SHOHAM, Israel, March 1 (Reuters) – Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world’s largest generics drugmaker, said it stands to benefit from the Obama administration’s healthcare reform and other plans aimed at getting cheaper medicines to the U.S. market.

“The healthcare reform and biologics reform are going in the right direction from Teva’s perspective,” Teva Chief Executive Shlomo Yanai told Reuters on Tuesday after a ceremony to inaugurate the company’s new distribution center.

“If we take the healthcare potential future for us, we see an additional 31 million Americans that would buy medicine they cannot afford today and probably buy generics and not the very expensive innovative products,” he said.

Earlier this month, U.S. President Barack Obama, as part of his 2012 budget proposal, called for cutting the number of years drugmakers could exclusively market brand name biologic drugs to seven years from 12.

He also set his sights on ending controversial “pay-for-delay” deals that affect traditional, chemical drugs by giving the U.S. Federal Trade Commission power to block such pacts. In those types of deals, brand name and generic drugmakers settle patent challenges with payoffs that delay lower-cost rivals from reaching the market. [ID:nN14300122]

Teva saw its generic sales in the United States rise 16 percent in 2010 to $5.8 billion.

Its shares have dropped more than 8 percent in the wake of fourth-quarter results that missed expectations and a 2011 profit outlook that fell short of forecasts.

JERUSALEM, Feb 24 (Reuters) – Israeli medical device maker Mazor Robotics (MZOR.TA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) expects to double its sales each year for the next few years as it expands further into the United States and into Asia, its chief executive said on Thursday.

The company had sales of 10.1 million shekels, or $2.8 million, in the first nine months of 2010 and is projected to reach some $4 million for the full year, up from $1.5 million in 2009.

“In 2011, we plan to double it,” Ori Hadomi told Reuters. “We are expecting to see significant sales growth of doubling sales in the coming years.”

Hadomi declined to say when Mazor will turn a net profit but it could take a few years. It recorded a gross profit of $2.2 million for the first three quarters of 2010 but its bottom line was hurt by large sales and marketing expenses as it entered the U.S. hopsital market.

“We will continue to maintain very attractive gross profit profitability,” he said.

On Thursday, Mazor secured a $6.3 million investment from financial firm Phoenix (PHOE1.TA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to be used for a further expansion of sales and marketing efforts in the United States, which account for more than 60 percent of its sales.

The rest is mainly in Europe, although Mazor is also starting to sell in Asia.

JERUSALEM, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Israeli mobile phone operator Partner Communications (PTNR.TA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it expects an uncertain 2011 due to regulatory changes after it posted a rise in fourth-quarter profit that fell short of expectations.

The fees that mobile phone operators charge each other to connect calls fell sharply from January, while exit fines were also eliminated, making it easier for customers to change companies.

“It’s hard to predict the outcome so we are not giving projections for 2011,” Partner’s Chief Executive Yacov Gelbard told Reuters on Wednesday. “But we are doing everything we can to improve profitability.”

He said the drop in interconnect fees to 0.0687 shekel from 0.25 will hurt revenue significantly and the elimination of exit fines is expected to increase the number of customers seeking to switch operators.

“We can’t project exactly what will be the impact of the behavior of customers,” Gelbard said, noting the current churn rate was around 15 percent a year.

Partner (PTNR.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Israel’s second largest mobile provider that operates under the Orange name, plans to cut costs this year and is making a big push into enticing customers to upgrade to more lucrative smartphones such as Apple’s iPhone, Blackberry, Nokia E72 and C7, Samsung Galaxy and LG Optimus.

“There is a major change in the attitude of customers – they prefer smartphones over their current cellphones,” Gelbard said. “It’s a new stream of revenue.”

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli police recommended that the state prosecutor indict Bank Hapoalim Chief Executive Zion Kenan on breach of trust and fraud charges.

The police’s fraud unit had been investigating Kenan and former Hapoalim chairman Dan Dankner over the approval of a loan extended to Dankner in 2008, when Kenan held a senior position at Israel’s second-largest bank but was not yet CEO.

“The unit believes there is sufficient basis of evidence against Bank Hapoalim CEO Kenan to support the suspicion of breach of trust and fraud in a corporation,” police said in a statement, adding they will send the case to the state prosecutor’s office in the coming days.

With Kenan’s help, in October 2008 Danker received approval for a $3.4 million loan from the committee for transactions with parties connected to Hapoalim.

“It is suspected that this loan was approved in an abnormal manner by presenting false representation before the approval committee,” the police statement said.

Kenan’s lawyer, Zvi Agmon, said there was no decision to prosecute his client and that the loan granted to Dankner was in accordance with all proper bank procedures.

“The loan was repaid in full a year ago,” Agmon said in a statement. “There was never any flaw in Mr. Kenan’s actions in connection with this loan. I believe at the end of the day the prosecutor will agree.”

JERUSALEM, Feb 16 (Reuters) – Israel’s shekel ILS= hit a three-week high against the dollar and bond yields rose on Wednesday after a jump in January inflation and a surge in fourth quarter growth spurred expectations of a rate hike next week.

The consumer price index rose 0.2 percent in January from December and 3.6 percent over 12 months — confounding expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.1 percent decline on the month and an annual inflation rate of 3.3 percent. [ID:nJES000052]

“The consensus was that the Bank of Israel won’t raise rates

(this month) after raising rates last month,” said a bond trader at a large Israeli brokerage. “But with CPI 0.3 percent higher than expectations I would say that more than 50 percent believe rates will go up.”

The central bank will decide on rates next Monday. It raised its key rate by a quarter point to 2.25 percent on Jan. 24, its first move in four months and the seventh since August 2009.

Adding to the rate hike argument, data on Wednesday showed the economy grew by a faster-than-expected 7.8 percent annualised rate in the fourth quarter — well above the central bank’s models of a 4.3 to 4.6 percent pace. [ID:nLDE71F167]

“The economy is on an upward trend and it means the Bank of Israel will have to consider more frequent increases to stem the rise in inflation,” said Alex Zabezhinsky, chief economist at DS Securities and Investments.

JERUSALEM, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday petrol taxes would be lowered as part of a series of steps to help relieve the plight of consumers hit by rising costs of fuel and other basic goods.

In a news conference, he unveiled a number of economic measures, meeting public demands to cancel a 0.23 shekel (6 cents) fuel tax that was imposed at the beginning of the year.

Netanyahu has come under heavy political and public pressure to act in the wake of rising fuel and food prices stemming from increases in global commodities costs.

Some Israeli analysts have warned that failure to respond could threaten the stability of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition.

“We do not have real control over the price of raw materials in the world. We do not control international fuel prices … the superpowers like the United States, China or Japan, the world’s three biggest economies, also do not have any control, or any real ability to influence the international price of fuel,” Netanyahu told a news conference.

The tax surcharge and high global oil prices that have topped $100 a barrel raised the price of a litre of petrol in Israel to an all-time high of 7.26 shekels ($1.98).

That works out to $7.52 a gallon, more than double the price in the United States but roughly equivalent to what motorists pay in many European countries. Taxes account for some 56 percent of the price of petrol in Israel.

JERUSALEM, Feb 6 (Reuters) – Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz rejected calls from energy companies to re-examine a policy that taxes natural gas profits in the wake of a halt in gas supplies from Egypt.

“Whatever happens, it’s always the gas companies using it in their favour and against the interests of the state,” Steinitz said at a conference on Sunday.

The cabinet last month adopted the recommendations of a professional committee that called for Israel to raise its share in profits from recently discovered gas reservoirs. That includes levying a progressive tax of 20 to 50 percent depending on profitability. The plan still needs parliamentary approval.

Israel receives 45 percent of its gas needs for the country’s electric utility from Egypt and the rest from a rapidly shrinking gas field off Israel’s southern Mediterranean coast.

But an explosion in Egypt’s North Sinai at a gas metering station has stopped gas to Israel for about a week. [ID:nLDE715080]

Local firms developing two large natural gas fields off Israel’s northern Mediterranean coast were cited in newspapers as arguing they should receive tax breaks. Last month, they had lobbied for the tax relief since they were competing with Egypt.

“I have never encountered this kind of logic,” Steinitz said.

TEL AVIV, Jan 31 (Reuters) – Israel’s economy is strong enough to weather current market turmoil stemming from mass anti-government protests in Egypt despite a higher risk profile, Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer said on Monday.

Fischer pointed to credible budget and interest rate policies and a high level of foreign currency reserves of some $71 billion as helping Israel deal with increased risk. The country’s credit default swaps, which insure against a debt default, rose 30 basis points in the last week.

Tel Aviv stock indexes gained close to 1 percent on Monday, a day after sliding nearly 4 percent on fears of reduced foreign investment. But bond prices <0#ILGOI=TA> slipped another 0.2 percent following Sunday’s 0.5 percent drop, while the shekel ILS= depreciated 0.8 percent versus the dollar.

“We will have to confront what has happened in the past week,” Fischer told a conference on Israel’s security challenges. “In my opinion, we have the economy and the policies that will permit us to deal with the future challenges. It is important to note that we have a strong and stable economy.”

Protesters have demanded Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak step down after 30 years in power. Israel, which has a three-decades-old peace treaty with Egypt, fears that Egypt could end up with a radical Islamic regime similar to Iran’s. [ID:nLDE70U2E4]

Fischer said that in the past five years, Israel’s economy and markets have been resilient in the face of the illness of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the second Lebanon war, internal political instability, and the global financial crisis.

“We have a responsible fiscal policy, monetary policy is credible and we have reserves should we need to use them,” Fischer said, defending the big rise in foreign currency reserves to meet future geopolitical problems. “And we have very flexible private sector.”

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli stocks suffered their biggest one-day fall since November 2008 on Sunday, as anti-government protests in Egypt and across the Middle East raised fears foreigners will reduce their investments in Israel.

“We are not seeing any panic selling but everyone is keeping a close eye on the situation,” said a trader at a large Israeli brokerage.

An index of 25 blue-chip stocks on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange ended 3.8 lower, hit hardest by companies that rely on Egyptian natural gas, with the broader TA-100 index .TA100 down 3.9 percent.

Turnover was heavy at 3.8 billion shekels ($1.03 billion).

Traders said the decline in Tel Aviv followed losses in New York on Friday when U.S. shares suffered their biggest one-day loss in nearly six months.

“Even if Israel manages to stay out of trouble, it is reasonable that investors around the world would not feel comfortable investing here, and that is before weighing the economic implications of higher defense spending, if needed, especially if the uncertainty spreads to the West Bank,” said Amir Kahanovich, an economist at the Clal Finance brokerage.

Most Israeli companies have no exposure to Egypt, where protestors have demanded President Hosni Mubarak resign. Those that are exposed saw their shares slide, led by a 17 percent drop in Ampal American Israel Corp (AMPL.TA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

JERUSALEM, Jan 3 (Reuters) – An Israeli government committee recommended the government sharply raise its income from natural gas production to as much as of 62 percent on Monday, a level energy companies say will cost them billions of dollars and discourage production.

Israel’s production of natural gas is set to soar in coming years following discovery of two large fields off its Mediterranen shore, which could make Israel an energy exporter.

In its final report, the panel led by Hebrew University Professor Eytan Sheshinski proposed keeping royalties on oil and gas revenues at 12.5 percent but levying a progressive tax of 20 percent to 50 percent. The proposed rate was slightly below a recommendation of as much as 60 percent in its interim report issued in November.

The government takes about 30 percent of revenue from the country’s single existing gas field in a combination of taxes and royalties.

“The companies who invested in the fields should get an acceptable return on their investment but not beyond that. Beyond that, profits should go to the owner of the natural resource — mainly the government,” Sheshinski told Reuters after a news conference.

“The gas findings could drastically change Israel and the population must be a partner in the bonanza,” he said.

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz told reporters he will study the recommendations for a few days and then make a decision before sending them to the prime minister and cabinet. Any final decision needs approval by Israel’s parliament.