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Oct 14

UPDATE 1-Syngenta Q3 sales up 21 pct, top poll


* Crop protection prices up 3 percent (Adds detail, background)ZURICH, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Swiss group Syngenta , the world’s largest agrochemicals company, is eyeing further sales growth for the full-year after third-quarter sales jumped 21 percent, beating expectations thanks to strong demand in Latin America.The maker of products to kill weeds and bugs as well as genetically modified seeds said quarterly sales had risen to $2.7 billion, compared with a forecast for $2.48 billion in a Reuters poll.Syngenta, which has been able to raise crop protection prices 3 percent, said on Friday it had seen a good start to the Latin American season, with soybean growers in Brazil and Argentina increasing their investment.”For the full year we expect substantial top line growth, higher profitability at constant exchange rates and a significant increase in free cash flow,” chief executive Mike Mack said.Spiralling wheat, corn and soybean costs have been encouraging farmers to buy more products from Syngenta, and rivals such as DuPont and Monsanto , as they seek to boost yields and offset inflation.Earlier this month, Monsanto posted forecast-beating sales thanks to global growth in both corn and cotton sales.

Posted 7 months ago

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UPDATE, 1Syngenta, Q3, sales, up, 21, pct, top, poll,

Oct 13

FSA’s Sants compares notes with SEC’s Schapiro


“Close cooperation between the FSA and the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) is important as we seek to meet the G20 commitment to enhance transparency, mitigate systemic risk and protect against market abuse,” Sants said.The meeting came ahead of a busy week in the European regulation calendar. European MiFID II measures expected next week will crack down on high-frequency trading, expand the scope of existing rules to commodities and bonds and introduce tougher corporate governance requirements.The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is also expected to publish recommendations on regulating high-frequency trading next week.The FSA and SEC have held senior-level meetings, called “strategic dialogue meetings”, since 2006. Sants said they allowed the two agencies to find common ground, build on areas of mutual interest and identify potential regulatory gaps.”As Europe and the U.S. continue to enhance regulation in the wake of the financial crisis, working with all of our counterparts is essential to help prevent regulatory arbitrage, especially in the areas involving over-the-counter derivatives and market structure,” said Schapiro.

Posted 7 months ago

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FSAs, Sants, compares, notes, with, SECs, Schapiro,

Oct 13

UPDATE 1-Ireland says bondholder pain just for Greece


* Dublin worried new euro zone support regime will rattle marketsBy John O’DonnellBRUSSELS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Private bondholders should not be asked to shoulder losses on their government debt beyond Greece, Ireland’s prime minister said on Wednesday, seeking to allay fears that other struggling countries could follow in the footsteps of Athens.Enda Kenny is worried that the early introduction of the ESM permanent euro zone rescue scheme, which would also see a framework for country debt default, will prompt fears that Ireland will ask bondholders to take losses.”I did make the point that in respect of the ESM (European Stability Mechanism), we don’t have any objection to an early introduction of that but it would want to be made perfectly clear that PSI (private sector involvement) is an issue of concern not only to Ireland but to other countries,” Kenny said after a meeting with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels.”The same clarity of the exclusiveness and uniqueness of this in respect of Greece, as was referred to in July, should be made perfectly clear,” Kenny said.Ireland has always insisted it will repay its debt but there are worries that if it needed to go to the ESM for more funds when its current rescue package runs out in 2013 that private investors could face losses.Central to Barroso’s proposal, which needs the backing of EU member states, is the early introduction of the ESM to replace the temporary EFSF bailout scheme by mid-2012 — an idea originally put forward by Germany.The 500 billion euro ($690 billion) permanent fund would have a solid base of paid-in capital and power to intervene on markets to help struggling states.It would also introduce the first European framework for coping with countries that default on their debt, a step some investors worry could herald even steeper losses.

Posted 7 months ago

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UPDATE, 1Ireland, says, bondholder, pain, just, for, Greece,