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Economics
Economic outlook: Britain faces the risk of anaemic economic growth as
it comes out of recession, Paul Tucker, Deputy Governor of the Bank of
England, said.
Retail sales: Official data showed that retail sales remained unchanged
in September for the second consecutive month, confounding expectations for
a rise of 0.5 per cent. This took the annual increase in sales to 2.4 per
cent, below analysts’ forecasts for 2.8 per cent.
Lending: The flow of lending to British businesses improved in August
but companies still repaid more than they borrowed, figures from the Bank of
England showed. The Bank’s monthly Trends in Lending report
also showed a stabilisation in mortgage approvals by banks in September,
with the level holding steady at 56,000.
French confidence: Official data showed that French business confidence
rose to 89 in October, from 86 in September, the highest level in a year.
Analysts had been expecting a reading of 87.
US unemployment: Official figures showed that in the week to October
17, new claims for US unemployment benefits rose by 2.1 per cent to 531,000,
from the previous week’s revised figure of 520,000. It was the first rise in
three weeks and higher than the 515,000 forecast by economists.
US house prices: The Federal Housing Agency showed that US house prices
slid by 0.3 per cent in August, after rising for three consecutive months.
Chinese economy: Official figures showed that economic growth in China
had risen to an annual rate of 8.9 per cent during the third quarter, up
from 7.9 per cent in the April-June period.
Banking
&
finance
Aviva: The inusrance group said that it aims to double operating
profits at its growing continental division, from £347 million in 2007 to
about £700 million by 2012. It also said that its European operations would
be consolidated under a single holding company based in Ireland.
Zurich Insurance: The UK arm of the Swiss insurer has admitted that it
had lost a data tape containing the confidential personal details of 51,000
of its British customers.
Bank of New York Mellon: The American group said that it will restart
lending to Russian state banks after Moscow dropped a $22.5 billion (£13.5
billion) lawsuit. The bank said that it would provide an initial $400
million to unspecified Russian state banks in a renewable loan facility that
would total $4 billion over five years.
BNP Paribas: The French bank said that its €4.3 billion (£3.9 billion)
rights issue has been subscribed by 2.5 times. The capital raising is part
of its move to reimburse the French state early on a capital advance of €5.1
billion.
Credit Suisse: The Swiss bank reported third-quarter profits of
SwFr2.35 billion (£1.44 billion), compared with the loss of SwFr1.26 billion
a year ago and exceeding analysts’ expectations.
Construction
&
property
Cushman & Wakefield: The property auctioneer is selling a luxury
hotel and residential development site on the Strand in Central London,
which has gone into administration, for £110 million. Urvasco, the Spanish
developer, had mothballed the site which will require an estimated £90
million of additional funding to complete.
Commercial property: The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said
that the majority of commercial property surveyors are reporting rising
inquiries and lettings activity for the first time in more than two years,
with London leading the way.
Consumer
goods
Nestlé: The Swiss food maker said that its nine-month sales had
fallen by 2.2 per cent to SwFr79.5 billion (£47.5 billion), because of the
recession and also because of a strong Swiss franc.
Cadbury: Investors in the confectionery company have started to put a
price on a deal with Kraft, the US food group, with one shareholder saying
that it would consider backing a merger at 820p a share. The informal bid
from Kraft values Cadbury at about 730p per share.
Hershey: The American chocolate group reported third-quarter profits of
$162 million (£97.6 million), from $124.5 million a year ago, as price
increases and cost cuts helped to offset cocoa costs.
Kimberly Clark: The US maker of paper-based consumer products reported
second-quarter profits up by 41 per cent to $582 million, compares with $413
million a year ago. Lower prices for raw materials such as wood pulp and
plastic helped to offset a 2 per cent revenue decline to $4.91 billion.
Philip Morris International: The US cigarette maker which sells
Marlboros, L&M, Parliament and Virginia Slims overseas reported
third-quarter profits down by nearly 14 per cent to $1.79 billion, from
$2.08 billion a year ago.
Pernod Ricard: The French drinks group met forecasts with a 4 per cent
drop in underlying first-quarter sales as growth in emerging markets partly
offset a slump in developed markets. The performance from the maker of
Absolut vodka and Chivas Regal whisky compared favourably with the 6 per
cent decline reported by Diageo, its bigger rival.
Alcohol: The Scottish National Party faced pressure to drop its
flagship plans for minimum pricing on alcohol after the European Court ruled
that similar policies on tobacco in Austria, France and Ireland were
illegal.
Engineering
Raytheon: The US defence group reported third-quarter profits up by 15
per cent to $490 million (£295.3 million), from $427 million a year ago.
Earnings from continuing operations rose to $499 million, from $437 million,
thanks to demand from foreign governments for its Patriot missiles and its
soldier training programmes.
Health
Novartis: The Swiss drugs maker reported a 1 per cent increase in
third-quarter net profits to $2.1 billion, from $2 billion a year ago. Net
sales were $11.1 billion, up by 3 per cent from a year ago, helped by its
new Afinitor kidney cancer treatment. Novartis also raised its full-year
outlook after the approval of its swine flu vaccines.
Industrials
International Paper: The American maker of cardboard box materials,
said that it is cutting 1,600 positions — nearly 3 per cent of its workforce
— as it brings capacity into line with sharply diminished demand.
Dow Chemical: The US group reported third-quarter profits of $711
million (£428.4 million), from $428 million a year ago, thanks to
cost-cutting and the sale of assets. Revenues fell by 22 per cent from $15.4
billion to $12 billion.
Air Liquide: The French industrial gases group said that demand was
recovering, despite an 8 per cent sales downturn in the third quarter.
Tighter cost control had saved the group €230 million (£207.9 million) and
it expects to match last year’s net profits.
Leisure
Luminar: The embattled nightclub operator reported a near- halving in
underlying interim pre-tax profits to £4.9 million and said that
like-for-like sales in the past seven weeks had slid by 14 per cent.
LA Fitness: The gym chain, backed by private equity, is investing £30
million in a revamp of its 83 clubs initiated by Martin Long, its chief
executive.
Regent Inns: Administrators to the bar operator have appointed Christie &
Co, the property agent, to find buyers for nine closed sites, including
three Walkabouts, five Jongleurs comedy clubs and a Quincey’s restaurant in
Bristol.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide: The American group reported
third-quarter profits down by 64 per cent to $41 million (£24.7 million),
from $113 million a year ago.
McDonald’s: The US burger chain reported third-quarter net income
of $1.26 billion, from $1.19 billion a year ago, beating analysts’
estimates.
Tenanted pubs: The Office of Fair Trading has rejected the
super-complaint from the Campaign for Real Ale about the supply of beer to
tenanted and leased pubs, claiming that it had found no evidence that the
beer tie was causing higher prices or restricting for consumers.
Media
Vivendi Universal: Jean-Marie Messier, former chief executive the
French media group, has been sent for trial in France on charges of share
manipulation.
New York Times Company: The owner of the daily newspaper reported a
third-quarter loss of $35.6 million (£21.4 million), when advertising
slumped by 30 per cent. Group revenue was down by 17 per cent to $570.6
million.
Havas: The French advertising group reported a 9.3 per cent fall in
like-for-like third-quarter sales, worse than the 5.5 per cent decline
predicted by analysts. Total revenues were €326 million, compared with €362
million a year ago.
Natural
resources
BHP Billiton: The Anglo-Australian mining group said that China, which
had been resisting a $116 billion (£70 billion) iron ore joint venture
between BHP and its rival Rio Tinto, needed to forget its hostility.
BP: The oil group is considering a bid for Ghana National Petroleum
about a possible joint bid for a stake in the Jubilee deepwater field
offshore Ghana, which reportedly contains up to 1.8 billion barrels of oil.
Anglo American: The mining group said that it plans to cut more than
2,700 white-collar jobs and hopes to raise about $10 billion by selling
assets.
Retailing
Sports Direct International: The London-listed sporting goods retailer,
based in Derbyshire, said that trading remains in line with forecasts and it
forecast annual earnings of £150 million. It added that it expected to
reduce its net debt to below £400 million.
Support
services
Smiths News: The London-listed newspaper and magazine wholesaler, based
in Swindon, reported full-year underlying pre-tax profits of £30.5 million,
from £32.5 million a year ago. It said that it had made a good start to the
new financial year and had seen a slight improvement in sales trends.
Stepstone: The online recruitment group, based in Guildford, said that
current sales forecasts indicated that its business was set to show some
quarter-on-quarter revenue growth in 2010.
Technology
Nokia: The Finnish telecoms equipment maker has filed a lawsuit against
Apple after accusing the US company of infringing on ten of its technology
patents since it launched the iPhone in Europe in 2007.
Ericsson: The Swedish telecoms equipment maker blamed the recession for
a 71.5 per cent fall in third-quarter net profits to SKr810 million (£71.2
million), compared with SKr2.84 billion a year ago. Sales fell by 5.6 per
cent. The company pointed to weakness in emerging markets but declined to
provide a fourth-quarter outlook.
Xerox: The American printing and office equipment group reported
third-quarter profits of $123 million (£74.1 million), a drop of 52 per cent
from the $258 million reported a year ago. It added that sales had fallen by
16 per cent to $3.68 billion.
Telecoms
3 UK: Kevin Russell, chief executive of the mobile phone group, has
said he hopes to be selling Apple’s iPhone on his network next year is wary
about treating the handset as a “holy grail” that is central to its growth
strategy.
Colt Telecom: The London-listed corporate telecoms group has recorded a
fall of nearly 5 per cent in its third-quarter revenue to €400 million
(361.6 million) as growth proved difficult to achieve hard during the
downturn. However, earnings rose by 3.7 per cent.
Transport
Iberia: The Spanish carrier said that it is planning to create a new
airline that will handle short and medium haul flights. It has also approved
a strategic plan which targets additional cost cuts of €37 million (£33.4
million) a year over the next two years.
National Express: The struggling London-listed transport group, based
in Birmingham, has issued a profit warning as the deadline for its decision
on whether to allow Stagecoach, its rival, to have access to its books
approaches.
Utilities
Suez Environnement: The French utility is to take control of Agbar,
based in Barcelona, to become the leading player in Spain’s water sector and
also the owner of Bristol Water in Britain in a deal that values Agbar at €3
billion (£2.7 billion).
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