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Economics
Bank of England: The Bank bought £340 million in commercial paper
short-term IOUs, from British companies last week in the first week of its
Asset Purchase Facility. The Bank is set to extend the scheme, designed to
boost liquidity, to buy up corporate bonds and other assets in the coming
months. The Bank’s rate- setting committee is also expected to buy up gilts
in a programme of quantitative easing next month.
UK retail sales: British retail sales unexpectedly rose in January,
official data showed, as shoppers took advantage of post-Christmas sales’
huge price cuts on shoes and clothes. Sales rose 0.7 per cent last month,
taking the annual rise to 3.6 per cent, figures from the Office for National
Statistics showed.
UK bankruptcies: The number of borrowers seeking bankruptcy in the
final three months of last year soared by 32 per cent compared with the same
period a year earlier. The number of companies submitting winding-up
petitions also rose by 18 per cent, separate figures from the Ministry of
Justice showed.
US inflation: The US was close to the brink of deflation in January,
with inflation falling to 0 per cent, from 0.1 per cent in December.
However, official figures showed that the Consumer Price Index increased 0.3
per cent during the month, after falling 0.8 per cent in December.
Home repossessions: The number of repossessions in Britain leapt by 54
per cent to 40,000 last year, the highest level since 1996, figures from the
Council of Mortgage Lenders showed. Separate figures from the Ministry of
Justice showed that court orders for mortgage repossession in England and
Wales rose by 14 per cent in the final three months of last year, compared
with the same period in 2007.
French consumer prices: French inflation fell to 0.8 per cent in
January, the lowest level since October 1999. Official figures showed that
consumer prices fell by 0.4 per cent during the month as the cost of energy
and manufactured goods fell sharply.
German private sector: For the sixth month in succession, Germany’s
private sector contracted in February. The initial estimate of Markit’s
composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for February fell to a new series
low of 36.7, from January’s 38.0 reading.
French business: Morale fell to a record low in February as the French
business confidence index dropped to 68 in February, from a previous record
low of 73 in January, well below analysts’ expectations of 73.
Eurozone output: The key gauges of eurozone services and manufacturing
activity unexpectedly fell to new lows in February. Markit said its Flash
Eurozone Purchasing Managers Index for the dominant service sector slumped
to an 11-year survey low of 38.9 in February, considerably below January’s
42.2 and confounding expectations of a modest rise to 42.4.
Banking
& finance
Prudential: The life assurer allayed market fears over its capital
position and said that it could withstand a near-collapse in the stock
market. The group said that its capital surplus was £1.7 billion and it was
capable of withstanding a prolonged recession.
Cattles: The Welcome Finance company warned that profits were likely to
be much less than expected. The latest blow from the Batley-based sub-prime
lender comes after a review of the adequacy of its bad-debt provisions.
Cattles said that the process was still taking place but was expected to
result in pre-tax profits being “substantially lower” than current market
expectations.
European Central Bank: The pressure on the ECB to cut interest rates
next month intensified with the release of worse than expected services and
manufacturing data that highlighted how the deepening recession is gripping
the Continent.
Andrew Cuomo: The New York attorney-general has subpoenaed Kenneth
Lewis, the chairman and chief executive of Bank of America, in the
highest-profile move in the authorities’ investigation of the bank’s $50
billion (£35 billion) acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Mr Cuomo is looking into
whether BoA investors were misled about the huge losses in Merrill.
Royal Bank of Scotland: The UK banking group said that it will pay
dividends to holders of some of its shares. Meanwhile bank stocks and
lower-ranking debt securities fell amid concern that governments will
nationalise lenders.
Advent Capital: The Lloyd’s of London insurer swung to a pre-tax loss
in 2008 because of an unexpected level of losses from its offshore energy
account on Hurricane Ike, but said that market conditions had improved,
particularly in the reinsurance market. For the year to December 31 2008,
the company reported a pre-tax loss of £14.4 million compared with a profit
of £25.2 million in 2007.
Construction
& property
Compagnie de Saint-Gobain: The Paris-based construction and car
industry glassmaker is to raise about €1.5 billion (£1.3 billion) from the
sale of new shares to boost its capital position after reporting a 9.5 per
cent slide in 2008 net profits, to €2.11 billion.
Consumer
goods
Waterford Wedgwood: A sale of the crystal and ceramics maker to an
American private equity fund for an undisclosed sum is expected to be
announced today. Deloitte, the administrator, was in last-minute discussions
with KPS Capital Partners, the American private equity group.
Beer duty: The Conservative Party launched a campaign for beer duty to
be cut to help the struggling pub industry. Concerned drinkers are being
urged to sign an online petition calling for duty to be cut on lower-alcohol
drinks while increasing rates on high-strength cider and alcopops.
Kirin: The Japanese brewer has announced a deal to pay $1.2 billion
(£832 million) for a 43.25 per cent stake in San Miguel Brewery, its partner
in the Philippines, while launching a tender offer to boost its stake in the
brewery to 49 per cent.
Danisco: The Danish ingredients group has agreed to trim the price of
the sale of its sugar unit to Nordzucker, of Germany, to DKr5.45 billion
(£648 million), from DKr5.6 billion. The change is because of Danisco
selling a sugar and bioethanol plant in Germany to Cosun, its Dutch peer, in
order to obtain the approval of Germany’s Federal Cartel Office for the
Nordzucker deal.
Engineering
Saab: The carmaker filed for bankruptcy protection as losses threatened
its survival. The carmaker, owned by General Motors of America, said that it
would file for a reorganisation plan, a Swedish legal procedure that
safeguards its assets from creditors.
UK carmakers: Car production in the UK slumped by almost 60 per cent in
January as demand for new vehicles evaporated amid the deepening recession,
the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders announced. Only 61,404 cars
were manufactured last month, a fall of 58.7 per cent compared with the same
month last year, while commercial vehicle production dropped by 59.9 per
cent, the industry body said.
Health
Genus: The British animal genetics company said it had entered a joint
venture with a Chinese dairy company to produce bovine genetics as part of
its strategy to expand into emerging markets. Genus, which creates
technology for breeding cattle and pigs, said that it had agreed in
principle with Mengniu, the local market leader, to market and sell bovine
semen to Chinese farmers through established trade channels.
Intercytex: The skin regeneration specialist said that Cyzact, its lead
drug, had missed the key target of large-scale trials. Its shares were down
77 per cent to close at 4½p.
Industrials
BASF: The European Commission said it had extended its review of a bid
by the German chemicals group to buy Ciba, its Swiss counterpart. The EU
competition regulator said in a list of planned mergers under review that it
had extended the deadline to March 12, from February 26, to consider
commitments aimed at remedying concerns that the deal may be
anti-competitive.
Leisure
Lastminute.com: The internet travel group is to open retail outlets in
London’s Covent Garden, in Manchester and in Birmingham, according to
Travolution, the online information service.
Media
Centaur Media: The business publishing specialist warned of profits
below market expectations unless the current decline in revenues slows down.
The group said that it had seen a further deterioration in trading since the
first half of its year, driven by weakness in recruitment advertising, with
little improvement so far this month.
Natural
resources
Anglo American: The mining group said that it would shed another 9,000
jobs, in addition to 10,000 job cuts previously announced, and would scrap
its dividend after reporting lower than expected profits. The group
announced a $2 billion (£1.4 billion) cost-saving programme.
Shell: As many as 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day are being stolen
or smuggled from Nigeria — or 5 per cent of national production, according
to estimates from Shell. The oil group said that the theft of oil in
Nigeria, Africa’s largest producer, ranged from 20,000 to 100,000 barrels
per day but may have reached peaks even higher than this.
De Beers: The world’s largest diamond group said that its three
shareholders have agreed to lend the company $500 million to help it to
weather the economic downturn after muted sales in 2008. The company said
that diamond sales had fallen sharply in the fourth quarter of last year.
Anglo American, which owns 45 per cent of De Beers, said that it would
contribute $225 million to the loan. De Beers’ sales for 2008 rose just 1
per cent to $6.9 billion.
Retailing
Morrisons: The Bradford-based supermarket chain has appointed Philip
Cox as a non-executive director. Mr Cox, chief executive of International
Power, the power company, will take up his position on April 1.
Asos.com: The online fashion group has launched a childrenswear brand,
called Little asos, catering for babies up to 24 months and girls and boys
aged from two to six years. The collection features fashion labels including
Diesel and Tommy Hilfiger.
John Lewis Partnership: The department store group said that its stores
reported a 3.2 per cent decline in sales to £44 million for the week to
February 14 compared with a year ago. The group’s Waitrose supermarket
division reported a 4.9 per cent sales increase to £82.2 million.
Support
Services
Rentokil Initial: The pest-control and parcel delivery group scrapped
its dividend to preserve cash as pre-tax profits last year plunged almost 84
per cent, from £142 million to £22.8 million. Alan Brown, the chief
executive, who was brought in as part of a team to turn around the group,
said that it had been a challenging year but that the company was making
progress fixing operational problems and improving predictability of
profits.
Technology
Anite: The Slough-based software company said that operating profits in
the three months to January 31 were “satisfactory”, with overall performance
in line with expectations. The company added that results for the year as a
whole “will be subject to the current economic environment”.
Telecoms
COLT Telecom: The telecoms specialist said it is planning to raise
£178.3 million in a share sale to help to pay off its borrowings. It met
forecasts for 2008 earnings and warned of a tough outlook. The group said
that it planned to sell 210.96 million new shares, on the basis of 31 new
shares for every 100 held, in an open offer priced at Thursday’s close of
84½p.
Transport
Gatwick Airport: The London airport is suing Ryanair, the low-cost
airline, for £1.2 million in a dispute over check-in fees. The lawsuit,
filed in the High Court in London, relates to fees that Gatwick charges
airlines for using check-in desks. Gatwick claims that Ryanair has refused
to pay the full sum owed in 342 invoices issued since the airport changed
its pricing structure in 2004.
Indian airlines: The Indian Government is studying a proposal to allow
foreign carriers to buy stakes in domestic airlines, according to local
reports, to help companies facing a cash crunch.
Utilities
Tata Power: India’s largest private sector utility will not bid for any
more large power projects because raising funds is proving difficult in
present market conditions, according to local reports.
