Monday, April 30, 0730 BST
Gas
Just when you thought the pressure was off ... industrialists are in fear of
an energy shortage that could send prices soaring because the Government is
failing to set out ways to boost storage capacity, reports The Times.
More on gas here
Business had hoped that a White Paper, due on May 17, would set out a package
of measures to stimulate the building of extra storage facilities. But it is
thought that ministers at the Department of Trade and Industry have not
decided what market mechanisms should be used.
The newspaper says that the failure leaves Britain’s energy policy looking
threadbare. Already this year Greenpeace has successfully challenged the
Government over failing to consult on plans for new nuclear power stations.
Those “stupid” analysts
Sir Nigel Rudd has rounded on retail analysts, describing them as “stupid” for
failing to see the value in the merged Alliance Boots, says the Financial
Times.
More here
The chairman of Alliance Boots, who this month oversaw the sale of Boots to
private equity, hit out at City analysts for failing to get to grips with
the combination of the Boots retail and Alliance Unichem wholesale drug
businesses.
“When I did the Alliance Boots deal, everyone hated it. The greatest pleasure
out of all of this has been the analysts,” says Sir Nigel. “I actually love
that. They are so stupid most of them ... they are very bright or stupid.
What I saw in Boots was a pharmacy ... and what was more logical than
merging with a chemist. And they didn’t get it.”
The man must have been simmering for some time. But who’s job was it to get
through to them?
But you promised!
ABN Amro has been threatened with a $220 billion (£110 billion) lawsuit —
equivalent to the gross domestic product of Greece — if it reneges on a deal
to sell its LaSalle offshoot to Bank of America (BoA).
More on ABN Amro here
The Times says BoA has told ABN that it will seek damages of this scale
if for any non-regulatory reason the deal falls through.
The sum is twice ABN’s entire market value and ten times the $21 billion
LaSalle price tag. The newspaper says that, even by the standards of the
highly litigious United States, the claim — including punitive damages —
would be among the biggest corporate compensation claims.
The Wall Street Journal reports that a Dutch commercial court is to
decide on Thursday whether to freeze the sale – just a day before it is
scheduled to go unconditional. How long before they make this into a film?
More here
Pensioned off
Gordon Brown's raid on Britain's pension schemes has cost the country's 200
biggest pension schemes £20 billion, according to The Daily Telegraph.
More here
The newspaper says that research from Aon Consulting lays bare the effect of
the Chancellor's 1997 removal of pension schemes' ability to reclaim
Advanced Corporation Tax on dividends.
Aon says that the 1997 pension fund tax raid has forced most of the 200
biggest company schemes in the country into total deficits of £14 billion.
If ACT relief had been maintained, the funds’ assets would exceed their
liabilities by a total of £6 billion, with two in five top schemes in
surplus.
Perhaps at the next election a twist on the Blair “demon eyes” poster. How
about a “Brown the burglar” mask?
P&O refloat?
The owner of the British ferries and ports business has hired Deutsche Bank
and Shuaa Capital, a Dubai investment house, to consider a partial float or
refinancing. A decision is expected by the autumn, reports The Times.
More on P&O here
DP World, owned by the Dubai Government, would seek to raise about £1 billion
from a partial float. Dubai would retain control of the group, selling a
minority stake.
The company bought P&O for £3.9 billion in February last year. Spooked by
volatile market conditions, it shelved plans for a London float later in the
year in which it would have sold 20 per cent of the group.
Underdog beefs up
Grant Thornton is to take over its smaller rival RSM Robson Rhodes in a deal
designed to confront directly Britain's Big Four audit specialists.
More on Grant Thornton here
The Independent says that the takeover, scheduled for completion in the
summer, will create the UK's fifth-biggest accountancy firm, with more than
300 partners and fee income of about £375 million a year.
While that would still leave Grant Thornton at only half the size of the
smallest Big Four firm, Ernst & Young, the firm claims that it will be
able to challenge its larger rivals' dominance of the audit and advisory
market.
Regulators have repeatedly expressed concern that just four accountancy firms
are responsible for the audit work of 98 per cent of Britain's 350 biggest
companies.
Inflation
One further increase in interest rates should be enough for the Bank of
England to bring inflation back to its 2 per cent target, Britain’s leading
economics institute says.
More on inflation here
The Times reports speculation has intensified that base rates could
rise at least twice more by the summer ever since a jump in inflation in
March above 3 per cent. But the National Institute of Economic and Social
Research says that one more quarter-point increase, widely expected next
week, would be enough to get inflation back in check.
Separately, economists are questioning the Bank’s inflation-targeting policy,
saying it isn't broad enough to tackle bubbles in assets such as property.
State your case, Ben Bernanke: he’s considering adopting such a policy at
the Fed.
More
here
MARKETS
FTSE 100 (Friday close): down 50.70, or 0.8%, at 6,418.70
Dow (close): up 15.44, or 0.1%, at 13,120.94
Nasdaq (close): up 2.75, or 0.1%, at 2,557.21
S&P 500 (close): down 0.18, or 0.01%, at 1,494.07
Nikkei: closed
Hang Seng (latest): down 267.69, or 1.3%, at 20,258.81
Sterling (latest): $1.996
Oil (latest): West Texas crude down 13 cents at $66.33
Gold (latest): up $1.20 at $683.00
ASIA
Stocks fell to a one-week low on concerns that growth will slow in the United
States and China.
Taiwan Semiconductor, the biggest maker of customised computer chips,
slid after a report released on Friday showed that the US economy expanded
last quarter at the slowest pace in four years.
China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile-phone operator by market
value, fell for a fourth consecutive day as China ordered banks to set aside
more money as reserves for the seventh time in 11 months to prevent the
economy from overheating.
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific excluding Japan Index
was down 0.2 per cent to 429.17 in intraday trading. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
Index had lost 1.3 per cent and Taiwan's Taiex index was 1.3 per cent lower.
Japan's markets were closed for a public holiday.
Paul Larter
paul.larter@thetimes.co.uk
AGENDA
INTERIMS
CONNAUGHT
DISCOVER LEISURE
JUST RETIREMENT
NOBLE INVESTMENTS
THOMSON INTERMEDIA
FINALS
888 HLDGS
DANA PETROLEUM
THOMSON INTERMEDIA
WATERMARK
DESIGNER VISION
DIAMOND LIFESTYLE HOLDINGS
LAMBERTH HOWARTH
SPEYMILL GROUP
SURGICAL INNOVATIONS GROUP
PIXOLOGY
DANA PETROLEUM
AGMs
ARENA LEISURE
FILTRONA
GYRUS
WITAN IT
QUEST CAPITAL
RED SQUARED
ALPHA PYRENEES
TRADING STATEMENT
ASOS
KAZAKHMYS
Keep up with news and comment throughout the day on http://business.timesonline.co.uk/
Catch up with Top stories and analysis each day with The Note - from noon.
http://briefing.timesonline.co.uk/tol/nn27042007.pdf
