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Economics
Unemployment: Official figures showed that the unemployment rate rose
by 30,000 to 2.46 million in the three months to the end of September,
compared with the figures for the previous quarter.
Economic growth: The Bank of England has surprised analysts by raising
its forecasts for economic growth over the next two years, stating in its
latest Inflation Report that the weak pound and its £200 billion
quantitative easing scheme should help to restore confidence.
Mortgage lending: The Council of Mortgage Lenders reported that the
number of mortgages granted for house purchases rose by 2 per cent
month-on-month to 50,600 in September and were up by 43 per cent
year-on-year.
World economy: Confidence in the world economy dipped in November as
the actions of central banks to withdraw some of their stimulus measures
sparked concern about the strength of the recovery, according to the
Bloomberg Professional Global Confidence Index. This fell to 60.3 in
November, from 61.7 in October, the highest level in the series, which began
two years ago.
Banking
&
finance
Lloyds Banking Group: The lender, which is 43.4 per cent-owned by the
taxpayer, said that it may increase its capital-raising by £1.5 billion to
£22.5 billion because of an investor clamour to take up its offer to swap
debt into equity.
Pearl: The insurance group said that it wanted a secondary listing on
the London Stock Exchange as it moved to increase its shareholder base in
the UK. The former Liberty Acquisition Holdings — which bought Pearl Group
and assumed its name — is listed in Amsterdam at present.
Acquisitions: A report by Ernst & Young said that one third of
businesses around the world were likely or highly likely to acquire other
companies during the next 12 months. The survey said that 25 per cent of
companies expected to make an acquisition within the next six months.
Swiss banks: Swiss regulators have decided to scale back their plans to
curtail bankers’ bonuses, saying that their proposals would apply only to
the country’s 12 largest banks and insurers after complaints that the rules
would harm smaller companies.
American International Group: Robert Benmosche, the new chief executive
of the insurance company, has denied that he was planning to resign only
three months into the job. However, he is thought to be struggling under the
constraints imposed by the US Government, which owns 80 per cent of AIG.
Construction
&
property
Great Portland Estates: The London-listed property development group
has entered into a joint venture with Eurohypo, the German bank, to develop
two offices in the West End of London that it bought for £10 million from
Istithmar World, the Dubai group.
Crown Estate: The property portfolio has sold a share in Royal Mint
Court, the site of the former Royal Mint in London, to Delancey, the
property investment group, for £51 million.
Drivers Jonas: The commercial property consultancy said that the
development of commercial property in London was down by 48 per cent from
its peak two years ago.
Estate agents: One in four estate agents is not complying with trading
regulations, according to an investigation by the Office for Fair Trading
into homebuying and selling.
Unite: The London-listed student accommodation provider said that it
had sold Unite House in Bristol to M&G Secured Property Income Fund for
£21.5 million at a yield of 6.07 per cent in a sale and leaseback
arrangement.
Global Construction Perspectives: In a report on construction around
the world, the analyst group said that China was set to overtake the United
States as the world’s largest market by 2018, with a market share reaching
19.1 per cent of all construction.
Chester Properties: Aviva Investors, the asset management group, said
that it had cancelled the sale of its £800 million portfolio of properties
to the investment group and instead would sell some assets individually.
Consumer
goods
Cadbury: Credit Suisse increased its stake in the London-listed
confectionery group to 6.3 per cent, from 5.99 per cent, after it became the
subject of a bid by Kraft, the American food group.
Davide Campari: The Italian drinks company reported an increase of
nearly 15 per cent in profits to €133.7 million (£120.8 million) in the
first nine months of the year. Sales rose by 7.2 per cent to €696.5 million.
Campari said the existing business had returned to “positive organic growth”
in the third quarter, after it bought Wild Turkey bourbon this year.
Henkel: The German maker of Persil and Pritt Stick reported a
third-quarter net profit of €172 million, compared with €101 million a year
ago. The company added that it saw no sign yet that indicated an overall
economic recovery.
Engineering
Thales: The French defence electronics company reported third-quarter
sales that were lower than expected and issued a profit warning for the
second half because of struggling aerospace deals. Third-quarter revenues
fell by 2 per cent on a like-for-like basis to €2.6 billion (£2.3 billion).
New orders fell 12 per cent to €2.6 billion.
Health
Novo Nordisk: The Danish pharmaceuticals group said that Victoria, its
diabetes treatment, had reached the final decision stage at the US Food and
Drug Administration. The company said that it thought approval would be the
most likely outcome.
Industrials
Chemicals cartel: The European Commission has handed out fines
totalling €173 million (£156 million) to 24 companies involved in a cartel
to fix the price of chemicals used in the production of credit cards and
plastic bottles. The cartel, which ran for 13 years, included Elementis, the
London-listed chemicals group, which was fined £29.4 million.
Leisure
Real Hotel Group: The sell-off of the collapsed hotel company by
administrators from BDO has continued apace with the sale, through Edward
Symmons, of the 80-room Quality Hotel, Norwich, to GS Hotels, the East
Anglian-based operator, which plans to invest £750,000 in the property.
Marriott International: The American hotel group said that it had
launched a franchised brand called the Autograph Collection aimed at
independent hotels keen to access the group’s powerful reservations,
marketing and customer rewards systems. It aims to have at least 25
franchisees by the end of next year.
Hotels: Confidence among UK hotel managers is at its highest this year,
with 50 per cent of those surveyed by TRI Hospitality Consulating declaring
themselves to be more optimistic than they were three months ago.
Hilton Worldwide: The American hotel operator has signed a contract to
run its first Doubletree hotel in Romania, set to open in Oradea in
September 2010.
Camelot: Sir Richard Branson is understood to have teamed up with the
People’s Postcode Lottery, the Dutch group that runs charity lotteries, and
an unnamed investment fund to bid for control of Camelot, the National
Lottery operator.
London Clubs International: The casino operator will on Monday appoint
administrators to Fifty, the high-roller casino and private members’ club in
London, after the collapse of attempts to find a buyer for the business. It
has been run under a joint venture with Robert Earl, the Planet Hollywood
entrepreneur.
Media
Reed Elsevier: Ian Smith, chief executive of the Anglo-Dutch business
publisher, has resigned by mutual agreement with the board after eight
months in the job. He is being replaced with immediate effect by Erik
Engstrom, chief executive of Elsevier, the Dutch division of the company. Mr
Smith has walked away with a £1.1 million payoff. His tenure was one of the
shortest for a FTSE 100 chief executive.
Guardian Media Group: The newspaper publisher said that it would shed
“more than 100 jobs” as the loss-making Guardian and Observer
newspapers seek to trim losses that last year ballooned to £61 million.
Natural
resources
Gold: The price of gold hit a record of $1,118.35 an ounce in spot
trading as the dollar index slid to a 15-month low, underlining the metal’s
appeal as an alternative investment. The London bullion market closed at a
record $1,114.15.
Tullow Oil: The London-listed oil and gas explorer said the business
had continued to perform strongly since July and that it had had a
year-to-date exploration success rate of 85 per cent after “material”
exploration finds in Uganda, Ghana and Sierra Leone.
Retailing
Macy’s: The US department store company reported a third-quarter
net loss of $35 million (£21 million), from a loss of $44 million a year
ago, and raised its full-year earnings outlook.
J Sainsbury: The supermarket group said that it hoped to double the
customer base of its larger stores within five years by expanding its
non-food range and opening stores in parts of the country where it has few
outlets.
Support
services
John Menzies: The newspaper distribution group, based in Edinburgh,
said that it expected its full-year results to be above market expectations,
despite continued challenges in its markets.
Balfour Beatty: The construction and engineering services group
reported a “strong performance” in a difficult market this year, but said
that it was still experiencing payment difficulties for work completed in
Dubai.
Wilmington: The London-listed specialist information and training
company, which also publishes the Solictors Journal, said that its
trading conditions had remained “depressed” since July.
Technology
Infineon Technologies: The German group said that it had been selected
by the Chinese Government as its supplier of security chip technology for
new electronic passports.
Fujitsu: Plans for a strike at the British unit of the Japanese IT
group have been delayed to allow further talks to be held to resolve a
dispute over pay and pensions.
Logitech: The Swiss maker of computer peripherals has paid $405 million
(£244.3 million) to acquire LifeSize Communications, a US video conferencing
group.
Motorola: The US handset maker has decided to sell its set-top box and
network equipment division, according to American reports, a move that could
raise $4.5 billion.
Micro Focus: Shares in the London-listed software company, based in
Berkshire, rose after it lifted expectations for the performance of its
recently acquired divisions in the United States. It has doubled its
operating margin estimate for the year to 30 per cent.
Telecoms
BT: Ofcom, the regulator, is to investigate the pension costs of the
telecoms group to see whether BT should take them into account when billing
rivals for using its network.
Transport
Emirates: The Dubai airline said that it may buy more aircraft as
delays in the delivery of the Airbus A380 superjumbos, which it has ordered
for mid-2010, will hit its route expansion plan.
Cathay Pacific: A Hong Kong court ruled that the airline had unfairly
dismissed 18 pilots in a labour dispute in 2001 and ordered it to pay the
former employees nearly $8 million (£4.8 million).
National Express: The troubled transport group has confirmed that it is
to launch a rights issue, setting the figure at £360 million, as it was
revealed that its search for a new chief executive is to be stepped up.
Utilities
International Power: The London-listed energy producer reported a
better than expected performance in Europe and Australia and said that it
expected earnings per share for 2009 to be broadly in line with last year.
Bristol Water: The utility, which supplies more than 1.1 million people
and businesses around the city, said half-year pre-tax profits had risen by
47 per cent to £14.7 million, helped by lower interest payments on its
inflation-linked debt.
Scottish & Southern Energy: The utility, which supplies gas and
electricity to nine million customers, reported a 36 per cent rise in
half-year profits to £410 million, from nearly £303 million a year ago.
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