Economics
Consumer confidence Nationwide’s consumer confidence index fell three
points to 78 in January, its lowest level since the index began in May 2004.
Employment figures The number of permanent staff recruited by UK
companies fell last month for the first time since May 2003. Figures from
the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG show that the index of
permanent placements fell to 49, from 51.4 in January. Any figure over 50
signals an increase from the previous month.
Construction sector The CIPS/NTC construction purchasing managers’
index fell to 52.4 in February, the lowest since June 2006 and down from
53.9 in January.
Consumer services companies suffered the steepest fall in optimism in
the past three months since November 2001. A report by the CBI and Grant
Thornton, the accountant, shows the balance of companies reporting a rise
rather than a fall in business over the past three months was minus 7 per
cent. the balance that expect their businesses to expand in the coming 12
months was minus 59 per cent.
Factory gate prices The producer price index rose to 0.8 per cent in
January, from 0.1 per cent in December, driving the annual rise to 4.9 per
cent, from 4.3 per cent.
Eurozone economic growth The European Union statistics office confirmed
its estimate that gross domestic product rose 0.4 per cent in October to
December, down from 0.7 per cent growth in the third quarter. GDP rose 2.2
per cent year-on-year, slightly lower than the estimate of 2.3 per cent.
Banking
& finance
Davenham Group, the asset-based lender to small businesses, reported a
12 per cent increase in interim pre-tax profits to £5.8 million. Analysts at
Panmure Gordon repeated a “buy” recommendation and set a 270p target on the
stock.
The Institute of International Finance (IIF), a global association of
banks, is preparing compensation guidelines that would lead to staff who
have lost money for their companies having to earn it back before they can
begin working for their next bonus. The IIF will discuss the proposal today
in Rio.
Citigroup A key analyst forecast that the bank faced a further $18
billion of writedowns and the head of a sovereign wealth fund predicted that
it would need “a lot more money” from outside investors to stay afloat.
European tax legislation The European Commission said that it would
propose changes to legislation on the tax treatment of non-resident savings
accounts across the Continent. Several governments criticised Liechtenstein
for refusing to divulge information on accounts held by foreigners.
Provident Financial, which sells small loans door-to-door, reported a
booming 2007, with full-year pre-tax profits from continuing operations up
almost 11 per cent to £115.2 million.
Stamp duty The Chancellor is expected next week to close a loophole in
sharia finance rules that have allowed commercial property investors to
avoid paying stamp duty on more than £1 billion of deals.
Construction
& property
Travis Perkins, the builder’s merchant and owner of the Wickes DIY
chain, reported like-for-like sales growth down by 5.7 per cent since the
new year, from 9 per cent last year, while same-store sales growth at Wickes
dropped from 5.5 per cent to 0.9 per cent.
CRH, the cement group, reported lower than expected pre-tax profits but
said that the outlook for 2008 was good. The company added that organic
growth in 2008 would slow because of an expected decline in Irish and
Spanish construction.
The aAim Group, the property investment company backed by Sir Alex
Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, is set to unveil plans to sell a
package of six hotels operated by Principal Hayley Group, the hotel and
conference centre operator, worth an estimated £350 million.
Consumer
goods
Premier Foods, Britain’s largest food manufacturer whose brands include
Branston Pickle and Hovis bread, disclosed a full-year pre-tax loss of £73.5
million, compared with a profit of £59 million last time.
Engineering
Meggitt, the aerospace engineer that is based in Dorset, reported a 35
per cent rise in underlying full-year pre-tax profits thanks to strong civil
aerospace and military demand and said it was confident of making further
progress throughout the year.
Toyota, the Japanese carmaker, said that it would invest £88 million in
its engine plant on Deeside in North Wales, to introduce a new engine,
adding that this highlighted its commitment to improving engine standards.
Health
Bayer, the German drugs and chemicals group, has lowered the full-year
margin target for its healthcare unit after a US court ruling paved the way
for competition from generic drug makers for Yasmin, its bestselling
contraceptive drug.
Industrials
ThyssenKrupp, the German industrial and engineering group, said that
its steel unit is to raise steel prices by up to €100 per tonne from April
1, responding to rising raw material costs.
Leisure
Sportingbet, the internet gambling operator, accompanied strong
second-quarter results with the acquisition of its Bulgarian marketing
partner for up to £11.2 million. It added that buyouts of its partners in
Croatia, Slovakia and Spain were also likely.
The British Beer & Pub Association said that pubs have been closing
at the rate of 27 a week for the past year, 14 times faster than in 2005.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed a 20-year franchise deal
with London Town Hotels to convert the 68-room Niki Hotel near Paddington
Station, West London, into IHG’s first Hotel Indigo outside the Americas.
Barracuda, the pub operator backed by Charterhouse Capital Partners,
said it expected to deliver double-digit growth this year, despite the
smoking ban and a weaker consumer spending outlook.
The Tote The Government will formally end protracted negotiations over
a £320 million sale of the Tote to a racing industry consortium, paving the
way for an open auction of the state-controlled bookmaker and pool betting
operator.
Media
GCap Media Global Radio has made a final attempt to acquire GCap Media,
sweetening its proposed offer for Britain’s largest commercial radio group
to 225p per share, following talks between key shareholders.
Reed Business Information Permira, the private equity group, has
emerged as a potential suitor for Reed Business Information, the trade
magazines arm of Reed Elsevier that could be for sale for about £1.25
billion.
Natural
resources
BP Past and present executive directors at BP earned nearly £12 million
for one of the worst years in the oil company’s history, with a 22 per cent
fall in profits and the cull of 5,000 staff in an effort to cut $1.5 billion
(£756 million) in costs.
Retailing
Marks & Spencer has started a mid-season sale with up to 50 per
cent off clothing and homeware items less than a month before the end of the
high street retailer’s financial year.
Morrisons, the supermarket chain, took a record 11.6 per cent share of
the grocery market during February — its best performance so far.
Support
services
Michael Page International, the recruitment group, reported a 52 per
cent increase in full-year pre-tax profits boosted by organic and
geographical expansion.
The British Hospitality Association said that the contract catering
market had grown last year by 5.5 per cent to almost £4 billion.
Technology
Microsoft, the US software giant, said that its customers will be able
to write, store and edit material created in programs such as Microsoft Word
and Excel directly on to the internet.
Facebook, the social networking website, has hired Sheryl Sandberg as
its chief operating officer. She was previously vice-president for global
online sales and operations at Google, the internet search engine.
Telecoms
Thus Group, the business telecoms company, said that it had signed a
contract with ScottishPower Energy Networks to deploy a next-generation
telecoms infrastructure across the company’s transmission sub-station sites.
Transport
EasyJet advertisements that promised a “double the difference” refund
if passengers found a cheaper air fare were misleading, according to the
Advertising Standards Agency.
Utilities
Drax, Britain’s largest coal-fired electricity generator, announced
that Gordon Boyd, its finance director, has resigned. The group also
reported a 16 per cent fall in full-year pre-tax profits to £439 million.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the agency in charge of
Britain’s nuclear clean-up, has had to ask the Department for Business for
£400 million to bolster its budget amid accounting confusion that could lead
to delays in the clean-up work.
