LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE:LDK) has announced 2Q 09 revenue guidance of US$215 mn-US$225 mn, lower than market expectations. The company has, however, revised upwards its guidance for solar wafer shipments. In light of robust solar wafer shipments, the company plans to ramp up the annualized production capacity of its wafer plant to 2.0 gigawatts (GW) by the end of FY 2009. The company has also secured approximately US$146 mn financing for polysilicon plant construction. Although the upward r... Read Full Story
The economic slowdown has significantly impacted PC shipments in developed and emerging markets (EM), leading to lower Client revenues. Concerns such as declining Average Selling Prices (ASPs) and weak economic figures remain a threat to long term performance of the company, forcing Microsoft to adopt cost cutting measures. However, we believe an anticipated global economic recovery by 2H 10 will improve PC shipments and, therefore, Windows 7 shipments. Greater PC shipments and the lower pri... Read Full Story
On 02 July 2009, Johnson and Johnson Ltd.(J&J) announced the acquisition of Elan corporation PLC's (Elan) assets related to the development of drug used for treating neurodegenerative conditions. Moreover, Elan is receiving an investment of US$1 bn for its rights and assets and will also receive a share in future profits and royalty revenues from the commercialisation of those drugs. With this development, we now hold a positive outlook for the company and, consequently, we upgrade our ... Read Full Story
On 03 July 2009, the Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland (Bank of Ireland) issued an interim statement, in which Management reiterated its previous guidance for impairment charges through FY 2011. Management also raised concerns about weak demand for credit and a decline in margins due to rising funding costs. We are concerned about the impact these trends will have on the firm's bottom-line, although we are encouraged by ongoing efforts to cut costs. In light of this, we believe the... Read Full Story
LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (LDK Solar) has announced 2Q 09 revenue guidance of US$215 mn-US$225 mn, lower than market expectations. The company has, however, revised upwards its guidance for solar wafer shipments. In light of robust solar wafer shipments, the company plans to ramp up the annualized production capacity of its wafer plant to 2.0 gigawatts (GW) by the end of FY 2009. The company has also secured approximately US$146 mn financing for polysilicon plant construction. Although the upward ... Read Full Story
On 01 July 2009, Aluminum Corporation of China (NYSE:ACH) announced that it plans to issue 1 bn RMBdenominated A-shares, raising up to RMB10 bn (US$1.5 bn) through a private placement to institutional investors. Meanwhile, on 02 July 2009, Chalco confirmed that it has taken up US$1.5 bn in Rio Tinto rights, maintaining its 9% stake. However, our fundamental outlook for the company remains unchanged. Therefore, at current levels, we maintain our 6-12 month SELL rating. We will reassess our co... Read Full Story
The Carnival PLC (Carnival) ADR hit our target price on 01 July 2009, supported by positive investor reaction to the company's healthy fundamentals, which were discussed in our previous update report, as well as a broad-based rally in equity markets around the world. However, at current levels, we feel the stock's medium-to-long term upside potential has been exhausted. Therefore, we downgrade the ADR from a BUY to a HOLD. We will reassess our ADR rating in our next full update report. We co... Read Full Story
Media reports are suggesting that Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) is in talks to sell its Asian operations to Standard Chartered and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ). This deal is expected to fetch approximately US$1 bn-US$1.5 bn, reinforcing the bank's liquidity position. However, we expect the company to report further writedowns over our investment horizon. Considering this, we maintain our 6-12 month SELL rating, even though the target price derived in our last update... Read Full Story
Nomura Holdings Inc. (Nomura) has announced an agreement to acquire NikkoCiti Trust and Banking Corporation through its wholly-owned subsidiary Nomura Trust and Banking Corporation for ¥19 bn. In our opinion, the company will benefit from this deal over the long term, as it will significantly increase the company’s trust asset market share in Japan. Consequently, we upgrade the common stock from a SELL to a HOLD. We will reassess our common stock rating in our next update report. ... Read Full Story
Over our investment horizon we expect spot gold prices to improve from current levels. However, we also expect the rand to appreciate strongly against the US dollar, which will lead to a fall in the company’s rand gold price realizations in 4Q 09 and FY 2010. Furthermore, although we expect the dollar to recover against the rand in FY 2011, US dollar-denominated gold prices are expected to decline, leading to a further y-o-y fall in rand gold price realizations. Nevertheless, we antici... Read Full Story
