Grupo Bimbo is a $10 billion company that gobbles up other food brands. Consider the crumbs on your tie right now: Grupo Bimbo owns Thomas' English Muffins and Entenmann's. It reportedly tried to buy Hostess a few years back.
"They're good at the cost side of the business. I think the jury is still out whether they can take a brand and significantly enhance it," says Bob Goldin, with Technomic, a food industry research and consulting firm.
He figures Twinkie may be sweetest brand on the block. News of Hostess winding down and consumer nostalgia has naturally landed the remaining yellow treats on ebay -- $100 dollars a box.
"You know, it does have some sort of magic about it still, that perhaps a new owner with some investments in marketing could revitalize," says Goldin.
The first task will be neutralizing online jokes about Twinkies, Ho-hos and a company spelled B-I-M-B-O. In the end, the Mexican multinational may be laughing. If it buys Hostess brands and shifts production, Mexico has low-cost sugar -- ingredient number one.
This report was created for strategic planners, international executives and import/export managers who are concerned with the market for alloy steel ingots and other primary forms excluding stainless steel. With the globalization of this market, managers can no longer be contented with a local view. Nor can managers be contented with out-of-date statistics that appear several years after the fact. I have developed a methodology, based on macroeconomic and trade models, to estimate the market for alloy steel ingots and other primary forms excluding stainless steel for those countries serving the world market via exports or supplying from various countries via imports. I do so for the current year based on a variety of key historical indicators and econometric models.
On the demand side, exporters and strategic planners approaching the world market face a number of questions. Which countries are supplying alloy steel ingots and other primary forms excluding stainless steel? What is the dollar value of these imports? How much do the imports of alloy steel ingots and other primary forms excluding stainless steel vary from one country to another? Do exporters serving the world market have similar market shares across the importing countries? Which countries supply the most exports of alloy steel ingots and other primary forms excluding stainless steel? Which countries are buying their exports? What is the value of these exports and which countries are the largest buyers?
3.4 Latin America: Export Supplies of Alloy Steel Ingots and Other Primary Forms Excluding Stainless Steel
3.5 North America & the Caribbean: Export Supplies of Alloy Steel Ingots and Other Primary Forms Excluding Stainless Steel
3.6 the Middle East: Export Supplies of Alloy Steel Ingots and Other Primary Forms Excluding Stainless Steel
4.4 Latin America: Alloy Steel Ingots and Other Primary Forms Excluding Stainless Steel Imports in 2013
4.5 North America & the Caribbean: Alloy Steel Ingots and Other Primary Forms Excluding Stainless Steel Imports in 2013
4.7 the Middle East: Alloy Steel Ingots and Other Primary Forms Excluding Stainless Steel Imports in 2013
This econometric study covers the world outlook for soft drink flavoring syrup sold in bulk across more than 200 countries. For each year reported, estimates are given for the latent demand, or potential industry earnings (P.I.E.), for the country in question (in millions of U.S. dollars), the percent share the country is of the region and of the globe. These comparative benchmarks allow the reader to quickly gauge a country vis-à-vis others. Using econometric models which project fundamental economic dynamics within each country and across countries, latent demand estimates are created. This report does not discuss the specific players in the market serving the latent demand, nor specific details at the product level. The study also does not consider short-term cyclicalities that might affect realized sales. The study, therefore, is strategic in nature, taking an aggregate and long-run view, irrespective of the players or products involved.
This study does not report actual sales data (which are simply unavailable, in a comparable or consistent manner in virtually all of the 230 countries of the world). This study gives, however, my estimates for the worldwide latent demand, or the P.I.E., for soft drink flavoring syrup sold in bulk. It also shows how the P.I.E. is divided across the world’s regional and national markets. For each country, I also show my estimates of how the P.I.E. grows over time (positive or negative growth). In order to make these estimates, a multi-stage methodology was employed that is often taught in courses on international strategic planning at graduate schools of business.
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, on Thursday blamed U.K. legislation for preventing the central bank from acting in the way it wanted during the Northern Rock uk:nrk crisis. King said he would have liked the central bank to act as a covert lender of last resort or to hammer out a takeover deal over the weekend, but both possibilities were prohibited by legislation. He added that savers at Northern Rock were "not behaving illogically" in withdrawing cash once a run on the bank had started, because their savings would have been frozen if the bank went into administration, even if it remained solvent.
Cerberus Capital Management on Monday offered $125 million to acquire the private-equity business of embattled Abraaj Group of Dubai, people familiar with the matter said, amid a fight with creditors over Abraaj's debt-restructuring plan.
Abraaj's executives are pinning their hopes on the Cerberus bid to bring stability while it works out financial obligations with creditors spooked by questions raised about its financial practices. Once one of the top private-equity players in the Middle East's nascent financial community, Abraaj has lost much of its senior leadership and has closed down funds this year during a dispute with investors including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a unit of the World Bank and Kuwait's national pension fund.
Abraaj held a meeting in Dubai with investors, creditors and others on Monday, saying in a news release later that a proposed sale was discussed. The release didn't name Cerberus, which is based in New York.
If a sale to Cerberus went through, it would involve existing investor commitments being transferred to a new company, a person familiar with the matter said. At the same time, Cerberus wouldn't take on any of the existing liabilities of either the fund management business or Abraaj's holding company, the person added.
Any sale would need the approval of all of its creditors, and it isn't clear that the firm would get their support. It would leave Abraaj with a holding company that few know much about.
The Kuwait Public Institution for Social Security is trying to force Abraaj into bankruptcy in a Cayman Islands court. The Kuwaiti fund alleges that Abraaj can't repay a $100 million loan and $7 million interest, according to a court document viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The person said the Kuwait fund also wouldn't go along with other creditors in giving Abraaj more time to restructure its debts -- an agreement known as a debt standstill.
Abraaj said its secured creditors -- which tend to be banks or asset-based lenders -- had agreed to the debt standstill.
"We are pleased with the outcome of today's meeting and the constructive support we have received from our secured creditors in enabling us to move forward and resolve outstanding issues," Abraaj said in the release.
Abraaj's troubles began earlier this year when investors in its $1 billion health-care fund, including the Gates Foundation and the World Bank, alleged the firm used their money to finance its business rather than for hospitals and clinics in Africa and Asia, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The company has since acknowledged moving at least $200 million out of a separate $1.6 billion fund.
Proceeds from a sale of the private-equity business would be used to pay back investors in the buyout fund, a person familiar with the matter said.
Cerberus appears to have gained the edge over Colony NorthStar, which had earlier held talks with Abraaj about buying its fund management business, according to people familiar with the matter.
Monday's meeting was held at the Dubai offices of law firm Allen & Overy, one of the legal advisers involved with Abraaj. Creditors, lawyers, advisers and the co-chief executives of Abraaj's private equity business, Omar Lodhi and Selcuk Yorgancioglu, all attended the gathering, which lasted most of the day.
Cerberus, which counts former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle as the chairman of Cerberus Global Investments, has over $30 billion in assets under management, according to its website. It made its name buying distressed companies and selling them for a profit.
This item was corrected on June 5, 2018 at 0514 GMT to reflect that Cerberus has over $30 billion, not million, in assets under management, according to its website.
Cerberus Capital Management has $30 billion in assets under management. "Cerberus Bids $125 Million for Abraaj's Private Equity Business, Sources Say -- Update," at 5:28 p.m. ET on Monday, incorrectly stated that it had $30 million in assets under management in the final paragraph.
SEATTLE (MarketWatch) -- New leveraged mutual funds from ProFunds could gobble assets from typical Latin American sector funds. They're just a better deal.
ProFunds UltraLatin America ProFund UBPIX, -3.42% is geared to earn twice the upside of the Bank of New York Latin America 35 ADR Index, which rose 46% in the first nine months of the year. If the fund had matched the index, it would have posted double the gain.
For pessimists who expect Latin America will fall with the U.S. stock market, ProFunds offers UltraShort Latin America ProFund UFPIX, +3.42% which is designed to reflect twice the downside movement of the Latin America 35 ADR Index.
ProFunds announced these so-called double-beta leveraged funds on Oct. 17; the new funds should vacuum assets like a financial Pac-Man. Keep in mind that the U.S. market climate affects Latin America; when the U.S. market rallies, invest in UltraLatin America ProFund. In a U.S. market decline, UltraShort Latin America ProFund would be the winner.
Of course, the funds' leverage cuts both ways. But Latin American funds and exchange-traded funds have been one of the most consistently high returning investments over the past five years. The falling U.S. dollar and sound fundamentals in Latin American economies have made these investments profitable and safer long-term holdings.
As of Sept. 30, investors had $25.4 billion invested in Latin American funds, including $10.4 billion in four ETFs and $15 billion in traditional diversified portfolios. ETFs leading the way so far this year include iShares MSCI Brazil EWZ, -1.29% which is up 58% for the first nine months of 2007, iShares S&P Latin American 40 ILF, -1.75% up 41%, and iShares Mexico Index EWW, -2.90% rising 14%.
Why is Latin America such a sound investment? First, Venezuela is not included in the Latin American 40 index. Second, Brazil is soon to be energy independent; its sugar cane crop is a rich source of ethanol. Third, Mexico is enjoying an exciting middle-class boom: retail franchises and financial institutions financing Latin American growth are highly profitable.
Also, many U.S. investors don't fully appreciate the positive impact of a weakening dollar, developing foreign markets, and large corporations and institutions boosting international investments. (If you get laid off, invest your settlement where your former employer is investing. If it makes sense for them, it's smart for you.) Advice to "diversify your portfolio 10-20% into international funds" -- which worked a decade ago -- is too conservative today.
ProFunds is on the right track with their new funds. Latin America is the place to be for many investors rather than Asia, which is getting overheated short-term. These leveraged offerings are the better choice for Latin American investing. Don't be surprised to see more leveraged international products from ProFunds.
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European shares ended lower Wednesday, with concerns over U.S. inflation and commodity prices offsetting some well-received updates from brewer SABMiller and chip-equipment maker ASML Holding.
The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 (SXXP) index slipped 0.1% at 371.73, with losses for miners including Sweden's Bolinden (BOL) and oil producers including Austria's OMV OMVKY, -2.79% as oil prices were lower for most of the session and on concerns that metal prices may decline further.
Companies including Alcatel-Lucent (013000) ALU, +0.00% slipped from session highs after U.S. data showed faster-than-forecast growth in producer prices.
"It's been very much the U.S. setting the pace today. Inflationary figures in the U.S. gave us a knock and although we're starting to recover now; that's what really set the negative tone," said Martin Slaney, head of spread betting at GFT Global Markets.
Elsewhere, the German DAX Xetra 30 index (1876534) fell 0.2% to 6,701.70, the French CAC-40 index (1804546) declined 0.5% to 5,561.78, and the U.K. FTSE 100 index (UKX) fell 0.2% to 6,204.50.
The oil-price weakness wasn't all bad news, however. Airlines including British Airways (BAY) BAB, +0.42% and chemical companies including Ciba Specialty Chemicals (000581972) advanced, as their costs fall when energy prices decline.
Shares of chip-equipment maker ASML Holding ASML, -3.70% (33436) rallied 8.4% after it reported a forecast-beating four-fold jump in net income for the latest quarter and said it plans to grow further in 2007. See full story.
Shares in Anglo-South African brewing company SABMiller (SAB) gained 4.7%. It was able to sell beer at a marginally faster pace in the last quarter than it had over the preceding half year, helped by a mild winter in Eastern Europe and Russia and continued growth in South America and China. See full story.
Total organic lager volumes grew 10% in its fiscal third-quarter, marginally ahead of year-to-date growth of 9.5%.
However, shares in European defense giant EADS (005730) slid 2.8% after its Airbus unit confirmed it fell behind Boeing for aircraft orders last year. It's likely to post a loss for 2006 after delays to its flagship A380 program led to a flurry of charges and increased costs.
Shares in electronics retailer DSG International (DSGI) dropped 12% after the company said profit for the 28 weeks ending Nov. 11 fell 34% to 50 million pounds ($97 million) and its Christmas sales update raised concerns about profit-margin progression. The company said its Italian operations in particular may cause annual profit to miss forecasts. See London Markets.
Power companies were also in focus after Merrill Lynch downgraded electricity utility International Power (IPR) IPR, -0.64% to neutral from buy and upgraded National Grid (NG) NGG, +0.47% to buy from neutral.
The broker said mild winter weather in the U.K. and the Northeast U.S. could damp sentiment on International Power, leading to a 2.5% share price decline.
On National Grid, which rose 0.5%, Merrill Lynch said the combination of low-risk U.K. regulated asset growth, the acquisition of KeySpan and the sale of its wireless infrastructure division should all be positive catalysts through 2008.
Merrill Lynch also upgraded natural-gas utility Centrica (CNA) to buy from neutral, saying that while long-term strategic challenges remain, the collapse in wholesale gas prices should feed through into improved margins.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Hubbell Inc. huba on Friday said it has approved the repurchase of up to $200 million in stock over a two-year period. The maker of electrical and electronic products said it will implement the new buyback program once it has completed its current $100 million program, which has a remaining approval of about $35 million.
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. tour operator MyTravel uk:mt said Wednesday that it now expects to report a pretax profit of 40 million pounds to 45 million pounds for fiscal 2006, the first time its reported a profit since 2001. However, the company's U.K. business is no longer expected to return to profit this year and is expected to produce a loss of 10 million pounds to 15 million pounds. MyTravel said that the recent U.K. security alerts and terrorist incidents in Turkey and Jordan compounded an already difficult summer trading period. The company said its U.K winter trading period has started slowly and is currently being affected by security concerns. Overall, winter charter holiday bookings are down 11% on 10% less capacity, with the average selling price up 4%.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gains from Hewlett-Packard HPQ, -4.04% Nvidia Corp. NVDA, -7.84% and IBM Corp. IBM, -2.14% kept the tech sector in positive territory early Wednesday, as the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -2.78% held on to a fraction gain in early trades. The benchmark was up 0.1% at 3,123. H-P and IBM were each up a fraction, joining the top gainers on the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -2.32% which was up 3 points. Nvidia was ahead 2.5%, one of the top gainers on the S&P 500, which was mostly flat. But modest losses came from shares of Texas Instruments TXN, -2.74% and Applied Materials AMAT, -4.84% Shares of Synnex Corp. SNX, -1.99% fell more than 11% after the services company posted a weak outlook.
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Media giant Viacom Inc. posted an 80% jump in third-quarter profit on Friday, boosted by a gain from selling a business, and said it expected little impact in the event of a writers strike.
Net income rose to $641.6 million, or 96 cents a share, from $356.8 million, or 50 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The most recent results reflect a $192 million gain recorded in connection with the sale of Famous Music in July.
On an adjusted basis, which excludes Media Networks restructuring charges and $15 million in tax benefits, the company earned 65 cents a share. In the year-ago third quarter, adjusted profit was 51 cents a share, excluding the after- tax impact of the net compensation charges and $29 million of tax benefits.
Revenue for Viacom -- which consists of BET Networks, MTV Networks and Paramount Pictures -- climbed 24% to $3.27 billion.
Analysts, on average, expected it to earn 59 cents a share on revenue of $2.99 billion, according to Thomson Financial.
On a conference call with analysts, Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman, said the company is "well-positioned" if there is a strike by Hollywood screenwriters. Negotiators for the Writers Guild late Thursday approved a strike recommendation. A strike is expected to begin Monday, media reports said.
"We, along with other studios, have obviously been preparing for the possibility of a strike. We have a good pipeline of movies that are already produced or in production, which will not be affected," Dauman said. "In the long term, it depends how long the strike goes on. As far as our television business, for the most part across our family of networks, we will have very little to no impact."
He said the shows most impacted would be The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, due to their topical nature.
"If there should be a strike, we will evaluate what we do in those time slots. Obviously as we have done before we do normally, we will have reruns for a little while and then we will see what we do with the format."
Viacom VIA, +2.01% was split off from sister company CBS Corp. at the end of 2005. Late Thursday, CBS posted higher third-quarter profit, even as revenue fell on lower television ad sales. See full story.
At the time, CBS CBS, -0.73% Chief Executive Les Moonves told analysts that the company foresees "no material impact" on its financials should there be a strike by Hollywood screenwriters.
Quarterly revenue of Viacom's media networks rose 9% to $2 billion. The unit includes Nickelodeon, TV Land, VH1, Comedy Central and other cable channels.
Filmed-entertainment revenue rose 57% to $1.3 billion, as theatrical revenue was buoyed by the release of Transformers.
Home-entertainment revenue rose 39% to $457 million, boosted by a greater number of titles released.