Economics
Eurozone trade balance The eurozone reported a sharp rise in the trade
balance in February, with a trade surplus of €800 million (£640.8 million)
after a deficit of €11 billion in January, official figures showed.
US unemployment The number of people in the United States claiming
unemployment benefits last week increased by more than had been expected.
Applications for unemployment benefits rose to 372,000, up by 17,000 from
the previous week.
US student loan market The US House of Representatives has approved a
bill calling for federal intervention to stabilise the $85 billion (£42.8
billion) student loan market amid turmoil brought on by the sub-prime
mortgage crisis.
Japan’s industrial production rose by 1.6 per cent in February
from January’s figures, according to revised government data. This compared
with a 0.9 per cent rise in a preliminary February reading and was up from a
2.2 per cent fall reported in January.
Global trade growth is expected to slow to a six-year low of 4.5 per
cent this year but China has overtaken the United States as the world’s
second-biggest exporter, the World Trade Organisation said.
Banking
& finance
ABN Amro The Dutch enterprise court will not consider claims of
mismanagement by ABN Amro relating to the takeover battle for the bank last
year. VEB, the shareholder group, and some unions had claimed last year that
ABN’s executives had inappropriately pursued a deal with Barclays, the UK
banking group. A consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland eventually bought
ABN.
Merrill Lynch, the world’s largest stockbroker, is to cut 4,000 jobs
after writing off a further $6 billion (£3.02 billion) on toxic assets and
making its third consecutive quarterly net loss, of $1.96 billion for the
first quarter, compared with a net profit of $2.16 billion last time.
Prudential, the insurance group, said that it is on the hunt for
bolt-on acquisitions in the United States as the US market begins a
cut-throat price war. The company also delivered a 13 per cent rise in
first-quarter worldwide new business sales.
Resolution, the insurer, said the Financial Services Authority, the
City watchdog, has given notice of its approval of the change of control for
its takeover by Pearl Group and said it expects the acquisition to be
effective on May 1.
Standard Chartered Peter Sands, chief executive of Standard Chartered,
the London-based international bank, said he expected the global financial
turmoil to continue for the next few months in more downbeat comments than
those made by other top bank executives recently.
Société Générale moved to draw a line under the
rogue trader scandal which had cost the French bank almost €5 billion (£3.9
billion) when it announced that Daniel Bouton, its chairman, will lose his
chief executive role, which is to be filled by Frédéric Oudéa in a reshuffle
in May.
Construction
& property
Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Interserve and more than 100 other
construction companies have been formally accused by the Office of Fair
Trading of participating in “bid rigging”, in its biggest investigation of
cartel activity to date.
Taylor Wimpey, the housebuilder, said UK market conditions had
continued to weaken and the value of its order book was 26 per cent lower
than last year.
Consumer
goods
Parmalat, the Italian food group, is seeking about €5 billion (£4.01
billion) in damages from Hermes Asset Management Europe, alleging that it
had helped to worsen the group’s situation when it collapsed in 2003,
according to local reports.
Rice exports Peter Mandelson, the European Trade Commissioner, gave
warning of “a spiral of protectionism” in the grain trade as the price of
rice soared to a new record and grain-producing countries shut their doors
to exports to prevent further outbreaks of food rioting. He said the export
curbs were aggravating food shortages.
Engineering
Volkswagen, the German carmaker, is looking at the possibility of
acquiring a motorbike manufacturer, with Italy’s Ducati a possibility,
according to reports.
Harley-Davidson, the US motorcycle maker, said it was dismissing 8 per
cent of its workforce and cutting production after sales fell by almost 13
per cent in America alone during the first quarter. It also gave warning
that full-year earnings would fall by as much as a fifth.
Health
Corin Group, the orthopaedics manufacturer, beat expectations by
reporting full-year underlying pre-tax profits up by 89 per cent to £6.6
million, driven by its surgeon training programme, crucial to achieving US
sales of its leading Cormet hip resurfacing product.
Ark Therapeutics said its three wound care products marketed to the
primary care sector in Britain have been accepted for inclusion under the
new National Health Service procurement process.
Industrials
Mechel, the Russian steelmaker, said its offer for Oriel Resources, the
London-based chrome and nickel mining group, has been declared wholly
unconditional after it received valid acceptances of about 611.66 million
shares, representing around 95.7 per cent of Oriel’s issued share capital.
Ineos Workers at Grangemouth fuel refinery in Stirlingshire, which is
owned by Ineos, the chemicals group, will stage a two-day strike in a row
over pensions. Unite, the union, said the walkout will threaten fuel
supplies to garages and airports across the country.
Leisure
Luminar, Britain’s biggest nightclub operator, has completed its
non-core asset disposal programme by selling 26 loss-making outlets to
Cavendish Bars, a new company set up by Christian Arden, the former Po Na Na
boss. The deal will trigger a £9.9 million loss, although it will boost
earnings as Luminar is also shedding any liability for leases sold to the
failed CanDu Entertainment Group.
Park Plaza Hotels, the AIM-listed group, will operate up to 20 new
hotels in Russia planned over the next four years by Ferens Management, part
of the Renova Group.
Neville Porter, the on-course bookmaker, asked for trading in its
shares to be suspended on AIM pending clarification of its financial
position following “continued poor trading conditions”.
Marriott International, the US hotel operator, reported a 34 per cent
fall in quarterly profits after a drop in timeshare sales, higher costs and
a slowing economy. It was cautiously optimistic about trends for business
travel, but cut its full-year earnings forecast for the second time in three
months.
Merchant Inns, the pub chain controlled by Sir John Ritblat and Robert
Breare, is close to acquiring its seventh property, the Saracen’s Head in
Great Dunmow, Essex, for an estimated £1.9 million, and is in negotiations
on two outlets near Amersham, Buckinghamshire, and Newbury, Berkshire.
Media
Thomson Reuters, the newly formed media group, saw its shares dive on
its stock market debut. The shares, which opened in London at £17, closed at
£15.60. Concerns over the global economy are thought to have provoked the
fall.
Natural
resources
Ferrexpo said it had secured an average price increase of more than 90
per cent for the sale of over 50 per cent of its expected 2008 iron ore
pellet production.
Expro International A consortium including Goldman Sachs and Candover,
the private equity groups, has agreed to buy Expro International for £1.6
billion. But shares in the oil and gas services company rose after it said
that another suitor was still examining its books.
BP A group of American and British shareholders in BP have joined
forces to protest about the oil group’s decision to extract oil from
Canada’s tar sands. Eleven fund managers, which together manage total
assets worth more than $10 billion (£5.04 billion), said BP’s move into tar
sands was “deeply disappointing”.
Retailing
The Co-operative Group said it was “very confident” of acquiring the
Somerfield supermarket chain as it outlined a three-year plan to double
profits and invest £1.5 billion across the business. Peter Marks, chief
executive of the Co-op, said Somerfield would be a “great strategic fit”.
Findel, the home shopping group, saw its shares dive after it issued a
shock profit warning. The group, which provides credit to nearly one million
customers, said it was having to set aside more money to cover bad debts.
WH Smith, the retailer, gave a cautiously optimistic forecast for the
rest of the year despite falling sales elsewhere on the high street after it
reported profits above expectations and lifted its interim dividend by 24
per cent.
Support
services
Scott Wilson, the engineering consultancy, said it is setting up a
strategic joint venture with Chongqing Communications Planning Survey &
Design Institute in southwest China.
Eaga, the energy efficiency company, saw its shares dive by more than a
quarter after it said that delays had hit its heating system replacement
activity and that it was facing cost pressures from higher commodity prices.
The Newcastle-based company said its prospects remained strong.
Technology
Samsung Lee Kun-Hee, chairman of Samsung, the Korean electronics group,
has been charged with tax evasion and breach of trust, but cleared of
bribery. A three-month investigation cleared the company of allegations that
it had created a multimillion-dollar slush fund to bribe prosecutors and
judges.
Nokia, the Finnish mobile phone maker, saw its shares fall when it
offset strong results in emerging markets with a forecast of declining sales
and falling prices. Nokia shares closed down by more than 13 per cent at
€18.12 in Helsinki – their biggest one-day fall since April
2004.
Telecoms
PCCW, the Hong Kong telecoms company, suffered a setback when minority
shareholders voted against a proposal to take Pacific Century Premium
Developments, its listed property arm, private. PCCW had proposed to buy out
and delist PCPD for HK$2.64 billion (£170.8 million).
Transport
Alitalia Silvio Berlusconi, the new Italian Prime Minister, said he was
open to all options for the near-bankrupt carrier as it remained the
national airline.
Network Rail signal workers are to be balloted over strike action in a
pay dispute. The RMT union described a revised management offer as “cynical”
and more than 5,000 workers will be balloted.
Utilities
Thames Water Ofwat, the water regulator, has fined Thames Water, which
is owned by Macquarie Group, £9.7 million for misreporting information and
delivering a poor service to its customers.
