Global Investing Roundups
HP Buys EDS; St. George Agrees to Westpac Takeover; UPS Fights Uphill Battle Against Gas Prices; Cameco Profit’s a "Cake" Walk; Petrobras Post 68% 1Q Profit; High Cost of Oil Dampens Demand; AIG Raises Capital; Yahoo Jumps on Possible Proxy Battle
- Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) is buying Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS) for $13.2 billion in a deal that will create the second largest technology services provider behind International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), the Associated Press reported. Under the terms announced yesterday (Tuesday), HP will pay $25 per share in cash for EDS.
- St. George Bank Ltd. yesterday (Tuesday) agreed to be taken over by larger rival Westpac Banking Corp. (WBK) for $17.5 billion, creating the largest Australian bank by market capitalization. Westpac, Australia’s third-biggest bank, is offering 1.31 of its own shares for St. George share, the Associated Press reported.
- United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) announced yesterday (Tuesday) that it has ordered 200 hybrid electric vehicles and 300 compressed natural gas vehicles in an effort to shield itself from rising gas prices. The 200 hybrid electric vehicles, which will be used starting in 2009, are expected to save 176,000 gallons of fuel annually, the Associated Press reported.
- Canada’s Cameco Corp. (CCJ), the world’s largest producer of uranium, posted a $132.8 million net income for the first quarter, more than doubling its total last year as sales increased by 45%. Cameco said it could face production shortages next year as it begins a new mine at its flagship McArthur River mine area, Bloomberg reported.
- Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro SA, beat analysts’ estimates with its first-quarter earnings report. Profit rose 68%, good news consider the company is about tap several offshore oil fields. "This is a surprising and very good result," Luiz Otavio Broad, an analyst at Agora CTVM, Brazil’s largest brokerage, told Bloomberg. "The result is largely operational, and the stock should open well."
- Record prices and slower economic growth, particularly in the United States will decrease global demand for oil, the International Energy Agency said yesterday (Tuesday), Reuters reported. "This report sees further downward adjustments to demand, and they may not be the last," the IEA said in its Monthly Oil Market Report.
- American International Group Inc. (AIG) announced yesterday (Tuesday) that it would raise $17 billion through a combination of stock and debt to prop up a bleeding balance sheet due to two consecutive quarterly losses, Bloomberg News reported. AIG stock gained 79 cents, a 2% increase, to close at $39.16 the day of the announcement.
- Shares of Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) jumped 5% yesterday (Tuesday) on reports that Carl Ichan could be preparing to mount a proxy battle to replace Yahoo’s board of directors after they passed on Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT) $47.5 billion offer. The Wall Street Journal reported that Icahn could hold "as many as 50 million shares" of the Internet search engine firm. Yahoo shares gained $1.30 to close at $26.56.
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