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Economics
Inflation: The latest consumer prices index reading, due out tomorrow,
is expected to show that prices rose by 1.4 per cent in October, the first
rise since February. The retail prices index for the same period is forecast
to have decreased by 0.9 per cent.
Quantitative easing: Minutes of the latest meeting of the Bank of
England’s Monetary Policy Committee, due tomorrow, will be scrutinised to
see which members had supported the £25 billion rise in quantitative easing
and who had proposed a different figure.
High street sales: The latest retail figures, due out on Thursday, are
forecast to show that high street sales fell by 0.5 per cent during October,
after remaining flat in September.
The economy: The latest data on Britain’s ailing public finances, due
out on Thursday, are expected to show net borrowing of £7 billion in
October.
Eurozone inflation: The final release of the eurozone consumer prices
index for October, due out today, is expected to be unrevised from the
earlier flash estimate of a 0.1 per cent decline year-on-year.
German inflation: Germany’s producer prices index for October, due out
on Friday, is forecast to show a 0.1 per cent increase, after a 0.5 per cent
decline in September.
US retail sales: Official data for US retail sales figures for October,
due out today, are expected to show a 0.9 per cent rise, after a decline of
1.5 per cent during September.
US manufacturing: The Empire State Manufacturing Survey, which assesses
American business conditions and confidence, due out today, is expected to
show an index reading of 30 for November, from 34.6 in October.
US industrial production: Analysts are forecasting that the US
industrial production index, due out tomorrow, will show a rise of 0.4 per
cent during October, down from a 0.7 per cent increase in September.
Japanese economy: Official data on Japan’s gross domestic product, due
today, are expected to show that output rose by 0.7 per cent in the third
quarter.
Banking
&
finance
Royal Bank of Scotland: The part-nationalised bank has been accused of
acting against the best interests of the UK economy by backing foreign
takeover bids and dodging its commitments on lending. A coalition of unions
and MPs said that a £630 million RBS loan facility to Kraft, the US food
group bidding to buy Cadbury, should be examined by ministers to prevent
taxpayer funds being used to undermine the independence of British
companies. (The Observer)
Cazenove: In 2004 JP Morgan, the US bank, paid £700 million for 50 per
cent of the Queen’s stockbroker. Despite the financial crisis, Cazenove’s
value has surged and the price tag for the remaining half is set to be close
to £1 billion. A deal to bring the joint venture — known as JP Morgan
Cazenove — fully within the JP Morgan fold is expected in the next few
weeks. The US bank may pay about 500p to 525p a share.
Investment Management Association: The latest figures from the trade
body for fund managers show that in September private investors bought a net
£2.7 billion of funds, the sixth consecutive month in which purchases have
topped the £2 billion mark.
British Chambers of Commerce: The industry body reported that about 33
per cent of businesses have said that it has become more difficult to secure
credit in the past three months, compared with 20 per cent in June.
Pearl Group: Ron Sandler, chairman of Northern Rock, has received a
share award worth £2.3 million from Pearl Group, the life assurance fund
which he also chairs. Mr Sandler will receive 300,000 shares in the company,
on top of his £450,000 salary. The shares will be more valuable if a planned
primary London listing, in which Mr Sandler is to play a key role, is
successful.
Construction
&
property
Kenmore Property Group: The Edinburgh-based developer, which collapsed
into administration owing Lloyds Banking Group £700 million, was not tipped
over the edge by Lloyds, its principal lender, but by an overseas lender
understood to be HSH Nordbank, according to property sources. The German
bank is understood to have demanded immediate repayment of its estimated
£300 million of loans to Kenmore as it embarked on an emergency
restructuring of its balance sheet. (The Independent on Sunday)
CB Richard Ellis: Simon Halabi, the former tycoon, has made a move to
try to buy back his £1 billion property empire from the administrators. He
is understood to have met agents at CB Richard Ellis, the property
consultant advising on the sale of the portfolio. (The Sunday Times)
Invista: The property investor will raise close to £60 million to pay
off debt and renegotiate its existing facilities, in the first
capital-raising of its type from the continental European investment-trust
sector since the global economic downturn began.
Consumer
goods
Cadbury: Unite, the union which represents workers at the confectioner,
has written to Kraft, the American food company, demanding more details
about its plans for Cadbury if its £9.8 billion bid is successful. Page 43 Gü:
Noble Foods, Britain’s biggest egg producer, is believed to be in exclusive
negotiations to acquire Gü, the upmarket pudding maker, in a deal worth up
to £35 million. Cavendish Corporate Finance, which is handling the sale,
confirmed that it had received offers from more than a dozen trade and
financial buyers, but would not be drawn on the lead bidder’s identity. (The
Sunday Telegraph)
Engineering
Airbus: John James, a member of the Unite union, has been elected to a
four-year term as co-chairman of the European works council for the aircraft
manufacturer. Of a pan-European Airbus workforce of 55,000, 11,000 are in
the UK. The company has no UK investor since BAE Systems sold its 20 per
cent stake three years ago. (The Independent on Sunday)
Boeing: The long-awaited first test flight of the Dreamliner 787 is
still on track for the end of the year, two years after it was first
scheduled. About 70 orders for the improved fuel-efficiency aircraft have
been cancelled this year.
Rolls-Royce: The London-listed aero-engine maker has landed a $1.5
billion (£900 million) contract with Air China to supply engines to 20 of
its Airbus aircraft in a ten-year deal. Separately, Rolls-Royce has also won
a $480 million deal to provide Ethiopian Airlines with engines for its new
Airbus A350 planes. (The Sunday Times)
Smith & Wesson: The American gunmaker, which was once owned by
Tomkins, the British conglomerate, expects sales to rise by 30 per cent to
$102 million in the first quarter of the next financial year, after
increasing by more than 13 per cent this year to $335 million.
Health
James Hull Associates: The founder and owner of the chain of high
street dentists has been forced to step down as chief executive after a
disagreement with investors over his expenses. It is thought that Mr Hull
stood down from the company that bears his name after shareholders
discovered that he had claimed £180,000 for the year. Sources close to the
business said that it stands to make £9 million of earnings this year. (The
Sunday Times)
Leisure
Admiral Taverns: Lloyds Banking Group has been forced to swallow a £600
million debt-for-equity swap at the pubs group. The deal, which could come
this week in the form of a pre-pack administration, will force Lloyds to
take control of Admiral, one of Britain’s largest pub groups, after it fell
behind on repayment of more than £1 billion in debts. (The Sunday
Times)
Jurys Inns: Barbara Cassani is to step down as chairman of the hotel
chain after less than two years. She was made executive chairman in April
2008 after Jurys was bought by Quinlan Private, the Irish investment group.
She will be replaced by Brian Collie, who is already on the hotel chain’s
board. (The Sunday Times)
Media
Independent News & Media: The board of the newspaper group won its
battle against Denis O’Brien, the activist investor, at an extraordinary
meeting in Dublin on Friday. More than 65 per cent of investors voted
against the resolution tabled by Mr O’Brien, which sought to revoke the
directors’ authority to issue new securities. (The Independent on
Sunday)
Pearson: The publisher of the Financial Times and owner of the
Penguin and Longman publishing businesses is preparing to rejoin the battle
for Santillana, the $1.4 billion (£838 million) Latin American textbook
publisher. Prisa, the Spanish media company, had agreed to sell 25 per cent
of Santillana to DLJ South American Partners, the private equity group, for
$362 million. That deal needs to be finalised by November 23, when a period
of exclusivity is due to expire. (The Sunday Times)
Virgin Media: The attempt by the cable company to sell its £160 million
wholly-owned television channels has stalled as it assesses whether it could
raise more cash by pursuing an alternative plan.
Natural
resources
Kea Petroleum: Ian Gowrie-Smith, who sold a gas explorer in the Papua
New Guinea jungle for 15 times its flotation value, is aiming to repeat the
trick with Kea Petroleum, a company drilling for hydrocarbons in New
Zealand’s North Island. He plans to float it on AIM no later than the end of
next March.
Gold: The world’s biggest gold miners say that global production is
likely to continue its long-term decline in coming years, although output
may rise next year. Gold recently hit an all-time high of $1,122.85 and is
increasingly popular with exchange-traded funds and investors made nervous
by the economic crisis.
Retailing
Woolworths: Richard North and Steve Johnson, former chairman and chief
executive of Woolworths Group, have broken their silence on the high street
retailer’s collapse to criticise Deloitte, the accountancy group, claiming
that Deloitte’s dual role as adviser to Woolworths’ banking syndicate and
administrator to the company when it collapsed last November had constituted
a potential conflict of interest. Deloitte vigorously rebutted the claims. (The
Sunday Telegraph)
Matalan: Advent International, the owner of Poundland, the budget
retailer, is considering a £1.5 billion bid for the budget fashion group.
Advent is expected to launch its offer this week, before a deadline set by
John Hargreaves, the founder and owner of Matalan, who put the Lancashire
company up for sale last month. (The Sunday Times)
Supergroup: The fashion retailer will enter the FTSE 250 next year with
a stock market listing valuing the business at about £400 million. The
company has hired Seymour Pierce to advise on the float, which is expected
in the first half of 2010. Supergroup has reported full-year like-for-like
sales up by 22 per cent and profits in the year to April 2010 are forecast
to be £25 million — more than double the £12.5 million generated in the 2009
financial year. (The Sunday Times)
J Sainsbury: TNS Worldpanel, the market researcher, said that the
supermarket group was losing customers to its rivals Tesco, Aldi, Wm
Morrison and Waitrose. In the 12 weeks to November, more than £11 million of
spending was switched directly to Sainsbury’s main rivals.
Transport
National Express: The management of the transport group and Jorge
Cosmen, its deputy chairman, are set for yet another confrontation, this
time over the terms that give the Spaniard the right to sit on the board.
National Express believes that Mr Cosmen needs to have a shareholding worth
at least 8 per cent of the company if he is to retain his seat on the board.
(The Independent on Sunday)
Flyglobespan: Scotland’s biggest airline is believed to have staved off
its collapse with a last-ditch cash injection that it received on Friday
evening but it is not known whether the additional money has managed to
secure the long-term future of the airline. Accounts published in March
showed that the carrier made a profit of £1.2 million for the year to the
end of 2008, compared with a loss of nearly £20 million in 2007. (The
Independent on Sunday)
Thameslink: The £5.5 billion Thameslink programme to upgrade one of
Britain’s busiest rail routes is facing £750 million worth of cutbacks in a
Treasury crackdown on costly infrastructure projects. According to rail
industry sources, the number of trains passing through London at peak times
could be cut from 24 services per hour under the original proposal to 20. (The
Observer)
British Airways: Staff at the carrier have been urged to contact
employment solicitors hired by the Unite union as new working practices at
the airline come into force today. More than 3,000 cabin crew will move to
part-time work and a further 1,000 will take voluntary redundancy.
Utilities
Ofwat: Water companies are threatening to go to the Competition
Commission to appeal against the proposals by the regulator, expected to be
confirmed soon, to force price cuts. Ofwat surprised the industry in July
with its plan to reduce the average customer’s annual water and waste bill
by £14 to £330, excluding inflation, by 2015. This was an average of about
12 per cent lower than the water companies had wanted. (The Mail on Sunday)
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