UPDATE 1-‘Real Steel’ edges ‘Footloose’ to win box office
* ‘The Thing’ opens weak, ‘Big Year’ bombs
(Updates with details on top five films)By Lisa RichwineLOS ANGELES, Oct 16 (Reuters) - The boxing robots of “Real
Steel” had better footwork at the ticket window than the kids
in the remake of the 1980s dance classic “Footloose” and held
on to the domestic box-office title for a second straight
week.”Real Steel” racked up an estimated $39.6 million in global
ticket sales over three days, distributor Walt Disney Co said
on Sunday. The film earned $16.3 million of that total from
U.S. and Canadian theaters.”Footloose,” the story of teenagers who defy their small
town’s ban on dancing, was close behind with $16.1 million from
U.S. and Canadian theaters.Appeal to families helped “Real Steel” come out on top,
said Dave Hollis, Disney’s executive vice president for motion
picture sales and distribution. The DreamWorks-produced film
stars Hugh Jackman as a father who bonds with his son as they
restore a robot to fight for a boxing championship.To date, the movie has earned $51.7 million at North
American theaters plus $56.6 million in international markets,
for a combined global tally of $108.3 million.The “Footloose” debut performed in line with studio
expectations and earned an A rating from audiences polled by
survey firm CinemaScore, said Don Harris, president of domestic
distribution for Paramount Pictures, which released the film.The remake, which cost about $24 million to make, features
Dennis Quaid as a local preacher and lesser-known actors in the
lead teenager roles. Kevin Bacon starred in the original 1984
hit.SLOW WEEKEND AT THEATERSIn third place for the weekend, horror flick “The Thing”
grabbed a weak $8.7 million. The film, a prequel to a 1982 hit,
centers on a team of scientists who travel to Antarctica to
investigate an alien creature. The movie’s production cost
about $38 million.Nikki Rocco, president of distribution for Universal
Pictures, noted other horror films had struggled lately and
said the box office “was relatively soft this weekend”
overall.Sales for the top 12 movies came in 34 percent lower than
the same weekend last year, according to figures from
Hollywood.com Box Office.Political drama “The Ides of March,” directed by and
co-starring George Clooney, pulled in $7.5 million during its
second weekend in theaters to finish in fourth place. Clooney
also co-wrote the film about moral choices during a tight
primary contest between two politicians running for president.In fifth place was “Dolphin Tale,” a feel-good movie based
on the true story of an injured dolphin rehabilitated with a
prosthetic tail. The film brought in $6.3 million domestically
over the weekend.New comedy “The Big Year” was a flop. The film, starring
comedy heavyweights Steve Martin, Owen Wilson and Jack Black as
bird-watching buddies, landed in ninth place with just $3.3
million domestically.”It’s a high-quality film with a talented cast. We just
missed,” said Bruce Snyder, president of domestic distribution
for distributor 20th Century Fox.Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc, released
”Footloose.” “Real Steel” was produced by DreamWorks and
distributed by Walt Disney Co. Universal Pictures, a unit of
Comcast Corp, distributed “The Thing.” Sony Corp unit Columbia
Pictures released “The Ides of March.” “The Big Year” was
distributed by News Corp unit 20th Century Fox, and “Dolphin
Tale” was released by Time Warner Inc unit Warner Bros.
Chinalco looks to list Peru mine in $1 bln HK IPO - IFR
BNP Paribas , CICC and Morgan Stanley have
been mandated by Chinalco to arrange the transaction, IFR added.The new listed unit’s main asset is the Toromocho copper
mine in Peru that is on track to start mining in 2013. The mine
is forecast to produce the equivalent of 250,000 tonnes of fine
copper a year, and also small amounts of silver and molybdenum.Chinalco already has a unit, Aluminum Corp of China Ltd
(Chalco) , that is listed in Hong Kong and
Shanghai.
Republicans ask deficit panel to rethink Dodd-Frank
* Also seeks changes to public housing, mortgage modsWASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Republicans on the House
Financial Services Committee are calling on the deficit
reduction panel to consider curbs to the Dodd-Frank financial
overhaul in a bid to boost the sputtering economy.In a letter addressed to the congressional “super
committee”, 20 Republicans joined Chairman Spencer Bachus in
urging consideration of a raft of Republican legislation to
repeal or limit last year’s Dodd-Frank oversight law.”Congressional proponents of (Dodd-Frank) promised that it
would ‘increase investment and entrepreneurship, foster
competitiveness, confidence in our financial sector, and robust
growth in our economy,’” Bachus wrote in a letter on Friday.”Yet some 15 months after Dodd-Frank was enacted, many
small businesses are starved for customers and credit;
unemployment has soared to more than 9 percent; and for far too
many American families, economic security seems further away
than ever.”The Dodd-Frank financial oversight law was passed to limit
the type of excessive Wall Street risk taking that many blame
for the financial crisis of 2007-2009.It subjects big financial firms to stricter oversight,
tries to bring transparency to the roughly $600 trillion global
derivatives market, and puts restrictions on Wall Street pay,
among other reforms.Republicans have blasted Dodd-Frank as a regulatory
overreach that has hindered the U.S. economic recovery.The letter also recommends that the super committee —
headed by Republican Congressman Jeb Hensarling and Democratic
Senator Patty Murray — cut or rein in spending on a number of
federal programs, from public housing to mortgage modification
programs.It also advocates easing restrictions on capital raising by
small businesses.Bachus is particularly tough on Dodd-Frank derivatives
regulations, which he says will put U.S. markets at a
competitive disadvantage and could impose trillions of dollars
in compliance costs.He also slammed the billions of dollars of fees that he
says will be imposed on the private sector as part of
Dodd-Frank.”This is a dead weight loss to the economy,” Bachus writes.
“None of these funds will be used to create jobs.”The letter attached 24 bills with a range of changes to
Dodd-Frank and other laws, including exemptions for
corporations that use derivatives, and a repeal of the entire
Dodd-Frank act.The 12-member super committee is facing a deadline of Nov.
23 to come up with at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reductions
over the next decade.
RPT-RLPC-Market volatility hits Kondor financing -bankers
LONDON Oct 14 (Reuters) - Vista Equity Partners is facing
challenges financing its acquisition of Thomson Reuters’
trade and risk management software business, including flagship
product Kondor, banking sources said on Friday.Vista bought the businesses for more than $500 million in
cash in September after winning an auction. The private equity
company is trying to finalise a larger financing package than
originally envisaged, but the deterioration in market conditions
since August may limit the size of the loan, bankers said.Vista had agreed a $185 million of drawn debt with GE
Capital, ING, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Canada in September, but
subsequently tried to increase the amount of debt to $220-$230
million, which was in line with debt offered to rival bidders
Cinven, Bridgepoint and Montagu Private Equity, the bankers
added.Some of the four banks were unwilling to increase the size
of the financing due to market volatility. Vista is currently
approaching a wider group of banks after first talking to banks
that backed rival bidders.The financing was expected to be decided by early October,
but negotiations are still continuing, the bankers said.”Vista is struggling to get the higher amount of debt in
place,” one of the sources said.The level of debt Vista manages to raise will not affect the
acquisition itself, only the amount of equity Vista will have to
contribute.A final sale and purchase agreement for the proposed
transaction with news and information services provider Thomson
Reuters is expected to close by Jan. 31, 2012. Barclays Capital
acted as sole financial advisor to Thomson Reuters.The trade and risk management business operates under the
Thomson Reuters enterprise solutions business. Kondor provides
trade and risk software as well as liquidity risk systems for
treasury and cash management operations. Its main competitors
include Misys, SunGard and French software solutions company
Murex.Vista and GE were not immediately available to comment.
Buyout talks in focus as Sony Ericsson seen posting Q3 profit
Last week a source told Reuters Sony was discussing a buyout with Ericsson, which would help it recoup ground in the battle against Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics, where it has been hampered by a disjoined strategy on mobile gadgets and online content.Sony Ericsson’s recent focus on smartphones based on Google’s Android platform has been gaining traction, pulling the company back into the black.In the longer term, however, many analysts see a bleak future for Sony Ericsson if it cannot differentiate itself from a growing crowd of handset makers operating on Android.For Ericsson, a sale would insulate its profit and loss account from the volatility Sony Ericsson has brought and allow it to focus resources on its loss-making chip venture ST-Ericsson.”Right now, I think, a sale of Sony Ericsson would be well-received,” said Thomas Langer, analyst at WestLB.However analysts said they did not expect Sony Ericsson to comment on a possible buyout of Ericsson by Sony when it posts its results on October 14 at 0630 GMT.A Reuters poll put the price of Ericsson’s 50 percent stake in Sony Ericsson at around $1.5 billion.The hefty price tag for Ericsson’s stake reflects in part the recovery in Sony Ericsson’s business since it decided to focus on smartphones based on Android.Analysts said that the third quarter results would reflect the recent improvement in profitability, interrupted in the April-June period by the effects of the earthquake in Japan on parts supply.”We should see a turnaround in Sony Ericsson so that it delivers a profit this quarter,” said Morten Imsgaard, analyst at Sydbank. “There have been some strong introductions, and the whole shift toward the Android ecosystem has been very successful.”On average analysts forecast Sony Ericsson’s third quarter profit at 27 million euros ($37 million) after a 42 million loss in the preceding three month period.While the global cellphone sales volumes are on average expected to have grown 15 percent in the third quarter against the same period a year ago, Sony Ericsson’s sales are expected to have dropped by a similar factor.($1 = 0.725 euro)
Carrefour warns on 2011 profit again
The world’s second-biggest retailer by sales after U.S. group Wal-Mart (WMT.N) made the prediction after it eked out a 0.3 percent gain in third-quarter sales to 22.8 billion euros ($31 billion) as robust growth in emerging markets barely offset weak sales in France and western Europe.Quarterly sales were broadly in line with a forecast of 22.74 billion euros in a Reuters poll of 12 analysts.($1 = 0.725 Euros)
Alcatel agree to sell call centre business - FT
Permira had been in exclusive talks with Alcatel-Lucent for
several months, although a person close to the company, cited
by the FT, said this was relaxed to allow interest from other
groups.Genesys, which was acquired by Alcatel in 2000, sells
software that is used in call centres and video conferencing.Both Alcatel-Lucent and Permira were unavailable for
immediate comment.
