Lowe's Falls on 12% Profit Drop

Elena
21 May, 2007
New York City

Wall Street opened mixed Monday, as investors turned to profit-taking after the strong market performance last week. However, a flurry of merger deals generated some positive sentiment. Alltel rose 7.3% after agreeing to be acquired by TPG Capital and a Goldman Sachs unit for $27.5 billion, or $71.50 a share. Atlas Energy Resources jumped 14% as it agreed to buy 2,150 natural gas wells from DTE Energy for $1.23 billion.

[R]9:45AM U.S market averages opened mixed on consolidation of recent gains.[/R]
Wall Street opened mixed Monday, as investors turned to profit-taking after the strong market performance last week. However, a flurry of merger deals generated some positive sentiment. Alltel ((AT)) rose 7.3% after agreeing to be acquired by TPG Capital and a Goldman Sachs unit for $27.5 billion, or $71.50 a share. In another multibillion-dollar deal, General Electric Co. ((GE)) said that it will sell its plastics division to Saudi Basic Industries Corp. in a deal worth $11.6 billion. GE added 0.5% in early trading.

Further in M&A action, Atlas Energy Resources ((ATN)) jumped 14% as it agreed to buy 2,150 natural gas wells from DTE Energy for $1.23 billion. On the earnings news front, Lowe's ((LOW)) dropped 3% after reporting a 12% profit drop, citing the housing market and last year's hurricane rebuilding activities. In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 6.91, or 0.05%, to 13,549.62. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.72, or 0.11%, to 1,524.47, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 9.40, or 0.37%, to 2,567.85. Bonds were little changed Monday, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note at 4.81%, the same as late Friday.


[R]9:00AM Stock futures pointed to a flat opening, with merger activity in the spotlight.[/R]
U.S. stock market futures indicated a flat market opening on Monday after a week of solid gains, followed by a weekend of deal making. Among pre-market highlights, Alltel ((AT)) rose 7% as it agreed Sunday to be taken private by investment firms TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners for $27.5 billion, or $71.50 a share. In other corporate news, General Electric ((GE)) agreed to sell its plastic business to Saudi Basic Industries in a $11.6 billion deal. Hologic ((HOLX)) agreed to acquire Cytyc ((CYTC)) for $6.2 billion, or $16.50 a share in cash and 0.52 of Hologic shares. The deal represents a 33% premium to Friday's close.

Further in merger-and-acquisition news, Atlas Energy Resources ((ATN)) agreed to buy 2,150 natural gas wells producing from the Antrim Shale from DTE Energy ((DTE)) for $1.23 billion in cash. Yahoo ((YHOO)) is expected to offer $1 billion to buy Bebo, a leading U.K. social networking site. Virgin Media ((VMED)) jumped 9% amid speculations that private-equity groups may try to buy the U.K. cable operator. On the earnings-news front, Lowe’s ((LOW)) posted a 12% profit drop, citing the housing market and last year's hurricane rebuilding activities. There is no major economic news due out today. Statistics on housing sales and durable-goods orders are due out later in the week. S&P 500 futures rose 0.2 of a point at 1,528.10 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 2.75 points at 1,908.50. Dow industrial futures rose 16 points.


[R]8:15AM Alltel agreed to be taken private for $27.5 billion.[/R]
Alltel Corp. ((AT)) announced an agreement on Sunday to be taken private by investment firms TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners in a deal worth $27.5 billion. The buyout of the nation''s largest U.S. cell-phone provider by geographic area will be the biggest in the U.S. telecommunications industry.

Alltel has 12 million subscribers, the fifth-largest among major cell-phone companies. It has 15,000 employees. Alltel''s CEO Scott Ford said no changes are planned in staffing, and he will still be chief executive. The offer values the company at $71.50 per share in cash, a premium of 10% over Friday''s close. The deal is subject to Alltel''s shareholders’ approval. The deal, which is expected to close by March 2008, must also be approved by regulators.


[R]7:30AM NY-6:30 PM Mumbai Sensex gains Monday on strong banking, metal and oil stocks.[/R]

The Sensex on BSE ended Monday 115.19 points, or 0.81%, higher at 14,418.60.

The market-breadth was positive as 1,395 stocks advanced, 1,194 declined and only 74 stocks remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 16 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 5,559 crore, compared to Rs 4,696 crore on Friday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 9,918 crore, much lower than Rs 9,810 crore on Friday.

Economic news

The rupee advanced to a fresh nine-year high on Monday as investors were inclined to think the Reserve Bank of India would not interfere with the gains of the rupee against the dollar after China widened the yuan's trading band against the dollar.

The government announced that wheat purchasing in the ongoing Rabi marketing season has crossed 100 lakh tonnes, including more than six lakh tonnes bought by Punjab Government for its own use.

Trading highlights

Reliance Energy was the most active stock with a turnover of Rs 732.30 crore followed by Adlabs and Reliance Capital.

Advancers

Reliance Energy led the gainers, surging 8.5% to Rs 555. Three block deals of 44.10 lakh shares were traded in the stock at an average price of Rs 513 per share in opening trade. Tata Steel soared 5.6% to Rs 624 on fresh buying tracking strong fourth-quarter results announced late last week. Tata Steel had rallied over the past few weeks after the company last month announced attractively priced (Rs 300) rights issue in the ratio of 1:5, and also on hopes of strong fourth quarter results.

Index heavy Reliance Industries surged 3.7% to Rs 1,762. It struck an all-time high of Rs 1,780, on market rumors that it is likely to come out with rights issue. Reliance rejected media reports that the company is likely to miss the June 2008 deadline for commercial production of gas from the Krishna Godavari basin.

ONGC and HDFC Bank rallied over 2.5% each to Rs 933 and Rs 1,100, respectively. ONGC gained after Brent crude oil rose 28 cents to $69.70 a barrel on Monday, May 21 2007, while US benchmark crude gained 20 cents to $65.14, boosted by concerns over supplies from major exporters Iran and Nigeria.

ITC advanced over 2% to Rs 171, and Maruti advanced nearly 2% at Rs 823. Reliance Communications ended up 1.7% to Rs 505, and SBI added 1.5% to Rs 1,345. HDFC was up over 1% at Rs 1,720.

Decliners

Auto makers were lower today. Tata Motors declined 2.5% to Rs 725. During trading hours on May 18 2007, Tata Motors posted a 25.57% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,169.99 crore in the fiscal 2007 compared with Rs 1,728.09 crore in the fiscal 2006. Bajaj Auto slid 1.7% to Rs 2,248 and Hero Honda was off nearly 1% at Rs 680.

Bajaj Auto shares plunged 16% in the past two sessions after the surprise revelation that Allianz — Bajaj partnership in its two insurance ventures has a call option to buy up to 74% at a nominal price. This was the greatest disappointment in the demerger plan Bajaj is considering.

IT stocks declined on a strong rupee. Wipro and Satyam shed 1.7% each to Rs 535 and Rs 448, respectively. TCS and Infosys lost over 1% each to Rs 1,237 and Rs 1,961, respectively.


[R]6:30AM European stocks are mixed Monday with M&A at the center of attention.[/R]

European markets were mixed Monday. In Germany the Xetra Dax added 15.6 points or 0.2% to 7,623.06 but in Paris, the French CAC 40 fell 16.5 points, or 0.3%, to 6,084.6 and the U.K. FTSE 100 index inched down 0.2% at 6,628.90.

Advancers

Acciona was also in focus, adding 5.9% as Citigroup said the Spanish construction company transformation was being overlooked by the market as they upgraded their recommendation from hold to buy and raised their price target.

German conglomerate Siemens contributed to the industrial sector gains by rising 1.6% in Frankfurt after it turned to an outsider, Merck & Co. executive Peter Loescher, to become its next chief executive.

Bayer rose 5.1%, helped by UBS raising its price target and a buy recommendation reiterated.

Decliners

In Italy, UniCredit fell 1.6% after sealing on Sunday its 22 billion euros acquisition of Capitalia, in an all-paper deal which will create the second largest bank in Europe.

Shares in retail bank Lloyds TSB edged down 0.3% after it stated that it has agreed to sell its registrars business to the investment group Advent International for 550 million pounds.

Banca Popolare di Milano and Banca Popolare dell'' Emilia Romagna approved a merger deal that will create the seventh largest bank in Italy by branch number with a market capitalization of around 12 billion euros. Banca Popolare di Milano shares slid 4%, while Banca Popolare dell'' Emilia Romagna shares were unchanged.

Commodities

Crude oil for June delivery rose 44 cents, or 0.7%, to $65.38 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for July settlement gained 87 cents, or 1.3%, to $70.29 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange. Gold traded in London at $662.40, up from $660.90 late Friday. Silver opened in London at $12.94, down from $12.96.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar was mostly higher against other major currencies in European trading Monday. The euro traded at $1.3481, down from $1.3505 late Friday in New York. The British pound traded at $1.9701, down from $1.9745. The dollar fetched 121.38 Japanese yen, up from 121.15.