Astrazeneca Share News (AZN)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Thomas Cook Group shares have flown higher Friday, after Chinese investment group Fosun International Ltd bought a 5% stake in the travel operator and said it would increase the investment to 10% by buying shares in the open market over time.

Fosun International, chaired by Chinese billionaire Guo Guangchang who started the investment group with three friends whilst at university back in 1992, is in the process of buying France's Club Mediterranee SA for EUR939 million after a long battle, having become its largest shareholder in 2010.

Fosun's other investments are focused on the Chinese insurance, industrial, steel and mining sectors, and its has pharmaceuticals and healthcare and property subsidiaries. It also has an asset and fund management business and its strategic investment business.

Thomas Cook and Fosun said the deal is a strategic partnership and they'll cooperate internationally in a number of business areas, including potential new growth areas. That cooperation will include with Club Med, which is pushing its resorts into the Chinese market. Thomas Cook and Fosun said the deal will give Thomas Cook access to the Chinese tourism market over the medium-term, including as a tour operator. The pair are also looking at creating a hotel investment platform under a partnership model, including developing a hotel brand tailored to the Chinese leisure market.

"Our partnership with Fosun is aimed at accelerating our profitable growth strategy by allowing us to further develop our differentiated product in our core destination markets, to collaborate with Fosun's other portfolio businesses particularly in France, and to access the world's largest and fastest-growing tourism markets with an experienced local partner," Thomas Cook Chief Executive Peter Fankhauser said.

Under the deal, Thomas Cook will issue Fosun with 73.1 million new shares for GBP91.8 million, giving it a 5% stake in the business. Fosun will then buy shares in the open market to take its stake up to about 10% over time. The share issue values Thomas Cook shares at 125.58 pence.

Thomas Cook shares were up 19.2% at 142.80 pence midday Friday, a near nine-month high for the stock.

Fosun is buying the Thomas Cook shares through its Portuguese insurance subsidiary Fidelidade-Companhia de Seguros SA.

The Fosun deal is the latest stage in a remarkable turnaround for Thomas Cook, which nearly went out of business in the wake of the financial crisis. It had built a large debt pile due to acquisitions ahead of the crisis, and this became unmanageable when the crisis hit, particularly as some of Thomas Cook's key travel destinations in North Africa were then hit by the uprisings that swept the region from late 2010.

Former Chief Executive Harriet Green set about rescuing the company, shrinking it and paying down debt by selling off assets, closing travel shops, cutting costs and honing and focusing its offering. She abruptly stepped down last November having overseen an increase in its share price from just14 pence to over 130 pence, saying the group now needed a "different set of qualities" to drive the business forward. Fankhauser, who Green had promoted to the role of chief operating officer from head of UK and continental European operations, then replaced Green as CEO.

----------
Markets: The FTSE 100 is lower, as the mining sector is again dragged down by weak commodity prices. Investors have one eye on the highly-anticipated US nonfarm payrolls report. The euro has hit yet another fresh 11-year low against the dollar.

Wall Street is also set for a mixed start, with stock futures indicating that the DJIA and S&P 500 will open down 0,1% and the Nasdaq 100 slightly higher.

FTSE 100: down 0.3% at 6,941.54
FTSE 250: up 0.1% at 17,328.78
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.4% at 717.04
GBP-USD: down at 1.5180
EUR-USD: down at 1.0949
GOLD: down at USD1,197.29 an ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD61.11 a barrel
----------
Other Top Corporate News
----------
BP said it has signed the final agreements for the West Nile Delta project in Egypt to develop 5 trillion cubic feet of gas and 55 million barrels of condensates by investing around USD12 billion with its partner. Production from the project, due in 2017, is expected to reach up to 1.2 billion cubic feet per day, which is the equivalent of 25% of Egypt's current gas production and will "significantly contribute" to the country's energy supply, with all the gas from the project being fed to the national grid. BP has a 65% stake in the project, but the partner has not been named.
----------
Rio Tinto said it has increased its reserves in the Diavik diamond project, the Pilbara iron project and the Hail Creek Coal project. The Anglo-Australian miner said the mineral resource at the Pilbara project in Western Australia has increased mainly due to the addition of the Yandicoogina braid deposit, which has contributed 488 million tonnes at 61.7% iron, 238 million tonnes at 57.7% iron and 62 million tonnes at 56.9% iron. That led to Hamersley Iron Brockman, one of the company's subsidiaries, having a mineral reserve increase to 2.99 billion tonnes from 681 million tonnes, and Brockman process ore increasing to 1.13 billion tonnes from 324 million tonnes.
----------
AstraZeneca reiterated that it expects its total revenue to decline by a mid-single digit percentage at constant exchange rates in 2015, in line with previous revenue guidance it gave at the time of its full-year results, as it announced changes to the way it presents its revenue. At the time of its full-year results in February the company guided that it expects its overall sales revenue to decline by mid single-digit percent at constant exchange rates in 2015, while core EPS is expected to increase by low single-digit percent, also at constant rates. On Friday, AstraZeneca said that based on current exchange rates, total revenue is expected to decline by low double-digit percent at actual exchange rates, and core earnings per share is expected to be broadly in line with 2014.
----------
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has said he made a mistake in not radically restructuring Royal Bank of Scotland Group back in 2010 but adds he would now like to push ahead with selling the government's stake in the bank as quickly as possible, the Financial Times reported. The Chancellor, speaking in an interview with the paper's FT Weekend magazine, said he would like to proceed with a sale "as quickly as we can to get rid of it". Osborne conceded, however, that the size of the government's stake in the UK bank is "massive" and suggested the sale could take years to complete.
----------
Evraz said it has signed an agreement to sell its structural tubing business for a total of USD51 million in cash to Maruichi Oregon Steel Tube. The tubing business is owned by Evraz North America, and the USD51 million deal includes USD8.5 million of proceeds from the sale of inventories. The cash from the deal will be re-invested in the the North American subsidiary.
----------
Construction and support services company Kier Group said it has promoted three executive directors to its board, leading to the departure of its chief operating officer. The changes mean Steve Bowcott, Kier's chief operating officer, will leave the company on April 30.
---------
DFS Furniture said it has set a price for its initial public offering at the lower end of the company's guidance, with conditional dealings commencing Friday. The company set the offer price at 255.0 pence per share, which gives the sofa retailer a market capitalisation of GBP543.2 million. This is toward the lower end of the company's guidance in February, when it said the offer price would be between 245.0 pence to 310.0 pence per share.
----------
AIM Movers
----------
Snoozebox Holdings shares are doing well after it confirmed media speculation that it has been selected to work on the Ealing Council tender for modular accommodation in London. Snoozebox said it, along with support services company Mears Group, has been selected to provide modular serviced accommodation as part of the Ealing Council tender for immediate short-term housing provision. Daniel Stewart Securities shares are down by more than quarter after being restored to trading following the publication of its restated results for 2014. The company got into difficulties last year after it identified a shortfall in regulatory capital, and its shares were suspended as it sought new funding to strengthen its balance sheet. The group in January said it has secured GBP1.5 million in new funding through two cash subscriptions and via a loan note agreement.
----------
Top Economics And General
----------
Britons' inflation expectations for a year fell to its lowest level in more than 13 years and more people expect interest rates to remain unchanged over the next 12 months, results of a quarterly survey from the Bank of England showed. Median expectations of inflation over the coming year were 1.9%, compared with 2.5% in November, the survey said. It was the lowest since November 2001, when it was also 1.9%. The Bank of England/GfK NOP Inflation Attitudes survey was carried out in two phases, between February 5 and 17, among 4,112 people aged 16 and above.
----------
UK firms hired staff at the fastest rate in four months in February, results of a survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, or REC, and KPMG showed. Permanent staff appointments continued to rise and the rate of increase was fastest since October 2014. Temporary staff appointments increased at the sharpest pace in five months. Overall job vacancies grew at the fastest rate in four months as growth in permanent and temporary vacancies quickened. Average starting salaries for people placed in permanent positions increased at a strong rate, unchanged from the previous month.
----------
The Eurozone economy expanded as initially estimated in the fourth quarter, second estimates from Eurostat showed. Gross domestic product grew 0.3% sequentially, slightly faster than the third quarter's 0.2% expansion. The statistical office confirmed the estimate released on February 13. Year-on-year, the economy expanded 0.9% as estimated, which was marginally above the 0.8% growth posted in the third quarter.
----------
The US Federal Reserve said the 31 largest US banks passed the first part of an annual stress test devised by financial regulators to check how banks react in a simulated crisis scenario. The Fed designed the stress tests to ensure the banks have enough capital to continue lending to US businesses and households in a severe economic downturn. The most severe hypothetical scenario in the stress test projected that loan losses at the 31 participating US bank holding companies would total USD340 billion during the nine quarters tested, the Fed said in a news release.
----------
Russia is happy to let the West play a bigger role in solving the conflict in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said, while his Foreign Ministry advised against sending Western military instructors to the country. "Right now, the role of all responsible members of the international community is growing, especially of those who have real influence on the Ukrainian leadership," Putin said after talks with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Moscow. He added that the conflict can be solved only after all sides properly observe last month's Minsk peace accords. He also reiterated Russian demand that Ukraine begin a direct dialogue with the separatists in the country's east.
----------
Afternoon Watchlist (all times in GMT)

13:30 US Nonfarm Payrolls
13:30 US Unemployment Rate
13:30 US Trade Balance
20:00 US Consumer Credit Change
----------
Monday's Key UK Corporate Events

WPP - Full Year Results
Clarkson - Full Year Results
HgCapital Trust - Full Year Results
Hansteen Holdings - Full Year Results
Gemfields - Half Year Results
Abcam - Half Year Results
Mincon Group - Full Year Results
---------
Sunday's Key Economic Events (all times in GMT)

n/a China Trade Balance
07:00 US Daylight Saving Time
23:50 Japan Current Account
23:50 Japan Gross Domestic Product
23:50 Japan Trade Balance - BOP Basis

Monday's Key Economic Events (all times in GMT)

All Day EU Eurogroup meeting
05:00 Japan Eco Watchers Survey
07:00 Germany Current Account
07:00 Germany Trade Balance
09:30 EU Sentix Investor Confidence
14:00 US Labor Market Conditions Index

---------
Contact: +44 207 199 0340; newsroom@alliancenews.com; @AllNewsTeam

Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.