View
video and Need to Know interactive heatmap
Economics
Public finances: Government borrowing in June hit a new record level of
£13 billion, against £7.5 billion a year ago, as tax revenues continued to
be hit hard by the recession. The Government’s deficit for the first three
months of the 2009-10 financial year also set a record, with net borrowing
of £41.2 billion, almost twice the £21.6 billion total for the same period
in 2008-09. Net debt rose to £798.8 billion, or 56.6 per cent of GDP, up
from £641.4 billion, or 44.4 per cent, a year ago.
Economic prospects: The National Institute of Economic and Social
Research said that it would be the autumn of 2012 before the economy
recovered to its size before the recession, in terms of the level of GDP at
the start of 2008. It added that it would be the start of 2014 before living
standards, gauged by GDP per head, returned to the levels at the start of
last year.
US outlook: An emerging US recovery is likely to remain frail into
2011, leaving the Federal Reserve reluctant to begin withdrawing its
unprecedented economic stimulus measures at any time soon, Ben Bernanke, the
Fed’s Chairman, said. With US unemployment set to remain high into 2011, he
said that this could undermine what was likely to be only an anaemic
recovery.
Banking
&
finance
Serious Fraud Office: The regulator has issued guidelines in the case
of businesses that come forward to report corruption in return for leniency.
It wants to move towards a US system whereby companies can self-report and
then negotiate a settlement, with fines used “wherever possible”.
CLSA: Allen Lam, a former investment banking director for CLSA, one of
Asia’s leading stock brokerages, and Ryan Fong, a former fund manager for
HSZ (Hong Kong), have been jailed in Hong Kong for insider trading that
produced illegal profits of more than $500 million (£303 million).
Calpers: The largest US pension fund lost 23.4 per cent of its value
last year, shrinking its assets to $183.7 billion. Calpers’s losses included
falls of 28.5 per cent in its equity investments, 35 per cent on property
and 31 per cent on alternative investments.
Freddie Mac: Charles Haldeman Jr, the former chief executive of Putnam
Investments, will become chief executive of Freddie Mac, the $2.2 trillion
US mortgage guarantor, in August, allowing John Koskinen to step back into
the non-executive chairman role. Mr Haldeman will replace David Moffett, who
left the lender in March.
Temasek: The Singapore sovereign wealth fund has scrapped its plans to
appoint Chip Goodyear as its first foreign chief executive. The change of
heart came just six months after the former head of BHP Billiton, the mining
group, accepted the job and less than three months before he was due to take
full charge of the fund.
Construction
&
property
DTZ: The global property group reported a £79.7 million full-year loss
and scrapped its final dividend. The company, which has undergone a
boardroom reshuffle and a £48.7 million equity raising this year, said it
will save £30 million a year as a result of restructuring, but scarcity of
credit will continue to impede the market.
Knight Frank: The estate agent recorded a 75 per cent rise in the
number of homebuyers registering for property at Canary Wharf, East London,
during the past 12 months, saying that the rise could signal improved
prospects among City workers.
Farmland prices: Commercial farmers have begun buying land again, with
22 per cent more surveyors reporting a rise rather than a fall in demand,
according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Demand for
residential farmland from “hobby” farmers has rebounded slightly since the
beginning of the year, but remained negative in the first half.
Construction outlook: A lack of demand and fewer orders have
contributed to a 77 percentage point decline in optimism in the property and
construction sector since 2008, according to Grant Thornton, the accountancy
firm. The shortage of orders and the relatively high cost of finance were
given as reasons for the more negative outlook.
CBRE: The cost of renting office space in London is set to rise,
according to a forecast from the property group. The current low levels of
development in Central London will reduce the amount of new space completed
to below 2 million sq ft a year by 2012, which would see office rents rising
again by the time London hosts the Olympics.
Consumer
goods
Coca-Cola: The US soft drinks group reported a 43 per cent rise in
second-quarter profits to $2.04 billion (£1.23 billion), from $1.42 billion
a year ago, as overseas growth helped to offset a sales decline caused by
the stronger dollar.
Hermès: The French luxury goods group said second-quarter sales
had risen by 12.2 per cent to €446.6 million (£385.9 million), driven by
“persistently strong demand” for its leather handbags.
Cadbury: The maker of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, Britain’s bestselling
chocolate bar, is to bear the Fairtrade mark. The Fairtrade Foundation
believes that other household names are set to follow. UK sales of Fairtrade
products rose by 43 per cent year-on-year in 2008 to £700 million.
Engineering
Caterpillar: The US maker of construction and mining equipment said
that its second-quarter profits had fallen by 66 per cent to $371 million
(£225.4 million), compared with $1.11 billion a year ago, as the recession
continued to erode sales of its machines and engines. But the company
boosted its 2009 profits forecast, saying that it was seeing signs of
stabilisation that it hoped would lead to economic recovery.
Lockheed Martin: The US defence group said that its second-quarter
earnings had fallen by nearly 17 per cent to $734 million, from $882 million
a year ago, mainly because of large pension expenses from the financial
crisis.
Health
Merck & Co: The US drugs maker reported a 12 per cent decline in
its second-quarter profits to $1.56 billion (£947 million), from $1.77
billion a year ago, because of lower sales of its cholesterol treatments and
several vaccines. It still beat Wall Street’s expectations.
Schering-Plough: The US pharmaceuticals group, which is being bought by
Merck & Co, its rival, said that second-quarter profits had risen by 49
per cent to $633 million, from $424 million a year ago, as the company
recorded lower one-time costs. Most of these costs were related to its buyout
of Organon BioSciences in 2007.
Industrials
Tata Steel: The Indian steelmaker said that it has raised $500 million
(£303 million) by listing global depositary receipts on the London Stock
Exchange, the largest from an Indian company. The offering was also the
biggest share issue for the London exchange’s primary market this year.
DuPont: Lower sales and restructuring charges helped to drive the US
chemical group’s secondquarter profits down 61 per cent, overshadowing a
strong showing by its agriculture and nutrition business. Its adjusted
earnings still beat Wall Street expectations.
Leisure
British Beer & Pub Association: The industry body said that pubs
are closing at a record rate with the loss of 24,000 jobs in the past year.
Its research showed that 52 pubs closed every week for the first six months
of the year, an increase of a third on the same period last year.
Fuller, Smith & Turner: The pub owner and London Pride brewer
reported a strong start to its financial year, with like-for-like sales in
its managed pubs and hotels up by 2.9 per cent and the recent heatwave
boosting sales growth from the 1.8 per cent in early June. Like-for-like
profits in its tenanted pubs were down by 1 per cent, while the company’s
own-brewed beer volumes grew by 2 per cent in the 16 weeks to July 18,
helped by sales of its Organic HoneyDew beer.
Regent Inns: The embattled Walkabout and Jongleurs operator, which
recently delisted its shares, said that it was reviewing its strategic
options after receiving “approaches to acquire certain of its assets and
liabilities” from third parties. It has previously elicted interest from
rivals, including 3D Entertainment and Brook Leisure.
Coffee Republic: Hopes of a rescue deal for the ailing coffee chain
emerged as KPMG, the administrator, said that it had agreed a period of
exclusivity with a potential purchaser “of all or parts of the business”.
Starbucks: The US coffee chain said that its cost-cutting efforts had
helped it to report third-quarter profits of $151.5 million (£92.3 million),
from a loss of $6.7 million a year ago, despite lower sales and slower
customer traffic.
Media
McClatchy: The US newspaper publisher reported higher quarterly income
because of cost cuts, pushing its shares up by as much as 67 per cent, even
as its advertising revenues fell by nearly a third. McClatchy, publisher of The
Miami Herald and The Sacramento Bee, also said that it had
reduced the amount of debt that it owes and sought to reassure investors
that it will not violate the terms of its lending agreements.
Natural
resources
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold: The US copper company said
second-quarter profits had fallen 38 per cent to $588 million (£357
million), from $947 million last time, although it beat analysts’
expectations, boosting its shares in pre-market trading.
Venture Production: The Aberdeen oil and gas group announced
disappointing news about its Andrea gas field in the North Sea, where work
has been suspended while an assessment is carried out.
Retailing
Next: The fashion retailer said the hot weather in June had added an
estimated 2 per cent to 3 per cent to its sales of summer clothing, leaving
19 per cent less stock for the end-of-season sale, compared with a year ago.
Wm Morrison: The supermarket chain said it expected to report full-year
profits ahead of forecasts and added that sales growth in its most recent
trading quarter had extended its strong start to the 2009-10 financial year.
JJB Sports: Sir David Jones, the embattled executive chairman of the
retail group, was embroiled in difficult talks about company business with
Mike Ashley, his rival at Sports Direct, at a time when his secret £1.5
million personal loan from Mr Ashley was overdue and could have been called
in.
Support
services
Speedy Hire: The London-listed tool hire specialist unveiled plans for
expansion with a deal to provide Al Futtaim Carillion, the Carillion
construction group’s Middle Eastern joint venture, with equipment, asset
management and support services.
Vasanta: The Sheffield-based office products group has completed a
refinancing that has cut its bank borrowings to £50 million, from £200
million, and gives it an additional £30 million in working capital. Endless,
the private equity group, now owns 71 per cent of the group, with the
remaining 29 per cent owned by Vasanta’s bank lending syndicate.
Technology
Chinese websites: Several Chinese internet sites and parts of popular
web portals have gone offline amid tightening controls that have already
left mainland web users without access to Facebook, Twitter and other social
networking sites. Digu and Zuosa, two Chinese websites similar to Twitter,
have both been shut down for “maintenance”, according to notices on their
home pages.
United Technologies: The American conglomerate said that second-quarter
profits had fallen by 24 per cent to $976 million (£592.9 million), compared
with £1.28 billion a year ago.
Intel: The American computer chip maker said that it will be cutting
294 jobs at a unit in Ireland as the product it was making has suffered a
fall in demand.
Yahoo!: The US internet search engine reported net profits up by 8 per
cent to $141 million in the three months to June 30, its first profit
increase in five quarters. But revenue was down by 13 per cent to $1.57
billion as companies cut back on their budgets for online advertising.
Telecoms
Daisy Communications: The telecoms business has been launched on the
stock market with a £200 million flotation. This was achieved through a
reverse takeover by Freedom4 — part of the former Pipex telecoms group —
which has now changed its name to Daisy Group.
Transport
Ryanair: The budget airline said that it will be cutting the number of
planes that it flies out from Stansted airport, Essex, in protest about
“unfair” passenger taxes and airport charges.
Continental Airlines: The US carrier said it will cut 1,700 jobs and
raise fees for checking luggage after reporting a second-quarter loss of
$213 million (£129.4 million), against a $5 million loss a year ago.
Utilities
Severn Trent: The utility group said that demand for water has
continued to fall during the early months of its financial year and this
would hit revenues by up to £20 million. It added that trading between April
1 and July 21 had been in line with expectations.
Your Comments
Order By: