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Economics
World Economic Forum: Britain has toppled the United States from its
position as the world’s leading financial centre, according to the latest
league table from the World Economic Forum, but the gloss was tarnished as
the UK scored worse than Nigeria, Panama and Bangladesh for financial
stability.
Interest rates: The Bank of England kept its key interest rate at 0.5
per cent at its latest meeting yesterday. The funds available for
quantitative easing remained at £175 billion.
Eurozone interest rates: The European Central Bank kept its key
interest rate at 1 per cent at its latest meeting yesterday. The ECB also
kept its overnight deposit rate, which acts as a floor for money markets, at
0.25 per cent and left its marginal lending rate at 1.75 per cent.
French business confidence: Government stimulus funds pushed up the
Bank of France’s Business Sentiment Indicator for manufacturing to a
15-month high of 92 in September, compared with 89 in August.
US unemployment: Official figures showed that the number of Americans
filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell by 33,000 to 521,000 last
week, to the lowest level since January. The number of people making
continuing claims fell by 72,000 to 6,040,000 in the week to September 26 —
the most recent data available and the lowest number recorded since March
28.
US retail sales: American retailers reported a 1.1 per cent increase in
sales in September, the first rise since August last year.
Japanese economy: Official figures showed that Japan’s current account
surplus widened by 10.4 per cent to 1.171 trillion yen (£8.2 billion) in
August, compared with a year ago, as a rebound in global demand helped to
ease declines in exports.
Banking
&
finance
HSH Nordbank: The German bank has called in the City of London Police
to investigate suspicious transactions at its City branch. The bank is
concerned that it has been the victim of fraud.
Aegon: Thousands of retired people whose pension is with the insurance
group, may have funds worth 25 per cent less than they thought. A “system
error” meant Aegon failed to deduct tax-free lump sums from the balance of
the account. The error, which started in 2000 but has only just come to
light, affects about 7,000 people.
Dexia: The Franco-Belgian banking group, which was rescued by
governments last year, said that next month it would repay a bond worth
€227.8 million (£208.8 million), prompting European Union antitrust
regulators to warn banks receiving state aid that they must not use the
money to repay bonds if they are failing to generate sufficient profits to
do so.
Seymour Pierce: The London-based investment bank and stockbroker has
been fined £154,000 by the Financial Services Authority for “failing to
guard against employee fraud”. The City regulator issued the penalty after
an employee was able to steal about £150,000 from the bank’s clients over
three years.
JPMorgan Chase: The US banking group has abandoned a plan to sell One
Chase Manhattan Plaza, its office tower in New York, because the bids it
received were unacceptable, according to reports. The address is among 23
properties that the bank has put up for sale
Lloyds Banking Group: Senior regulators are deciding whether to allow
the bank, which is 43 per cent owned by the taxpayer, to press ahead with a
rights issue for about £11 billion to escape the Government’s insurance
scheme for toxic assets.
Construction
&
property
Rok: The London-listed construction group said the construction sector
will not recover until late next year, not helped by an anticipated drop in
public sector spending on schools, roads and hospitals.
British Land: Three top executives are to leave the group to set up
their own property investment vehicle — viewed as a blow to the real estate
investment trust.
Consumer
goods
C&C Group: The Irish group behind Magners cider and Tennent’s lager
said that it had continued to lose market share in the British cider market
over the past 12 months, although in June and July Magners volumes had
returned to growth for the first time since May 2007.
Heineken: The Dutch brewer said that Hartwall, its Finnish subsidiary,
would be closing the Tornio brewery, with the loss of 100 jobs, while a
sales restructuring would mean a further 30 job losses. It added that it
will consolidate production at its other brewery in Lahti.
Hain Celestial: Chi-Med, the China-focused healthcare company, has
announced a joint venture with Hain, the US organic food group, to
distribute organic baby food in China.
Christian Lacroix: Hassan bin Ali al-Nuaimi, a nephew of the ruler of
Ajman, part of the United Arab Emirates, has submitted an offer for the
French fashion house. Under the proposed deal, the designer behind the
loss-making brand would become a minority shareholder in the company. A
French court is due to decide on the future of the fashion house by the end
of the month.
PepsiCo: The American soft drinks group reported weaker than expected
quarterly revenue, hurt by falling soft drink sales in North America, and
said that it did not expect a revival of consumer spending next year,
sending its shares down.
Engineering
Elektron: The engineering group, based in Essex, reported half-year
pre-tax losses of £388,000 and said that it had seen “some of the most
challenging conditions that the group has faced for many years”.
Health
Generic drugs inquiry: Two more drugs makers, Ranbaxy of India and
Ratiopharm of Germany, have added their names to the list of companies who
have been raided as part of an inquiry by European antitrust regulators
focused on deals to delay the market entry of cheap generic drugs.
GlaxoSmithKline: The London-listed pharmaceuticals group has reportedly
emerged as a frontrunner to buy a small stake in Dr Reddy’s Laboratories,
India’s second largest drugs maker.
Industrials
Salzgitter: The German steel maker said that the embattled steel sector
will not recover to its pre-recession levels until 2012. The global steel
sector, in free fall since the end of 2008, has enjoyed a slight bounce in
recent months because of demand from China, raising hopes that the sector
could rebound. But Salzgitter said that clients were restocking and this
would not push prices up.
Leisure
InterContinental Hotels Group: The Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza
operator has signed two new Hotel Indigo franchises in Glasgow and
Liverpool. The first British Indigo opened in Paddington, West London, in
January.
Ladbrokes: The bookmaker confirmed plans to raise £275 million through
a heavily discounted rights issue as it revealed that net revenue fell by 15
per cent in the third quarter because of an unprecedented low number of
draws in top football matches.
Praesepe: The AIM-listed amusement arcade operator announced the
acquisition of 13 gaming centres in southwest England and South Wales for
£6.3 million, taking its total number of units to 54.
Peel Hotels: The regional hotel operator scrapped its interim dividend
but said that if the improvement in trading in recent months was sustained,
it hoped to recommend a final dividend.
Carluccio’s: The Italian deli- dining chain said that despite
challenging trading conditions and the need to write down the value of two
stores it had achieved turnover growth of 8 per cent in the past year and
expected underlying pre-tax profits to be slightly ahead of expectations.
Rank Group: The casino and bingo club operator reported a positive
trading performance in the 14 weeks to October 4, with flat like-for-like
sales, prompting renewed speculation that one of its two big Far Eastern
shareholders — Hong Leong and Genting — could launch a bid.
Ticketmaster: The Competition Commission has blocked a proposed merger
between the ticket broker and Live Nation, the UK’s biggest concert promoter
and venue owner, that would have dominated Britain’s music entertainment
market.
Premium Bars & Restaurants: The company behind Living Room, the bar
chain, looks set to be rescued from administration by Orchid Group, which
has itself only recently emerged from administration.
Media
BBC: Licence-fee payers’ money was at risk of being wasted when the BBC
paid more than £1 million for the rights to broadcast FA Cup matches on
Radio 5 Live, the Corporation’s regulator said.
Natural
resources
BP: The oil and gas company and China’s CNPC have signed a deal with
Iraq’s Oil Ministry to develop its Rumaila oilfield, a key step in Iraq’s
efforts to rebuild its struggling oil sector.
Powerfuel: The “clean coal” power plant at Hatfield colliery, near
Doncaster, is in pole position to collect £165 million in funding from the
European Commission.
Retailing
Footfall: The number of shoppers entering non-food stores held up well
during September, according to Synovate Retail Performance’s Retail Traffic
Index. Footfall rose by 0.1 per cent last month, against the same period
last year, but third-quarter overall footfall was down by 0.3 per cent
year-on-year.
Marks & Spencer: : The high street chain has been knocked from its
position as Britain’s biggest fashion retailer to third in the market
measured by volume of clothes sold, behind George at Asda and Primark.
Support
services
Hays: The London-listed recruitment company reported a 3 per cent drop
in like-for-like net fees — with a 41 per cent decline in the UK and Ireland
— but said that some markets were stabilising.
Begbies Traynor: The insolvency firm, based in Manchester, announced a
tie-up with Mesirow Financial Consulting, the US financial adviser, to
provide services to distressed multinational groups.
Bglobal: The energy meter company, based in Lancashire, which installs
and operates smart meters, said that it had signed a deal with Gazprom, the
Russian energy group, to supply its latest generation of electricity meters
to Gazprom’s UK business customers.
Accenture: The management consultancy group, which is locked in a £220
million legal battle with British Gas over a faulty billing system, is to
advise the Government on “smart grid” technology intended to improve the
efficiency of the UK power network.
Lovells: The City law firm is in merger talks with Hogan & Hartson,
a leading American group, which could create a firm with $1.8 billion (£1.1
billion) in revenue and 2,500 lawyers.
Technology
Google: The US internet search group has issued a software application
that allows computer users to run its Chrome browser inside Microsoft’s
Internet Explorer browser, effectively poaching the software company’s
customers.
Telecoms
Carphone Warehouse: The broadband provider and mobile phone retailer
has renegotiated the £236 million price that it agreed to pay for Tiscali
UK, after accusing the Italian company of overstating its customer base.
Tiscali UK was thought to have 1.4 million customers when the sale was
agreed. Carphone Warehouse said that the company, which it bought in May,
had 160,000 fewer customers than it had been advised.
Transport
Ryanair: The low-cost airline has criticised the management of Aer
Lingus about the Irish carrier’s 670 planned job cuts and demanded that the
Government explains why it rejected Ryanair’s €750 million (£688.8 million)
buy-out offer, which had included a commitment to double the short-haul
fleet. Ryanair, which has a 29 per cent stake in Aer Lingus, claimed that it
could have created 1,000 jobs at the carrier while reducing fares and
securing its brand, Heathrow slots and connectivity.
Utilities
National Grid: The energy group said that 50,000 of its customers in
the north-east of the United States will receive a “home energy report”
comparing their consumption with that of their neighbours. The company,
which does half its business in the United States, distributing energy to
3.4 million homes, hopes to persuade the American public to curb their use
of electricity-hungry appliances such as air conditioning units and tumble
dryers.
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