Dow leaps 283 points to close at record
Encouraging sales figures and merger activity in the mining sector pushed the Dow Jones industrial average up 283.80, more than 1 per cent, to a record 13,861.70. The Nasdaq also reached a record. Wal-Mart’s better than expected sales suggested that consumer spending was holding up despite falling home prices. Rio Tinto’s bid for Alcan fed expectations of deal action.
HBOS set for £160m Australian expansion
HBOS has challenged Australia’s big four banks with a £160 million expansion drive. It will open more than 160 branches on the country’s east coast by the end of 2010. The push by HBOS, through its BankWest subsidiary, is the largest ever banking rollout in Australia and is the UK bank’s biggest investment project. It will be driven by Ian Corfield, a five-year staffer fresh from expanding HBOS’s Irish network. He becomes the new chief executive of retail banking at BankWest. Mr Corfield, a 35-year-old Yorkshireman, previously ran HBOS’s credit card arm. (Miles Costello)
Morrison boss named
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Wm Morrison Supermarkets has named Sir Ian Gibson to succeed Sir Ken Morrison as chairman. Sir Ian, who will take up the post of deputy chairman on September 1, will become chairman when Sir Ken, 75, stands down. Sir Ken has said will be no later than March 13 next year. The appointment of Sir Ian, the chairman of Trinity Mirror, ends a year-long hunt for a replacement. (Dearb?il Jordan)
Sports Direct deal
Sports Direct has launched its second acquisition in less than a week, buying 60 per cent of Field & Trek, the outdoor clothing and equipment retailer. Sports Direct will pay £5 million for the holding with an option to acquire the remaining 40 per cent in five years’ time for £5 million. Shares edged up from 185p to 186.75p in early trading. Last week it made a $182 million bid for Everlast. (Dearb?il Jordan)
Marston’s acquisition
Marston’s, the brewer behind Pedigree and Banks’s ales, has added Old Thumper, Boondoggle and Fortyniner to its beer list by acquiring Ringwood Brewery in Hampshire for £19.2 million. The acquisition includes the Château de Fayolle vineyard in France, whose wine is sold in Ringwood’s seven pubs. Marston’s is planning to keep the brewery running but sell the vineyard. (Dominic Walsh)
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LSE to meet Nasdaq
The London Stock Exchange is to meet Nasdaq, its biggest shareholder, for talks about the planned €1.6 billion (£1.08 billion) takeover of Borsa Italiana in Milan. On corporate governance grounds, the New York exchange voted down two resolutions at the annual meeting that would have allowed the LSE to issue shares to fund the bid, but it is understood that Nasdaq has an open mind. (Martin Waller)
Pizza outlets grow
Papa John’s, the America pizza delivery operator that has 87 British outlets, has signed a deal with a Geoff Parsons, a former Burger King franchisee to open at least ten stores along the M4 corridor over the next four years. The group, which has 3,200 stores around the world, is seeking further UK franchisees as it seeks to hit its target of having at least 170 by 2010. (Dominic Walsh)
Dubai Ports scraps London listing plans
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Dubai Ports World, the state-owned port operator, has shelved plans for a London flotation in what would have been the largest public offering from the Middle East, after deciding it would be cheaper to issue debt. DP World announced plans for the flotation in 2005. It hoped to raise $5 billon (£2.5 billion) on the London Stock Exchange, but last November postponed the offering for six to twelve months to prepare. Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the chairman of Dubai World, the parent of Dubai Ports, said: “So far, we’ve proven that issuing bonds is better for us” . (Robert Lindsay)
Motorola profit drop
Ed Zander, the chief executive of Motorola, faced calls to quit after the group said its handset unit would not make a profit this year. Analysts said that Mr Zander had at most one quarter to turn around the group’s performance. Sales across the group in the second quarter, it said, will be $8.6 billion to $8.7 billion (£4.2 billion to £4.3 billion), compared with the $9.4 billion it had estimated. (Elizabeth Judge)
Total in Russian deal
Total will join Gazprom in the development of the giant Shtokman gasfield in the Barents Sea, taking 25 per cent of a company that will build the project’s first phase. The deal announced by Alexei Miller, Gazprom’s chief executive, is a victory for Total following years of tortuous negotiations over foreign participation in one of Russia’s largest energy resources. (Carl Mortished)
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Nestl? prices to rise
Nestl?, the world’s largest food company, will raise prices, cull unprofitable products and speed up production rationalisation to prepare for a lasting rise in commodity and energy prices. Jose Lopez, a management board member, said that the group’s focus on name-brands, health food and medical nutrition puts it at an advantage as prices for energy, grain and milk rise on surging demand. (Reuters)
Basell loses to Apollo
Huntsman, the chemical company, said it had terminated its merger agreement with Basell and would pay a $200 million (£100 million) break-up fee that would allow it to be purchased by Apollo Management’s Hexion Specialty Chemicals. Huntsman said it had accepted the Hexion bid of $28 per share, valuing the deal at $6.5 billion. Apollo’s offer was $2 a share higher than the Basell offer. (Reuters)
L’Or?al sales strong
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L’Or?al, the French cosmetics group, said that second-quarter sales were €4.24 billion (£2.88 billion), up 10.4 per cent, or 7.4 per cent on a like-for like basis, thanks to rapid growth in new markets and sustained growth in Western Europe and North America. It said it was “confident” in its full-year sales and earnings outlook, despite the impact of exchange rates. (Thomson Financial)