Need to Know: Global Business Briefing

Instructions to let property rose in October at their slowest pace since April 2005, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said. Some 6 per cent more chartered surveyors reported a rise than a fall in instructions to let property, from 13 per cent in the previous quarter.

The world economy should escape the threat of a slowdown next year as Europe’s recovery and growth in Asia fuelled by China offset a slowdown in America, the OECD predicted in the Economic Outlook, its twice-yearly assessment.

US durable goods saw new orders fall by much more than expected in October, partly because of a decline in orders for civil aircraft. The overall drop of 8.3 per cent was the sharpest since July 2000.

US house prices fell by 3.5 per cent in October, compared with a year earlier, the sharpest drop since 1968, according to the US National Association of Realtors. But falling prices boosted demand, with the pace of existing house sales unexpectedly rising in October.

US consumer confidence fell in November. The headline index of sentiment from the Conference Board, the private research group, fell to 102.9, from a revised 105.1 in October, taking it to its lowest since August.

Banking & finance

(Down 0.4%)

Old Mutual shares closed down almost 6 per cent after the South African insurer, which is listed in London, reported disappointing third-quarter figures.

Standard and Poor’s, the ratings agency, has cut Nasdaq’s long-term counter-party credit rating from BB-plus to BB, reflecting the financing package that the New York exchange has put in place to fund its proposed takeover of the London Stock Exchange.

Construction & property

(Up 0.2% )

Barratt Developments, the housebuilder, announced that its full-year results would be in line with its expectations but also cautioned that recent interest rate increases may well hit homebuyers’ confidence.

Town Centre Securities, the property investment, development and trading company, said it had sold its stake, worth £11.3 million, in McKay Securities, the property developer, for 405p per share.

Consumer goods

(Up 1.3%)

Anheuser-Busch, the US brewing giant, said it expected its international beer operations to report lower profit this year because of a shift in UK sales from bars and restaurants to retailers.

Blavod Extreme Spirits, the AIM-listed drinks company, said it had received an indicative offer from an unnamed Nasdaq-listed company worth 17.97p a share, valuing Blavod at £12.83 million.

Engineering

(Down 0.7%)

MG Rover The four key directors of the now defunct MG Rover car group received dividend payments of £390,000 last year and are also set to benefit from sharing a £22 million pot when a car leasing business is wound up, it has emerged.

BAE Systems Saudi Arabian sources have played down talk of a rift with BAE Systems, the UK defence group, after speculation that the kingdom would cancel plans to spend £10 billion on British-made fighter jets in favour of rival French planes.

Health

(Down 0.1%)

Goldshield, the drug development and healthcare group, saw its shares rise after it said that it was in talks with Ajit Patel, chief executive, about a proposed £140 million management buy-out. Mr Patel has been charged by the Serious Fraud Office over an alleged conspiracy to defraud the National Health Service by fixing drug prices.

Shire, the pharmaceutical company, announced that Australian regulators have approved the registration of its Solaraze gel product for skin cancer.

Acambis, the biotech company, said it has requested a meeting with the US Department of Health and Human Services to discuss the reasons for excluding Acambis from a competition to provide smallpox vaccines for a US national stockpile.

Pfizer announced plans to cut its American sales force by about 20 per cent, or some 2,200 jobs, as part of a comprehensive cost-cutting programme.

Industrials

(Down 0.3%)

Mechel, the Russian steel and mining group, reported net profits of $372.1 million (£192 million) in the first nine months of this year, compared with $314.7 million last time.

Leisure

(Down 0.2%)

Arena Leisure, the racecourse operator, has appointed Millennium & Copthorne Hotels to manage the proposed £17.5 million hotel at Doncaster Racecourse.

Hilton Hotels Corporation of the US is to set up a joint venture with DLF, the Indian property company, to develop 75 hotels and serviced apartments in the country over the next seven years.

Rezidor Hotel Group, the offshoot of SAS, the Scandinavian airline, has had its shares priced at the top of end of the mooted range, valuing the company at €860 million (£582 million).

London Town, the quoted shell company, has acquired 167 pubs from the Save Investments vehicle for £94.57 million as the first step in building a bigger pub portfolio.

Media

(Unchanged)

EMI shares rose more than 10 per cent after it said that it had “received a preliminary approach”, understood to be from Permira and Apollo, the private equity groups, about a deal that could value the company at up to £2.5 billion.

IPC, Britain’s largest magazine group, is planning the £18 million launch of a weekly magazine under the code name Project Honey, aimed at 18 to 30-year-old women.

GCap, the media group, has joined forces with BT and Arqiva to make a bid for the digital radio multiplex being auctioned by Ofcom. Ralph Bernard, chief executive of GCap, said it would be allowed only a minority stake in a bid because it owns the majority of Digital One, the existing national commercial multiplex.

Natural resources

(Down 0.9%)

Gazprom, Russia’s state-controlled natural gas group, and Rosneft, the state-controlled oil giant, signed a co-operation deal.

Dana Petroleum, the UK oil and gas group, doubled its stake in the Cavendish gasfield in the North Sea with the $55 million (£28 million) purchase of the 25 per cent stake held by Gaz de France.

Retailing

(Down 0.5% )

Austin Reed’s chief executive, Nick Hollingworth, is in line for a £1.25 million payout from shares and share options if a takeover of the clothing retailer by Guy Naggar, the French financier, receives approval by its shareholders.

Support services

(Down 0.5%)

De La Rue, the banknote printer, said it is proposing to continue its share buyback programme as it reported a 59.1 per cent rise in first-half pre-tax profits to £43.9 million, from £27.6 million last year.

Renew Holdings, the specialist construction services group, reported full-year pre-tax profits of £4.6 million, against £1.2 million last year, helped by the disposal of unprofitable businesses.

Apollo Group Holdings, which provides property refurbishment services to local authorities, has appointed Gavin Simonds, chairman of Jessops and Red Funnel, as non-executive chairman.

Technology

(Up 0.5%)

Nokia, the Finnish mobile phone maker, cut its profit margin guidance, blaming the launch of Nokia Siemens Networks, a network infrastructure joint venture with Siemens, the German engineering group.

Nintendo, the Japanese technology group, scored a victory over Sony, its rival, after early sales of its new Wii video games console eclipsed those of Sony’s PlayStation 3 machine.

Telecoms

(Down 0.2%)

Orange, the French mobile phone group, is to introduce a £12 penalty charge for its broadband customers who want to switch to a new provider.

Telecom Italia won European approval for its planned acquisition of the German unit of AOL, the internet arm of Time Warner, the US entertainment group.

Transport

(Up 0.6%)

Eurotunnel, the Channel Tunnel operator, held talks with the Department for Transport as Jacques Gounon, the chairman, said he would apply for state aid from Britain and France.

National Express Group, the bus company, and Apax, the private equity group, will reportedly present a joint bid for Avanza, the Spanish bus and coach operator.

Utilities

(Down 0.9%)

ScottishPower, the utility group, has agreed to the £11.6 billion takeover bid from Iberdrola, its Spanish rival. The acquisition will create the third-largest utility in Europe and also the world’s largest renewable energy company.

sectors@thetimes.co.uk

Up/Down = sector index percentage change