Top UBS shareholder pins rebound hopes on private wealth

UBS's wealth management business will help it bounce back from a $1.5 billion rap for rigging interest rates, one of its largest investors said, although fears of costly civil lawsuits could cast a pall over its shares for some time.
Paras Anand, European equities head at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, said legal action sparked by the Libor scandal posed an unpredictable threat to the bank's near-term earnings, even if its core private banking franchise escaped permanent harm.
"The big unknown factor is the civil litigation that could follow on as a result of this...That is one thing at the back of our minds that we have to be cognizant of," Anand said in an interview with Reuters.
"The issue for shareholders is the challenge of pricing that risk in. The potential costs are too unquantifiable and indeed, it's unclear as to whether they will actually manifest or not."
Switzerland's largest bank was hit with the fine on Wednesday after admitting to fraud, paying bribes to brokers and "pervasive" manipulation of global benchmark interest rates by dozens of its staff.
UBS shares were trading 1.3 percent higher at 9:01 a.m. ET, as investors looked forward to the end of a scandal-filled chapter in the bank's history and a renewed focus on managing cash on behalf of rich clients, rather than so-called 'casino' investment banking.
"There's clearly been a backlash against big faceless financial entities but a private bank has big personal relationships with its customers ... These kinds of institutions are surprisingly resilient," Anand said.
"We have seen some awful scandals in businesses much weaker than UBS and they manage to survive," he added.
Fidelity owns around 45 million shares in UBS, equivalent to around 1.2 percent of the bank, and is its fifth largest institutional owner excluding sovereign wealth funds, according to Thomson Reuters data.

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Drugs group Lundbeck's shares hit by profit warning

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Shares in Danish drugs firm Lundbeck fell to their lowest level in over 12 years on Wednesday after it cut its profits forecast for the next two years as European sales slow and spending on new products rise to combat generic competition.
The company has already warned that earnings would stall until 2015 due to cheap generic competition for its existing drugs, meaning new products will be vital for future earnings.
But Chief Executive Ulf Wiinberg said on Wednesday that the negative impact on revenue from healthcare reforms in Europe had also been bigger than expected in the last two years and that slowing European sales and generic competition were hurting.
As a result the company said operating profits would fall further than previously forecast in 2014 as it increases investments in its late-stage drugs development pipeline and product launches.
Lundbeck is working to find new drugs to replace lost revenue from products coming off patent protection such as its antidepressant Cipralex, which is sold as Lexapro in the United States and Japan, and Alzheimer's drug Ebixa.
Wiinberg said 2014 would be the company's peak investment year for the new products pipeline, offering it a solid foundation for growth starting in 2015.
"You only get one chance to launch a product and we have to do it well," Wiinberg said at a briefing for investors.
He was commenting after the company warned in a statement that it now expects revenue in 2014 of about 14 billion Danish crowns ($2.5 billion) and an operating profit of between just 0.5 billion and 1 billion crowns.
Analysts have on average been forecasting a profit of over 2.5 billion crowns for 2014 on turnover of over 14.7 billion crowns, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S Estimates.
Two years ago Lundbeck predicted its annual revenues over the period 2012-2014 would exceed 14 billion crowns a year while earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) would exceed 2 billion crowns a year.
Next years' revenue is now forecast to be in the range of 14.1 billion and 14.7 billion crowns to produce an operating profit of 1.6 billion to 2.1 billion crowns, with no change to the company's forecast for 2012.
Analysts' forecasts for this year are for operating profit to drop 41 percent to 1.99 billion crowns on revenue down 8 percent at 14.7 billion crowns, while for 2013 they predict a profit of 2.26 billion crowns on revenue of 14.5 billion crowns.
Lundbeck's shares were trading down 17 percent at 79.90 crowns at 12.44 p.m. British time, dropping below 80 crowns for the first time since April 2000.
"In the short term, earnings are under pressure," Sydbank analyst Soren Hansen said.
Lundbeck said that it expects a dividend payout ratio of about 35 percent of net profits in the 2012-14 period. Last year it paid 3.49 crowns on basic earnings per share of 11.64 crowns, a payout ratio of 30 percent.
Analysts have been predicting a 27-30 percent cut this year to 2.53-2.28 crowns, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data.
But a number of analysts doubt that revenue from new products will be enough to secure revenue growth in 2015, compensating for lost revenue from Cipralex, Lexapro and Ebixa which together accounted for about 70 percent of group revenue in 2011.
Lundbeck is working on new products such as antidepressant Brintellix in Europe and the United States for launch at the end of next year or start of 2014, as well as alcohol dependency treatment Selincro in Europe in mid 2013.
"It is difficult to see revenue from the smaller products compensating for the large products," said Hansen.

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Russia says it won't host Assad but others welcome

 Russia's foreign minister says Moscow would welcome any country's offer of a safe haven to Syrian President Bashar Assad, but underlined that Moscow itself has no intention of giving him shelter if he steps down.
Russia has repeatedly used its veto right along with China at the U.N. Security Council to protect its old ally from international sanctions, but it has increasingly sought to distance itself from Assad.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters late Friday that countries in the region he wouldn't name publicly had asked Russia to convey their offer of a safe passage to Assad. He said that Russia responded by telling them to go directly to Assad: "We replied: 'What do we have to do with it? If you have such plans, you go straight to him.'"
Asked if Moscow could offer a refuge to Assad, Lavrov responded that "Russia has publicly said that it doesn't invite President Assad."
"If there is anyone willing to provide him guarantees, they are welcome!" Lavrov told reporters on board a plane returning from Brussels where he attended a Russia-EU summit. "We would be the first to cross ourselves and say: "Thank God, the carnage is over! If it indeed ends the carnage, which is far from certain."
Lavrov also said the Syrian government has pulled its chemical weapons together to one or two locations from several arsenals across the country to keep them safe amid the rebel onslaught.
"According to the information we have, as well as the data of the U.S. and European special services, the government is doing everything to secure it," he said. "The Syrian government has concentrated the stockpiles in one or two centers, unlike the past when they were scattered across the country."
U.S. intelligence says the regime may be readying chemical weapons and could be desperate enough to use them. Both Israel and the U.S. have also expressed concerns they could fall into militant hands if the regime crumbles.
Lavrov gave no indication that Moscow could change its opposition to sanctions against Assad. He assailed the West for failing to persuade the opposition to sit down for peace talks with the government, saying that "the Syrian president's head is more important for them than saving human lives."
Lavrov added that U.N. peace envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, would visit Moscow for talks before the year's end.
He said that Moscow has also invited the revamped Syrian opposition leadership to visit.
"We are ready to honestly explain that the emphasis on a military solution and the dismantling of the state institutions is disastrous for the country," he said. "Listen, there will be no winner in this war.

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Italy's Monti turns down Berlusconi offer to run

Italian Premier Mario Monti is spurning Silvio Berlusconi's offer to run on a center-right ticket backed by the media mogul in February elections.
Monti told a news conference in Rome on Sunday that his predecessor's flipping back and forth between condemning the government's economic policies and then praising the premier convinced him that "I couldn't accept his offer."
Monti didn't immediately say if he might run on his own ticket 13 months after his non-elected government was appointed to save Italy from the eurozone debt crisis.

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Monti says he won't run for Italian premier

After keeping Italians, and the rest of Europe, in suspense for weeks, caretaker Premier Mario Monti on Sunday ruled out running in February elections but said he would consider leading the next government if political forces sharing his reform-focused economic agenda requested it.
The decision by Monti positions him to take the helm again without having to get into the nitty-gritty of campaigning — thus preserving his image as someone above the political fray who can make tough decisions imposing austerity measures. His previous such measures have boosted confidence in Italy's finances, and fellow European leaders have made it no secret that they want his policies to stay in place.
Silvio Berlusconi, the scandal-tainted ex-premier considering another run, commented scathingly on Monti's openness to another term.
"I had a nightmare — still a government with Monti," the media mogul said in an interview on state TV. He has said in the past that he would run again if Monti did not, but made no commitment Sunday about his own political future.
Monti, who after his resignation Friday is continuing in a caretaker role in charge of a non-elected government tasked with rescuing Italy from economy, ruled out heading any ticket — even a center-right grouping that Berlusconi said he would be willing to back. But the 69-year-old economist made it clear he was willing to take another turn in power.
"If one or more political forces is credibly backing (my) agenda or even has a better one, I'd evaluate the offer," Monti said during a news conference.
"To those forces who demonstrate convincing and credible adherence to the Monti agenda, I am ready to give my appreciation, encouragement, and if requested, leadership, and I am ready to assume, one day, if the circumstances require it, the responsibility that would be entrusted to me by Parliament."
Monti ruled out heading any ticket himself, saying "I have no sympathy for 'personal' parties."
Italy is struggling to shore up its finances and emerge from recession, a challenge made harder by its volatile politics, which saw dozens of governments over the years that let tax evasion spread, avoided unpopular reforms like raising the retirement age, and allowed public spending to balloon.
Monti was appointed in November 2011 to head a non-elected government with the goal of saving Italy from a Greece-style debt debacle after financial markets lost faith in his populist predecessor, Berlusconi.
Berlusconi triggered Monti's resignation last week, a few months ahead of the term's end, when he yanked his Freedom Party's support in Parliament for the government. Parliament was then sent packing last week by Italy's president, and elections scheduled for Feb. 24-25.
Monti's announcement Sunday pleased some parties but irked others.
"Yet again, Monti shows himself to be arrogant and (Pontius) Pilate-like," said Antonio Borghesi, a leader of the small center-left party that refused to back him during Monti's 13 months at the head of a non-elected government. "He won't directly commit himself, but he doesn't rule out that his name be used by others who share his agenda and he gives his willingness, if asked, to again leader the country."
The tiny centrist Italy Future party, meanwhile, hailed Monti as a "great political leader and international statesman," and said in a statement: "We reiterate our willingness to back with pride the agenda of Premier Monti."
Monti said he was spurning Berlusconi's offer not to run himself but instead support a center-right ticket headed by Monti. The premier expressed bewilderment that Berlusconi alternated sharp condemnation of the government's economic policies, with the seemingly contradictory offer to back another Monti-led government.
"Yesterday, we read that he assessed the work of the (Monti) government to be a complete disaster. A few days earlier I read flattering things," Monti said of his predecessor. The logic of Berlusconi's positions "escapes me" Monti said, drawing chuckles.
Berlusconi has said he would try for a fourth term as premier if Monti doesn't run, even though he continues to face several legal and sex-related scandals.
Monti praised Parliament for backing his government's recipe of spending cuts, new taxes and pension reform, which he said saved Italy from the debt crisis.
"Italians as citizens can hold their heads up high in Europe," Monti said, noting Italy had avoided the bailouts that Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Cyprus have had to take.
"We have always been convinced that Italy had, in itself, the resources" to succeed, Monti said. "And that's what happened."
Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano dissolved Parliament after Monti resigned Friday following approval of the country's national budget law. Monti noted that as a senator-for-life, he remains in Parliament and thus doesn't need to run for a seat in the legislature.
Voter opinion polls indicate a centrist ticket backing Monti would take about 15 percent of the vote, meaning any government headed by him would need support from either of Italy's two largest political groupings: the center-right, led by Berlusconi, or the center-left, led by Pier Luigi Bersani.
After Monti's announcement Sunday, Bersani vowed to "preserve" the premier's anti-crisis efforts. But Bersani, whose forces lead in opinion polls, expressed equal determination to avoid what Monti calls the "strange majority" of center-left, centrists, and center-right in Parliament.
That grouping until earlier this month largely set aside differences to back reforms such as raising the retirement age.
Bersani's forces turned out to be Monti's staunchest proponent this past year. By declining to directly campaign for February's balloting, Monti avoids a direct clash with him. On Sunday, Monti would only would say that Bersani is a highly "legitimate candidate for premier of a coalition."
In an interview on state TV later Sunday, Monti declined to say if he thought his agenda would get more backing from Bersani's or from Berlusconi's forces.
Some had speculated that Monti had his sights set on the Italian presidency, since Napolitano's term ends this spring. But Monti ruled that out at the news conference.

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British paper to sue Armstrong

 The Sunday Times is suing disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong for around one million pounds over his libel action against the British newspaper in 2004.
Armstrong, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles from 1999-2005 in October, received 300,000 pounds from the Sunday Times as payment towards his legal fees after the paper raised questions about the American's success following his recovery from testicular cancer.
"It is clear that the proceedings were baseless and fraudulent. Your representations that you had never taken performance enhancing drugs were deliberately false," read the letter to Armstrong's lawyers in the Sunday Times.
The paper is demanding the return of the 300,000 pounds payment plus interest, as well as costs accrued in defending the case, which was settled in 2006.
A report by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in October said the now-retired Armstrong had been involved in the "most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping program the sport has ever seen."
Armstrong has always denied using performance-enhancing drugs but chose not to contest the USADA charges.

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Monti says he is open to leading next government

ROME (AP) — After keeping Italians, and the rest of Europe, in suspense for weeks, caretaker Premier Mario Monti on Sunday ruled out campaigning in February elections, but said he would consider leading the next government if politicians who share his focus on reform request it.
The decision positions him to take the helm again without having to get into the political nitty-gritty of an election — preserving his image as someone above the fray who can make tough decisions on imposing austerity. His previous measures have boosted confidence in Italy's finances, and fellow European leaders have made no secret they want to keep them in place.
Silvio Berlusconi, the scandal-tainted ex-premier considering another run, commented scathingly on Monti's openness to another term.
"I had a nightmare — still having a government with Monti," the media mogul said in an interview on state TV. He has said in the past that he would run again if Monti did not, but made no commitment Sunday about his own political future.
Monti, who after his resignation Friday is continuing in a caretaker role, ruled out heading any ticket — even a center-right grouping that Berlusconi said he would be willing to back.
But the 69-year-old economist made it clear he was willing to take another turn in power.
"If one or more political forces is credibly backing (my) agenda or even has a better one, I'd evaluate the offer," Monti said during a news conference.
"To those forces who demonstrate convincing and credible adherence to the Monti agenda, I am ready to give my appreciation, encouragement, and if requested, leadership, and I am ready to assume, one day, if the circumstances require it, the responsibility that would be entrusted to me by Parliament."
Monti refused to head any ticket himself, saying "I have no sympathy for 'personal' parties."
Italy is struggling to shore up its finances and emerge from recession, a challenge made harder by its volatile politics. The country has had dozens of governments over the years that let tax evasion spread, avoided unpopular reforms like raising the retirement age, and allowed public spending to balloon.
Monti was appointed in November 2011 to head a non-elected government with the goal of saving Italy from a Greece-style debt debacle after financial markets lost faith in his populist predecessor, Berlusconi.
Berlusconi triggered Monti's resignation last week, a few months ahead of the term's end, when he yanked his Freedom Party's support in Parliament for the government. Parliament was then sent packing last week by Italy's president, and elections scheduled for Feb. 24-25.
Monti's announcement Sunday pleased some parties but irked others.
"Yet again, Monti shows himself to be arrogant and (Pontius) Pilate-like," said Antonio Borghesi, a leader of the small center-left party that refused to back him during Monti's 13 months at the head of a non-elected government. "He won't directly commit himself, but he doesn't rule out that his name be used by others who share his agenda and he gives his willingness, if asked, to again be leader the country."
The tiny centrist Italy Future party, meanwhile, hailed Monti as a "great political leader and international statesman," and said in a statement: "We reiterate our willingness to back with pride the agenda of Premier Monti."
The party's leaders include pro-Vatican politicians and industrialists, notably Luca di Montezemolo, president of Ferrari, the Italian Formula One racing team.
Monti said he was spurning Berlusconi's offer to sit out the election if Monti would head a center-right ticket. He expressed bewilderment at Berlusconi's sharp condemnation of his economic policies and his seemingly contradictory offer to back another Monti-led government.
"Yesterday, we read that he assessed the work of the (Monti) government to be a complete disaster. A few days earlier I read flattering things," Monti said of his predecessor. The logic "escapes me" Monti said, drawing chuckles.
Berlusconi has said he would try for a fourth term as premier if Monti doesn't run, even though he continues to face several legal and sex-related scandals.
Monti praised Parliament for backing his government's recipe of spending cuts, new taxes and pension reform, which he said saved Italy from the debt crisis.
"Italians as citizens can hold their heads up high in Europe," Monti said, noting Italy had avoided the bailouts that Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Cyprus have had to take.
Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano dissolved Parliament after Monti resigned Friday following approval of the country's national budget law. Monti noted that as a senator-for-life, he remains in Parliament and doesn't need to run for a seat in the legislature.
Voter opinion polls indicate a centrist ticket backing Monti would take about 15 percent of the vote, meaning any government he heads would need support from either of Italy's two largest political groupings: the center-right, led by Berlusconi, or the center-left, led by Pier Luigi Bersani.
After Monti's announcement Sunday, Bersani, whose forces turned out to be Monti's staunchest proponent this past year, vowed to keep up the premier's anti-crisis efforts.
By declining to directly campaign for February's balloting, Monti avoids a direct clash with him. On Sunday, Monti would only would say that Bersani is a highly "legitimate candidate for premier of a coalition."
In an interview on state TV later Sunday, Monti declined to say if he thought his agenda would get more backing from Bersani's or from Berlusconi's supporters.
Some had speculated that Monti had his sights set on the Italian presidency, since Napolitano's term ends this spring. But Monti ruled that out.

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"Hebrew Hammer" sequel profits from crowdfunding campaign

"The Hebrew Hammer vs. Hitler," the sequel to 2003's "The Hebrew Hammer," will begin filming next year, after an innovative crowdfunding campaign that's raised $35,000 on Jewcer.com, the filmmakers announced Tuesday.
Adam Goldberg will return in the lead role, with principle photography expected to begin in May 2013.
In the film, Goldberg's character, now married and enjoying the good life in suburbia, is forced to dust off his black-leather couture to confront a new menace: a time-traveling Hitler intent on altering key moments in Jewish history.
The original film launched at Sundance and had a limited theatrical release before being picked up by Comedy Central in a five-year deal.
"It's been amazing," filmmaker Jonathan Kesselman, writer and director of both movies, said in a statement. "The fans are making this happen. The cult status of the first movie attracted millions of fans around the world, making crowd-funding a viable option. Funding is now in the hands of fans who can help make the movies they want to see."
Kesselman negotiated for the rights to the sequel with John Schmidt at ContentFilm, ending a near decade-long tussle and several attempts at getting it made.

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Instagram says no plans to put user photos in ads

Instagram, the popular photo-sharing service owned by Facebook Inc, said on Tuesday it has "no plans" to incorporate user photos into ads in response to a growing public outcry over new privacy policies unveiled this week.
Instagram Chief Executive Kevin Systrom said in a blog post that users had incorrectly interpreted Instagram's revised terms of service, released on Monday, to mean that user photos would be sold to others without compensation.
"This is not true and it is our mistake that this language is confusing," Systrom said. "To be clear: it is not our intention to sell your photos. We are working on updated language in the terms to make sure this is clear."
But Systrom said Instagram may display users' profile pictures and information about who they follow as part of an ad - a social marketing technique similar to what Facebook uses in its "sponsored stories" ad product.
He added that Instagram will not incorporate users' uploaded photos as ads because the service wants "to avoid things like advertising banners."
Instagram, which is free to use, triggered an uproar this week when it revised its terms of service in order to begin carrying advertising.
Facebook bought the fast-growing photo service - now with 100 million users - earlier this year in a cash-and-stock deal valued initially at $1 billion. The transaction closed in September at $715 million, reflecting a decline in the value of Facebook shares.

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Sberbank to buy Yandex online payments service: source

Sberbank, Russia's top lender, plans to buy Yandex.Dengi, an online payment service owned by Russian search engine Yandex, a source familiar with the matter said.
Sberbank declined to comment. Yandex, which was not available to comment, was expected to hold a news conference on Wednesday.
Sberbank, which accounts for a third of overall lending in Russia, has been expanding in the consumer credit market amid weak corporate loan portfolio growth.
In recent years, it has launched its own credit card business and tied up with French bank BNP Paribas in a joint venture focusing on point-of-sale lending, a popular form of in-store consumer finance in Russia.
Yandex, which raised $1.4 billion when it floated on the U.S. stock market in May 2011, came under scrutiny during election protests over the past year when it was reported that opposition leaders were raising funds via Yandex.Dengi.

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