Philip Morris To Acquire Denmark’s Fertin Pharma For $820 Mln – Quick Facts

Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) announced Thursday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Fertin Pharma A/S for an enterprise value of 5.1 billion Danish kroner or approximately $820 million.

Fertin Pharma is currently owned by the global investment organization EQT and Bagger-Sorensen & Co.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to approval by the appropriate regulatory authorities.

PMI expects the impact of the acquisition on its full-year 2021 adjusted earnings per share to be immaterial.

Upon the completion of the acquisition, Fertin Pharma will become a wholly owned subsidiary. The company will fund the deal with existing cash.

Fertin Pharma is a privately held developer and manufacturer of innovative pharmaceutical and well-being products based on oral and intra-oral delivery systems. It has more than 850 employees with operations in Denmark, Canada, and India. In 2020, Fertin Pharma generated net revenues of 1.1 billion kroner or around $160 million.

Philip Morris expects the acquisition of Fertin Pharma to be a significant step in its smoke-free portfolio. The deal would provide speed and scale in oral delivery to support the company’s 2025 goals of generating more than 50% of net revenues from smoke-free products and at least $1 billion from products beyond nicotine.

BoE's Bailey warns against over-reaction to rising inflation

LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) – Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Thursday it was important not to over-react to a rise in inflation that was likely to prove temporary.

“It is important not to over-react to temporarily strong growth and inflation, to ensure that the recovery is not undermined by a premature tightening in monetary conditions,” Bailey said in his annual Mansion House speech.

H&M Turns To Profit In Q2, Sales Surge; Sees Long-term Growth – Quick Facts

Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB or H&M Group (HNNMY.PK,HMRZF.PK,HEN.L) reported Thursday that its second-quarter profit after tax amounted to 2.77 billion Swedish kronor, compared to last year’s loss of 4.99 billion kronor. Earnings per share were 1.67 kronor, compared to loss of 3.02 kronor per share a year ago.

Net sales surged to 46.51 billion kronor from prior year’s 28.66 billion kronor. Net sales in local currencies increased 75 percent.

At the start of the quarter, around 1,300 stores were temporarily closed and at the end around 140 stores remained closed. Online sales increased 32 percent on a reported basis and by 40 percent in local currencies.

Regarding the current trading, the company noted that net sales in the period from June 1 to 28 increased 25 percent in local currencies. Sales are still affected by reduced footfall as a result of continued restrictions and store closures. At present, around 95 stores are still temporarily closed.

Looking ahead, Helena Helmersson, CEO, said, “We are developing the existing business and are also creating new complementary revenue streams. Together with profitable online growth and continued store optimisation this will contribute to long-term, profitable and sustainable growth for the H&M group.”

In Sweden, H & M shares were trading at 200.35 kronor, down 1.31 percent.

Accenture To Buy Swiss IT Services Provider Trivadis; Financial Terms Not Disclosed

Professional services company Accenture Plc (ACN) Thursday said it has entered into an agreement to acquire Trivadis AG, an IT services provider specializing in platforms and solutions that enable highly automated provisioning and innovative use of data. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.

Switzerland -based Trivadis uses a suite of proprietary accelerators and assets to help companies advance their data platform lifecycles, automate operational tasks in databases, develop data warehouse solutions and accelerate cloud migrations.

Following the deal closure, Trivadis’ more than 710 employees located across Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Denmark, and Romania will join Accenture’s Data & AI team within the Accenture Cloud First group.

Karthik Narain, global lead for Accenture Cloud First, said, “Acquiring Trivadis will strengthen our ability to help clients blend data from different sources together in real-time, build agile reporting, and leverage analytics and AI to create broadly accessible customer, market and operational insights that deliver meaningful business outcomes.”

Lindsay Corporation Earnings Advance In Q3

Lindsay Corporation (LNN) released earnings for its third quarter that climbed from the same period last year.

The company’s profit totaled $17.80 million, or $1.61 per share. This compares with $10.09 million, or $0.93 per share, in last year’s third quarter.

Analysts had expected the company to earn $1.30 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 31.5% to $161.94 million from $123.11 million last year.

Lindsay Corporation earnings at a glance:

-Earnings (Q3): $17.80 Mln. vs. $10.09 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q3): $1.61 vs. $0.93 last year.
-Analysts Estimate: $1.30
-Revenue (Q3): $161.94 Mln vs. $123.11 Mln last year.

U.S. Jobless Claims Edge Down Less Than Expected To 411,000

A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended June 19th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims edged down to 411,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 418,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to drop to 380,000 from the 412,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 397,750, an increase of 1,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 396,250.

The Labor Department said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, slid by 144,000 to 3.390 million in the week ended June 12th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also fell by 55,250 to 3,552,500, hitting the lowest level since the week ended March 21, 2020.

“We expect the labor market recovery to gather momentum in the months ahead and anticipate a total of 8 million jobs will be created in 2021,” said Kathy Bostjancic, Chief U.S. Financial Economist at Oxford Economics.

Next Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on the employment situation in the month of June.