Allianz Technology Share Discussion Threads

[waldron] 29/8/2006 17:12

French firm against Lucent-Alcatel deal

SAN FRANCISCO (AFX) - In the first definite sign of French opposition to the
merger of telecom-equipment specialists Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc.,
French investment advisery firm Proxinvest has urged Alcatel shareholders to
vote against the merger at the companies' respective extraordinary general
meetings on Sept. 7.
In a letter sent to fund managers, Proxinvest said Alcatel is paying too
much for Lucent, and is concerned the deal could weaken corporate governance.
According to a report in French newspaper Le Monde, Proxinvest believes
Alcatel should be offering one share for six or seven Lucent shares, instead of
the agreed one-for-five ratio. Proxinvest cited uncertainties surrounding
Lucent's massive pension and retiree liabilities and a recent profit warning at
the U.S. company.
In addition, Proxinvest President Pierre-Henry Leroy told Le Monde he's
concerned that Alcatel President Serge Tchuruk's career and personal goals could
eclipse those of shareholders.
Tchuruk is set to remain as non-executive president of the combined group
beyond the age limit of 70. Tchuruk, who will turn 69 in November, has been head
of Alcatel for the past 11 years.
Proxinvest's recommendation contrasts with that of its U.S. counterpart,
Institutional Shareholder Services, which last week spoke in favor of the
merger.
Dresdner Kleinwort, which since Aug. 10 has published a series of
pessimistic notes about the deal, told clients it believes the harsh tone of
Proxinvest could sway about 5 percent of investors to the negative side.
The $13.45 billion merger, agreed to earlier this year, must be approved by
50 percent of Lucent shareholders and 66 percent of Alcatel shareholders.
In Tuesday morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Alcatel's
American depositary shares rose 14 cents to $12.26. Lucent shares rose 2 cents
to $2.28.

[waldron] 29/8/2006 08:01

French advisory firm opposes Alcatel/Lucent merger terms - reports

PARIS (AFX) - Proxinvest, a French investor advisory firm, has called on
shareholders to vote down the proposed merger of Alcatel and Lucent Technologies
at their respective AGMs on Sept 7, according to reports in French financial
dailies Les Echos and La Tribune.
Proxinvest believes that in light of the uncertainties surrounding Lucent's
massive pension and retiree liabilities, Alcatel should be offering one share
for 6 or 7 Lucent shares, instead of the 1-for-5 ratio announced in April.
The advisory firm also noted Lucent's profit-warning in April, just a few
weeks after the merger was announced, as well as the decision to require
two-thirds of the new board to approve any change of either the chairman or CEO.
Last week, the US advisory group Institutional Shareholder Services said it
backed the merger.


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js/lam

[ariane] 22/8/2006 18:04

Alcatel Should Seek Motorola Tie - Analyst

Tuesday, August 22, 2006 9:28:42 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



1206 GMT [Dow Jones] Dresdner Kleinwort says Alcatel (ALA) would do better to merge with Motorola (MOT) and leave Lucent (LU) to tie with Cisco (CSCO). "Motorola would be a more suitable partner to the French vendor and Cisco a more adequate rescuer (than Alcatel) for Lucent. Apart from greater operational synergies, these combinations would solve serious financial quandaries," the analyst says. Says such deals would help the companies generate healthy surpluses and create cross-selling opportunities. Maintains Alcatel hold recommendation with EUR8.60 price target. Shares trade -1.1% at EUR9.37. (DBL)

[waldron] 16/8/2006 16:54

Lucent Pension Gap May Kill Alcatel Deal-DK

Wednesday, August 16, 2006 7:57:42 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



1040 GMT [Dow Jones] Alcatel SA (13000.FR) buy of Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU) may yet be scuppered by Lucent's pension deficit, says Dresdner Kleinwort's Per Lindberg. Notes Lucent's potential pension gap could be as much as $5B, which makes its price look 40%-50% more expensive than markets currently believe. Says that could prompt shareholders to demand a drastic change in deal terms. Also notes that Alcatel may be "on its way to acquiring a loss-making company with a 'hollow' balance sheet, derailing its journey towards investment grade. Shares trade +1.2% at EUR9.32. (KKL)

[waldron] 16/8/2006 12:22

Alcatel Up, Investors Think On Merger Break

Wednesday, August 16, 2006 6:27:43 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



0908 GMT [Dow Jones] Alcatel (ALA) +0.7% to EUR9.27 on back of Dresdner Kleinwort analyst report released Tuesday, analyst says. "It has had a marginal impact," London-based analyst says. According to the note, if shareholders scupper a merger between the two companies at the September 7 AGM Lucent (LU) shares could fall while Alcatel shares could rise 20%. (NAS)

[waldron] 15/8/2006 11:06

Lucent Shares Riskier If Alcatel Deal Fails

Monday, August 14, 2006 9:42:41 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



1226 GMT [Dow Jones]--Alcatel (ALA) shares could benefit from sentimental relief if on September 7 shareholders reject its merger with Lucent (LU), says Dresdner Kleinwort. Alcatel shareholders are alarmed by the prospect of swallowing Lucent's "precarious operations and hollow balance sheet," and the deal "not only elevates risks but also effectively transfers value to outside investors," says Dresdner. Hold recommendation and EUR8.6 target price maintained. Stock +1.7% at EUR8.87. (MSP

[grupo guitarlumber] 09/8/2006 14:10

Alcatel Well Placed In Market - Citigroup

Wednesday, August 09, 2006 6:57:10 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



0943 GMT [Dow Jones] Citigroup reiterates Alcatel (ALA) at buy with a EUR14 target noting it's well placed to benefit from next generation network upgrades. Says Alcatel's gigabit passive optical networking likely to be the architecture of choice if telephone companies lay down fiber optic cable to homes. Verizon's purchase of the technology is a good first sign. Citigroup estimates that by 2011 29M subscribers will be connected to fiber networks via passive optical networking, representing a $9B market. Alcatel +0.6% at EUR8.6. (NAS)

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[grupo] 11/7/2006 17:55

Paris shares close sharply lower led by tech stocks on profit warnings UPDATE

(update with full report)
PARIS (AFX) - Shares closed sharply lower across the board led down by a
slide in technology stocks as the second-quarter results season got underway
with a series of profit warnings, dealers said.
The main CAC-40 index closed 68.09 points or 1.37 pct lower at 4,914.39, on
heavy volume of 5.71 bln eur.
Of the CAC-40 shares, 38 closed lower and one was higher. Arcelor stock
remained withdrawn from the index, pending the outcome of Mittal Steel's merger
offer.
On the Matif, July CAC-40 futures were trading down 65.5 points or 1.31 pct
at 4,924.5.
On the broader indices, the SBF-80 index closed 82.66 points or 1.47 pct
lower at 5,556.68, while the SBF-120 closed 49.56 points or 1.37 pct lower at
3,557.68.
The euro was quoted at 1.2742 usd, against 1.2745 usd late yesterday.
Alcatel made the biggest slide of the French blue-chips and ended down 0.58
eur or 5.93 pct at 9.20, after future US partner Lucent gave a warning overnight
that its second-quarter revenues would be some 300 mln eur below market
expectations due to weak sales in the US and China.
Alcatel shares came under further pressure after it said its operating
margin in the second-quarter fell to around around 8 pct from 8.3 pct, which
offset estimates of a 7.5 pct rise in second-quarter sales to 3.38 bln eur.
Other technology stocks also weakened as Lucent's negative update added to
profit warnings late last week from 3I, Tomtom, Business Objects and AMD, which
continued to weigh on the US NASDAQ index.
Cap Gemini slid 1.85 eur or 4.27 pct to 41.50, while STMicroelectronics fell
0.29 eur or 2.38 pct to 11.91.
Schneider Electric lost 2.55 eur or 3.13 eur to close at 78.90 and Thomson
was down 0.37 eur or 2.90 pct at 12.37, after South Korean competitor LG Philips
posted heavy second-quarter losses due to industry-wide price declines, weak
sales growth in most segments and overcapacity.
Suez was down 0.73 eur or 2.30 pct at 31.01, as the French parliament
prepared for an extensive debate, set to begin on September 7, over the
government-backed plan to merge Gaz de France with Suez. GDF shares fell 0.60
eur or 2.29 pct to 25.60.
Credit Agricole closed 0.68 eur or 2.19 pct lower at 29.91 and Pernod Ricard
was down 3.20 eur or 2.08 pct, as investors cashed in gains from yesterday's
outperformance by both stocks.
On the upside, Carrefour made the only gains of the CAC-40, edging up 0.06
eur or 0.13 pct to 46.67 ahead of the release of its first-half sales tomorrow.
Among the shares on the second line, Safran plunged 1.15 eur or 6.77 pct to
15.84, after it issued a warning on its full year margin due to high costs in
its defence business and heavy competition for its communications division.
Yesterday it said 100 mln eur in sales may be pushed over into 2007 because
of delays with the Airbus A380 program.
Alstom was down 2.40 eur or 3.46 pct at 66.95, after posting disappointing
first-quarter sales.
Eramet surged 8.70 eur or 7.59 pct to close at 123.40, after Xstrata upped
its bid for Eramet's nickel-mining rival Falconbridge, amid record prices for
nickel.
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[grupo] 11/7/2006 08:56

Alcatel Shares Slide as Lucent Earnings Miss Analyst Estimates
July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of Alcatel SA, the French network equipment maker that is buying Lucent Technologies Inc., fell as much as 6.3 percent after Lucent said third-quarter sales and profit missed analysts' estimates after a slide in demand from U.S. customers.

Alcatel's stock lost as much as 62 cents to 9.16 euros, and traded at 9.29 euros as of 9:24 a.m. in Paris, where the company is based. Before today, the stock had lost 6.6 percent this year.

Sales at Lucent dropped to $2.04 billion in the period ended June 30 and earnings declined to 2 cents a share, the Murray Hill, New Jersey-based company said yesterday, citing preliminary results. Alcatel agreed in April to buy Lucent to reduce costs and spur growth. The companies said yesterday they will cut about 9,000 jobs to help reduce expenses by about $1.7 billion in three years, up from 8,800 reductions previously announced.

Lucent is ``basically relying on a shortlist of four or five customers,'' said Paul Sagawa, analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York, who rates the shares ``outperform'' and doesn't own them. ``If those customers are light, you've got issues.''

Lucent's projected results compare with Sagawa's per-share earnings estimate of 6 cents on sales of $2.39 billion. The company was expected to earn 4 cents and $2.34 billion, according to the average estimate of 24 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, which did not disclose the parameters of its poll.

U.S. mobile-phone companies delayed purchases in the quarter, Patricia Russo, chief executive officer of the largest U.S. telephone-equipment company, said in a statement.

Shares of Lucent fell 4.3 percent to the equivalent of $2.24 at 9:12 a.m. in German trading from the close of $2.34 in U.S. trading yesterday.

Alcatel Sales Rise

Alcatel said yesterday its second-quarter sales rose 7.5 percent to about 3.38 billion euros ($4.3 billion), beating an April forecast.

``Results are in line with expectations,'' Alcatel said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday.

Alcatel's Chief Financial Officer Jean-Pascal Beaufret said in April that second-quarter sales would rise between 5 percent and 7 percent, after first-quarter sales rose 18 percent to 3.07 billion euros.

Operating profit was about 8 percent of sales in the second quarter, Alcatel said. The company in February forecast a ``slight'' improvement in operating profitability this year, from a margin of 9.1 percent of sales in 2005.



To contact the reporter on this story:
Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at [e-mail].
Last Updated: July 11, 2006 03:29 EDT

[grupo] 11/7/2006 06:54

Alcatel sees Q2 sales up 7.5 pct on year as opg margin declines UPDATE

(adds information on deal with Thales)
PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel estimated its second quarter sales were around 3.38
bln eur, up 7.5 pct from a year earlier, but said its operating margin fell to
around 8 pct from 8.3 pct and that the margin would be 7.7 pct excluding a
capital gain from the sale of fixed assets.
The estimates were in line with company expectations. Formal results will be
released July 27.
It said its proposed merger with Lucent Technologies was on track for
completion by the end of the year.
Alcatel also said its deal with Thales, in which Alcatel is selling its
satellite businesses to Thales and raising its stake in Thales to 21.6 pct from
9.5 pct, is also due for completion by year-end.
The assets contributed to Thales will be accounted for as discontinued
operations.
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mjs/vs

[grupo guitarlumber] 10/6/2006 07:28

Dec. 12, 2006 Retail Shareholders Meeting, Strasbourg
Feb. 1, 2007 4th Quarter and Full Year 2006 Results




Jun 09, 2006Lucent, Alcatel Merger OK'd by U.S. Gov't
JUN 09, 2006 01:47:43 PM | Add Comment (0) | Permalink

U.S. government regulators have approved the planned merger of telecommunications giants Lucent Technologies and Alcatel.

The deal would not violate American antitrust laws, according to filings on Wednesday from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

That means the deal is still on track to gain full acceptance by April 2007, an estimated six to 12 months from the original announcement, said Lucent spokeswoman Joan Campion.

Together, the merged companies hope to offer the broadest telephony portfolio in the industry, allowing it to beat its competitors in the race to provide next-generation wireless, wireline and converged networks, Lucent said.

The companies announced in April that Alcatel in Paris would pay US$14 billion to acquire Lucent of Murray Hill, N.J.

Before it earns final approval, the deal must survive a vote by Lucent shareholders at a special meeting on Sept. 7. Alcatel shareholders will vote in Paris the same day.

Finally, the deal needs approval by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and the European Union, Campion said.

If it goes through, the companies must agree on a new name and move the corporate headquarters to Paris.

Some things will not change. Lucent will continue its U.S. business operations, although it will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Alcatel. And Lucent's current chief executive officer, Patricia F. Russo, will retain her title in the new company.

Alcatel sells telecom equipment for voice and data transmission to customers in 130 countries, including fixed line and wireless telecommunications operators, Internet service providers, governments and businesses.

Lucent designs systems for next-generation communications, including mobility, optical, software, data and voice networking. Its customers include communications service providers, governments and enterprises.

The merged companies would produce annual savings of $1.7 billion and become a leader in the fast-growing communications networks industry, with leading positions in third-generation wireless, broadband access and optical networks, according to a Lucent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

-Ben Ames, IDG News Service (Boston Bureau)

[grupo guitarlumber] 10/6/2006 07:25

Jun 09, 2006Lucent, Alcatel Merger OK'd by U.S. Gov't
JUN 09, 2006 01:47:43 PM | Add Comment (0) | Permalink

U.S. government regulators have approved the planned merger of telecommunications giants Lucent Technologies and Alcatel.

The deal would not violate American antitrust laws, according to filings on Wednesday from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

That means the deal is still on track to gain full acceptance by April 2007, an estimated six to 12 months from the original announcement, said Lucent spokeswoman Joan Campion.

Together, the merged companies hope to offer the broadest telephony portfolio in the industry, allowing it to beat its competitors in the race to provide next-generation wireless, wireline and converged networks, Lucent said.

The companies announced in April that Alcatel in Paris would pay US$14 billion to acquire Lucent of Murray Hill, N.J.

Before it earns final approval, the deal must survive a vote by Lucent shareholders at a special meeting on Sept. 7. Alcatel shareholders will vote in Paris the same day.

Finally, the deal needs approval by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and the European Union, Campion said.

If it goes through, the companies must agree on a new name and move the corporate headquarters to Paris.

Some things will not change. Lucent will continue its U.S. business operations, although it will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Alcatel. And Lucent's current chief executive officer, Patricia F. Russo, will retain her title in the new company.

Alcatel sells telecom equipment for voice and data transmission to customers in 130 countries, including fixed line and wireless telecommunications operators, Internet service providers, governments and businesses.

Lucent designs systems for next-generation communications, including mobility, optical, software, data and voice networking. Its customers include communications service providers, governments and enterprises.

The merged companies would produce annual savings of $1.7 billion and become a leader in the fast-growing communications networks industry, with leading positions in third-generation wireless, broadband access and optical networks, according to a Lucent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

-Ben Ames, IDG News Service (Boston Bureau)

[waldron] 22/5/2006 16:53

Galileo more than 400 mln eur over budget

- Satellite navigation system Galileo is already 400 mln eur over budget,
said the director of Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU).
Rainer Grohe said the extra costs are being spent notably on manufacturing
and the launch of two test satellites, one last December and one coming up at
the end of the year.
The additional expense is also covering updates to the security system and
costs of running GJU -- the company managing the project -- whose creation was
not budgeted, he said.
Grohe said the cost of the first-phase of the project is now around 1.5 bln
eur. Total costs are now seen at 6 bln eur.
The Galileo project, which aims to create a rival to the US' global
positioning system, is to be run by a consortium of firms including EADS,
Thales, Alcatel and Finmeccanica SpA.


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[coypu_77] 14/3/2005 13:48

Flag Telecom has selected Alcatel for the construction of Falcon, a multi-terabit/s submarine cable system that will provide multiple landings throughout the Gulf region, with additional links to India and Egypt. Initial service will begin by the end of the year.