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Economics
The economy: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) said that the economy would shrink by 3.7 per cent this year. There
would be no growth next year.
World economy: The World Bank said that the world economy would
contract by 1.7 per cent this year, the first decline since the Second World
War, and the world's richest countries would contract by 3 per cent.
Separately, the OECD said that the economies of its member countries would
drop by 4.3 per cent.
Services sector output: Figures showed that services sector output fell
by 0.2 per cent in January, after a 0.1 per cent drop in December.
Productivity: Figures showed that productivity fell 1.5 per cent in the
fourth quarter of 2008, the biggest quarterly decline since 1979 and after a
0.4 per cent fall in the third quarter.
Eurozone inflation: Figures showed that eurozone inflation fell to an
all-time low of 0.6 per cent in March, down from 1.2 per cent in February.
German unemployment: Figures showed that German unemployment rose to
8.6 per cent of the workforce in March, up from 8.5 per cent in February.
Hungarian economy: Moody’s, the international ratings agency, said that
it had cut credit ratings for Hungary.
US housing: The prices of US homes fell in January at record annual
rate of 19 per cent, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller
Home Price Indices.
US consumer confidence: The US Conference Board’s sentiment index rose
to 26 in March, from an upwardly revised 25.3 in February.
Japanese economy: New emergency rescue plans for the Japanese economy
are expected to include an additional 10 trillion yen (£70 billion) stimulus
pack-age. Unemployment figures for February showed a rise to 4.4 per cent.
Banking
& finance
HSBC: The lender said that it would charge customers £150 to speak to a
mortgage consultant, who will offer impartial advice on the best deals
available, including those from rival lenders.
Royal Bank of Scotland: Lord Myners, the embattled City Minister, was
urged to resign after new evidence was published on what it is claimed he
knew about the controversial pension of Sir Fred Goodwin, former chief
executive of the bank.
Tax evasion: The row over tax evasion in Liechtenstein spread to three
of Europe’s biggest companies — Total, Michelin and adidas — as France
revealed plans for an investigation into allegations that the companies had
hidden millions of euros in the principality.
Barclays: Bob Diamond, who runs Barclays Capital, the investment
banking unit of the group, said he was confident that it had enough capital
to withstand the deteriorating economy.
Business rates: Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, has cut the planned 5
per cent rise in business rates that was threatening many small companies.
Madoff Investment Securities: A US court has frozen the assets of
Bernard Madoff's sons, Mark and Andrew, who worked for their father’s
securities business, and those of hedge fund bosses who invested with the
disgraced fund manager.
Construction
& property
Bellway: The Newcastle-based housebuilder reported half-year pre-tax
losses of £48.6 million, from a £96.9 million profit last time, after taking
£66.3 million writedowns in the value of its land.
Quintain: The property group confirmed it was considering a possible
capital-raising to bolster its balance sheet, after its share price fell by
35 per cent in early trading.
Commercial property: The Colliers CRE/EG Capital survey reported that
commercial property investors expect all-property capital values to fall by
15 per cent this year and by 4 per cent in 2010.
Consumer
goods
Hornby: The Scalextric and Airfix model toy company said that full-year
underlying pre-tax profits could fall as low as £6.2 million, from £8.4
million last time, because of supply chain problems.
Engineering
Babcock International: The Ministry of Defence has renewed the Warship
Support Modernisation Initiative agreement with Babcock International at the
Devonport naval base for four more years. The contract is valued at almost
£560 million and will secure more than 250 jobs.
Honda Motor: The Japanese carmaker is cutting workers’ pay and imposing
13 nonproduction days at its North American plants to reduce its production
by 62,000 vehicles.
Caterpillar: Five executives of the American heavy equipment
manufacturer were detained in Grenoble, southeast France, by their employees
in a protest over redundancy plans.
Visteon: More than 560 jobs are being cut at the American car parts
maker after Visteon UK, one of its subsidiaries, was put into
administration. The company said that its other UK operations were not in
administration, including Visteon Engineering Services, which employs about
400 people.
General Motors: The carmaker said that it would meet a June 1 deadline
for restructuring set by the Government and admitted that it had failed to
decide whether to sell its Hummer brand.
Porsche: The German carmaker said that first-half sales had fallen by
nearly 13 per cent to €3.04 billion (£2.81 billion).
Health
Shire: The London-listed pharmaceuticals group has struck a deal with
GlaxoSmithKline, the world's second-largest drugs maker, to co-promote
Vyanse, its hyperactivity treatment, in the United States.
GlaxoSmithKline: Separately, GSK has resubmitted Cervarix, its cervical
cancer vaccine, to the US Food and Drug Administration, with the inclusion
of final data from a pivotal Phase-III study.
Industrials
ArcelorMittal: The world’s biggest steel producer said that it would
have to lay off more than 1,500 workers, or about 40 per cent of its
workforce, temporarily at its Bosnian steelworks because of the global
financial crisis.
Leisure
Enterprise Inns: The tenanted pub company sought to reassure investors
over its ability to refinance a £1 billion debt facility due for renewal in
May 2011, although analysts expect it to scrap or significantly reduce
dividends as a result.
Premium Bars & Restaurants: The operator of the Prohibition and
Living Room chains sparked fresh fears over its future by failing to release
its interim results by yesterday’s deadline under AIM rules. It expected to
do so in “the next few days”. It added that it was continuing to negotiate
with its bankers about short-term funding.
Clapham House: The restaurant operator said that it was enjoying strong
sales growth and intended to take advantage of the correction in property
valuations to continue expanding its Gourmet Burger Kitchen concept. It
declined to comment on the possible sale of its Tootsies brand. Analysts
believe that prospective buyers are having trouble raising debt finance.
Western & Oriental: The luxury travel group said that it expected
first-half trading to be “materially ahead of management expectations”
thanks to heavy cost- cutting and improved margins.
Sportingbet: The online gambling operator has signed a two-year deal to
sponsor Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club.
Hard Rock International: The leisure group said it was hoping to expand
its rock’n’roll-themed hotel franchise across Asia, despite the global
financial crisis.
Southampton Football Club: Southampton Leisure Holdings, the AIM-listed
parent company of the Championship football club, was on the brink of
administration after it failed to agree an extension of its overdraft with
Barclays.
Media
The Sun-Times Media Group: The US owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and
other newspapers has filed for bankruptcy protection, the latest victim of
the crisis in the American newspaper industry.
Natural
resources
International Petroleum Investment Company: The Abu Dhabi
government-owned group will become the second-largest shareholder in Cepsa,
the Spanish oil company, in a deal that values Cepsa at about €8.8 billion
(£8.15 billion).
Rio Tinto: The mining group’s proposed $19.5 billion (£13.6 billion)
capital-raising was given a boost when the Australian Government appeared to
soften its resistance to foreign investment in the resources sector by
clearing a $438 million deal between Fortescue, the iron ore producer, and
Hunan Valin, the Chinese iron and steel group.
Kazakhmys: The Kazakh mining group reported a 25 per cent fall in
full-year underlying earnings per share, hit by high costs and a collapse in
copper prices, and said that it was staying cautious about the coming year.
Retailing
Laura Ashley: The fashion and homewares retailer reported a 39 per cent
drop in full-year adjusted pre-tax profits to £9.6 million, compared with
£15.8 million a year ago, and said that it expected profits to remain flat
in 2010.
Clinton Cards: The company, which owns the Birthdays chain, said that
it had renegotiated a £60 million working capital facility and a £12 million
loan.
Marks & Spencer: The high street retailer reported fourth-quarter
like-for-like sales down by 4.3 per cent, an improvement on the
third-quarter decline of 7.1 per cent and exceeding City expectations.
Tesco: The supermarket group has lost market share to Asda and
Morrisons in the 12 weeks to March 22, according to data released by
Nielsen.
Support
Services
Jarvis: The railway maintenance group said that its full-year results
would be below expectations as it cut 450 jobs. It has been hit by a fall in
demand for its services from Network Rail, its largest customer, which is
cutting back on its spending programme.
Compass: The FTSE 100 catering group said that first-half profits were
running well ahead of expectations, with like-for-like sales up by 2.5 per
cent, and that it continued to win new business amid the economic downturn.
Melorio: The AIM-listed vocational training business said that it
expected its full-year results to be ahead of current market forecasts, with
a strong performance from its ICT communications technology division.
Technology
Google: The US internet search engine has unveiled a venture capital
fund with plans to commit up to $100 million (£69.8 million) in the first
year. Google Ventures will focus on helping to develop “exceptional
start-ups” in software, clean technology, biotechnology and healthcare.
Telecoms
BT: Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the senior unsecured
long-term ratings of the telecoms group with a negative outlook. At the same
time, it affirmed BT’s short-term Prime-2 rating.
China Unicom: The state-run telecoms operator reported a
forecast-beating 58 per cent rise in full-year earnings, thanks to
exceptional gains from the sale of its CDMA wireless network.
Transport
CSA Czech Airlines: Jiri Paroubek, head of the Czech Republic’s
Opposition, said that he supported the privatisation of CSA Czech Airlines,
despite the sale having been drawn up by the outgoing Liberal Government.
Air France-KLM and Aeroflot, the Russian state-controlled carrier, are
bidding to buy the 91.51 per cent stake being sold by Prague.
Royal Mail: Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, has had his
attempts to sell part of Royal Mail criticised by MPs on the Commons
Business and Enterprise Select Committee, who said it was ill thought out.
Utilities
Telecom Plus: The utility services group group, which trades as the
Utility Warehouse to supply gas, electricity, fixed-line telephony, mobile
and broadband services, said that it expected to report record full-year
pre-tax profits after attracting large numbers of customer applications and
high-profile endorsements.
