

"The components industry is not going to solve this problem in a period of 90 days, it's wider than this one (…) Everyone must understand this, "said Ben Verwaayen.

Puma renounces its goal of pretax profit

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.

Fell less-than-expected earnings in the first half of BBVA

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 believes in the continued recovery

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 White House cut its forecast of budget deficit

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

Eli Lilly and Bristol-Myers Squibb beating the consensus

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.

Berli Jucker coveted assets Carrefour Thailand

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 raises its margin target for 2010

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.