Tag Archives: LIBOR

Should You Buy Barclays Today?

By Royston Wild, The Motley Fool

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LONDON — The attempts of British banking giant Barclays‘  to repair its battered reputation took another body blow this week. The bank announced that it was making a bumper bonus payment of 38.5 million pounds to its top bankers, including 17.6 million pounds to investment banking head Rich Ricci.

Barclays has endured a terrible time over the past year, including a 290-million pound fine for its part in the LIBOR rigging scandal, prompting a radical overhaul of its corporate culture, and forcing the resignation of chairman Marcus Agius and CEO Bob Diamond. But I believe that the company is gradually putting its past troubles behind it.

A bubbly start to 2013
Barclays announced in its results last month that the company had made a promising start to the current year. And, although ongoing travails in developed markets — particularly in light of fresh turbulence in the eurozone — could cause fresh share price turbulence, I reckon that the bank’s current growth strategy should deliver strong long-term expansion.

The company has seen U.K. retail business pick up in recent months, with deposits, loans, and mortgages all steadily ticking higher, and the bank is implementing new customer service targets to attract fresh business. Elsewhere, planned restructuring of its African operations and new product introductions should underpin rocketing returns from these regions.

And its Barclaycard division is also set to drive higher across the globe — the number of customers here leapt to 28.8 million in 2012, from 22.6 million the previous year, the company noted in February, pushing adjusted pre-tax profit 25% higher, to 1.5 billion pounds.

Cost-cutting initiatives set to accelerate
The bank is also set to deliver significant cost savings in the coming years, following the 3% dip in adjusted operating expenses, to 18.5 billion pounds last year. The firm has spent 500 million pounds on
“restructuring” during the first quarter of 2013, with cost-saving work set to pick up pace as the year progresses.

And at its Barcap division — responsible for more than half of estimated group pre-tax profit this year — the cost:net operating income ratio dropped to 64% in 2012, from 72% the previous year, and is forecast by Investec to slip below 55% by 2015.

Earnings growth primed to take off
City forecasts expect earnings per share to rise 6% this year, to 37 pence, before marching 20% higher in 2014, to 44 pence.

The bank currently trades on a prospective P/E ratio of 8.1, providing a chunky discount to a reading of 13 for the wider banking sector, and which is expected to dive to 6.7 in 2014. I consider this to represent true value for money given Barclays’ succulent growth drivers.

Zone in on other sterling stocks
If you already hold shares in Barclays, check out this newly updated special report, which highlights a host of other FTSE winners identified by ace fund manager Neil Woodford.

Woodford — head of U.K. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

2 Key Reasons Why the Dow Fell Today

By Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool

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The Dow Jones Industrials closed down 90 points today, as the stock market pulled back after yesterday’s rise, and brought the average back to within spitting distance of yet another all-time record high. The Dow actually held up better than the broader market, as both the S&P 500 large-cap benchmark, and the Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks, did worse than the Dow on a percentage basis. International stocks also fell.

Here’s a look at the two main themes that played out in the stock market today:

Banking stocks under siege
Both Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase fell more than 1.5% today, as the financial sector faces a number of uncertainties. The Cypriot banking crisis has made headlines around the world because of the potential impact on ordinary bank depositors, with political pressure having led to revised bailout provisions that would protect insured deposits in full rather than imposing a tax of more than 6% on small depositors. Yet, with banks having greatly reduced their European exposure, the bigger problem could come from the LIBOR banking scandal, in which both JPMorgan and B of A have been alleged of wrongdoing. With the afterglow of the successful stress tests fading into the background, both banks will need to keep addressing structural issues in order for their stocks to rise further after strong recent gains.

A tech slowdown?
The other big losers in the Dow were all tech stocks, as Cisco, Hewlett-Packard , and IBM were all among the worst five performers in the average today. For HP, news that the company’s board of directors survived its shareholder meeting intact didn’t lead to investor optimism, as all three tech giants have had to deal with fallout from rival Oracle‘s poor results last night. Moreover, IBM and HP were among companies potentially connected to a bribery investigation in Poland.

Among these stocks, IBM looks best poised to rebound. This morning, it announced that it won a contract from the Ohio state government to improve its information-technology infrastructure, giving investors evidence of the success of its strategy to provide all-inclusive high-margin IT services to customers much in need of newer technology. With all the recent advances in technology, it’s clear that overall spending in the area will keep growing. The only question is, which companies will profit and which will be left behind? IBM has done the best job of keeping up with changing trends.

Bank of America’s stock has already rebounded from its big losses during the financial crisis, having doubled in 2012. Will B of A keep soaring? Find out by reading the Motley Fool‘s premium research report on B of A, in which our top two financial analysts tell you what you need to know about the bank. Click here now to claim your copy.

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Why Bank of America and Its Peers Were Down Today

By John Maxfield, The Motley Fool

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Make no mistake about it — the past few weeks have been huge for banks. On the heels of the Federal Reserve‘s announcement last week that most of the 18 stress-tested lenders could return more capital to shareholders this year than last, shares in Bank of America and others have soared while others such as JPMorgan Chase have plummeted. For today, however, all four of the nation’s largest banks are in the red.

Although there have been a number of intervening events since last week, it’s impossible to deny that the afterglow of the Fed’s comprehensive capital analysis and review process is still largely dictating the recent performance of banks. On one hand, Bank of America’s proposed $10.5 billion buyback — split between $5 billion for common stock and $5.5 billion for preferred — exceeded the vast majority of analyst expectations. And as a result, its shares have rallied to their highest point since April 2011 even after falling marginally today.

On the other hand, while shares of JPMorgan are also significantly higher than they’ve been for the past few years, they’re down by more than 4% since the end of last week — that is, when the central bank singled it and Goldman Sachs out for “weaknesses in their capital planning processes” — click here to read more about JPMorgan’s performance and here for Goldman’s.

Last Friday, moreover, a bevy of current and former JPMorgan executives were dragged before Congress to answer questions about last year’s London Whale scandal, in which the bank lost more than $6 billion due to ostensibly rogue bets made by traders in London. And to add insult to injury, it was reported earlier this week that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, one of JPMorgan’s primary regulators, had previously downgraded its rating of the bank’s executive to a level that signifies “needs improvement.”

Finally, if all this wasn’t enough, the nation’s largest banks — including those listed above as well as Citigroup and others — have now found themselves in the crosshairs of yet another legal battle. As my colleagues Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson discussed here, the publically administered mortgage giant Freddie Mac has filed a lawsuit against 15 major lenders over their roles in the LIBOR manipulation scandal. The purported losses amount to $3 billion.

Given all of these issues, it’s arguably a surprise that any bank stocks are higher this week. And in the absence of any other explanations, it seems clear that better or worse-than-expected capital returns remain the primary catalyst in both directions.

Want to learn more about Bank of America?
Bank of America’s stock doubled in 2012. Is there more yet to come? With significant challenges still ahead, it’s critical to have a solid understanding of this megabank before adding it to your portfolio. In The Motley Fool’s premium research report on B of A, analysts …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Is This the Next Legal Nightmare for Bank of America?

By Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson, The Motley Fool

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In the following video, Motley Fool financials analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson discuss the next major lawsuit to show up at Bank of America‘s doorstep. Freddie Mac is suing 15 major international banks over their roles in the LIBOR manipulation scandal, which cost Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a combined $3 billion in losses. Matt explains to investors just how big of an impact on Bank of America this new lawsuit could have.

Bank of America’s stock doubled in 2012. Is there more yet to come? With significant challenges still ahead, it’s critical to have a solid understanding of this megabank before adding it to your portfolio. In The Motley Fool‘s premium research report on B of A, analysts Anand Chokkavelu, CFA, and Matt Koppenheffer lift the veil on the bank’s operations, including detailing three reasons to buy and three reasons to sell. Click here now to claim your copy.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

How the Fed Goosed the Dow Higher

By Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool

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As the economy has improved, many investors have feared that the Federal Reserve would start to signal its eventual exit from its extraordinary quantitative easing measures and its loose monetary policy. Yet at least for now, the Fed is showing few signs of that happening anytime soon, as its latest announcement this afternoon made it clear that the policymaking body wouldn’t let up on its stimulus moves until economic gains have become sustainable.

Stocks moved higher on that news, and although major indexes didn’t manage to score new records, the Dow Jones Industrials rose 56 points, and the broader market rose even more, leaving the S&P 500 within about six points of a new all-time high.

Dow-component banking giants JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America put in mixed performances, with JPMorgan falling slightly but B of A climbing more than half a percent. Late yesterday, mortgage giant Freddie Mac sued 15 international banking institutions, including JPMorgan and B of A, in connection with the LIBOR rate-fixing scandal that first emerged last summer. Given how important interest rates are to the government-sponsored enterprise, which buys mortgages from banks and repackages them into mortgage-backed securities, Freddie Mac stands to have lost a great deal from alleged manipulation of rates.

Verizon fell 0.7%, giving back some of the ground it gained yesterday. The company’s novel approach at trying to get video content providers to accept payments based on actual viewership rather than on a per-subscriber basis could disrupt the industry, but even if it succeeds, Verizon would likely reap the benefits more than its customers would.

Finally, outside the Dow, Oracle finished the regular session up slightly but then plunged 5% to 7% in after-hours trade immediately after releasing its quarterly earnings report. It missed earnings estimates by a penny, but worse was a shortfall of more than 4% in revenue compared to what analysts had expected to see. Its hardware systems segment fell the most sharply, with sales down 23%. Services revenue also fell 8%, while sales from new software licenses and cloud-based software subscriptions dropped 2%. For Oracle, the final number is the most important, as it fell well short of the company’s own projections for growth of 3% to 13% and shows the huge level of competition in the space right now.

Even with the LIBOR scandal hanging over its head, Bank of America’s stock doubled in 2012. Is there more yet to come? With significant challenges still ahead, it’s critical to have a solid understanding of this megabank before adding it to your portfolio. Get the latest from our premium research report on the bank, in which our top financial analysts provide their insight on B of A’s prospects going forward. Click here now to claim your copy.

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Chesapeake Lodging Trust Acquires Hyatt Place New York Midtown South

By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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Chesapeake Lodging Trust Acquires Hyatt Place New York Midtown South

ANNAPOLIS, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Chesapeake Lodging Trust (NYS: CHSP) (the “Trust”) announced today that it has closed on the previously announced acquisition of the newly developed, 185-room Hyatt Place New York Midtown South located in New York, New York for a purchase price of $76.2 million, or approximately $412,000 per key. The Trust entered into an agreement with Real Hospitality Group, the operator of the Trust’s other hotel in New York located in Midtown on 31st Street, to manage the hotel.

James L. Francis, Chesapeake’s President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are very pleased to acquire our second hotel in the highly desired Midtown area of Manhattan at a very compelling per key price. Similar to the Holiday Inn New York City Midtown – 31st Street, which we acquired in late December 2011 and opened for business in January 2012, we expect the Hyatt Place to ramp-up very quickly given the robust demand in Manhattan, the strength of the Hyatt brand, and our operator’s extensive experience managing hotels in New York City.”

The Trust funded the acquisition with available cash on hand, a credit at closing equal to the outstanding balance of a construction loan provided to the seller, and a $35.0 million advance under the Trust’s $60 million term loan obtained in July 2012. The $35.0 million advance bears interest equal to LIBOR, plus 3.25%. Contemporaneous with the $35.0 million advance, the Trust entered into an interest rate swap to effectively fix the interest rate on the $35.0 million advance for the remaining initial term of the loan at 3.65% per annum. Under the terms of the interest rate swap, the Trust pays fixed interest of 0.40% per annum on a notional amount of $35.0 million and receives floating rate interest equal to the one-month LIBOR.

ABOUT CHESAPEAKE LODGING TRUST

Chesapeake Lodging Trust is a self-advised lodging real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on investments primarily in upper-upscale hotels in major business and convention markets and, on a selective basis, premium select-service hotels in urban settings or unique locations in the United States. The Trust owns 16 hotels with an aggregate of 4,907 rooms in seven states and the District of Columbia. Additional information can be found on the Trust’s website at www.chesapeakelodgingtrust.com.

BlackRock Kelso Capital Corporation Expands Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility with Increased

By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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BlackRock Kelso Capital Corporation Expands Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility with Increased Commitments and Lower Pricing

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– BlackRock Kelso Capital Corporation (NAS: BKCC) (“BlackRock Kelso Capital” or the “Company”) announced that it has entered into a four year $350 million Amended and Restated Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility (the “Revolving Credit Facility“), which amends and restates its revolving credit facility previously outstanding. The Revolving Credit Facility has a maturity date of March 13, 2017, which includes a ratable amortization in the final year, and represents an increase of $75 million in revolving commitments over the prior revolving credit facility. The interest rate applicable to borrowings is generally LIBOR plus an applicable margin of 2.50%, a 75 basis point reduction from the prior revolving credit facility.

The revolving Credit Facility also includes an “accordion” feature that allows the Company, under certain circumstances to increase the size of the Revolving Credit Facility up to $750 million.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and BMO Capital Markets acted as Joint Lead Bookrunners and Joint Lead Arrangers, Citibank, N.A. is acting as Administrative Agent and Bank of Montreal, Chicago Branch is acting as Syndication Agent under the Revolving Credit Facility.

About BlackRock Kelso Capital Corporation

Formed in 2005, BlackRock Kelso Capital Corporation is a business development company that provides debt and equity capital to middle-market companies.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release, and other statements that BlackRock Kelso Capital may make, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, with respect to BlackRock Kelso Capital’s future financial or business performance, strategies or expectations. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as “trend,” “potential,” “opportunity,” “pipeline,” “believe,” “comfortable,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “current,” “intention,” “estimate,” “position,” “assume,” “outlook,” “continue,” “remain,” “maintain,” “sustain,” “seek,” “achieve,” and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “may” or similar expressions.

BlackRock Kelso Capital cautions that forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which change over time. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and BlackRock Kelso Capital assumes no duty to and does not undertake to update forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements and future results could differ materially from historical …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Kayne Anderson Energy Development Company Increases Size of Revolving Credit Facility to $95 Million

By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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Kayne Anderson Energy Development Company Increases Size of Revolving Credit Facility to $95 Million

HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Kayne Anderson Energy Development Company (NYS: KED) (the “Company” or “KED“) announced today that it amended its secured revolving credit facility (the “Credit Facility“) to increase the total commitment amount from $85 million to $95 million. This $10 million increase in commitment amount was accomplished by adding a new lender to the syndicate.

All other terms of the Credit Facility remain the same. The maturity date is March 30, 2014, and outstanding loan balances accrue interest daily at a rate equal to LIBOR plus 2.00%, based on the current borrowings and the current borrowing base. If borrowings exceed the borrowing base attributable to “quoted” securities (generally defined as equity investments in public MLPs and investments in bank debt and high yield bonds which are traded), the interest rate will increase to LIBOR plus 3.00%. The Company pays a fee of 0.50% on any unused amounts of the Credit Facility.

As of March 11, 2013, the Company had $68 million in borrowings outstanding under the Credit Facility.

A copy of the amended credit agreement is available on the Company’s website at www.kaynefunds.com/ked/other-material-documents.

The Company is a non-diversified, closed-end investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The Company’s investment objective is to generate both current income and capital appreciation primarily through equity and debt investments. The Company will seek to achieve this objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets together with the proceeds of any borrowings (its “total assets”) in securities of companies that derive the majority of their revenue from activities in the energy industry, including: (a) Midstream Energy Companies, which are businesses that operate assets used to gather, transport, process, treat, terminal and store natural gas, natural gas liquids, propane, crude oil or refined petroleum products; (b) Upstream Energy Companies, which are businesses engaged in the exploration, extraction and production of natural resources, including natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil, from onshore and offshore geological reservoirs; and (c) Other Energy Companies, which are businesses engaged in owning, leasing, managing, producing, processing and sale of coal and coal reserves; the marine transportation of crude oil, refined petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, as well as other energy-related natural resources using tank vessels and bulk carriers; and refining, marketing and distributing refined energy products, such as motor gasoline and propane to retail customers and industrial end-users.

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Interview with Former AIG CEO Hank Greenberg: What Else Could AIG Have Done in 2008 Besides a Bailou

By Morgan Housel, The Motley Fool

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In 2008, as the housing market collapsed from its bubble, AIG suddenly faced billions of dollars of “collateral calls” — counterparties demanding it put up money to back derivative insurance products AIG sold that served as bets on junk mortgages. It didn’t have nearly the kind of money on hand that its counterparties demanded. Facing collapse that would set off dominoes throughout the global financial system, the federal government bailed the company out. The rest was history.

More than four years later, it’s interesting to ask: What else could AIG have done in 2008 to avoid the mess taxpayers got stuck with? Was there a possible private-market solution other than bankruptcy to stabilize the insurer and avoid a public bailout?

Last week, I asked that question to former AIG chairman and CEO Hank Greenberg (who left AIG in 2005). Here’s what he had to say (transcript follows):

Morgan Housel: Was there any other option that AIG had in September 2008, in the private market, to stabilize the company?

Hank Greenberg: There were a lot of things they could have done. First of all, I wouldn’t have responded, as I indicated, to the collateral calls, because who knows what you’re responding to? There’s no price discovery. I wouldn’t have done that.

Of course, we wouldn’t have been in that position to begin with. AIG got in that position for failing to do just the common-sense things that we always did. We knew what risk management was. We had the only enterprise risk management system in the insurance industry at that time. We had both credit risk and market risk. We knew exactly how to run a company.

Morgan Housel: These aren’t arguments that I’m defending, but I want to put forth what the people who led that bailout respond, to that criticism.

They say that if AIG had gone bankrupt in September 2008, it would have caused larger systemic problems, and that since there were no private market solutions … because in the weeks previous, AIG did try to do some private market solutions. They tried to sell the P&C business to Warren Buffett, there were some possible deals with J.C. Flowers, none of which fell through, and here we are at the precipice.

This needs to be fixed right now — it’s Tuesday night and the Asian markets are opening in one hour, we’ve got to get this done now — so they put forth this bailout for AIG. The terms were quite onerous, but those terms were, within weeks, restructured down considerably.

Hank Greenberg: No they weren’t.

Morgan Housel: Please do correct me if I’m wrong, but the first interest rate was LIBOR plus 8.5%, and then that was restructured down to LIBOR plus 3, correct?

Hank Greenberg: Oh, now. That really was months and months later. Months and months later.

I went down to see Geithner — I knew Tim Geithner for a long time from my service on the Fed board — and he …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

When Will the Government Sell Shares in Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland?

By Tony Reading, The Motley Fool

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LONDON — There’s been a distinct change of mood music about prospects for sale of the government‘s holdings in Lloyds   and RBS  . Twelve months ago, the chances of any sale were downplayed. Now both are being openly speculated about.

A sale of some of the government‘s shares should be a big boost for the shares. When might we see some action, and what form might it take?

Tell Sid
It seem pretty clear that David Cameron wants to do something concrete before the 2015 General Election. It would show that the financial crisis is finally being solved, and free the government from the headaches of bank ownership.

All kinds of scenarios have been bandied about. A plan to distribute shares in both banks to all holders of national insurance numbers has apparently been discussed in the Treasury. The complexities of adding 40m-plus investors to the share register would dwarf the logistics of the famous British Gas “Tell Sid” mass privatizations of the 1980s, and to my mind make it a non-runner.

But with politics driving the privatization, there’s a good chance there’ll be some form of public subscription. It would help the government to fudge how much tax-payers lost on the whole bail-out debacle. And it might even serve as a form of “helicopter money,” one of the more extreme options that have been floated for getting the economy moving.

Institutions
For the banks and their existing shareholders, institutional appetite is more significant. Institutions would probably buy new shares, strengthening the banks’ capital. Under its present governor, at least, the Bank of England is still keen to see higher capital levels.

Both Lloyds and RBS have made good progress on restructuring. Last year Lloyds shed $40bn of distressed assets against a plan of $25bn, while RBS is predicting that this will be the last year of substantial restructuring. With PPI and LIBOR settlements largely behind them and hints of resumed dividend payments, the banks are starting to look more attractive to institutions.

RBS: the political football
RBS is the bigger political football, with the government owning a controlling 82% interest.

Management has been swift to respond to the owner’s new rhetoric. Chairman Sir Philip Hampton has said he hopes a sell-off could start as early as 2014, and CEO Stephen Hester has made similar bullish remarks.

Perhaps they perceive that if there’s a political imperative to do something next year, it’s better to be making the running themselves. The government would find it much harder to interfere in RBS‘s business once further shares had been sold.

Lloyds: moving the goalposts
If the government and management are playing political football at RBS, they’ve moved the goalposts at 40% state-owned Lloyds.

CEO Antonio Horta-Osorio’s bonus will pay out if the government sells a third of its shares at more than 61 pence. That’s well below the 74 pence the government paid. But arcane accounting means that 61 pence, the level Lloyds was trading at when it was bailed-out, is the price at which the …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

What You Were Buying Last Week: Royal Bank of Scotland

By Jon Wallis, The Motley Fool

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LONDON — One of Warren Buffett‘s famous investing sayings is “be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful” — or, in other words, sell when others are buying, and buy when they’re selling.

But we might expect Foolish investors to know that, and looking at what Fools have been buying recently might well provide us with some ideas for good investments.

So, in this series of articles, we’re going to look at what customers of The Motley Fool ShareDealing Service have been buying in the past week or so, and what might have made them decide to do so.

Set to recover?
In the No. 4 spot in the latest “Top Ten Buys” list* is Royal Bank of Scotland . The bank hasn’t had a good time of late and was also in the number four position in the “Top Ten Sells” list a couple of weeks ago, just ahead of the announcement of its 6 billion-pound loss, and since when the share price has continue to fall. So what might have persuaded some people that the bank is worth buying?

Perhaps they think the market has been just a bit too unfair on the bank’s share price. Although it’s still over 13% down on its pre-loss-announcement level, there are some indications that the price is stabilizing, and perhaps even set to start a recovery. At the time of writing, it’s up 1.5% on the day.

Royal Bank of Scotland is also at a quite compelling discount to its tangible net asset value — currently over 30% — which could provide a good upside for investors who are prepared to wait for the share price to play catch-up with the bank’s book value. True, it is still to dispose of a substantial chunk of non-core assets, but there should be value left over that could lift the share price as market sentiment toward the bank improves.

There’s also no doubt that the bank’s balance sheet and share price performance have been hit by various scandals over the past few years — compensation payments for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance and interest rate hedging products, and regulatory fines for LIBOR-rigging have totaled well over 2 billion pounds. If those misadventures are now mostly behind it, the bank’s future should be rather more profitable.  And while it still doesn’t pay a dividend, it may well be in a position to resume paying one by sometime in 2014, which should further improve confidence in the bank.

A high-quality growth share
If you’re not persuaded by Royal Bank of Scotland, but are still looking for a high-quality growth share, you’ll want to get hold of The Motley Fool’s Top Growth Share for 2013 — it’s the latest report by the Fool’s expert analysts and has only just been released.

It’s completely free of charge, but like all special reports from TMF, it will only be available for a limited period, so get your copy delivered …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Leap Wireless Secures $1.4 Million Delayed-Draw Loan

By Rich Duprey, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Subject to its wholly owned subsidiary Cricket Communications redeeming all of its 7.75% senior secured notes due in 2016 and certain other conditions, Leap Wireless entered into an amendment to its existing senior secured credit agreement on March 8 to provide for a new “delayed-draw incremental term loan facility” of up to $1.425 million.

Terms allow for borrowings — in whole or in part — in a single drawing by Cricket at any time on or prior to May 7 and will mature in March 2020 bearing interest rates at LIBOR plus 3.50% or at the bank base rate plus 2.50%, as selected by Cricket. The subsidiary also agreed to pay lenders a “ticking fee” equal to 0.50% per year on the undrawn amount of the loan facility per day beginning on March 15. 

The loan will be repaid in 26 quarterly installments equal to 0.25% times the initial principal amount borrowed, starting Sept. 30 until repayment of the balance at maturity.

Proceeds from the loan must be used to redeem, discharge, or purchase all of Leap’s secured notes and up to $250 million of its 4.50% convertible senior notes due 2014. Any proceeds remaining may be used for general corporate purposes.

The article Leap Wireless Secures $1.4 Million Delayed-Draw Loan originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Rich Duprey has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

3 Shares With Potential for a Fast 20% Rise

By David O’Hara, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

LONDON — Even in a year when the FTSE 100 has already advanced 9.2%, some blue-chip shares have room to move higher still.

Here are three shares that could deliver big returns in the short term.

1) BP
If BP shares were to rise 20% from here, the company’s share price would be 540p. Since the Gulf of Mexico disaster, the highest that the shares have traded is 500p.

BP shares currently trade on a 2013 P/E of just 8.1 times forecasts. The company is expected to pay dividends that add up to a 5.4% yield for this year.

BP shares are currently being held back by worries over an ongoing court case relating to the Gulf of Mexico disaster. If the result is anything other than a huge fine for BP, expect the shares to rise immediately.

BP‘s new deal with Rosneft could also transform investor perceptions.

2) Royal Bank of Scotland
In January this year, shares in Royal Bank of Scotland were changing hands for 370p. That’s 18% ahead of where we are today.

Sentiment toward the banks has been battered by Payment Protection Insurance miselling, LIBOR fixing, and interest rate swap miselling. Due to a collection of (hopefully) one-offs and technical accounting reasons, RBS was forced to report a huge loss for 2012.

This has shrouded the bank’s recovery. By a number of measures, RBS is fast-improving. As so few commentators are mentioning the good news from RBS, this feels like a point from which sentiment can only improve.

3) Kazakhmys
Kazakhmys is one of the most volatile shares in the FTSE 100. It always has been.

So far in 2013, Kazakhmys shares are down 28.2%. In the last year, the shares are off by almost 40%.

Kazakhmys is a copper miner. As such, its share price is a geared play on the price of the raw material and the global economy. When the price of copper reached a peak back in October, Kazakhmys shares were 40% higher, at 770p.

If copper can turn higher, Kazakhmys shares will soar.

The shares trade at just 7.4 times expected earnings for 2013, with a forecast yield of 1.8%.

Selecting shares that could rise significantly due to a small change in sentiment is one of the quickest ways of boosting investment returns that I know. For more strategies that could help you accelerate your wealth-building, we have prepared a special free report, “10 Steps To Making A Million In The Market.” This publication is 100% free, and will be delivered to your inbox immediately. Just click here to get your copy today.


link

The article 3 Shares With Potential for a Fast 20% Rise originally appeared on Fool.com.


David O’Hara owns shares in Royal Bank of Scotland but none of the other companies mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

The Banks' Real Results

By Tony Reading, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

LONDON — Are you perplexed by the banks’ results? Suspicious of big improvements in “adjusted,” “underlying,” and “managed” performance when tucked away in the small print are large statutory losses? Join the club.

So last quarter, I decided to rigorously categorize the banks’ adjustments between underlying and statutory profit. I identified one-off exceptional items, costs of litigation over PPI and LIBOR, etc., and fair value adjustments that arise from accounting technicalities.

If you’re interested, you can read more about the methodology here, and see the detailed analysis in this table:

 

Lloyds

RBS

Barclays

  2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011
Underlying Profit 2,607 638 3,462 1,824 7,048 5,590
Exceptional Items 840 (435) (1,787) (4,078) 227 (1,419)
Litigation (4,225) (3,375) (2,191) (850) (2,450) (1,000)
Fair Value Adjustments 208 (370) (4,649) 1,914 (4,579) 2,708
Statutory Profit (570) (3,542) (5,165) (1,190) 246 5,879

The bottom line
But you can skip to this table that summarizes the results:

 

Lloyds

RBS

Barclays

  2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011
Underlying Profit 2,607 638 3,462 1,824 7,048 5,590
Statutory Profit Before Fair Value Adjustments (778) (3,172) (516) (3,104) 4,825 3,171

The underlying profit shows the results as the banks would like you to see them, and may be a better indicator of future performance. The bottom line is what actually happened, adjusted to eliminate misleading accounting technicalities.

Both measures show significant improvement over last year. On the warts-and-all measure, Lloyds  and RBS  have made big reductions in losses, while Barclays  enjoyed a muscular 52% rise in profits.

Lloyds
Lloyds’ management sounded bullish. The bank is ahead of its transformation plan, reducing costs by 5%, two years ahead of target, and selling over 40 billion pounds of distressed assets in 2012 against a plan of 25 billion pounds.

With a concentration on U.K. retail and commercial banking, Lloyds has the lowest risk business model of the three banks, but one wholly dependent on the U.K. economy. That’s not a great short-term bet, but the long-term trajectory is upwards.

With the heavy lifting on its transformation nearly complete and PPI provisioning at an end, Lloyds shares are trading at 95% of tangible net asset value (TNAV). The prospect of a resumed dividend will give them their next big push.

RBS
RBS‘s results announcement was also confident, predicting 2013 to be the last big year of restructuring. In 2012, it pulled off the flotation of Direct Line and shed over 10% of risk assets. As with Lloyds, the EU-mandated sale of branches stalled.

RBS is harassed by politicians with agendas, but that could yet turn to its advantage, with the Coalition eager for demonstrable progress before the next election in 2015. CEO Stephen Hester is making positive noises about privatization.

A partial flotation of the U.S. Citizen’s Bank could prove a valuation boost this year. Trading at 0.7 times TNAV, RBS has more headroom for rerating.

Barclays
Barclays’ results were accompanied by details of its new strategy, and greeted by a near-10% jump in the shares.

The bank will focus on the U.K., U.S., and Africa, and is cutting jobs in investment banking, Europe, and Asia. The sole closure is that of the toxic tax-structuring unit. It will invest in high-return businesses such as U.K. mortgages, its Wealth business, and Barclaycard — an often-overlooked gem.

It’s also committed to accelerate its dividend from next year, targeting a 30% payout. Trading at 0.8 times tangible NAV, …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Kayne Anderson MLP Investment Company Enters Into $250 Million Revolving Credit Facility

By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Kayne Anderson MLP Investment Company Enters Into $250 Million Revolving Credit Facility

HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Kayne Anderson MLP Investment Company (the “Company”) (NYS: KYN) announced today that it has entered into a $250 million unsecured revolving credit facility (the “Credit Facility“) with a syndicate of lenders. The Credit Facility replaces the previous unsecured revolving credit facility having a commitment of $200 million. The Credit Facility has a three-year commitment terminating on March 4, 2016.

Outstanding loan balances will accrue interest daily at a rate equal to the one-month LIBOR plus 1.60% based on current asset coverage ratios. The interest rate may vary between LIBOR plus 1.60% and LIBOR plus 2.25%, depending on asset coverage ratios. The Company will pay a fee equal to a rate of 0.30% on any unused amounts of the Credit Facility. The Company currently has $37 million borrowed under the Credit Facility. A copy of the new credit agreement is available on the Company’s website at www.kaynefunds.com/kyn/other-material-documents.

Kayne Anderson MLP Investment Company is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, whose common stock is traded on the NYSE. The Company’s investment objective is to obtain a high after-tax total return by investing at least 85% of its total assets in energy-related master limited partnerships and their affiliates, and in other companies that, as their principal business, operate assets used in the gathering, transporting, processing, storing, refining, distributing, mining or marketing natural gas, natural gas liquids (including propane), crude oil, refined petroleum products or coal.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release contains “forward-looking statements” as defined under the U.S. federal securities laws. Generally, the words “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “project,” “will” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which generally are not historical in nature. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the Company’s historical experience and its present expectations or projections indicated in any forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, changes in economic and political conditions; regulatory and legal changes; MLP industry risk; leverage risk; valuation risk; interest rate risk; tax risk; and other risks discussed in the Company’s filings with the SEC. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein. There is no assurance that the Company’s investment objectives will be attained.
…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Kayne Anderson Energy Total Return Fund Enters into $100 Million Revolving Credit Facility

By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Kayne Anderson Energy Total Return Fund Enters into $100 Million Revolving Credit Facility

HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Kayne Anderson Energy Total Return Fund, Inc. (the “Fund”) (NYS: KYE) announced today that it has entered into a $100 million unsecured revolving credit facility (the “Credit Facility“) with a syndicate of lenders. The Credit Facility has a three-year commitment terminating on March 4, 2016.

Outstanding loan balances will accrue interest daily at a rate equal to the one-month LIBOR plus 1.60% based on current asset coverage ratios. The interest rate may vary between LIBOR plus 1.60% and LIBOR plus 2.25%, depending on asset coverage ratios. The Fund will pay a fee equal to a rate of 0.30% on any unused amounts of the Credit Facility. The Fund currently has $38 million borrowed under the Credit Facility. A copy of the new credit agreement is available on the Fund’s website at www.kaynefunds.com/kye/other-material-documents.

The Fund is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 whose common stock is traded on the NYSE. The Fund’s investment objective is to obtain a high total return with an emphasis on current income by investing primarily in securities of companies engaged in the energy industry, principally including publicly-traded energy-related master limited partnerships and limited liability companies taxed as partnerships and their affiliates, energy-related U.S. and Canadian royalty trusts and income trusts and other companies that derive at least 50% of their revenues from operating assets used in, or providing energy-related services for, the exploration, development, production, gathering, transportation, processing, storing, refining, distribution, mining or marketing of natural gas, natural gas liquids (including propane), crude oil, refined petroleum products or coal.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release contains “forward-looking statements” as defined under the U.S. federal securities laws. Generally, the words “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “project,” “will” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which generally are not historical in nature. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to materially differ from the Fund’s historical experience and its present expectations or projections indicated in any forward-looking statement. These risks include, but are not limited to, changes in economic and political conditions; regulatory and legal changes; energy industry risk; commodity pricing risk; leverage risk; valuation risk; non-diversification risk; interest rate risk; tax risk; and other risks discussed in the Fund’s filings with the SEC. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. The Fund undertakes no obligation to publicly …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

My Contrarian Picks Are (Still) Beating the Market

By Prabhat Sakya, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

LONDON — In September of last year, I wrote the article “My Contrarian Picks Are Beating The Market,” which article summarized the performance of my contrarian picks over the past year, noting that their return was around twice that of the wider market.

This was a learning experience for me — I had not expected to beat the market. Whenever you spot such an outlier, you are curious to learn more. Over a longer period of time, will the outperformance continue, or will there be a “reversion to the mean”? So I thought I’d revisit this topic in the following year to see how things have progressed.

So here is my update on my picks:

Tip Date

Company

Share Price Change, %

FTSE 100 Change, %

09/07/2012

Barclays

85.7

13.4

14/05/2012

Resolution

23.0

16.7

14/05/2012

First Group

(8.1)

16.7

29/12/2011

Barratt

171.6

14.6

14/12/2011

Fidelity China

26.5

18.9

05/12/2011

Admiral

36.9

14.6

05/12/2011

Inmarsat

48.2

14.6

05/12/2011

Kazakhmys

(38.3)

14.6

02/12/2011

BMW

25.8

14.9

23/11/2011

BSkyB

20.5

24.1

23/11/2011

Aviva

28.5

24.1

23/11/2011

BP

2.6

24.1

17/11/2011

ITV

84.2

17.6

17/11/2011

Vedanta

(12.0)

17.6

 

Average

35.4

17.6

In the original article, my picks’ performance was impressive: They were up 16%. They are now up by nearly 36%. My contrarian picks are continuing to beat the market, with a return that is double that of the FTSE 100. And if you add the dividend yield to these numbers, the outperformance is even greater.

Let’s focus on some of the best performers:

Barclays
Barclays  was the classic contrarian play. Take a situation where financials are seen as the most unloved, unwanted shares around. Throw in the eurozone crisis and then add the LIBOR rate-fixing scandal. It is a recipe for a share to be totally trashed. But contrarians know this is precisely the time to buy.

Since last summer Barclays has made an impressive comeback, nearly doubling in price. Chief Executive Anthony Jenkins is making substantial progress in sorting out its troubles. And the good news is: I see Barclays as a long-term investment that will continue to increase in price for many more years.

Barratt Developments
I remember a year ago that investing in homebuilders seemed out of the question. We were in the depths of the property slump, and there seemed to be no end in sight to the gloom.

Of course, this meant it was the time to buy rather than sell. Those brave enough to have bought Barratt Developments  then would, by now, have nearly tripled their money.

Could the shares increase further? Absolutely. You might be surprised to hear that, even now, Barratt is only at 20% of its all-time high.

ITV
So, no one’s watching TV anymore? Of course, people still are. The nature of television has evolved, with a wide variety of programming available from Sky, Virgin, BT, and Freeview.

But despite the naysayers, ITV  has been holding its own, and Adam Crozier‘s turnaround of the U.K. broadcaster is working a treat. The company still puts out hugely popular television, which ranges from “Downton Abbey” and “Coronation” Street to the “X Factor.” The shares have nearly doubled in value.

Foolish final thoughts
It’s been an exceptional year for contrarian investing. I can’t guarantee that 2013 will be anywhere near as good, but I am hopeful that contrarian investing will still produce decent returns.

If Ben Graham invented …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Cola Wars in the Bond Market

By Russ Krull, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

New issues in U.S. corporate bond markets topped $36 billion last week, with multibillion-dollar issues accounting for much of the borrowing.

Leading the borrowing brigade was Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold , with $6.5 billion spread over five-, seven-, 10-, and 30-year paper. The mining giant is using the money to fund its acquisitions of McMoRan Oil & Gas and Plains Exploration & Production.

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola and Pepsi served up $2.5 billion each of new notes. Coca-Cola is using the money to redeem about $1.3 billion of higher-coupon paper. The debt service on the new notes will be about $40 million per year less than the old paper, and Coca-Cola should have more than a billion dollars left after redeeming the old paper. If the deal weren’t already sweet enough, the new three-year, floating-rate note is pegged two basis points below LIBOR.

Pepsi didn’t get quite as good a deal. Its three-year, floating-rate note bubbles up to 21 basis points above LIBOR, and the 10-year piece sports a 2.75% coupon versus 2.5% for Coca-Cola. Pepsi will be using the new money “for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of commercial paper.”

UnitedHealth joined the multibillion borrowers club with prescriptions for 1.5-, six-, 10-, and 30-year notes totaling $2.25 billion. The “use of proceeds” section in the SEC filing listed general corporate purposes among the list of nearly every general corporate purpose conceivable.

Philip Morris International just made multibillion borrowing by rolling out $1.85 billion over two-, 10-, and 30-year tranches. Whoever prepared the SEC filing must have done the same for UnitedHealth, as the list of uses for the money is nearly identical in the two filings. 

Companies continue to have access to low-rate borrowing in the bond markets. Of the companies profiled above, Freeport McMoRan, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Philip Morris International all issued 10-year paper with coupon rates below their respective dividend yields.

Learn more about Coca-Cola
There is no question that Coca-Cola has been great to long-term shareholders, but the company faces some new threats to its continued market dominance. We’ve recently compiled a premium research report containing everything you need to know about Coca-Cola. If you own or are considering owning shares in the company, you’ll want to click here now and get started!

var FoolAnalyticsData = FoolAnalyticsData || []; FoolAnalyticsData.push({ eventType: “TickerReportPitch”, …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Cinedigm Closes $195 Million in Two New Credit Facilities to Refinance All Existing Phase 1 Senior D

By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Cinedigm Closes $195 Million in Two New Credit Facilities to Refinance All Existing Phase 1 Senior Debt and Corporate Debt

Extends Maturities and Lowers Initial Average Debt Cost of Capital By Over 3%

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. (NAS: CIDM) today announced the closing of a $125 million senior non-recourse credit facility led by Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking and a $70 million non-recourse credit facility provided by Prospect Capital Corporation (NAS: PSEC) . These two new non-recourse credit facilities will be supported by the cash flows of the Phase 1 deployment and the Company’s digital cinema servicing business and will refinance the Company’s existing $92 million non-recourse senior 2010 Term Loan and $98 million recourse Note. The senior facility has received an upgraded rating of Baa3 from Moody’s Investor Service.

The new five-year term senior loan, provided by a syndicate of institutional lenders led by Societe Generale, will be at a rate of LIBOR +275 basis points with a 1.0% LIBOR floor, substantially improving upon the previous rate of LIBOR +350 basis points with a 1.75% LIBOR floor.

The new financing, provided by Prospect Capital Corporation, will be at an all-in rate of 13.5%, including a cash rate of LIBOR +9.0% with a 2.0% LIBOR floor, and a Payment In Kind, or PIK, rate of 2.5%, improving upon the previous all-in rate of 15% on the Company’s existing Sageview Note. In addition, the new Prospect loan extends the maturity to March 2021 from August 2014.

These new facilities significantly improve upon the terms of the previous financing arrangements through a combination of reduced borrowing costs, making all debt non-recourse to Cinedigm’s software and content businesses, and a significant maturity extension.

“We are pleased to announce this successful refinancing of our existing debt,” said Chris McGurk, Chairman and CEO of Cinedigm. “This transaction reaffirms the value of the Company’s digital cinema asset base and positions Cinedigm to accelerate our growth plans.”

“This refinancing is a significant step in our progress towards strengthening Cinedigm’s balance sheet,” added Adam M. Mizel, Chief Operating Officer and CFO of Cinedigm. “By lowering our cost of capital, extending our mezzanine debt maturity to 2021 and shifting all of our debt to be secured only by our deployment businesses, we have improved our capital flexibility, unlocked equity value and simplified our …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Fines set to be levied against RBS in rate scandal

Britain’s business secretary says bankers who manipulated a key interest rate benchmark should be required to pay penalties levied by U.S. and UK regulators.

Vince Cable‘s remarks to the BBC came as the Royal Bank of Scotland braced for fines for its role in the manipulation of LIBOR, a key interest rate which affects trillions of dollars’ worth of loans and other financial instruments.

Taxpayers own 81 percent of RBS after bailing it out at the start of the economic crisis. The notion that the taxpayer should bear the cost for the bad behavior of errant bankers is certain to touch off outrage.

Cable made clear Wednesday that the fines should be paid from staff bonuses, but acknowledged he had no power to force them to act.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News