View
video and Need to Know interactive heatmap
Economics
Economic prospects: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will warn
this week that the UK economy is set to keep shrinking well into next year.
The economy: Billions more pounds needs to be pumped into the economy
to bring the UK out of recession, according to Sir Howard Davies, former
head of the Financial Services Authority and a former deputy governor of the
Bank of England.
Mortgage lending: Figures from the Financial Services Authority show
that banks and building societies approved mortgage loans worth £45 billion
in the last three months of 2008, down from £87 billion a year earlier.
Repossessions: The Financial Services Authority said that the number of
repossessions soared by 68 per cent last year to 46,750, up form 27,900 in
2007.
House prices: Figures from the Department of Communities and Local
Government show that house prices rose by 0.2 per cent in January, but the
annual rate of decline widened from 10.2 per cent to a record 11.5 per cent.
Unemployment: Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, warned of
the danger of a return to mass unemployment, which he said most people had
come to believe was a "thing of the past".
Financial regulation: Mr King also called for an overhaul of the way
that banks and financial groups are policed but warned that there was "no
simple answer" to prevent a future repeat of the present credit crisis.
G20 summit: The leaders of France and Germany said that the top
priority for April’s G20 summit should be to draw up a new global financial
architecture, emphasising the need for regulation rather than more fiscal
stimulus measures, as sought by Washington. Separately, Gareth Thomas, the
Minister for Trade, Development and Consumer Affairs, said that Britain was "extremely
worried that something like 90 million people could end up in poverty".
German investor confidence: The ZEW index of German investor confidence
rose by 2.3 points to minus 3.5 in March, its best level since July 2007.
US wholesale prices: Figures showed that US wholesale prices rose by
0.1 per cent in February, after a 0.8 per cent increase in January. On a
12-month basis, producer price inflation was down 1.3 per cent from February
2008.
Global outlook: Advance leaks of IMF forecasts suggested it will
predict that world GDP will fall by 0.6 per cent this year, with the US
economy contracting by 2.6 per cent, compared with a 1.6 per cent drop
projected previously. The eurozone is set to shrink by about 3.2 per cent,
against January’s predicted 2 per cent, it will say.
Banking
& finance
Friends Provident: The insurance group said that it was firmly “back in
business”, despite reporting ballooning full-year losses and halving the
dividend. was “extremely worried that something like 90 million people could
end up in poverty”.
Collins Stewart: The stockbroker reported a full-year pre-tax loss of
£15.2 million, from a profit of £79 million last time, hit by lack of
corporate activity and a writedown on the value of its US business.
Madoff investments: The US Internal Revenue Service said that it is
allowing tax relief and refunds for some investors who paid taxes on
earnings from their investments with Bernard Madoff that turned out to be
non-existent.
AIG: Popular anger has erupted over the $165 million (£118 million) in
bonuses received by executives of the US insurance group. Armed guards have
been stationed outside the Connecticut offices of AIG Financial Products,
which has received death threats and where some employees have resigned or
have refused to turn up for work.
Lehman Brothers: The US state of New Jersey is suing top executives and
board members of Lehman Brothers, alleging that their misrepresentations had
resulted in the state’s pension funds losing $118 million on investments in
the defunct bank.
Construction
& property
Morgan Sindall: The London-listed construction and regeneration group
said that it had secured a £220 million agreement to redevelop the north
area of central Blackpool over the next decade.
Derwent: The London-listed property group said that there had been a 22
per cent decline in the value of its portfolio, but it hoped to take
advantage of opportunities when the market recovered. It also announced the
sale of its freehold interest in an office building next to Marylebone
station, Central London, for £17 million.
Cadenza: The property company run by Tony Pidgley Jr, the property
entrepreneur and son of Berkeley Group founder Tony Pidgley, has been put
into voluntary liquidation.
SIG: The Sheffield insulation and building materials group is expected
to announce a £320 million fundraising today along with its delayed
preliminary results. Half the amount raised is predicted to come from a
direct placing of new shares, with the other half from a fully underwritten
open offer, both priced in the 70 to 80p range.
Consumer
goods
Alcohol: Consumption of alcohol in Britain fell by 3.2 per cent last
year, taking the fall since 2004 to 6 per cent, according to an analysis of
HM Revenue & Customs data by the British Beer & Pub Association.
Engineering
Toyota: The Japanese carmaker said that it would probably have to
reduce the price of its flagship Prius hybrid model or risk Honda’s Insight
stealing the momentum as the world’s most recognisable hybrid electric car
brand.
Caterpillar: The US heavy equipment maker said that 2,365 of its
support and management staff were being laid off for at least six months and
89 workers were being made redundant.
US carmakers: President Obama will make use of resources available to
the US Government to save General Motors and (GM) Chrysler, the US
carmakers, from bankruptcy, according to Steven Rattner, the top adviser to
the US Treasury’s cars taskforce. The companies have received $17.4 billion
(£12.4 billion) from taxpayers to keep them in business.
Health
Hikma: The London-listed generic drugs company, based in Jordan, said
that full-year sales had risen by 29.4 per cent, broadly in line with its
expectations. It also reported revenues of $580.7 million (£414.3 million),
compared with $448.8 million last time, and said pretax profits were down by
23.6 per cent to $64 million.
Industrials
ArcelorMittal: The steelmaking group, based in Luxembourg, has denied
reports that it was planning a €5 billion (£4.6 billion) rights issue and
had retained two banks to organise it.
Leisure
Luminar: Britain’s biggest nightclub operator said its full-year
profits would be at the lower end of market forecasts after a subdued
January and a snow-hit February. But it added that it was well placed to
weather the economic storms as it predicted that half the country’s 2,200
clubs could become bankrupt over the next 18 months.
Travelodge: The budget hotel operator said it had exchanged contracts
on 12 new hotels with a combined investment value of £77 million. The deals
will create 200 jobs and add 1,443 rooms.
Thomas Cook: The travel group announced that Karl-Gerhard Eick, the new
chief executive of Arcandor, its 52.8 per cent shareholder, would replace
Thomas Middelhoff as chairman.
CryptoLogic: The internet casino software group accompanied its
fourth-quarter results with the announcement of a deal with Paramount
Digital Entertainment giving it exclusive rights to movie characters such as
Forrest Gump, Beowulf and Ghost. Javaid Aziz, the group’s rebel former chief
executive, renewed his calls for better corporate governance and said he had
waived his right to a €1.5 million (£1.38 million) change of control bonus.
TUI Travel: The tour operator confirmed that it was discussing a
potential “strategic cooperation” between TUIfly, its German airline, and
Air Berlin, the cut-price carrier, that could involve the taking of an
equity stake in an enlarged Air Berlin.
Media
Channel 4: A rescue of Channel 4 through a tie-up with the BBC’s
commercial division will have a “damaging effect” on rival media groups,
Guardian Media Group has told ministers. It said they should leave
commercial broadcasters and newspapers to take up the slack “before public
intervention is applied”.
The Walt Disney Company: The US entertainment group said it had halted
its much-delayed expansion plans at its Hong Kong theme park after failing
to agree a deal with the city’s government.
Natural
resources
Energy XXI (Bermuda): The London-listed oil and gas exploration group
said that it had identified significant incremental natural gas pay sands at
its Cote de Mer prospect in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, lifting the
discovery’s resource potential to between 89 billion and 108 billion cubic
feet equivalent.
Royal Dutch Shell: The Anglo-Dutch oil group provoked a backlash from
campaigners as it announced plans to scale back its renewable energy
business and focus on oil, gas and biofuels.
Rio Tinto: The Anglo-Australian mining group has appointed Jan du
Plessis as its new chairman. Shareholders have expressed concern that he may
not have sufficient time as he is also chairman of British American Tobacco
and a non-executive director of Lloyds Banking Group. Until recently,
chairmen were barred from heading the boards of more than one FTSE 100
company.
Retailing
Debenhams: The department store chain has shelved a possible rights
issue after a stand-off between its banks and leading shareholders. It also
reported a first-half like-for-like sales drop of 3.6 per cent, but upgraded
its full-year profit expectations, boosted by growth in its higher margin
own-bought labels.
JJB Sports: The troubled sportswear retailer said that it had been
given more time to secure the sale of its fitness clubs chain as its lending
banks, including HBOS and Barclays, are thought to be owed about £60
million.
Support
Services
James Fisher & Sons: The London-listed marine services group, based
in Barrow-in-Fur-ness, beat forecasts with a 26 per cent rise in full-year
profits to £24.2 million and said it was trading in line with its
expectations.
Tribal: The London-listed support services group reported a 21 per cent
rise in full-year adjusted pretax profits, helped by a fall in interest
rates, and said it expected to make further progress in 2009.
PricewaterhouseCoopers: The accounting group has appointed Dennis Nally
as global chairman. Mr Nally, head of the group’s US arm, will replace
Samuel DiPiazza Jr, who is retiring.
Technology
Nokia: The Finnish mobile phone maker said it planned to cut another
1,700 jobs worldwide. About 700 of the jobs were likely to disappear in
Finland, with the rest going from the United States, Britain and France.
Vislink: The supplier of microwave radio and satellite transmission
products, based in Buckinghamshire, said its law enforcement and public
safety business unit had won three contracts for the supply of digital
wireless video surveillance systems to public safety agencies in Australia,
California and Latin America with a total value of $2.3 million (£1.6
million).
Telecoms
Xcel Telecom: The Indian wireless group has been acquired by American
Tower. No financial details were disclosed but reports claimed that the deal
would be worth more than $136 million, (£97 million).
Transport
EasyJet: The budget airline has accused the Civil Aviation Authority of
unlawfully raising charges to use Gatwick last year, claiming that the
regulator had held private talks with BAA, the airports operator, after a
consultation deadline had passed.
SeaFrance: Brittany Ferries, the French group, is seeking to buy
SeaFrance, its rival, from SNCF, the French state railway network. Brittany
Ferries said that consolidation would create a group able to compete with P&O,
market leader on the Dover-Calais route, and with Eurotunnel, the Channel
tunnel operator.
Utilities
EDF Energy: The 575-megawatt reactor two at the Heysham-1 power station
in Lancashire has resumed electricity production for the first time in 17
months, EDF Energy said, six weeks after reactor one at the plant was
restarted.
