Economics
House prices fell in February for the fifth month in a row. The average
price of a new property decreased by 0.2 per cent to £174,400, according to
Hometrack, the property research group. The annual rate of house price
inflation fell to 1.4 per cent, its lowest in nearly two years.
New mortgages The number of new mortgages is expected to have fallen in
January. Figures to be released on Friday are expected to show that 70,000
new home loans were granted, down from 73,000 in December. Consumer credit
is expected to have risen to £1 billion, from £600 million in December.
GDP is tipped to have risen by 0.6 per cent in the last quarter of
2007. Data to be released on Wednedsay are expected to show that GDP, a
measure of economic growth, rose by the same percentage as in in the third
quarter, keeping the annual rate of growth at 2.9 per cent.
German consumer prices are expected to have grown this month. Data due
out on Friday are expected to show that the consumer price index grew by 0.5
per cent in February, from a fall of 0.3 per cent in Januar, keeping the
annual CPI rate unchanged at 2.7 per cent.
Germany’s GDP in the fourth quarter of last year is expected to
be confirmed at 0.3 per cent when the final figures are released tomorrow.
Annual growth is tipped to fall to 1.8 per cent, down from 2.5 per cent in
the third quarter.
US GDP is expected to have risen slightly in the fourth quarter of 2007
when figures are released on Thursday. GDP is tipped to have grown by 0.7
per cent, from 0.6 per cent in the previous quarter. The annual rate is
expected to remain unchanged at 2.6 per cent.
US house prices are expected to show a further fall in December when
new data are released tomorrow. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home price index is
tipped to show that prices fell by 9.5 per cent, after a 7.7 per cent fall
in November.
The US producer price index, due out tomorrow, is expected to show a
0.3 per cent increase in January, up from a 0.1 per cent fall in December.
This will take the year on year headline PPI to 7.2 per cent, up from 6.3
per cent.
Japanese retail salesare expected to have dipped in January. Figures
due out on Wednesday are forecast to show that sales fell by 0.2 per cent
year on year in January, from a rise of 0.2 per cent in December.
Japanese core inflationfigures, due out on Thursday, are tipped to have
risen by 0.9 per cent year on year in January, from 0.8 per cent in
December. Total inflation is expected to have risen by 0.7 per cent,
unchanged from December.
Banking
& finance
Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to write down US sub-prime
mortgage-related assets worth well over £1 billion when it delivers its
full-year results on Thursday. is expected to confirm that it is to buy
Centurion Bank of Punjab in an all-share deal that would value the target at
more than £1.3 billion. It will be India’s biggest bank takeover.
UBS HSH Nordbank, one of Germany’s biggest banks, is suing UBS,
Switzerland’s largest bank, over the sale of financial products that saw
their value collapse as a result of the US sub-prime mortgage meltdown.
HDFC, India’s third-largest bank, is expected to confirm that it is to
buy Centurion Bank of Punjab in an all-share deal that would value the
target at more than £1.3 billion. It will be India's biggest bank takeover.
Paternoster, the buyout group with £1.7 billion of pension fund assets,
is in talks to raise up to £500 million to double its firepower for taking
over defined-benefit pension funds.
The Financial Services Authority is to issue new guidelines on
directors dealings after requests from company directors keen to sell and
either immediately buy back shares in their own companies or gift them to
their partners before changes due to come in on April 6 that could see their
capital gains tax liability rise up to 80 per cent.
Construction
& property
Macquarie Group, the Australian bank, and several private equity firms
have approached Land Securities, Britain’s most valuable commercial property
company, about buying its Trillium outsourcing arm which analysts value at
up to £1.5 billion. UBS is advising Land Securities about a demerger into
three units but Francis Salway, the chief executive, said last month he
would look at any “serious bid” for Trillium.
Persimmon, the housebuilder, is tipped tomorrow to report slightly
higher full-year pretax profits, despite the expected fall in its order
book. UBS is forecasting full-year pretax profits of £585 million, against
£582.1 million last time.
City office rentals MWB Business Exchange, the quoted serviced office
provider, said that take-up of short-term flexible City office space during
the fourth quarter was 30 per cent ahead of the third quarter. Prices of
City offices have fallen since the credit crunch.
Consumer
goods
Scottish & Newcastle Anheuser-Busch, the American company behind
Budweiser beer, is examining whether to launch a last-ditch counter-offer
for Scottish & Newcastle, Britain’s biggest brewer, which agreed a £7.8
billion bid from Carlsberg and Heineken, its European rivals, in January. (The
Sunday Times)
Engineering
Ferrari, the Italian sports car maker, is planning to rev up its sales
efforts in Japan, targeting the country’s growing pool of big spenders
despite an uncertain economic outlook.
Health
Eli Lilly, the American pharmaceuticals group, said that the European
Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use had issued
a positive opinion about the centralised use of Alimta, the company’s lung
cancer treatment.
Industrials
Elementis, the US chemicals group, is expected to report upbeat results
tomorrow as its speciality products business offsets lower demand from the
North American coatings market. It added that demand for chromium products
remained strong after changes in Chinese tax regulations.
SeverStal, Russia’s biggest steelmaker, is planning to mount a $6
billion (£3.1 billion) investment programme in its home operations, build
several new plants and also double the output at one of its key factories
this year, amid surging growth in the Russian economy. The company expects
to sell 70 per cent of its Russian-produced steel into its home market as
construction soars by 20 per cent. Large infrastructure projects,
particularly in the energy sector, are also helping to reshape the economy.
Leisure
Ladbrokes, Britain’s biggest bookmaker, is in talks to acquire Parlay
Entertainment, the online bingo specialist which is listed on the Toronto
stock market and has a market value of C$13 million (£6.5 million). Bingo is
regarded as one of the fastest growing segments of the online gaming
industry. (The Sunday Times)
Media
WPP Group, the advertising and marketing company, is expected to report
5 per cent organic revenue growth when it delivers its full-year results
Friday. The group, which is home to the Young & Rubicam and J Walter
Thompson advertising agencies, is expected to manage a similar growth rate
during 2008, thanks to a surge in contract wins in the final quarter of last
year.
Natural
resources
Rio Tinto, the mining group, has appointed Credit Suisse, the
investment bank, to find a buyer for its noncore coal assets. The sell-off
is part of its $15 billion (£7.6 billion) disposal programme to streamline
the company following its $38 billion acquisition of Alcan, the aluminium
group, last year. (The Sunday Telegraph)
Retailing
Kurt Geiger, the luxury shoe chain, is to be sold in a £95 million deal
to Graphite Capital, the private equity group. Kurt Geiger’s owner, Barclays
Private Equity, backed a £46 million management buyout in 2005 and acquired
a 72 per cent stake in the business. (The Sunday Times)
Moss Bros Baugur, the Icelandic investor, is facing pressure from the
family shareholders in Moss Bros, the embattled menswear chain, to declare
its hand as rival shareholders start to circle the retailer. Together, the
founding Moss and Gee families speak for 26.7 per cent of the group. (The
Observer)
Tesco Vincent Tchenguiz, the property entrepreneur, is to sell his
half-share in a £490 million joint venture with Tesco, the super-market
chain.
Support
services
Smiths News, John Menzies and Dawson Holdings, Britain’s three largest
newspaper and magazine distributors, are in talks to create a nationwide
delivery network for clothes, books and CDs. (The Sunday Times)
Technology
Yahoo! Microsoft, the US software giant, said that it had no plans for
mass job cuts in the wake of its proposed deal with Yahoo!, the internet
search engine. The message from Microsoft management repeated its assertion
that its $31-a-share approach, which had been rejected by Yahoo!, had
“strategic and financial merits”.
Telecoms
Telecom Egypt The Egyptian telecoms regulator said that it would
auction a second fixed-line licence in June, bringing the country one step
closer to ending the monopoly of Telecom Egypt, the state-run group.
Transport
National Express is planning in April to launch a luxury commuter coach
service from Swindon and Reading to London. Further routes into the capital
are also planned, as well as services from Manchester to Liverpool and from
Leeds to Harrogate. The group promises a fare which will be 60-70 per cent
cheaper than a monthly rail ticket and a journey time of two hours.
BAA, the airports owner, is struggling to sell a portfolio of
warehouses and offices around Heathrow and Gatwick and is under pressure to
cut the £1 billion price tag by at least £100 million.
Utilities
EDF, the French power group, will today report sharply higher full-year
profits, helped by new wind farms coming into production and by the
development and sale of structured assets for other companies, analysts
said. Net profits could more than double to €55.8 million (£42.1 million).
Energywatch Britain’s energy companies must transform the way in which
they produce, distribute and price power if the public’s efforts to become
more energy efficient are to have an impact, said Allan Asher, the chief
executive of energywatch, the UK’s consumer energy body.
