Economics
Manufacturing output fell for the sixth month in a dispute in August,
official figures show. The drop of 0.4 per cent pushed the annual decline to
1.9 per cent. The wider measure of industrial production, which accounts for
just under a fifth of Britain’s economy, fell by 0.6 per cent, sharper than
expected, in August.
GDP The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said that
Britain’s GDP had fallen by 0.2 per cent between May and July. It also
estimates that GDP fell by 0.2 per cent in the three months to the end of
September, the first calendar quarter of contraction that it has recorded,
raising further fears that the country has entered a recession.
Consumer confidence dipped again in September, the Nation-wide Building
Society said. Its confidence index fell to 50 in September, from 53 in
August. There was also a deterioration in the outlook for jobs among
consumers, with 48 per cent expecting a scarcity of employment opportunities
in the next six months, up from 47 per cent in August.
Job vacancy index Demand for new workers from employers fell at a
record pace in September, according to KPMG, the accountant. The job vacancy
index fell to 43.3, from 45.1 in August, the biggest drop since the survey
began 11 years ago. Any figure below 50 indicates that demand is falling.
US interest rates Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, paved
the way for a cut in US interest rates, saying that world financial turmoil
will inflict a deeper downturn on America.
Banking
& finance
Alliance & Leicester The Financial Services Authority has fined
Alliance & Leicester £7 million for mis-selling 210,000 payment
protection insurance policies.
AIG Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, the former chief executive of AIG, blamed
his successors for the US insurer’s downfall, saying that the group had been
well positioned when he left in 2005. ness in London, including some
derivatives and trading. Sources said some markets used by the bank had
“ceased to exist”.
US commercial paper The US Federal Reserve plans to rescue the $700
billion (£400 billion) market for short-term company debt by buying
three-month unsecured commercial paper from the companies that issue the
debt so that corporate America can continue to borrow funds.
Construction
& property
Quintain Estates & Development, the property group, is said to be
talking to Gulf Arab investors about taking a stake in its Wembley City
project in London.
Carillion, the building services group, has won nearly £100 million of
business - a £42 million project to refurbish two schools in Essex and a £57
million contract to build 1,307 student rooms for Aston University in
Birmingham.
Hypo Real Estate Georg Funke has stepped down as the chief executive of
Hypo Real Estate, the German commercial property lender that had to be
rescued by a €50 billion (£38.7 billion) state-backed bailout this week.
Consumer
goods
Northern Foodssaid revenues at its Fox’s bakery division had risen by
6.7 per cent after an advertising campaign became a hit. Its cartoon
character Vinnie - a cross between a panda and a dog - first appeared in
April as part of a relaunch for the Fox’s biscuit brand.
Cranswick, the pork supplier based in Hull, said that first-half
revenues were up by 10 per cent on a like-for-like basis, with increased raw
material costs reflected in higher selling prices.
Engineering
Chemring, the maker of missile decoys, said that it had bought
NonIntrusive Inspection Technology, the American mine detection company, for
$30 million (£17.05 million). Chemring, based at Fareham, Hampshire, said
the deal extended the group’s detection capability in the lucrative
explosive ordnance disposal market.
Bateman Engineering, the AIM-listed Dutch group, said that it had won a
$36 million (£20.5 million) contract to build sulphuric acid facilities at
the Ambatovy nickel project in Madagascar.
General Motors, the US car-maker, said it would temporarily close its
two factories in Luton and Ellesmere Port to try to avoid flooding the
market with unsold cars.
Health
Byotrol, the AIM-listed Manches-ter group, said it had received
encouraging interim results from a large-scale NHS trial of its
antimicrobial technology.
Antisoma, the cancer drug developer, with the Institute of Cancer
Research and Cancer Research Technology, announced a collaboration and
licensing agreement under which Antisoma has bought the rights to develop
and commer-cialise new anticancer compounds.
The Medical House, the drug delivery specialist, has signed a
development and supply agreement with Catalent, based in Swin-don. The
Sheffield-based group said that it would customise its patented ASI
disposable auto-injector device technology for adult and paediatric use.
Oxford BioMedica said the US Food and Drug Administration had approved
amendments to a study for its TroVax treatment for renal cancer, which is
being developed alongside Sanofi-Aventis, the French drugs maker.
Industrials
Victrex, the speciality plastics company based in Lancashire, said that
its full-year profits should meet forecasts as it reported a 9 per cent rise
in second-half sales volumes to 1,331 tonnes.
Leisure
Carluccio’s, the deli-dining operator, announced the signing of a
franchise deal with Landmark Group, the Middle Eastern retail conglomerate,
to develop the brand in six countries in the region. Carluccio’s said that
trading over the summer had been in line with its expectations.
Punch Taverns, the pub company, said that its tender to buy back £93.5
million of bonds at 95 per cent of face value had been accepted by the
holders of 82 per cent of the bonds.
Gala Coral Group, the gambling operator, has appointed Gary Hughes, a
nonexecutive director of J Sainsbury, as chief financial officer, replacing
Matthew Roberts.
Royal Caribbean Cruises said that it has agreed to sell its 50 per cent
stake in Island Cruises to a unit of TUI Travel, the tour operator that owns
the other half, on undisclosed terms.
Media
Yell, the directories publisher, said it had renegotiated its bank
covenants but would pay higher interest on its debt facilities. It said last
month it had begun discussions with lenders about its £3.7 billion debt
after denying in June that it was in danger of breaching its banking
covenants.
Digital Marketing, the direct marketing company, said that
Alphanumeric, its subsidiary, had bought Prodant for up to £750,000. The
company said that Prodant would be integrated into Jaywing, Alphanumeric’s
specialist data services business.
Galleon Holdings, the emerging markets-focused entertainment group,
said that it expected its full-year results to “at least” tally with market
expectations. It remained confident of the outlook for the coming year.
Natural
resources
Kazakhmys, the London-listed Kazakh copper mining group, may form a
joint venture with a state company for its power division, which would give
it access to more coal supplies. The company has signed a memorandum of
understanding with Samruk-Energy JSC to share ownership of the power unit of
Kazakhmys, which owns Ekibastuz power station, the largest generator in the
country.
Island Oil and Gas, the London-listed exploration group based in
Dublin, reported full-year pretax profits of £12.4 million, helped largely
by proceeds from the disposal of its Dutch assets.
Retailing
Bhs Sir Philip Green, the owner of Bhs, described trading as
“competitive and unpredictable” after sales at the high street chain fell by
4 per cent in the past six weeks. The update came as he reported a 39.6 per
cent fall in Bhs’s full-year operating profits to £30.2 million and denied
himself a Bhs dividend payment for a fourth successive year.
Support
services
Michael Page, the recruitment group, said that its third-quarter UK
gross profits had fallen 8.3 per cent to £44.9 million as the job market
slowed. Overall profits at the group, which has 170 offices in 28 countries,
were up by 14.6 per cent to £141.4 million, thanks to strong overseas
growth.
Mouchel, the business services group, said that its full-year
underlying operating profits had risen by 27 per cent to £41.7 million.
Technology
Kewill, the software group based in Guildford, said that first-half
underlying profits were likely to be “marginally below” those of last year
because of weaker growth in the United States and Asia.
Dmatek, the London-listed Israeli electronic monitoring technology
provider, said it was in talks about a possible takeover offer from LMS
Capital, the investment group.
Psion, the computer group based in Canada, said that it would make a
multimillion-pound provision in its 2008 accounts over a dispute with its
Japanese trading partners. The group said in August that it had appointed
forensic consult-ants to investigate claims from trading parters of Psion
Japan amounting to about £12 million.
Cantono, the software group based in Cardiff, said that it needed to
raise funds to finance capital expenditure and power-sourcing commitments
and to invest in its Data Centre business. It added that it was in talks
with a number of potential funders.
Telecoms
Telenor, the Norwegian telecoms group, said that it would not reduce
its stake in Vimpelcom, the Russian mobile phone operator, despite a dispute
with Alfa Group, its Russian partner.
Transport
British Airways said that it was planning to close its Glasgow cabin
crew base, putting almost 140 jobs under threat. Staff at the base operate
on the airline’s services between Glasgow, Edinburgh and Heathrow.
Ryanair pilots and cabin crew will be forced to take one week of unpaid
leave later this year as the budget airline cuts back on its flights from
Dublin and Stansted.
Utilities
British Energy, the nuclear power operator, said its power output had
fallen in the first half compared with the same period last year, because of
repairs at two of its nuclear power stations.
Power companies The future of coal-fired power generation in Europe was
called into question after a European Parliament committee backed new laws
that would force power companies to pay for all their carbon dioxide
emissions from 2013.
