Economics
Repossession orders granted by courts in England and Wales leapt in the
first quarter, to 27,530, up 17 per cent from a year earlier and up 9 per
cent on the previous quarter. The rise was blamed on fallout from the
mortgage market logjam and led to warnings that actual repossessions carried
out could double this year, or worse.
Oil prices soared to fresh highs above $126 a barrel as Brazil’s
President said that his country is considering joining Opec.
The US trade deficit shrank by more than expected in March, falling to
$58.2 billion (£29.8 billion) from a revised $61.7 billion in February, as a
weak dollar boosted exports and as imports dived in a record monthly fall of
$6.1 billion.
Eurozone banks are further tightening credit conditions, making it
harder for companies and households to borrow, the European Central Bank
said in its latest report on lending.
France’s industrial production fell sharply in March, particularly in
the car sector, official data showed. Industrial output fell 0.8 per cent in
March, from February. Car industry production slumped 2.9 per cent, after
falling 2.1 per cent in February.
Banking
& finance
Banking and insurance job losses could reach 40,000 over the next three
years as the worldwide credit crunch takes hold in Britain, according to
Experian, the credit-checking company.
British banks will sell £9 billion of bad consumer debt to debt
collectors this year to free up capital on their balance sheets.
Citigroup is to sell $400 billion (£205 billion) of assets, almost a
fifth of its holdings, over the next two to three years to become more
efficient and profitable, the US bank said. It has lost $45 billion in the
credit crunch.
Dresdner Bank wrote down €845 million (£670 million) of assets in the
first quarter of the year, pushing the German bank into an operating loss of
€453 million. Allianz, Dresdner’s parent company, said that it was not
possible to give a meaningful forecast for earnings for the bank because of
continuing uncertainty in financial markets.
Standard Chartered and a unit of ING, the Dutch financial group,
yesterday received a preliminary nod from South Korea to launch brokerage
operations there, the first time in five years that new companies have been
allowed into its fast-growing brokerage sector.
Cattles, the consumer finance group, said it has had a “strong” start
to the year, with first-quarter trading in line with its expectations. It
said that it views full-year prospects with confidence.
3i Infrastructure has bought the UK and Irish infrastructure businesses
of Uponor Oyj, of Finland, for £100 million.
Fortis’s chairman, Maurice Lippens, said that he would not oppose a
friendly takeover offer for the Belgo-Dutch financial group, In an interview
with a Belgian newspaper, he said: “If a company came tomorrow and proposed
a friendly partnership and if it is good for Fortis and its customers, staff
and shareholders, who am I to oppose it?”
Société Générale named Didier Valet, head of
strategic performance management in its finance division, as its new chief
financial officer. He succeeds Frederic Oudea, who became chief executive
last month. The French bank, still recovering from a €4.9 billion
rogue-trading scandal, is to report on first-quarter trading on May 13.
Julius Baer, the Swiss asset manager, said that its assets under
management had been hit by volatile stock markets and appreciation of the
Swiss franc in the first four months of the year. In its interim management
statement, it said, however that net new money was significant, particularly
from its private banking business.
Construction
& property
The Trocadero entertainment site in Central London can be turned into a
471-bedroom hotel, flats and shopping arena. Westminster City Council has
given consent after an original plan from Criterion Capital, run by Asif
Aziz, was derided as “hideous”. The revised design is more traditional, with
greater use of Portland stone.
Minerva, the property developer being stalked by the state of Dubai,
yesterday gave warning of tough market conditions less than 24 hours after
Dubai said it could buy the debt-laden company.
Berkeley, the housebuilder, is poised to start buying land from
distressed sellers in a drive to build a £1 billion venture with a Saudi
Arabian billionaire.
Oakdene, the housebuilder, said it is to raise up to £9.75 million in a
share placing after announcing a fall in last year’s annual pretax profits
to £8.2 million, from 2006’s £5.5 million. The final dividend is held at
2¾p. Proceeds of the placing will be used for working capital and any
acquisition opportunities.
Consumer
goods
C&C Group, the company behind Magners Cider, said its full-year
underlying operating profits fell by 37.3 per cent to €125.2 million (£99
million).
Diageo, the drinks group behind Guinness, has unveiled a shake-up at
its St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin.
A dairy industry colossus is being created by more than 10,000 farmers
in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium to compete with multinational food
groups such as Nestlé and Unilever.
Engineering
Laird Group said it has made a strong start to 2008, with revenue from
continuing operations up by 35 per cent in the three months to March 31,
compared with 2007.
IMI said that revenues for the four months to end-April show organic
growth of about 7 per cent. Prospects for the oil and gas and power markets
look positive for its Severe Service business, it said.
Torotrak confirmed participation in a project for low-carbon vehicle
innovation to assist companies to take forward research in the UK. The £52
million project is funded by the Technology Strategy Board and the
Department of Transport through the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform.
Health
Oxford Biomedica, the gene medicine specialist, said that performance
from January 1 to May 8 is in line with its expectations, and that it
expects full-year sales of £16 million to £19 million, up by 140 per cent on
last year.
Industrials
Akzo Nobel, the Dutch chemical group that bought ICI, is expanding its
paper and polymer chemicals businesses by buying specialty chemical
producers in Germany and China. The group said its pulp and paper chemicals
business, Eka Chemicals, is buying Levasil, the silica sol coating business
of Germany’s H C Starck. Its polymer chemicals unit is to buy two organic
peroxides product lines from Jiangsu QiangSheng, of China.
Leisure
Coffeeheaven International, the coffee shop operator, said it has
started the current year well, with strong like-for-like sales. It said that
it expects to maintain a robust but possibly moderating rate of
like-for-like sales growth of about 50 per cent for all the year.
Media
Aegis Media’s chief executive, Mainardo De Nardis, is leaving the
media buying company after just two years. He is set to be replaced by Jerry
Buhlmann, head of Aegis’s Europe, Middle East and Africa operation.
United Business Media said that trading is modestly ahead of its
expectations and that it remains confident for the full year. The publishing
and events group said in a trading update that despite macro-economic
uncertainty and volatile conditions in some of its markets it was generating
a strong trading performance.
Natural
resources
European Natural Resources has bid £15.50 a share for Kazakhmys, the
copper producer, undervaluing its rival by 13 per cent, bringing an instant
rejection and criticism that it was wasting time on a doomed bid.
BG Group said that Australia’s Origin Energy has not yet considered its
takeover bid proposal at $14.70 a share. The UK natural gas producer said
that it will hold discussions with Origin and announce the outcome as soon
as possible.
Retailing
Dobbies Garden Centres, at the centre of a fight between Tesco and Sir
Tom Hunter for control, faces legal action against a proposed rights issue
that could lead to Tesco taking charge.
HMV Group is rolling out the most radical redesign in its 87-year
history after defying the doom and gloom on the high street with a push into
video gaming and music downloads.
John Lewis Partnership, the employee-owned retailer, said that sales in
the week to May 3 at its 26 UK department stores increased by 1.8 per cent
year on year to £47.7 million. In its chain of 187 Waitrose supermarkets,
they were were up 3 per cent to £79.9 million. Total partnership sales
increased by 2.6 per cent to £127.5 million.
Sotheby’s, the auction house, is banking on a $70 million sale of
Francis Bacon’s 1976 Triptych next week to offset what it calls uncertain
economic times.
Circuit City Stores, the US electronics retailer, said it will allow
Blockbuster to study its books in connection with the video-rental chain’s
bid for it. Circuit City also said it had received a letter from Blockbuster
indicating that the company’s largest shareholder, Carl Icahn, is prepared
to buy Circuit City on his own if Blockbuster cannot get funding or
shareholder approval. Circuit City said that it had hired Goldman Sachs, the
investment bank, to study strategic alternatives.
Support
services
Intertek Group, the testing and inspection group, said it had made a
good start to the year, because of supportive market conditions in its key
industry sectors, and that it expects 2008 to be “another good year”.
Aggreko, the temperature control and power rental company, has signed
an official supplier agreement with the Vancouver Organising Committee for
the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, to supply power and
temperature equipment.
Technology
Microsoft has appealed against a record €899 million (£713 million)
fine by the European Commission for defying sanctions imposed for abuse of
its dominant position in the software market.
Psion said that its order intake for the first four months of 2008 has
been strong and that it expects first-half results in line with its
expectations. The company said that demand for its products, especially in
its wide-area mobile markets, continues to be buoyant.
Telecoms
LM Ericsson has been awarded a $145 million (£74 million) equipment
contract by Telkom Kenya for its mobile phone rollout.
Getmobile Europe said trading in the first four months of the year has
been satisfactory, with profitability in line with expectations.
Transport
BAA, the owner of Heathrow and Gatwick, may have to bring forward the
sale of one of its airports amid concern that it will be unable to complete
a £10 billion refinancing of its debts.
Wincanton, the haulier, has made a £229 million bid for TDG, the rival
logistics group, trumping an approach by Laxey Partners, the private equity
firm.
Utilities
Iberdrola Renovables said that its US affiliate Iberdrola Renewables
Inc has agreed to buy 200 wind turbines for €430 million (£341 million) from
General Electric. The renewable energy group said that the turbines each
have 1.5 megawatts of installed capacity and will be delivered in 2010.
British Energy’s sale faces the stumbling block of a government demand
that any buyer must sell at least one of its nuclear sites.
