Welcome to today's round-up of business news from The Times: what we're
saying, what they're saying
Top stories
The Times: The US is on the brink
of recession after a slump in consumer spending saw its gross domestic
product fall 0.1 per cent in the last quarter.
Daily Telegraph: The Parliamentary Ombudsman accused Government
regulators of ignoring warning signs
that Equitable Life, the UK’s oldest mutual, could sink.
The Times: Six top HBOS executives look
set to go in the troubled bank’s takeover by Lloyds TSB, and Parliament
has pledged to investigate any secret payouts.
Comment
Patrick Hosking in The Times: If any HBOS executives no longer needed
after the Lloyds TSB takeover get a penny, many would see it as reward
for failure .
Damian Reece in the Daily Telegraph: Banks must
not bully viable small businesses and must abide by the spirit of the
taxpayer bailout that saved them.
Hamish McRae in The Independent: Once US house prices stop falling, we
can start thinking about a global
economic recovery.
Upside
The Times: The Government has told British banks to honour
the pledge to start lending that they made as part of the £37 billion
($60 billion) bailout.
New York Times: Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest oil company, set
another US record with quarterly profit of $14.8 billion, but it may be
its last.
The Times: Royal Dutch Shell’s quarterly profit
rose 22 per cent, but it will halt its project in Canada as costs soar
and oil prices slump.
Downside
The Times: House prices have fallen
£27,000 ($44,000) on average in the past year, more than the average annual
wage of £25,000 ($41,000).
New York Times: Sun Microsystems, which makes computer servers, lost
$1.7 billion (£1 billion) in the past quarter on dismal sales and a
large write-off of acquisitions.
The Times: American Express, the credit card group, will cut
7,000 jobs as it seeks to reduce costs by $1.8 billion (£1.1 billion)
next year.
Mergers and shakers
The Times: Sir Martin Sorrell forecast a rough
year ahead for his firm WPP, the world’s second largest advertising
group, and for business in general.
Daily Telegraph: Mitsubishi Rayon, the Japanese chemical giant, is close
to buying Lucite, the British-based acrylic maker, for about £1 billion
($1.6 billion).
The Times: Le Méridien hotel on Piccadilly, in central London, which
was partly owned by failed investment bank Lehman Brothers, is
for sale for £90 million ($146 million).
Around Asia
The Times: The Japanese Government will
hand out ¥2 trillion (£12.5 billion, $20 billion) to households to make
them feel wealthier and thus spend more.
Daily Telegraph: Middle Eastern governments are close
to providing a £6.5 billion ($10.6 billion) injection for Barclays, the
British bank.
Financial Times: A British scrap metal company has accused Chinese
customers who owed it $1.2 million (£735,000) of abducting
its chief trader for ransom.
Look ahead
The Times: British companies will
have to pay £45 billion ($73 billion) a year for the next five years to
maintain final-salary pension schemes.
Financial Times: Iron ore miners face
a price cut of up to 20 per cent - their first cut in seven years - when
negotiations with Chinese steelmakers begin in November.
Bloomberg: Google is considering
backing out of its internet-search ad sharing deal with Yahoo! because
it is reluctant to accept US antitrust restrictions.
MARKETS
FTSE 100 4,291.65 up 1.2% (Thursday close)
Dow 9,180.69 up 2.1% (close)
S&P 500 954.09 up 2.6% (close)
Nasdaq 1,698.52 up 2.5% (close)
Nikkei 8,784.12 down 2.7% (latest)
Hang Seng 13,812.74 down 3.6% (latest)
Currencies
Sterling $1.6331/1.2729 euros (latest)
Euro $1.2830 (latest)
Commodities
Brent crude $62.40 down $1.31 (latest)
West Texas crude $64.69 down $1.27 (latest)
Gold $730.70 down $7.80 (latest)
New York
Reuters: US stocks climbed as
investors snapped up shares trading near their lowest levels in five years.
Colgate-Palmolive, the consumer products maker, rose 7.1 per cent after
beating profit estimates. On Nasdaq, Apple rose 6.2 per cent and
chipmaker Intel rose 8.2 per cent. Office Depot, the office
supplies retailer, rose 48.6 per cent after it said it would delay opening
new stores in a weak economy. Rival Staples rose 15.6 per cent after
it said its profit would beat estimates. Hartford Financial Services Group,
the property and life insurer, fell 51.6 per cent after reporting a
surprisingly large quarterly loss.
Asia
Bloomberg: Asian stocks fell,
adding to the regional benchmark index's worst month ever, as a record
three-day rally fizzled after companies slashed profit forecasts and metals
prices tumbled. Carmaker Mazda fell 13 per cent and Japanese
electronics maker Pioneer lost 14 per cent after projecting lower
earnings. BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, fell 4 per cent
and Rio Tinto, the third largest, fell 3.1 per cent after stockpiles
of metals jumped. Toyota, Japan's biggest car maker, fell 3.9 per
cent and Honda, the second largest, fell 6.2 per cent. Yamaha,
the world's second-largest motorcycle maker, rose 10.4 per cent – its daily
limit – for a second straight day after reiterating its annual profit
forecast. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 2 per cent to 86.48 in morning
trade. It is set to lose a record 19 per cent this month.
Michael Beh
michaelwbeh@gmail.com
London
RSA Insurance edged off recent gains ahead of a trading statement next
Thursday on worries about its exposure to the Baltic states and Latin
America. Analysts at RBS cut the insurer to sell saying that these two
regions accounted for 9 per cent of its premium income last year. There are
widespread fears of defaults on corporate and sovereign bonds from these
parts of the world, slowing returns from its investments and growth in
policyholders. It cut earnings forecasts for the next three years and its
target price to 112p. RSA lost 2.5 per cent. However, mining and oil stocks
kept the FTSE 100 in positive territory, closing up 49.11 points at 4291.65
after the US rate cut on Wednesday night kept the dollar weaker against
sterling and other currencies and drove up the price of metals and oil. Kazakhmys,
whose shares have fallen 84 per cent since May, was one of the top gainers,
up 12.2 per cent after it reported an improvement in copper production and
said it was on track for similar output next year.
Robert Lindsay
robert.lindsay@thetimes.co.uk
AGENDA
INTERIMS
Blacks Leisure
FINALS
William Ransom
RESULTS
British Assets Trust (Q3)
BSkyB (Q1)
F&C Asset Management (Q3)
Foreign & Colonial Investment (Q3)
Friends Provident (Q3 new business figures)
TRADING STATEMENTS
Forth Ports
Meggitt
AGMs
Clipper Ventures
Vectura
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