Sezer Caliskan discusses how his firm make its claim within the Turkish market, and how the nation’s domestic market is growing within the global mergers and acquisitions market.
Month: January 2012
Dauren Zhaksybek on Kazakhstan | Tsesnabank | Video
Tsesnabank is one of Kazakhstan’s fastest-growing mid-size banks, thanks to a swiftly expanding high-quality client base: diverse, well-rated corporate customers that recovered well from the crisis. Dauren Zhaksybek explains how Kazakhstan’s banking sector has changed and how Tsesnabank’s evolution won’t stop it offering quality service to its SME and retail customers.
Miners boost FTSE as China data buoys demand outlook
Miners led Britain’s FTSE 100 higher early on Tuesday, boosted by stronger-than-expected manufacturing data from China, and as the index caught up with sharp gains posted in Europe in the previous session.
London’s blue chip index was up 67.67 points or 1.2 percent at 5,639.95 by 0903 GMT on the first trading day since the new year holiday break.
“Following on from a solid performance across Europe yesterday, investors piled in and trading screens quickly turned blue,” Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at ETX Capital, said.
“Traders will be looking for the positive momentum to continue as January usually serves as a barometer for the rest of the year.”
Technical analysts said the FTSE 100 still faces the challenge of closing above its 200-day moving average, currently around 5,610, which it has failed to do since late July 2011, but could push on should it achieve that feat.
UK-listed stocks echoed gains in Europe on Monday, when British investors were enjoying their extended new year’s break, and overnight in Asia where commodity stocks were given a lift after China reported a slight expansion in business activity in the factory sector.
London’s blue chip miners rose 3.4 percent – having fallen around 30 percent in 2011 – with Xstrata and Kazakhmys up 3.7 and 4.5 percent, respectively.
Integrated oils were higher too, supported by as the price of crude, which continued to climb on escalating tensions between Iran and the West.
Oil major BP rose one percent as it called on its contractor Halliburton to pay all costs and expenses it incurred to clean up the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Banks rally
Barclays led the banking sector higher, gaining 3.8 percent, as Citigroup upped its target price for the lender to 245 pence from 230p and repeated its “buy” rating on the stock, saying it believes BarCap can be a winner in the consolidating world of capital markets.
Banks – around 30 percent lower in 2011 – also climbed as investors dipped into riskier assets perceived to have been dealt with harshly in 2011 on the back of fears over the health of the global economy.
In a global equity strategy note, Ian Scott at Nomura said the equity risk premium is higher than merited by current volatility.
“A move away from such extreme risk aversion should mean an underperformance of US equities relative to others, as well as an outperformance of mining stocks over food producers,” he said.
“Crucially for this approach, value spreads are wide, suggesting this is an appropriate time to consider investments based upon valuations.”
Car and plane parts maker GKN was a top gainer, up 3.8 percent, with traders saying demand for the stock was spurred after it had been tipped in the weekend press.
On the macro economic data front, December’s Markit/CIPS UK manufacturing PMI, due to be released at 0930 GMT, will be closely watched after it was reported on Monday that euro zone manufacturing activity declined for a fifth consecutive month in December.
Afren oil explorer says output ahead of target
Energy exploration firm Afren said production at its Ebok field, offshore Nigeria, had reached around 40,000 barrels per day (bpd), taking its end-2011 net output to some 55,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), ahead of target.
An output rate above the year-end goal of 50,000 boepd has been sustained since December 19, it said, as a result of operations in Ivory Coast as well as Ebok and Okoro in Nigeria.
“The group is in a strong position with aggregate net working interest production of 55,400 boepd going into 2012,” Osman Shahenshah, chief executive of Afren, said in a statement on Monday.
He added the company’s forthcoming drilling campaign in Ghana, Nigeria, the Joint Development Zone of Nigeria Sao Tome and Principe, Tanzania, Kenya and the Kurdistan region of Iraq had the potential “to materially transform and increase our discovered resource base”.
In Nigeria, output at the Ebok field has increased to a stabilised rate of around 40,000 bpd following the commissioning and ramp-up of all production wells associated with the initial phases of the development.
In addition, gross production on the Ogini and Isoko fields, onshore Nigeria, has nearly doubled to around 10,500 bpd from 6,000 bpd following technical changes at the start of December.
Over the course of last year, Afren’s share price lost close to half its value, reaching a low below 75 pence in November. A December rally took it to 85.70 pence by the end of 2011, around 15 percent above the November trough.
