Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., November 06, 2009 Cheshvan 19, 5770 | | Israel Time: 01:18 (EST+7)
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Markets in Brief

You just can't please some people. Even after Africa Israel finally thrashed out a debt arrangement with its bondholders, to whom it owes NIS 7.5 billion, Leumi & Co. doesn't like the stock. In a report disseminated among institutional investors, the investment bank's analysts gave it an Underperform rating and noted the high risk inherent in the real estate company's stock. "Considering the risk level in the company's activity, despite the drop in its debt level and rescheduling of debt over a longer term, there is no place to change out recommendation at present," the bank wrote. The market valuations of Africa Israel's main assets, and especially the fact that the company's debt will remain high even after the arrangement, render the stock worth less than its present trading price, in Leumi & Co.'s opinion. (Tal Levy)

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries yesterday announced the commercial launch of its generic version of Allegra (Fexofenadine Hydrochloride 60 mg and Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride 120 mg, in the form of extended-release tablets). U.S. sales of the allergy relief medication were $293 million in the 12 months ending on June 30, Teva said. The company added that it is the first generic drugmaker to file a new-drug application for generic Allegra with paragraph IV certification for the product. (TheMarker)
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While on Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, UBS analysts repeated a Buy rating following the drug company's third-quarter report. Sales of $3.55 billion were a hair less than expected (UBS had expected $3.67 billion), but on the other hand, that was because unfavorable exchange rates reduced the figure by $160 million. And earnings were ahead of expectations by 2 cents per share. The bank's bottom line is that the third quarter was "low quality," by Teva standards, but it remains bullish on the stock. (TheMarker)

Noting that AudioCodes' third-quarter sales and earnings per share beat the forecasts, though not by much, Merrill Lynch repeated a Buy rating for the Israeli voice-over-Internet company's stock. AudioCodes delivered in the third quarter what Wall Street had only been expecting in the fourth quarter, Merrill's analysts wrote. At 5%, its operating margins were a lot stronger than had been expected, and third-quarter sales were $32.1 million. "We note this is second straight quarter of sequential sales growth following the capex downturn in 4Q08 and 1Q09," the bank wrote. (TheMarker)

The Maalot credit rating agency yesterday downgraded Scorpio Real Estate's debt by five notches, a few days after the Beny Steinmetz real estate vehicle said it is thinking of rescheduling its debt to B1 series bondholders. Maalot pondered, then cut the rating on the series from B to CC - with a negative credit watch to boot, which could portend another downgrade. The problem is the impact of the global recession on the value of Scorpio's holdings, the agency said: Construction is delayed and so are project sales, leading the company to violate its covenants with Bank Hapoalim. Institutional investors hold NIS 516 million worth of Scorpio paper. In informal chats, the company's management has suggested that Steinmetz might give some privately-owned properties to the company to restore it to compliance with its covenants. The company has also proposed converting some bondholder debt into equity and beefing up the collateral backing its bonds. (Michael Rochvarger)

Nonresidents invested a net $150 million in Tel Aviv shares during September 2009, the Bank of Israel said yesterday. That is down almost three-quarters from the $440 million they invested in August, in net terms. Their main focus was communications, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, the central bank added. Nonresidents also invested a net $170 million in Israeli shares traded elsewhere during September. But their real favorite was Israeli government bonds: Nonresidents bought $850 million worth of them in September, in net terms, of which half was in fixed-income Shahar bonds and the rest in short-term Bank of Israel Makam notes. Meanwhile, Israelis invested $550 million in foreign shares during September, mostly by institutional investors but a quarter by households and businesses. Since January 1, Israeli institutional investors have invested $3.5 billion overseas, nearly double the $2 billion they invested for all of 2008. (TheMarker)

The leverage fund Genesis may be buying NIS 50 million worth of shares in Home Center from Eliezer Fishman. The investment would be made through an issue of preferred shares. Genesis would have a put option to sell the shares back to Fishman, for NIS 50 million plus annual interest of 7.5%. (Michael Rochvarger)

VocalTec is negotiating to buy fellow VoIP company Outsmart, evaluated at between $2 million and $3 million. Outsmart is chaired by Nice Systems CEO Zeevi Bregman, formerly the CEO of Comverse. (Nir Zalik)
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