Decline of listed firms on London's junior market slows

A decline in the number of companies listed on London's junior stock market eased this year and around half the companies that did leave were bought up or transferred to bigger exchanges, a Deloitte report shows.
It said the number of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) had fallen every year since 2007, but the fall in 2012 was just 4 percent, compared with 16 percent in 2009, its fastest year of contraction.
"During the time of the financial crisis ... the principal reasons why companies were leaving the list were negative," said Richard Thornhill, capital markets partner at Deloitte.
"Either they no longer perceived that the market offered them value ... or the economic climate forced them to de-list. The situation in 2012 has been very different, with the driving force behind companies leaving the list being transactions which have consistently realised value for shareholders."
Of the 113 companies who had left the market by the end of November, 41 were acquired, 17 were subject to reverse take-overs and three transferred to London's main market.
Those companies which were bought received an average premium of 53 percent to their closing share price on the day before the acquisition.
By the end of November, 65 companies had joined AIM, and the share prices of the 44 which raised money on admission had risen an average 26 percent since listing.
"There are good reasons to be confident about the market in 2013," said Thornhill.

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Toyota Tsusho Corp secures almost 98 percent of France's CFAO

Toyota Tsusho Corp , the Japanese conglomerate, said on Monday it had secured almost 98 percent of French distribution company CFAO .
The Japanese company said it would decide within three months whether to keep CFAO's French stock market listing.
TTC had bought a 29.8 percent stake in CFAO in July from luxury and retail group PPR . TTC later launched a tender offer for CFAO, including PPR's remaining 12.2 percent stake, at 37.50 euros a share. The deal valued CFAO at 2.3 billion euros (£1.9 billion).
At the close of the tender offer on December 17, TTC had received 97.91 percent of CFAO, it said in a statement.
"Although having acquired more than 95 percent of CFAO's voting rights shares, we will study whether to maintain CFAO's French listing," it said.
Its chief executive Jun Karube told French daily Les Echos in October that TTC wanted to keep CFAO's listing on the Paris stock exchange.
CFAO distributes vehicles and medicines in Africa and French overseas territories.

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S&P cuts Egypt rating on political strife

Standard & Poors' cut Egypt's long-term credit rating on Monday and said another cut was possible if deepening political turbulence undermines efforts to prop up the economy and public finances.
Egypt's popular uprising two years ago chased away tourists and foreign investors, helping push its budget deficit into double digits as a percentage of national output and worsening its balance of payments.
A divisive battle over a new constitution this month has also prompted the government to delay urgent austerity measures and put a crucial $4.8 billion IMF loan on hold.
S&P reduced Egypt's long-term sovereign rating to 'B-' from 'B', but left its short-term rating at 'B' for both foreign- and local-currency debt. It kept its negative outlook on the rating - suggesting another cut is the most likely next move.
"A further downgrade is possible if a significant worsening of the domestic political situation results in a sharp deterioration of economic indicators such as foreign exchange reserves or the government's deficit," S&P said.
Domestic debt was equivalent to 69.7 percent of gross domestic product as of the end of September 2012, while its foreign debt was 13.1 percent of GDP, according to the finance ministry.
Egypt reached an initial accord with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month for a financial support package, but later put on hold a series of austerity measures deemed necessary to secure IMF approval.
The government then asked the IMF to delay until January a meeting to approve the loan, which looks increasingly vital to prop up government finances but requires it to take unpopular measures on taxation and spending.
The measures included increases in sales tax on goods and services ranging from alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and mobile phone calls to automobile licences and quarrying permits.
President Mohamed Mursi withdrew them within hours of their being announced after criticism from his opponents and the media.

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U.S. budget uncertainty hangs over quiet stocks, FX

 European shares and oil prices edged lower on Monday with Wall Street expected to follow suit, as a deadlock in U.S. budget talks left an undercurrent of uncertainty in markets ahead of the Christmas break.
With a number of stock markets including in Germany, Italy and Switzerland closed for the Christmas holiday, the FTSEurofirst300 provisionally closed down 0.1 percent at 1,137.94 after a shortened session in British, French, Dutch and Spanish markets.
The MSCI index of global stocks was virtually unchanged at 339.97 ahead of what is expected to be another lower open on Wall Street, after the biggest drop since mid-November on Friday.
Activity in other assets was also subdued, with spot gold edging off a four-month low and Brent oil easing back under $109 a barrel.
Markets were left in limbo on Friday when President Barack Obama and U.S. lawmakers suspended talks until after Christmas on avoiding $600 billion of spending cuts and tax increases that threaten to send the economy back into recession.
Although there is no official date for talks to resume, the two sides still have a few days after Christmas to find a compromise before the January 1 deadline when the measures start to take effect.
Most political experts and economists expect a deal of some form. If they fail, the "fiscal cliff" could wipe as much as 4 percent off U.S. GDP next year, choking the global recovery before it gets going.
"The fiscal cliff is the only thing that is important for markets at the moment," said ABN Amro economist Aline Schuiling. "We were hoping the festive spirit would get everyone together and a deal would be done, but Obama has now gone to Hawaii for Christmas, so it looks like we'll have to wait."
YEN WEAKNESS
Most European bond markets were already shut for Christmas but one of the few to be open was in Britain where benchmark 10-year yields ticked higher.
Currency markets were also largely quiet. Against the backdrop of the fiscal cliff uncertainty, the dollar eased 0.2 percent versus a basket of major currencies while the euro climbed back above $1.32.
The major mover was the yen, which neared a 20-month low versus the dollar, after incoming premier Shinzo Abe renewed pressure over the weekend on the Bank of Japan to adopt a 2 percent inflation target.
The dollar was up 0.3 percent on the day at 84.45 yen. Chartists said the dollar needed to overcome 85.05 yen, its 200-week moving average, for it to make further gains.
"There has been some pretty significant yen selling all through the night and into this morning," said Peter Kinsella, currency strategist at Commerzbank.
"It is very noticeable we have not seen any retracement or dip in dollar/yen at all. The market is really saying they are convinced on yen weakness, and that is what we are going to see for the remainder of this year and in the course of next year."
STRONG FINISH
Trading on Wall Street was expected to be subdued when it opens later, also for half a day. Futures pointed to the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100 all starting down 0.3 percent.
The uncertainty over the U.S. budget is threatening to sour what has been a strong second half of the year for equity markets. The FTSEurofirst 300 is up 20 percent since June while the Euro STOXX 50 has gained almost 30 percent. Both indexes are set to post their best annual performances since the post-Lehman crisis bounce of 2009.
Investors are now showing increasing appetite for European stocks. EPFR Global data reported that flows into equity funds have increased for the last 19 weeks.
"This year has been a year of transition, and now it's time to turn the page and move on, to start picking stocks again for the long term, companies exposed to the emerging consumer in places like Asia and Africa," said David Thebault, head of quantitative sales trading, at Global Equities.
Others warn that the euro zone crisis may still have some bite left, however. Elections are due next year in Italy and Germany, while Spain's government, companies and banks need to refinance huge amounts of debt.
"Policymakers in Spain will not be looking forward to the start of the year and January will probably be quite volatile in Europe," said ABN Amro's Schuiling. "The funding in the first quarter for Spain will be the test... Its deficit is now roughly the same as Greece's."

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Wall Street edges lower in thin trade

U.S. stocks edged lower on Monday after the S&P 500 suffered its worst drop since mid-November on continued worry legislators will be unable to reach a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff."
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 27.95 points, or 0.21 percent, to 13,162.89. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 2.55 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,427.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 6.23 points, or 0.21 percent, to 3,014.78.

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NFL: Colts clinch playoff berth with win against Chiefs

The Indianapolis Colts crowned their remarkable turnaround by clinching an AFC wild-card playoff berth with a 20-13 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
The Colts, who tied for the NFL's worst record last season at 2-14, improved to 10-5 with their win over the 2-13 Chiefs.
Rookie quarterback Andrew Luck, who the Colts claimed with the top pick in the NFL Draft thanks to their woeful record, hit a leaping Reggie Wayne in the back of the end zone for the winning seven-yard touchdown pass with 4:08 left in the game.
That connection capped a 73-yard drive that marked their NFL record-tying seventh fourth-quarter comeback victory.
Luck set the league record for passing yards in a season for a rookie, finishing the game with 4,183 yards to eclipse the mark of 4,051 yards last season by Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers with one regular season game still to play.
"I'm very proud to be a part of this team, to be associated with a playoff team. What a great win for us," Luck told reporters. "We've been in that situation before when we've been down or tied.
"It was a great all-around effort on that last drive."
The Colts bucked even longer odds this year, learning they would have to carry on without head coach Chuck Pagano, who left after three games to go through treatment for leukemia.
Pagano, who was replaced by interim coach Bruce Arians (9-3 with the team), has been cleared by doctors to return to the team and is expected to be back on the sidelines next week.
"I can't say enough about the guys in the locker room, mission accomplished." said Arians.
"We set out to extend this season for Chuck. Now he can come back Monday and not be in the stressful time that we were in. He can get back into the flow of things at his pace."
Luck, who completed 17-of-35 passes for 205 yards including five to Wayne for 81 yards, was one of a group of Colts players who shaved their heads in solidarity with Pagano, whose hair fell out during his cancer treatments.
"It means the world," Luck said about Pagano's return. "I'm glad we could get this win for him so he can come back knowing we'll be in the postseason."
The Colts close the regular season against the visiting AFC South champion Houston Texans (12-3).

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Bengals book playoff spot with win over Steelers

Josh Brown booted a 43-yard field goal with four seconds left to play to earn the Cincinnati Bengals a 13-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and a ticket to the National Football League playoffs on Sunday.
The victory was the Bengals' (9-6) first over their bitter AFC North rivals in six meetings and eliminated the Steelers (7-8) from post-season contention spoiling the holiday mood for the capacity crowd who had arrived at Heinz Field expecting to kick off the Christmas holidays with a win.
"It's very satisfying, quite honestly," Brown told reporters. "I've had some bad runs against Pittsburgh, including a bad game with the Rams last year, so really I just needed to exercise some demons.
"It's a good Christmas."
The outcome marks the first since 2006 that the Steelers will enter the final game of the regular season with no chance to make the playoffs while the Bengals earned back-to-back post-season berths for the first time in 30 years.
"It was not our day, not our year, not enough physical play at the moment," said Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. "It sounds like a broken record but the reality, as we sit here, we accept responsibility for it. ...
"It's disheartening because we had chances."
As is typical when the Steelers and Bengals clash, the meeting was a bruising defensive battle, the Cincinnati defense accounting for the Bengals' only touchdown when Leon Hall intercepted Ben Roethlisberger in the opening quarter and returned the ball 17 yards for the score.
Roethlisberger connected with Antonio Brown on a 60-yard touchdown in the third quarter to get Pittsburgh back into the contest but made a critical mistake with 14 seconds to play, throwing his second interception that was returned to the Steelers 46.
Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton then hooked up with A.J. Green on a 21-yard pass to set up Brown's game-winning kick.
Pittsburgh had a chance to take control with 1:47 left on the clock when Shaun Suisham lined up to attempt a 53-yard field goal into the teeth of Heinz Field's notorious swirling winds. But the kick fell short, giving the Bengals the ball.
Brown had missed on a 56-yard attempt on the previous series as both teams struggled to generate offence.
Roethlisberger, who was intercepted in overtime in last Sunday's loss to the Dallas Cowboys, completed 14-of-28 passes for 220 yards but was under pressure all afternoon from a tenacious Bengals pass rush that sacked the Pittsburgh quarterback four times.
Pittsburgh's top-ranked defense surrendered just 14 yards rushing while Dalton completed just 24-of-41 attempts for 278 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Almost half of Dalton's completions went to Green, who hauled in 10 catches for 116 yards.
"It's a big win for the city of Cincinnati," said Bengals coach Marvin Lewis. "We did a good job of hanging in there and not flinching and making big plays.
"There were a lot of big plays today. A lot of guys came up with big plays.
"That's what you have to keep having all the time.

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Column: NFL's 'nice little story' gets even better

The Colts were a nice little story six weeks ago.
That's when a team that started 1-2 and had "rebuilding" written all over it responded to the loss of rookie coach Chuck Pagano with one of those how-did-they-do-it winning streaks — and that was supposed to be that. Considering the Colts finished 2-14 a year ago, then said goodbye to Peyton Manning and turned the rest of the roster upside-down, the season was already a success.
Fans in Indianapolis knew can't-miss rookie quarterback Andrew Luck was bound to improve, but explaining the 4-1 run after Pagano left the team to deal with leukemia was tough enough, especially because there was precious little room elsewhere for improvement. The Colts still can't run the ball, and they still start rookies at nearly every one of the skill positions. The defense? Don't ask.
Yet the story just got better.
Indianapolis was outgained by more than 200 yards Sunday in Kansas City. The Colts lost the time-of-possession battle but still won 20-13 and locked up an improbable playoff spot.
"Mission accomplished," Colts interim coach Bruce Arians said, as though he expected as much. "That's all I can say. It's a fantastic feeling."
And the story is about to get better still.
Pagano has been cleared to return, perhaps as early as Monday. He might have been the only guy in the entire organization who was expecting great things when he took over, but an entire squad and staff have come over to his side in his absence.
Arians, who stepped in for his close pal and consulted Pagano throughout his ordeal, is a candidate for coach of the year. And Luck, who threw for a modest 205 yards and a touchdown, still made up a lot of ground in his race against similarly impressive first-year quarterback starters Robert Griffin III of Washington and Russell Wilson of Seattle because of something he didn't do — throw a costly interception.
Even the much-maligned defense got into the act, with Darius Butler picking off Brady Quinn's pass and returning it for a touchdown five plays into the game, and whole unit rising up to stuff Quinn on a quarterback sneak late in the game, turning the ball back over to Luck in time for a rookie-record seventh winning drive.
"Whenever teams go for it on fourth down, the defense takes it personal," Indianapolis end Dwight Freeney said.
If the defensive stand was a surprise, what Luck did with the opportunity wasn't. The Colts' running game is still little more than a chance for Luck to catch his breath, and despite the emergence of receivers T.Y. Hilton and Dwayne Allen, just about everybody in Arrowhead Stadium was looking at veteran wideout Reggie Wayne. So was Luck, who saw him cut through a seam in the middle of the defense, then fired a high, hard pass that Wayne latched onto in the end zone for a 7-yard score.
Luck owns the rookie records for most yards, most 300-yard games, most winning drives, and the strike to Wayne put him closer to the rookie record of 26 touchdown passes set by none other than Manning. And just like Manning, to whom Luck was often compared before the season, the rookie knew exactly what to say about all of them.
"I think it definitely means something. After the season I'll have a chance to reflect back on it. Obviously, it is nicer to be in the playoffs and know that," Luck said, "but it is nice to have a couple records that I'm sure will be broken in the next year."
What he said next, though, came as something of a surprise.
"I think we were confident in the locker room from day one. I remember going in, trying to gauge the feel of what it was going to be like. Guys were confident on this team, like Reggie Wayne who had never missed a playoff until that year. Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis, those guys are winners, they know how to win, so I think they imparted some of that magic, if you will, on some of the younger guys, the newer guys.
"It was a confident bunch, we never prepared to lose a game, we always prepared to win, and I guess that worked out."
It's still a mystery exactly how, but Luck wasn't going to spend much more time dwelling on that than he did on accumulating records.
"I guess it will be an extra special Christmas," he said, referring to Pagano's return. "There will be a lot of emotions when he comes through the door. It's funny, there are probably 10 guys who have never met Chuck on the team, but I think they will be emotional too because I'm sure they feel like they know him, too, because his presence is felt so much in the building out here, and wherever we go.

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Luck sets rookie record, rookie PK sets NFL mark

Andrew Luck has broken the NFL rookie record for yards passing, and rookie kicker Blair Walsh has broken the league mark for 50-yard plus field goals in a season.
On a Sunday featuring a slew of records, Luck topped Cam Newton's year-old mark for yards passing in the first half of Indianapolis' win at Kansas City. Newton's record was 4,051 yards. Luck entered the game needing 74 yards to break the mark. He finished with 205 yards and now has 4,183 yards with a game against Kansas City remaining in the regular season.
"Yes, it definitely means something," Luck said of the record. "And after the season I'll have a chance to look back and reflect on it. It's nice; obviously it's nicer to be in the playoffs but it's nice to have a couple records, which I'm sure will be broken in the next year."
Minnesota's Walsh kicked a 56-yard field goal in the second quarter against Houston, giving him a record ninth field goal of 50 yards or more.
Also, Redskins kicker Kai Forbath set the NFL record for consecutive field goals to begin a career with 17 straight. He had field goals of 45 and 42 yards in the first half against the Eagles. New Orleans' Garrett Hartley had 16 straight.
On Saturday, Detroit's Calvin Johnson broke Jerry Rice's single-season yards receiving record, and is at 1,892 with a game left. He also became the only NFL player with 100 yards receiving in eight straight games, and with 10-plus receptions in four straight games.

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Anthony leads Knicks over Timberwolves

Carmelo Anthony took over in the last two minutes to carry the New York Knicks to a 94-91 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
Anthony, who was ejected during Friday's loss to the Chicago Bulls, finished with 33 points, scoring 19 in the fourth quarter, as the Knicks came from behind to secure the home win.
"We didn't want to look back at this game later in the season and say this was a game we shouldn't have lost," Anthony told reporters. "We picked it up defensively in the second half and we won the game."
New York trailed for virtually the entire game before Anthony went on an 8-0 run in the final two minutes to put the Knicks up by four.
Anthony scored the Knicks' last 12 points to seal the win.
"That was kind of an MVP performance at the end. He stepped up and made the plays," said New York coach Mike Woodson. "When he got that fifth foul called, it's like a light went off and he made the plays big-time."
J.R. Smith scored 19 off the bench for New York (20-7) while Tyson Chandler had 16 and nine rebounds as the Knicks maintained their 5 1/2 game lead in the Atlantic Division.
Nikola Pekovic recorded 21 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Timberwolves (13-12), who were missing All Star Kevin Love due to an eye ailment.
Minnesota went up by nine at half-time and led by 11 midway through the third before New York made their move.
Chandler scored 10 in the third quarter as the Knicks cut the deficit to two heading into the fourth.
New York are still without forward Amar'e Stoudemire, who has been out the entire season with a knee injury but has recently started practicing with the team.
Despite his absence, the Knicks are off to a strong start and have a 5 1/2-game lead in the Atlantic Division.

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