Total says executive kidnapped in Guinea

(Reuters) - An executive employed by French oil company Total has been kidnapped in Guinea, a company spokesman said on Friday.

The company declined to name the executive.


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US sets stage for new bids on $15 bln chopper deal

(Reuters) - The Air Force cheered the decision by the Government Accountability Office, saying it set the stage for reopening talks with all three original competitors to supply the 141 helicopters designed to rescue downed flyers.

On Feb. 26, GAO, Congress's nonpartisan audit and investigative arm, sustained protests by the losing bidders -- Sikorsky, a United Technologies Corp. unit, and Lockheed Martin Corp. -- and recommended re-opening the bidding.


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UPDATE 2-Enterprise, Vanguard car rental firms to merge

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, March 30 - Enterprise Rent-A-Car on Friday said it agreed to buy Vanguard Car Rental Group Inc., the parent of National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car, combining the largest and fourth-largest U.S. car rental companies by revenue.

Terms were not disclosed. Enterprise generated $7 billion of revenue from U.S. rentals in 2006, while Vanguard generated $2.14 billion, according to trade publication Auto Rental News. The combined company would have more than 1 million vehicles.


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UPDATE 1-Parlux reports Q2 results, delays Q3 filing

(Reuters) - The company, which licences Paris Hilton fragrances and accessories, faces being delisted from the Nasdaq as it is late in filing its financial results.

The delay is due to a probe into the allegations that the company improperly recognized revenue on sales and did not comply with Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure rules.


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US mortgage rates unchanged on Friday - BestInfo

(Reuters) - The 30-year mortgage rate with one upfront point was unchanged at 6 percent.

The 30-year mortgage rate with two upfront points was unchanged at 5-3/4 percent.


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Exide Technologies files $500 mln mixed shelf

(Reuters) - Under a shelf registration, a company may sell securities in one or more separate offerings with the size, price and terms to be determined at the time of sale.




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Comtech Group files $100 mln mixed shelf

(Reuters) - Under a shelf registration filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a company may sell securities in one or more separate offerings with the size, price and terms to be determined at the time of sale.




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Altria Group says completes spin-off of Kraft Foods

(Reuters) - Altria shareholders will receive cash in lieu of fractional shares for amounts of less than one Kraft share, it added.




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US CREDIT-FedEx's debt yields still seen attractive

(Reuters) - FedEx said last week that its earnings fell for the third quarter ended Feb. 28 and that its growth targets would be at risk if the U.S. economy did not improve, spooking some investors and knocking the company's stock down 4 percent since then. For details, see [ID:nN21279811].

The package delivery company, which is seen as a bellwether of U.S. economic activity, cited a slower economic environment, lower fuel surcharges and severe winter storms for the lower profit, which nonetheless exceeded Wall Street estimates.


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Bush apologizes for poor health care of veterans

(Reuters) - Bush, in his first visit to Walter Reed since a scandal over health care there erupted in February, met with some patients who had previously been at the outpatient building where the worst conditions were found.

"I was disturbed by their accounts of what went wrong," Bush said. "I apologize for what they went through and we're going to fix the problem."


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Allegheny Energy seeks W Va. transmission line OK

(Reuters) - Targeted for completion in 2011, the line will span Allegheny's service territory from southwestern Pennsylvania through West Virginia to northern Virginia.

Within West Virginia, the line will run about 114 miles, passing to the west of Morgantown and traversing Preston, Tucker, Grant, Hardy and Hampshire counties before crossing into Virginia.


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UPDATE 2-Federal agency debt issuance rose in first quarter

(Reuters) - This year, like last year, a large share of the debt was issued to replace securities that matured or were called, tempering net new supply, analysts said.

After stripping out debt such as callables and certain short-term notes, Thomson said that agencies issuance fell in the first quarter to $88.6 billion from $91.5 billion in the same quarter of 2006.


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GM, Ford March US sales seen down as trucks falter

(Reuters) - Toyota and other Asian automakers have been relentlessly stealing U.S. market share from Ford and GM on the strength of their sedans and crossover or car-based sports utility vehicles.

The slowdown in the U.S. housing market prompted many contractors, who typically buy pickup trucks, to delay purchases, hurting U.S. automakers, analysts.


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UPDATE 1-Mexico retailer Comerci issues 3 bln peso bond

(Reuters) - Comerci said the bond was issued in the europeso format and was oversubscribed, receiving orders for 5 billion pesos, which led the company to bump up the issue amount from an initial range of between 2 billion pesos and 2.5 billion pesos.

Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse managed the issue.


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UPDATE 1-US mortgage bond issuance falls in 1st-qtr 2007

(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co. was the top underwriter of U.S. mortgage-backed securities for the first three months of the year, the financial data firm said.

JPMorgan underwrote 28 issues of mortgage-backed bonds, totaling $29.2 billion, an 11.8 percent market share.


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Bolivian senate approves nationalized energy deals

(Reuters) - The senate's approval of 40 revised operating contracts had been delayed due to disagreements between Morales allies and opposition lawmakers over errors in the wording of the documents, which were passed originally in November.

A final step is for the amended contracts to be rubber-stamped by the house of deputies.


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UPDATE 1-Gunmen kill two migrants on U.S.-Mexico border

(Reuters) - The gunmen killed a man and a woman traveling in a pickup truck near Green Valley, some 30 miles south of Tucson, Pima County Sheriff's Department said.

Spokeswoman Dawn Barkman said the dead were believed to be Mexican immigrants traveling with three family groups from the poor southern Mexican state of Chiapas.


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Citigroup, Merrill top Q1 Wall Street underwriters

(Reuters) - Citigroup Inc. was as usual the biggest underwriter by volume, handling $202.3 billion of transactions, for a 9.5 percent share. JPMorgan Chase & Co. ranked second with $175.5 billion of transactions, followed by Deutsche Bank AG's $156.9 billion.

Citigroup gave up its usual crown as the top fee generator to Merrill Lynch & Co. , which vaulted from ninth place a year earlier. Merrill posted $436 million of fees, followed by JPMorgan's $383.7 million and Citigroup's $244.1 million.


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Mexican stocks and peso down slightly after rally

(Reuters) - The peso was also down 0.28 percent to 11.05 against the dollar after strong gains in the previous session.

"After yesterday's rise it's normal that we see a flat market, or even light losses," said Jorge Lagunas, a stock analyst at brokerage Interacciones in Mexico City.


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UPDATE 1-Bain, Blackstone among Ceridian bidders - sources

(Reuters) - NEW ORLEANS, March 30 - Private equity firms Bain Capital and Blackstone Group [BG.UL] are among the bidders for Ceridian Corp. , sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, raising the chances that the entire business services company will be sold.

Two corporations are also bidding for the company, the sources said, but it was unclear which companies were involved. Whether Bain and Blackstone are bidding as a team or separately was also unclear. Ceridian has a market value of $4.6 billion.


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UPDATE 3-First Data to buy Polcard processor for $325 mln

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, March 30 - First Data Corp. , one of the world's largest credit card payment processors, said it will buy Polcard SA, the largest payment processor in Poland, for $325 million in cash to expand in central and eastern Europe.

Polcard is being sold by Providence, Rhode Island-based GTECH Corp., which has a 74.43 percent stake, and Innova Capital, a Warsaw private equity firm with a 25.24 percent stake. The Polish Bank Association will retain its roughly 0.3 percent stake. GTECH is a unit of Italian gaming company Lottomatica SpA .


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Procter & Gamble says its dry pet food not contaminated

(Reuters) - P&G Pet Care suspended production of all wet pet foods at the affected Menu Foods Emporia plant on March 14, the statement added.




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AMR Corp says American Airlines repays $285 mln of debt

(Reuters) - The repayments and refinancing will eliminate about $15 million of the company's annual net interest expense, AMR said in a statement.




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US loan issuance rises, $380 bln in Q1-Reuters LPC

(Reuters) - J.P. Morgan led U.S. loan underwriting, followed by Bank of America and Citigroup , Reuters LPC data showed. J.P. Morgan also was the lead underwriter for leveraged loans. Companies sold $38.7 billion of high-yield bonds this quarter, compared to $29.2 billion in 2006.




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Schering mulls share issue for Organon buy -paper

(Reuters) - He said the company has not quite decided on the financing mix.

On March 12, Schering-Plough agreed to buy Dutch chemical group Akzo Nobel NV's drugs unit Organon for 11 billion euros in a bid to gain scale and diversify away from cholesterol medicine.


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Freddie Mac to sell $4.5 bln bills on Monday

(Reuters) - -- $2.5 billion of three-month bills due July 2, 2007 to be sold Monday and settle Tuesday;

-- $1.0 billion of six-month bills due Oct. 1, 2007 to be sold Monday and settle Tuesday; and


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UPDATE 1-US says Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac capital adequate

(Reuters) - Both Fannie and Freddie had capital reserves that topped the temporary, 30 percent surplus mandated by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.

Fannie Mae had a 10.9 percent surplus above the mandated level, while Freddie's reserves were 7.7 percent above the 30 percent surplus ordered since the companies were shaken by accounting scandals.


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UPDATE 1- Melamine in pet food, wheat gluten from China - US FDA

(Reuters) - The FDA said the wheat gluten in question came from a company in China, and was not known to be used in any human food yet.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration official Stephen Sundlof said during a press conference that melamine was found in the urine of dead cats. Though its presence is undeniable, it has not been determined to cause sickness or deaths in pets, he said.


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Take-Two shares fall as investors await revamp

(Reuters) - Strauss Zelnick, a former chief executive at BMG Entertainment, was named chairman of the company and his business partner, Ben Feder, was named acting chief executive.

Take-Two shares surged 6 percent late on Thursday after the takeover was announced, but fell on Friday as investors cashed in on a recent run-up in the shares.


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UPDATE 1-U.S. BioEnergy reports Q4 profit, increased rev

(Reuters) - "By the end of 2008, we expect to have seven plants operational, with ethanol production capacity of approximately 600 million gallons a year,." said the company's chief executive Gordon Ommen in a statement.

The company, the second-largest ethanol producer in the United States, said in the statement that it grew its ethanol production capacity to 250 million gallons by the end of 2006.


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Province of Manitoba files for $1.1 bln debt shelf

(Reuters) - It will also use the proceeds to make loans and advances to various Crown corporations, agencies, boards and commissions, including The Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board.




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Carnival says profit may take hit from fuel, forex

(Reuters) - The company said 2007 earnings could be 5 cents lower than its forecast of $2.90 to $3.10 per share if current fuel prices and foreign exchange rates persist.




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UPDATE 2-Chairman of Mexico's Asur seeks controlling stake

(Reuters) - Asur Chairman Fernando Chico Pardo would tentatively be willing to pay 56 pesos per share, Asur said, a 12.5 percent premium to the stock's closing price of 49.79 pesos on Thursday.

The stock jumped 8.86 percent to 54.20 pesos in early dealing in Mexico, and its New York-traded shares soared 9.03 percent to $49.11.


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US STOCKS-Indexes open flat, sentiment data eyed

(Reuters) - The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.49 points at 12,348.26. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.50 point, or 0.04 percent, at 1,423.03. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 3.00 points, or 0.12 percent, at 2,420.88.




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US STOCKS-Indexes rise after Chicago PMI data

(Reuters) - The Dow Jones industrial average was up 52.07 points, or 0.42 percent, at 12,400.82. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 4.70 points, or 0.33 percent, at 1,427.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 10.26 points, or 0.42 percent, at 2,428.14.




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REFILE-UPDATE 1-Whitney withdraws offer for Herbalife

(Reuters) - March 30 - Whitney V L.P withdrew its offer to buy Herbalife Ltd. after Herbalife's board rejected its buyout offer of $38 a share, sending the stock lower in early electronic trade.

In a letter to Herbalife, disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Whitney said it was disappointed at Herbalife's unwillingness to discuss the proposal.


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UPDATE 1-Chmn of Mexico's Asur proposes buying control stake

(Reuters) - Asur Chairman Fernando Chico Pardo would tentatively be willing to pay 56 pesos per share, Asur said, compared to Thursday's close of 49.79 pesos.

The company's stock jumped 8.86 percent to 54.20 pesos in early dealing in Mexico and its New York-traded shares soared 9.03 percent to $49.11.


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US Feb construction spending rose 0.3 pct

(Reuters) - Analysts polled by Reuters anticipated a 0.6 percent drop in construction spending.

Private residential building fell 1 percent in February, which was the 11th straight drop but not as sharp as the 1.7 percent fall-off seen in January.


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US junk bond funds report $115 mln inflow-AMG Data

(Reuters) - Demand for junk bonds, which are rated below investment grade, improved after the Federal Reserve dropped language about possible interest rate increases in its policy statement on rates last week, stoking speculation that the Fed's next move may be a cut.

Investment returns on junk bonds have risen to about 2.7 percent year-to-date from 2.5 percent before the Fed's policy statement last Wednesday, according to Merrill Lynch data.


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UPDATE 1-San Diego pension fund sues Amaranth

(Reuters) - The pension fund claimed that Amaranth's investing strategy violated its investment contract that stipulated that the firm be diversified and take proper risk controls. The collapse of the formerly $9.3 billion fund came after bad bets in the natural gas market last September. The suit was filed in federal court in New York.

"Amaranth collapsed in September 2006 as a result of excessive and unbridled speculation in natural gas futures that was directly contrary to statements made to SDCERA that Amaranth would be diversified and risk controlled," the pension fund said in a statement.


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WRAPUP 1-US Feb incomes, core prices up more than expected

(Reuters) - The Commerce Department said personal income rose 0.6 percent in February, below the unrevised 1.0 percent gain for January but double the 0.3 percent increase forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.

February consumer spending also rose 0.6 percent, outpacing forecasts for a 0.3 percent gain after an unrevised 0.5 percent increase in January.


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Spain's ACS has 13 pct of Iberdrola via options

(Reuters) - There has been speculation the construction group hopes to merge Iberdrola with another power company, Union Fenosa, in which it has a 40.5 percent stake, and Iberdrola's board has tried to limit ACS's voting rights to 3 percent.




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Ethanol fuels largest U.S. corn sowing since 1944

(Reuters) - Growers surveyed told the Agriculture Department they will cut back on soybeans in the Midwest and on cotton and rice in the South to sow more corn.

Soybean plantings are projected at 67.140 million acres, the smallest area since 1996, while upland cotton would be the smallest since 1989 at 11.855 million acres. Rice, at 2.64 million acres, would have the smallest seeded area since 1987.


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UPDATE 3-IMF's Rato sees risk of market drop from imbalances

(Reuters) - MADRID, March 30 - Unchecked global economic imbalances pose a serious risk to financial markets, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Rodrigo Rato said on Friday.

The United States needed to boost its savings rate while China needed to increase domestic demand, Rato said at a financial meeting in Madrid.


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UPUPDATE 1-Canada economy slows in January, factories hit

(Reuters) - Analysts had forecast, on average, gross domestic product growth of 0.2 percent in the month.

Output by the manufacturing sector fell 1.0 percent after two months of gains, pulled down by weakness in auto plants. Durable goods production sank 1.9 percent while non-durable goods climbed 0.4 percent.


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US STOCKS-Futures flat before economic data

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, March 30 - U.S. stock futures were little changed on Friday, with investors cautious before data that could provide clues about the outlook for interest rates and the economy.

In company news, computer maker Dell Inc. slipped after saying it would delay submiting its annual 10-K report with regulators after an internal audit found accounting errors and evidence of misconduct.


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Atmel's ex-CEO names five nominees for board

(Reuters) - On Tuesday, Atmel said Perlegos' proposal to elect new board members was aimed at removing the directors who fired him.




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Merger market unfazed by market volatility

(Reuters) - Merger volume in the U.S. totaled $428.7 billion, compared with $352.1 billion a year ago, according to research firm Dealogic. Even as the total dollar value of the deals rose, the number of transactions fell to 1,397, from 2,012 a year ago, Dealogic said.

"We're in a very strong M&A market. There's a good probability we'll have a record year," said Jeffrey Raich, joint global head of M&A at UBS AG.


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UPDATE 1-First Data to buy Polcard processor for $325 mln

(Reuters) - Founded in 1990, Polcard operates the largest network of electronic card acceptance services in Poland, including more than 58,000 terminals and 1,700 automated teller machines.

Polcard had revenue of $44 million last year, and processes about 170 million transactions annually at its local authorization and clearing center. The company is owned by private equity firm Innova Capital and by GTECH, a unit of Italian gaming company Lottomatica SpA .


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UPDATE 2-FDA pulls Parkinson's drug from U.S. market

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, March 29 - U.S. health officials withdrew Parkinson's disease drug pergolide from the market on Thursday, citing a history of safety concerns that include potentially fatal heart valve damage.

The Food and Drug Administration decided to pull pergolide, which is sold by generic drug companies and by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International under the name Permax, after reports showed it can cause problems similar to those that triggered the withdrawal of diet drug combination "fen-phen."


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