View
video and Need to Know interactive heatmap
Economics
UK house prices: Figures from Halifax showed house prices fell by 1.9
per cent last month, a more modest fall than the 2.3 per cent decline in
February. The annual rate of decline eased to 17.5 per cent, from 17.7 per
cent. On Thursday Nationwide Building Society released figures that showed a
0.9 per cent rise in prices last month.
Service sector: The rate of contraction in Britain’s service sector
eased in March to its slowest for six months, although companies shed jobs
at their fastest pace for over a decade. The CIPS/Markit services PMI
activity index rose to 45.5 in March from 43.2, the highest reading since
September but still below the 50-mark that separates expansion from
contraction. The gauge of employment fell to a record low of 38.8.
Quantitative easing: The Bank of England said that it bought £14.66
million of corporate bonds yesterday as part of its scheme of quantitative
easing. This was well below the £136 million that it had offered to buy.
Credit: Businesses found it slightly less difficult to access credit
between January and March than in the previous quarter, figures from the CBI
showed. SMEs also expect it to become less tricky to renew existing credit
and secure new credit in the coming quarter, the CBI said.
Eurozone business activity: There was a less sharp contraction in
business activity in the 16 countries of the eurozone in March than in
previous months. The eurozone’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI), compiled
by Markit, rose to 38.3 points from 36.2 points in February. The figure was
also higher than the 37.6 predicted by economists but remained below the key
50-point threshold that indicates contracting activity.
US unemployment: The rate of unemployment in the US soared to 8.5 per
cent in March, the highest since 1983. Official figures showed that 663,000
jobs were cut during the month, taking the total jobs lost during the
recession to 5.1 million.
Spanish economy: Unemployment in Spain will soar to 19.4 per cent next
year and the economy will contract 3.0 per cent this year and 1.0 per cent
in 2010, the central bank said. It also forecast that the budget deficit
would grow to 8.3 per cent of gross domestic product this year and 8.7 per
cent in 2010.
Ireland: The recession-hit Irish economy is expected to shrink by about
7 per cent this year after a 2.3 per cent decline last year, a sharply
downgraded forecast from the country’s central bank said.
Banking
& finance
RBS: Two teams of City law firms are investigating whether Sir Fred
Goodwin is entitled to his £703,000 a year pension, the chairman of Royal
Bank of Scotland told shareholders yesterday.
Bonuses: The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), the British
investor body, has called on T. Rowe Price, the US fund manager, to reform
its executive pay structure as financial sector bonuses come under scrutiny.
LAPFF members hold less than 1 per cent in the fund manager.
Construction
& property
British Land: The UK property investor sold 2-3 Triton Square, Regent’s
Place, London, also known as the headquarters of Abbey, to its tenants
(Abbey) for £115 million, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.2 per cent.
Hypo Real Estate: The German lender came a step closer to
nationalisation after the German Parliament gave its final approval to a law
that allows it to expropriate shareholders if necessary.
Los Angeles project: Thomas Property Group, a developer, was due to
announce a $1 billion high-rise office and hotel complex in Los Angeles last
night, the first downtown construction project since the downturn began.
Consumer
goods
Coca-Cola: The manufacturer of Coke and Sprite will publish corrective
advertisements in Australia after the local consumer commission said that
the company may have misled consumers with claims that its products will not
make them fat or rot their teeth.
Pernod Ricard: The French drinks group announced the surprise departure
of Emmanuel Babeau, its head of finance, who is joining Schneider Electric.
He will be replaced by Gilles Bogaert, the chairman and chief executive of
Pernod’s Brazilian division.
Engineering
Rolls-Royce: The British engine maker said that it had signed a $350
million (£236 million) contract for maintenance on engines in 25 Boeing
aircraft used by Mexicana. The planes are leased by MexicanaClick, the
Mexican carrier’s low-cost subsidiary. In 2008, Mexicana flew more than 11.7
million passengers to destinations in Central, South and North America,
Rolls-Royce said.
Mitsubishi Motors: Japan’s No 4 carmaker will increase production of
its planned electric vehicle after orders for its first 2,000 cars were
quickly filled by Tokyo Electric Power and Lawson, the convenience shop
chain, a spokesman said. The company aims to have the “i MiEV”
zero-emissions car ready for leasing in Japan by July.
Loans to carmakers: Jaguar Land Rover and Nissan’s Sunderland factory
are expected to be awarded hundreds of millions of euros in loans next week
in the first round of green technology development money for the UK car
industry.
Health
Merck: The German pharmaceutical and chemical company said that it
would curb pigment production in Germany, the US, Japan and China, while it
expects 2009 to be a difficult year overall.
Industrials
BASF: The German chemicals company has agreed to sell assets of two
high-performance pigments in order to gain US approval of its proposed $5.1
billion (£3.4 billion) acquisition of Ciba Holdings, its Swiss rival. The
Federal Trade Commission said that BASF has settled charges that its pending
buyout would be anticompetitive by agreeing to sell certain assets within
six months.
Leisure
Holidaybreak: The camping and activity holiday operator announced the
retirement of Nick Cust and Mark Wray, the joint managing directors of its
hotel breaks division, after almost 25 years with the business.
Hotels: London hoteliers are forecast to suffer a 12.7 per cent fall in
revenue per available room by the end of this year, while regional hoteliers
will be down 7.8 per cent, according to Deloitte.
Park Plaza Hotels: The upmarket operator secured an increase in bank
funding from Bank Hapoalim for the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge London from
£221 million to £248 million.
Media
Guardian Media Group: Alan Rusbridger, the editor-in-chief of Guardian
News & Media, will take a 10 per cent pay cut this year, the company
said. Carolyn McCall, the chief executive of GMG, said in January that she
would take no bonus for the 2008-09 financial year, which ended in March.
Natural
resources
Fortescue Metals: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission
is suing Fortescue Metals, the country’s third-largest iron ore miner, and
its chief, Andrew Forrest, accusing them of misleading investors over
Chinese deals struck five years ago.
Retailing
John Lewis Partnership: Sales at the group’s Waitrose supermarket chain
jumped 17.4 per cent last week as shoppers stocked up on food offers. The
increase in total sales, excluding petrol, also reflected strong trading in
wine, beers and spirits, with cider sales up 35 per cent after football fans
opted for warm-weather alcohol for England’s game last weekend.
DSG International: The embattled owner of Currys and PC World, plans to
close part of its Scandinavian business.
Blockbuster: The video rental company said that its revolving and term
loan agreement has been amended, giving the struggling company some
breathing space on its finances amid a deepening recession and greater
competition.
JJB Sports: The finance director of JJB Sports, David Madeley, abruptly
left the crisis-struck retailer yesterday, two months before his agreed
departure. His duties will go to Peter Williams, the former Selfridges chief
executive who is overseeing JJB’s crucial deal with landlords.
Support
Services
Dawson Holdings: The newspaper and magazine distributor, warned it
expected to lose its contract with the Telegraph Media Group, which
generated £52 million of revenue in the past financial year.
Technology
Google: The search engine is rumoured to be close to buying Twitter,
according to an influential technology blog. Michael Arrington, the author
of TechCrunch, claims to have spoken to two sources who suggested that
negotiations are in the late stages. He believes Google would have to pay
well above the $250 million (£170 million) valuation of Twitter suggested by
a recent round of venture capital funding.
Telecoms
KPN: The Dutch telecoms group said that it would add up to €390 million
($521 million) to its pension fund by 2012 to restore cover ratios to at
least 105 per cent. It also agreed to pay an extra €12.5 million annually to
the pension fund of Getronics, its IT unit, between 2010 and 2013. The funds
are required by the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) to boost the ratio of assets to
pension liabilities to the minimum required level of 105 per cent within
five years.
Transport
British Airways: The national carrier said that traffic dropped by 7.3
per cent last month in continuing challenging market conditions and added
that 300 staff would leave the airline by the end of May as part of its
voluntary redundancy scheme.
Austrian Airlines: The carrier will cut the working hours of its cabin
crew and the pay of its pilots for the rest of the year to cut costs, the
company said. The measure will take effect on June 1 at Austrian Airlines
and Tyrolean, its regional subsidiary, a statement said.
Blue Wings: Alexander Lebedev’s German airline, Blue Wings, lost its
licence after regulators concluded that the discount carrier had “business
problems”. Mr Lebedev, who recently aquired the London Evening Standard,
said that he would appeal.
Utilities
Chinese electricity: The State Grid Corporation of China is buying
transformers worth about $140 million from ABB, the Swiss engineering group,
as the country develops its electricity network to meet demand. The power
link is part of China’s efforts to develop energy-rich regions and transmit
power from areas of surplus to centres of high demand.
