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Economics
Factory gate prices: Prices fell at a record pace in October as oil
prices tumbled, official data showed. Output prices fell by 1 per cent, the
biggest monthly decline since records began in 1986, the Office for National
Statistics said. Input prices fell by a record 5.6 per cent.
Housing market: Home sales plunged to new lows last month. Estate
agents in England and Wales sold an average of 10.9 properties per office in
the three months to November, down from 11.5 in the three months to October,
according to figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. This
is the lowest level since the series began in 1978. Agents in London
reported an average of only six transactions between August and October,
while offices in Wales sold nine homes. Sales were most buoyant in the
North, with an average of 16 sales per office.
Retailing: Sales fell by 0.1 per cent in October against the same month
last year, the first time they have fallen over a 12-month period since
April 2005. UK sales fell 2.2 per cent on a like-for-like basis, from
October last year, the worst figures for three years, according to the
British Retail Consortium-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor.
China: The Asian giant’s producer price index rose by an annual rate of
6.6 per cent in October, down from 9.1 per cent in September. Procurement
prices for raw materials, fuel and power rose by 11 per cent in October.
South Korea: The Government attempted to reassure the public that the
country’s banks and large companies are in a much better state than they
were a decade ago, backed up by a prodigious stash of foreign reserves.
Banking
& finance
Nationwide: Net new mortgage lending by Britain’s biggest building
society fell from £3.6 billion to £1 billion in the six months to September.
Its share of the mortgage market slipped from 6.2 per cent to 5.6 per cent.
months, agreeing a $150 billion financial bailout.
HBOS: An audacious plan by two Scottish bankers to derail the Lloyds
TSB takeover of HBOS and install themselves at the helm of the struggling
bank appears to be losing momentum. Institutional shareholders in HBOS
question the logic of the proposal while regulators fear that it would
inject uncertainty into the sector.
HSBC: Pre-tax profits at the bank were up in the third quarter, despite
a $700 million (£448 million) rise in bad debts at its American personal
finance business to $4.3 billion. Profit for the nine months to September 30
was lower than in the same period last year.
AIG: The United States Government rushed to the rescue of the insurer
for the second time in two months, agreeing a $150 billion financial
bailout.
Santander: Shares in the owner of Abbey and Alliance & Leicester,
fell by more than 5 per cent after the Spanish bank announced a surprise
rights issue of €7.2 billion (£5.9 billion). The capital-raising shocked
investors because Santander appeared to have weathered the credit crunch
without needing recapitalisation.
Hiscox: The British insurer expects strong growth in 2009 thanks to
rising premiums across its core markets and credit and capital problems at
some competitors. Shares in Hiscox rose after it said it would increase
capacity at its Lloyd’s of London insurance market syndicate by £50 million
to £750 million.
Allianz: The insurer’s Dresdner Bank arm reported its biggest quarterly
loss since the start of the financial crisis, pushing the group to a €2
billion net loss. Allianz is selling Dresdner Bank, which had a
third-quarter operating loss of €835 million, to Commerzbank.
Icelandic banks: The UK Government has gained extra leverage in its
efforts to ensure that savers with deposit accounts in Icelandic banks
receive their money back. The European Commission confirmed that Geir
Haarde, Iceland’s Prime Minister, has asking for macro-financial assistance.
The request can only be considered once bilateral disputes are settled.
Fraud: The Financial Services Authority called on the world’s
regulators and law enforcement agencies to tackle so-called boiler room
fraud. Criminals make an estimated £300 million a year from about 30,000
Britons by convincing them to invest in fictitious shares.
Construction
& property
Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment: The property arm of the state of
Qatar is set to take full control of one of Britain’s most ambitious
redevelopment projects, at Chelsea Barracks in West London, after agreeing
to buy out CPC Group, its partner. The two bought the former barracks in
January for £959 million.
Consumer
goods
C&C Group: The troubled maker of Magners Irish Cider has appointed
John Dunsmore, former chief executive of Scottish & Newcastle (S&N),
as chief executive, replacing Maurice Pratt. Mr Dunsmore and two other
former S&N executives could pocket millions of euros if they turn around
the group’s fortunes.
Dairy Crest: The maker of Cathedral City cheese and Clover spreads said
it would miss its profit forecasts for this year as shoppers cut back on
doorstep milk deliveries and buy discounted products. Shares fell 26 per
cent to a 7½year low of 243½p.
Engineering
General Motors: Shares in the car company crashed to their lowest level
in 62 years after an analyst at Deutsche Bank said that they could be worth
nothing at all within 12 months. On Friday, GM sent shockwaves through the
market with big third-quarter losses.
Health
Biotechnology: Large biotechnology companies boast the most solid
balance-sheet liquidity among healthcare product makers, according to a
report by analysts at Credit Suisse. Overall, healthcare products companies
showed superior liquidity to all sectors except information technology and
were ahead of the S&P 500 average, the report said.
Industrials
Novolipetsk Steel: Russia’s fourth-largest steelmaker by volume expects
“a significant decrease” in its fourth-quarter results as a result of the
global financial crisis. It did not provide any concrete projections on its
earnings for the current quarter.
Kremikovtzi: More than 2,000 workers at Bulgaria’s biggest steelmaker
staged protests against the closure of the plant and called for their
salaries to be paid. Workers called on Petar Dimitrov, the Minister of
Economy and Energy, to resign.
Leisure
Stanleybet International: The British bookmaker said its two betting
shops in Greece, in Athens and Thessaloniki, had been closed down for
violating a law that protects OPAP, the Greek betting monopoly. The company
opened the shops in order to speed up its legal challenge to the monopoly,
which it wants to see referred to the European Commission or the European
Court of Justice.
Orchid Group: The pub company backed by GI Partners is in talks with
Pricewaterhouse-Coopers about refinancing its debt with a view to
consolidating distressed rivals, according to The Publican newspaper.
Rank Group: The gaming operator has received £59.1 million in overpaid
VAT from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), but cautioned that it may have to
return the money if an appeal by HMRC is successful.
McDonald’s: The fast-food company said that global sales at
restaurants that have been open at least 13 months rose 8.2 per cent in
October. Same-store sales, a key gauge of retail health, rose by 5.3 per
cent in the United States, by 9.8 per cent in Europe and by 11.5 per cent in
the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa division.
Media
Kangaroo: Ashley Highfield, the chief executive of the planned internet
television joint venture between the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, has quit to run
MSN and all Microsoft’s online businesses in the UK. His resignation is a
setback to the service, on which ITV is banking to generate online revenue.
The venture is intended to compete with YouTube.
Natural
resources
Copper: High demand for copper means there is no need to delay Chile’s
mining projects, despite a dramatic drop in prices, Santiago Gonzalez, the
Chilean Mine Minister, said. Chile is home to Codelco, the world’s largest
copper producer, and Mr Gonzalez is chairman of the company.
Retailing
Circuit City: One of America’s best-known high street names has filed
for bankruptcy protection as it has been hit by the sharp slide in consumer
demand. The retailer said that it will shed a fifth of its workforce.
Majestic Wine: Sales of champagne fell by 6.4 per cent, contributing to
a 25 per cent fall to £5.6 million in pretax profits for the six months to
September 30, Britain’s biggest wine warehouse said. It expects Christmas to
be tough as companies cancel or scale back parties.
Tesco: The retailer today begins a legal challenge to a Competition
Commission recommendation that would prevent retailers opening stores in
towns and cities where they already have a dominant share of the market.
Aldi: The discount supermarket chain that has lured thousands of
customers from Tesco and J Sainsbury so far this year is launching a travel
business. The German-owned chain aims to sell 250,000 holidays a year
through partnerships with European hotel operators on Aldi Travel, a new
website.
Woolworths: A long-serving director who presided over a record profits
haul during almost half a century with the retailer has died aged 71, the
chain said. Roger Jones joined the company in 1958 as a trainee store
manager and devoted most of his career to the high street retailer.
Support
Services
Dignity: The UK’s only listed funeral group reported a 10.5 per cent
rise in underlying operating profits to £40.1 million in the 39 weeks to
September 28. The group, based in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, said it
had taken over Rotherham Borough Council’s crematorium and cemeteries among
other contract wins.
Technology
Eckoh: The speech-recognition specialist said it had moved into profit
for the six months to September 30 after a group-wide restructuring. The
overhaul helped Eckoh to achieve underlying pretax profits of £200,000,
against losses of £1.2 million a year ago.
Telecoms
Cable & Wireless: The telecoms group has postponed plans that could
have led to a break-up, blaming the ongoing financial turmoil for the delay.
In the first half of the financial year, revenues were up by 5 per cent at
£1.6 billion. Pretax profits before exceptional items were up 72 per cent at
£175 million.
Inmarsat: The satellite communications company reported a 15.4 per cent
increase in underlying earnings for the three months to September 30 to
$112.3 million (£72 million). Revenues also rose, increasing by 16.4 per
cent to $162.5 million, putting the group on track to beat its full-year
sales targets, it said.
Transport
Emirates: The airline has blamed record fuel prices for a sharp fall in
profits. Net profits for the period between April and September slumped 88
per cent to $77 million (£49 million). Costs rose by 40 per cent, with
spending on fuel more than doubling to $2.5 billion.
Alitalia: Dozens of flights were cancelled or delayed because of
protests by the Italian airline’s employees. Alitalia’s pilots and cabin
crew have been angered by new work contracts after a takeover by the
Compagnia Aerea Italiana group, which has offered to buy the airline’s
profitable parts for €375 million (£306 million).
Utilities
ScottishPower: The power company plans to develop a string of wind
farms in the UK with a total generating capacity of 6,000 MW in a joint
venture with Vattenfall, Sweden’s state power company.
Eskom: The South African state-owned utility has signed a $500 million
(£320 million) 20-year loan with the African Development Bank to support the
country’s long-awaited power expansion programme.
