The following appeared in the November issue of Business Diary Botswana:

Despite the IMF’s recent projection that Botswana’s economy will contract 10.3% this year, the lender expects a 4.1% uptick next year such that emergency funding would not be required. Back in June the country tapped a $1.5bn “budget support loan” from the African Development Bank–the largest such facility ever granted by the Bank–in order to finance part of a budget deficit then estimated at around 13.5% of GDP, and since revised to 14%. The IMF cited a renewal of demand for diamonds as a central facet of its optimistic forecast. Furthermore, it predicted, GDP growth across sub-Saharan Africa will rise to approximately 4% next year and 5% in 2011, up from 1.1% in 2009. “We think it should be possible for sub-Saharan Africa to recover quicker this time around and have a ‘V-shaped recovery,’”

...

Bristow Group Inc. (BRS) has surprised on estimates 3 out of the last 4 quarters by an average of 10.50%. The company is trading at 11.7x forward earnings.

Company Description

Bristow Group is one of the largest providers of helicopter services in the world. Its primary customers are in the offshore energy industry in the North Sea, Nigeria, the Gulf of Mexico, Australia, Brazil, Russia and Trinidad. The company provides transportation, maintenance and search and rescue services.

Bristow Surprised by 39.39%

On Nov 4, Bristow Group reported its fiscal second quarter and surprised on the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 26 cents per share. Earnings per share rose 19.5% to 92 cents from 77 cents in the year ago period. Analysts were expecting just 66 cents.

Revenue was virtually unchanged from the second quarter of 2008 at $291.6 million compared to $291.7 million in 2008.

While the operating

...

The Trade Deficit decreased to $36.5 billion in September from $30.8 billion in August.  September exports increased by $3.7 billion to $132.0 billion, offset by the increase in imports by $9.3 billion to $168.4 billion.  The Commerce Department provided the September figures of the trade balance of the U.S. relative to selected trading partners, in billions of dollars, with surpluses in Hong Kong ($1.9), Australia ($0.9), Singapore ($0.3), and Egypt ($0.3).  Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($22.1), OPEC ($7.9),the European Union ($5.5), Mexico ($4.6), Japan ($4.1), Venezuela ($2.0), Nigeria ($1.9), Canada ($1.5), Korea ($0.8), and Taiwan ($0.7).

Upcoming Releases Retail Sales (11/16 at 8:30 AM EST) Business Inventories (11/16 at 10:00 AM EST) PPI (11/17 at 8:30 AM EST) Industrial Production (11/17 at 9:15 AM EST)

Zacks Investment Research

TOTAL SA (TOT) reported third-quarter earnings of €0.84 per share ($1.20 per share), above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.12 and second-quarter profit of €0.77. However, earnings declined from €1.81 reported a year ago. Earnings improved sequentially based on higher production, better realizations and lower costs.   Total revenues declined 31% from the year-ago quarter but improved 7% sequentially to €33.6 billion. The decline was caused mainly by lower realized oil and gas prices in the Upstream segment, reduced throughput volumes in the Downstream segment and a revenue decline at the chemicals segment.   Total hydrocarbon production averaged 2,243 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (MBOE) per day, up 0.5% from last year and 2.8% from the previous quarter. The increase was mainly due to production improvements and start-ups of new fields; offset by OPEC reductions and lower gas demand, disruptions in Nigeria, and changes in portfolio essentially in ...

Oilfield service provider Acergy S.A. (ACGY)  yesterday announced the receipt of a $500 million contract from the Nigerian subsidiary of Chevron Corp. (CVX). As per the deal, Acergy will support Chevron Nigeria Ltd’s gas development program in Escravos, offshore Nigeria, in water depths of up to 40 meters.    The contract, encompassing engineering, procurement, fabrication, transportation, installation, tie-in and commissioning, calls for Acergy to obtain and install over 130 kilometers of pipelines, to fabricate and install 15 risers and 3 subsea tie-ins, and to install over 40 crossings. Acergy is due to commence engineering work immediately, while offshore installation is likely to begin during the fourth quarter of 2010.   The London-based seabed-to-surface service provider described the award as recognition of its strong local engineering and project management skills in Nigeria. Acergy further said that the contract award will re-enforce its strong presence in the upgrade ...

Following ExxonMobil’s (XOM) agreement last week to buy Kosmos Energy’s stake in oil blocks of the Jubilee oil field -- offshore of the West African country of Ghana -- for approximately $4 billion, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC (CEO), now makes a rival bid. CNOOC is in advanced talks with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, or GNPC. Earlier, many oil majors had shown interest in this deal, including Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) and BP plc (BP). While the Chinese government is keen to secure access to more of the world's oil, the Ghanaian government wants to be a larger participant in Jubilee. The Jubilee region is emerging as a major new oil region, and Ghana is expected to be an oil exporter by the end of next year. The Jubilee field, discovered in 2007 off the coast of Ghana, could potentially ...

The Trade Deficit decreased to $30.7 billion in August from $31.9 billion in July.  August exports increased by $0.2 billion to $128.2 billion, offset by the increase in imports by $0.9 billion to $158.9 billion.  The Commerce Department provided the August figures of the trade balance of the U.S. relative to selected trading partners, in billions of dollars, with surpluses in Hong Kong ($1.3), Australia ($1.2), Egypt ($0.4), and Singapore ($0.3).  Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($20.2), OPEC ($6.4),the European Union ($5.4), Japan ($4.3), Mexico ($4.0), Venezuela ($1.9), Nigeria ($1.7), Canada ($1.5), Taiwan ($0.5), and Korea ($0.4).

Upcoming Releases Treasury Budget (10/13 at 2:00 PM EST) Retail Sales (10/14 at 8:30 A MEST) Business Inventories (10/14 at 10:00 AM EST) FOMC Minutes (10/14 at 2:14 PM EST)

Zacks Investment Research

Yesterday, after the market close, Chevron Corp. (CVX) released its third-quarter interim update, covering the first two months of the quarter. On the whole, the update is positive, with earnings expected to be higher than in the previous quarter. The company expects the upstream segment to benefit from an increase in crude oil prices as well as from gains of about $400 million associated with asset sales and tax items. Downstream results are likely to be relatively flat, as it continues to be hurt by weak refining margins. Chevron further said that unfavorable foreign currency movements will affect the segment profitability. Upstream The best part of the update pertained to upstream volumes, highlighting Chevron’s attractive growth profile among the super-majors. The company reported that oil and natural gas production average 2.687 million oil-equivalent barrels per day – better than estimates and nearly 10% above ...

Despite the low natural gas prices, Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) intends to increase its natural gas production in North America. The company has marked its deepwater discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico as well as from giant shale formations in western Canada, the Rockies and the Gulf Coast for this production growth.  While the company declined to say how much the expected North American gas production to grow, it believes that long-term natural gas prices will recover. Royal Dutch Shell has a leading position in natural gas.  The company is the second largest natural gas producer in the world and has led its super major peers in monetizing its substantial worldwide equity natural gas resource base by investing in liquefied natural gas (LNG) and Gas-to-Liquids (GtL) technologies. Royal Dutch Shell has emerged as a clear leader in the fast-growing LNG business.  The group continues to ...

Gazprom will cut output in 2009 by 13.8%, the lowest in history, due to dwindling consumer demand domestically and in the former USSR.  The company has apparently said it is considering adding a third partner to the South Stream pipeline.  Bloomberg has an interview with the CEO of Statoil Hydro regarding hopes to join the Yamal project in northern Siberia.  Naftogaz Ukrainy apparently expects to see a recovery this year for the losses of 2008, maintaining that profit-making was prevented by currency exchange rates.  Vladimir Putin has said that although ultimately Russia plans to liberalize the gas market, a cautious approach is favorable.  According to Reuters, Russia will maintain Gazprom's export monopoly in the medium term.  A project to transport Russian gas from North Korea to South Korea has been halted due to inter-Korean tensions.  ...