Economics
Company taxation Business leaders welcomed a climbdown by the
Government on the taxation of foreign profits, but said that there was still
work to be done before an agreement could be reached that would pave the way
for a new tax policy.
Oil The price of oil spiked as offshore oil producers in the Gulf of
Mexico began to gear up for the first major storm of this year's hurricane
season, forecast to hit Texas tomorrow.
US economy The index of leading US economic indicators slipped 0.1 per
cent in June as expected, the Conference Board said. The reading for May was
revised to show a 0.2 per cent drop, initially reported as a 0.1 per cent
rise. During the first six months of the year, the index fell 0.9 per cent.
Banking
& finance
HBOS Investment banks underwriting HBOS’s £4 billion rights issue took
a £100 million paper loss after the closure of one of the City’s least
popular capital-raisings. Dresdner Kleinwort and Morgan Stanley were left
with about £2.5 billion of stock when existing HBOS shareholders bought only
8.2 per cent of the shares on offer.
Barclays and Abbey became the latest lenders to announce rate cuts as
the cost of an average two-year fixed-rate mortgage fell below 7 per cent
for the first time in weeks.
Bank of America Hopes that the worst of the credit crunch may be past
for the banking industry in the United States rose again as Bank of America
became the fourth significant bank in four business days to report
second-quarter results that were better than expected.
Citigroup Michael Klein, the vice-chairman who was once a contender for
the top job in the financial services group, has resigned after 23 years to
“pursue other opportunities”.
American Express reported a worse than expected 38 per cent decline in
its second-quarter profits and issued a profit warning for the year. Its
shares fell by 3 per cent during regular trade and tumbled by a further 9.5
per cent after the close.
GLG Partners, the $24 billion (£12 billion) New York-listed hedge fund,
has hired PIMCO's Jamil Baz as its chief investment strategist. Mr Baz will
work with Driss Ben-Brahim, who was poached from Goldman Sachs after Greg
Coffey, GLG’s star emerging markets fund manager, quit in May.
IG Group, Britain’s biggest and oldest spread-betting business, said
that its pre-tax profits for the year to May 31 were £96.9 million, up from
£68.8 million.
Construction
& property
Dawnay, Day Peter Klimt is to sell shares in Dawnay, Day Carpathian,
the Central European property company. The businessman behind Dawnay, Day
will sell shares worth about 1.5 per cent in the business, which was spun
out from the parent company in 2005.
Consumer
goods
Bertolli, one of the world’s best-selling olive oils, has been sold by
Unilever to Grupo SOS, Spain’s second-largest quoted food group, for €630
million (£500 million). The sale is part of Unilever’s plans to sell noncore
assets, which together produce about €2 billion in annual turnover.
Hasbro Strong sales of toys based on characters from films such as
Transformers and the latest instalment of Indiana Jones have helped Hasbro
to a higher than expected quarterly profit.
Engineering
Oxford Catalysts Group said that it had signed a memorandum of
understanding with PTT Public, Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas company,
to collaborate on a technology for upgrading natural gas.
Microtecnica, the Italian aerospace component and sub-system
manufacturer, has been bought by Stirling Square Capital Partners, the
London-based private equity firm, from Hamilton Sundstrand.
Health
Roche, the Swiss drugs company, made a $43.7 billion (£22 billion) cash
bid for the remaining stake in Genentech, its San Francisco-based partner.
The deal is one of the most expensive acquisitions in the pharmaceutical
sector for years.
GlaxoSmithKline Cervarix, the vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline, will be
used in an extended Department of Health programme against cervical cancer.
Sanofi-Aventis said that it had agreed to acquire Primary Health Care’s
Symbion Consumer division in a deal valued at A$560 million (£273 million).
Symbion Consumer makes and distributes nutraceuticals in Australia.
Industrials
ArcelorMittal has agreed to buy Concept Group, a United States-based
coal producer. Concept produced 0.8 million tonnes of metallurgical coking
coal in 2007 and has control over recoverable saleable reserves and
resources in excess of 57 million tonnes.
Leisure
Domino’s Pizza UK & Ireland, the AIM-listed pizza delivery
operator, reported an 11.4 per cent jump in first-half like-for-like sales
as consumers who normally ate out traded down to a takeaway as the credit
crunch started to hit household budgets.
Beer sales Volumes in UK pubs and bars have fallen by 9 per cent in the
first five months of the year, according to ACNielsen. The market researcher
is expecting some improvement in June, July and August.
Luminar, Britain’s biggest nightclub operator, confirmed that as part
of its plan to dispose of its remaining 49 per cent stake in 3D
Entertainment it was interested in merging 3D with Regent Inns, the operator
of Walkabout bars and Jongleurs comedy clubs. It said it was disappointed
that Regent had declined so far to discuss such a deal.
Tote The sale of the Tote suffered a fresh setback as the Government
said that it had yet to make a final decision on whether to launch a formal
auction process. Sources close to the process said that a decision was
likely to be made within the next three months depending on market
conditions.
Country Club Group, which operates six golf clubs in the South of
England and is headed by Charlie Parker, the former Clubhaus boss, is to
seek further acquisitions after undergoing an £18 million refinancing backed
by Barclays Bank.
Media
CBS A US federal appeals court threw out a $550,000 (£275,388)
indecency fine against CBS for the 2004 Super Bowl half-time show that ended
with Janet Jackson’s breast-baring “wardrobe malfunction”. The three-judge
panel ruled that the Federal Communications Commission had “acted
arbitrarily and capriciously” in issuing the fine.
Vitesse Media, the publishing, events and multimedia company, said that
its full-year pre-tax loss had narrowed to £98.1 million.
Metro International, the free newspaper group, reported a
bigger-than-expected 83 per cent fall in quarterly operating earnings as it
was hit by weak advertising.
Natural
resources
TNK-BP’s embattled chief executive, Robert Dudley, faced the prospect
of a retreat from Russia as the battle over the company’s future deepened.
The Federal Migration Service in Moscow said that Mr Dudley no longer had a right
to work in Russia.
Gazprom Neft, the oil unit of Gazprom, the Russian gas export monopoly,
said that its net profits had more than doubled in the first quarter because
of higher sales and rising global oil prices. It said that its net profits
had increased by 110 per cent to $1.41 billion (£705 million) in the first
three months of 2008 against the same period a year ago.
Imperial Energy said that oil had flowed at the Glukhovskoye 6 well in
Russia and it expected production from the field within the next 18 months.
The Russia-focused energy company also said that the Ministry of Natural
Resources had granted it a new production licence for the Golovnoye field in
Block 74, Tomsk, valid until 2028.
Goldplat, the AIM-quoted gold producer, said that both its gold
recovery plants in Africa were performing well and ahead of management
expectations, with production and revenues increasing steadily. It added
that its operation in Kenya was on track and it aimed to begin production in
the fourth quarter of this year.
Peter Hambro Mining said that its gold production had grown to
134,300oz in the first half and it was on course with its full-year target
of 350,000oz to 400,000oz.
Gulfsands Petroleum said that it would provide the market with an
update on its oil production before the end of the week. The energy company,
which operates in Syria, Iraq and the United States, issued a statement in
response to press comment.
Dragon Oil said that it had awarded a 15-month contract worth $170
million (£85.11 million) to Petro Gas for the engineering, procurement and
installation of a new trunkline to Turkmenistan.
Retailing
TM Lewin, the shirt retailer, appeared to be avoiding the high street slowdown
after revealing annual sales growth of 14 per cent to £63.4 million. The
company said that revenues during its first quarter to May 24 were 16 per
cent ahead of last year.
Support
services
Mears Group said that it had won social housing contracts worth £170
million from Metropolitan Housing Trust and Bracknell Forest Homes. It added
that its order pipeline remained strong.
SThree, the specialist staffing business, has reported a 13.7 per cent
rise in first-half pre-tax profits, but it said that present economic
uncertainty had affected some parts of the British market.
Technology
Yahoo! Jerry Yang, the internet search giant’s chief executive, has
averted a boardroom coup at the company he founded by offering three board
seats to Carl Icahn. The billionaire activist investor had plotted to oust
all the directors of the company on August 1. Mr Icahn, who holds a 4.98 per
cent stake in Yahoo!, has joined the internet company’s board as
non-executive director.
Apple Fears that an impending US recession is eroding corporate profits
were heightened after Apple gave warning that sales for the last quarter
would be $500 million (£249 million) lower than expected. Third-quarter
revenues were better than expected, up 37 per cent at $7.4 billion.
Detica A bidding war was looming for the security technology company
after its shares rose by almost a third to 401½p, valuing the business at
£465 million. BAE Systems is understood to have made an informal approach
last week and other offers are likely, analysts said.
Electronic Arts, the video game publisher, said that it had extended
its hostile tender offer for shares in Take-Two Interactive Software, which
makes the blockbuster Grand Theft Auto game, by one month to August 18.
Autonomy announced record quarterly and half-year results, driven by
strong organic growth and significantly ahead of analyst consensus
estimates. Second-quarter revenues were up 72 per cent at $126 million.
Telecoms
Inmarsat Harbinger Capital, the activist American hedge fund, suspended
takeover talks with the satellite operator, sending its shares lower amid
fears that a bid worth at least £2.4 billion might never emerge.
First Communications, the American telecoms company, said that it was
buying GCI Globalcom, the Chicago-based voice and data service provider, for
$58.5 million (£29.28 million) in cash.
AT Communications said that it had signed a three-year agreement with
Cable & Wireless to act as an exclusive partner in the small and
medium-sized enterprise and reseller markets.
Transport
Novorossiisk Commercial Sea Port in Russia increased cargo turnover by
0.4 per cent in the first half of 2008, from the same period last year, to
39.206 million tonnes. Container handling rose by 62.4 per cent and the
trans-shipment of petroleum products by 24.3 per cent.
Utilities
Nuclear The Government is considering a radical shake-up of the Nuclear
Installations Inspectorate, the safety regulator, as a staff exodus
threatens to delay construction of a new generation of power stations.
Scottish & Southern Energy Ministers approved plans for Europe’s
largest onshore wind farm, giving a significant boost to government
proposals to increase the amount of wind-generated electricity. The decision
will allow Scottish & Southern Energy to erect 152 125-metre turbines in
south Lanarkshire.
