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Economics
House prices: Official Land Registry data for England and Wales showed
house price declines continuing to moderate, falling by only 0.2 per cent in
May, after a similar April drop. The Registry said that its measures showed
the annual rate of decline in prices slowed to 15.9 per cent in May, from
16.2 per cent in April, leaving the average property now worth £152,497.
Five out of the ten regions of England and Wales saw price rises during May,
it added.
Home ownership: The cost of owning and running a home fell by nearly a
fifth in the last year, according to findings from Halifax. The average
annual cost of housing fell from £8,766 to £7,298 in the 12 months to April,
as a 47 per cent fall in the cost of mortgage interest repayments offset
rises in every other household expense.
German inflation: Price pressures in Europe’s largest economy
unexpectedly reappeared in the past month, official data showed, boosting
hopes that the eurozone may resist the threat of deflation for the time
being. Consumer price inflation in Germany rose at an annual pace of 0.1 per
cent in June as prices climbed by 0.4 per cent from the previous month.
US consumption: Spending by American consumers rose by 0.3 per cent in
May, after remaining flat in April, according to official figures.
US incomes: Personal incomes for American households jumped by 1.4 per
cent in May, in a much stronger than expected rise that was attributed to
the impact of the Government’s latest stimulus measures, under which
Americans on social security each received a $250 one-off payment. Incomes
from wages fell by 0.1 per cent.
US consumers: Confidence among US consumers was stronger over the past
month than initially reported, the University of Michigan said. An update of
its regular survey of sentiment gave a final June reading of 70.8 compared
with May’s final reading of 68.7.
Japanese prices: Concern over Japanese deflation grew after its key,
“core” measure of consumer prices, excluding the cost of fresh food, fell at
an annual 1.1 per cent pace in May, in the sharpest rate of decline since
records began in 1970.
Banking &
finance
Spanish banking: Spain’s government unveiled a fund of up to €90
billion (£77 billion) to help banks to restructure and cope with the effects
of recession. Elena Salgado, the Finance Minister, told a news conference
after a Cabinet meeting that the money would be used for capital injections,
to help with mergers and to fund restructuring plans. The fund would have
initial seed capital of €9 billion, which could increase to €90 billion.
Citibank: Authorities ordered Citibank’s Japan unit to suspend all
sales operations at its retail banking division for one month after it
failed to improve anti-money laundering measures that target crime
syndicates and other groups.
Northern Rock: The European Commission has begun a public consultation
on the Government’s plans to use Northern Rock to dramatically increase
mortgage lending. The Commission said that it would consider whether the
plan kept state aid to a “minimum” and avoided “undue distortion of
competition”.
Construction
& property
Berkeley Homes: Tony Pidgley will step aside as managing director of
the property group to become chairman and will be replaced by Rob Perrins,
finance director, in September.
Dubai: Dubai Holding, the investor, which is owned by the ruler of the
Gulf emirate, and Emaar Properties, the leading developer, said that they
were in advanced talks to merge Emaar with three developers owned by Dubai’s
ruler — Dubai Properties, Sama Dubai and Tatweer, the leisure developer.
Consumer
goods
SABMiller: The FTSE 100 brewing behemoth has announced its intention to
reduce fossil fuels emissions from its beer production by 50 per cent by
2020 through greater energy efficiency.
Tea: The price of tea could soon rise steeply, The Grocer
reported. Kenyan tea costs 21 per cent more than it did this time last year,
while Sri Lankan tea is up 25 per cent, the magazine said.
Engineering
Hummer: China’s planning agency was likely to reject an attempt by
Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery, a maker of construction
machinery, to buy General Motors’s Hummer unit, in part because its
gas-guzzling vehicles conflict with Beijing’s conservation goals, state
radio reported.
Health
Roche Holding: The Swiss drugmaker Roche said that Europe’s drugs
watchdog was backing the approval of Avastin combined with docetaxel
chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of advanced breast cancer.
Industrials
DuPont and Bayer: The companies said that they had signed several
licensing agreements that would resolve a patent infringement dispute over
their biotechnology agriculture products. The companies sued each other this
month over patents and licensing deals concerning genetically modified seeds
for corn and soybeans that allow farmers to use stronger herbicides and
insect repellents.
Leisure
Enterprise Inns: Ted Tuppen, the chief executive of Britain’s second
biggest pub company, has written to Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary,
in an effort to head off a possible referral of the tied-pub business model
to the competition authorities.
Rank Group: The gaming operator has appointed Mark Jones, a former head
of Premium Bars & Restaurants, Yates Group and Pizza Hut UK, as managing
director of its Mecca Bingo division, replacing Simon Wykes, who left last
month with a year’s payoff.
Betfair: The UK-based online betting company is gambling on an easing
of regulations in the US as it launches an ambitious push into the US horse
racing market. It is relaunching TVG, its recently purchased horse racing TV
channel.
Media
BSkyB: Ofcom, the communications regulator, said that BSkyB should make
its premium content, such as sports and movies, available to more
broadcasters at lower prices to increase choice for consumers. Sky said: “We
disagree fundamentally with Ofcom’s approach, analysis and conclusions.” Sky
is 39.1 per cent owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Times.
Natural
resources
Lindsey refinery: A dispute involving hundreds of workers who were
sacked last week at the Lindsey oil refinery was settled last night. An
agreement was reached after long talks between union leaders and the
employers of contract staff at the north Lincolnshire plant and will be put
to workers. The deal is understood to involve the reinstatement of the 647
construction workers sacked by a subcontractor at the plant after they took
unofficial industrial action.
Centrica: The owner of British Gas, is mulling a £1.4 billion takeover
bid for Venture Production, the North Sea gas producer. Centrica has ten
working days to table a formal bid after the Takeover Panel issued it with a
July 13 “put up or shut up” deadline. It already holds 22 per cent of the
group.
Retailing
John Lewis: The department store group said shoppers appear to be
returning to pre-recession spending. The partnership said that 27 stores
recorded their best performance of the first half. Sales at the shops
increased 2.2 per cent to £46.5 million in the week to June 20. Weekly
sales at its chain of 213 Waitrose supermarkets increased 11.8 per cent to
£86.6 million.
Lookers: The car dealership has announced an £80.7 million fundraising
to pay down debt and help to gain more favourable terms on its banking
facilities.
ABI: The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has issued a “red top”
alert on Home Retail Group (HRG) after the owner of Argos and Homebase
introduced a new bonus scheme that could reward executives with up to 150
per cent of their salary in cash.
Support
services
Aggreko: The temporary power group has signed a contract to provide 100
megawatts of temporary power to the Saudi Electric Company to help overcome
seasonal power shortages in Saudi Arabia. The contract is expected to last
for at least three months and will take to above 170 MW the capacity being
supplied by Aggreko to SEC.
Technology
Internet overseer: The body that has key oversight of the monikers
behind every website, e-mail address and Twitter post named Rod Beckstrom,
the former US cybersecurity chief, as its next chief executive. The board of
the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers approved his hiring
in a voice vote as ICANN capped week-long meetings in Sydney, Australia.
Telecoms
Anatel: Brazil’s telecommunications regulator said it had imposed new
measures to maintain the separation of the mobile phone units of Telecom
Italia and Telefónica, which owns a controlling stake in the Italian
company, in the country. Anatel also said that the companies had met all
conditions set in October 2007, when a Telefónica-led group took control of
Telecom Italia, to keep the Vivo and TIM Participacoes units separate.
Transport
easyJet: The budget airline lost its High Court battle to force a
review of a sharp fee increase at Gatwick, with a judge rejecting its claim
that the rise was unfair and unlawful. EasyJet had sought a judicial review
of the fee changes,claiming that the Civil Aviation Authority acted
illegally in allowing BAA, the airport’s owner, to increase fees by 21 per
cent now and even more in the next five years.
Qantas: The airline said it had cancelled orders for 15 Boeing 787s and
delayed the delivery of a further 15 aircraft because of turbulent market
conditions.
British Airways: The 11-member board of British Airways has agreed to
work for nothing next month but is clinging to the free, unlimited,
first-class travel perk granted to all past and present senior directors and
their spouses for life.
Utilities
Areva: France is finalising measures to fill the financing needs of
Areva, the state-owned nuclear group, according to reports. A rights issue,
a sale of Areva’s power transmission and distribution unit, estimated at €4
billion (£3.4 billion), the divestment of minority stakes, and debt were the
four steps to bridge an €11 billion funding gap, they said.
