Producer prices The cost of goods leaving Britain’s factories rose by a weaker than expected 0.2 per cent last month, below City forecasts for a 0.3 per cent increase. The muted rise came in spite of a 6.6 per cent jump in the cost of crude oil during June, but still left annual producer price inflation running at an unchanged rate of 2.4 per cent for the third consecutive month.
Producer input prices for manufacturers’ raw materials, components and fuel rose by 0.6 per cent in June, less than the 0.9 per cent gain predicted by City analysts. However, the annual pace of increase in input costs accelerated to 2.1 per cent, up from 1.3 per cent last time, to its highest level this year, according to official data.
German industrial production jumped by 1.9 per cent during May, rebounding from the sharp fall recorded in April. The broadly based rise in output lifted its annual growth rate to a robust 4.6 per cent.
Germany’s trade surplus widened to €16.7 Billion (£11.3 billion) during May, up from €15.8 million in April, as Europe’s biggest economy continued to capitalise on buoyant global demand for its exports. Analysts said that the data suggested that German net trade will make a positive contribution to the country’s GDP growth in the second quarter.
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Halifax, the bank and mortgage lender, said that it had signed up to the unclaimed asset register of Experian, the credit checking company, in an effort to track down dormant account holders. Halifax said that its dormant accounts — defined as those which have been inactive for 15 years — contain some £50 million.
Consob, the Italian stock market regulator, said that it supports the London Stock Exchange’s agreed €1.6 billion (£1.1 billion) takeover of Borsa Italiana. But Lamberto Cardia, the chairman said the deal would require close co-ordination between his organisation and the Financial Services Authority.
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The Financial Services Authority, the City watchdog, is expected to gain significant new powers as a result of changes to the supervision of the insurance industry. Solvency II, a European Union-wide insurance directive, could trigger a wave of consolidation among big industry players, according to the Association of British Insurers.
Royal Bank of Scotland has agreed to buy a majority share of Sempra Commodities, the American broker, for $1.35 billion (£670 million) as part of a joint venture with its parent company Sempra Energy.
The Chicago Board of Trade’s $11.9 billion tie-up with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is set to go ahead after shareholders in both companies signalled their approval. The exchanges said the deal should close within days, creating a new firm named CME Group.
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Up by 1.1%
Bovis Homes, the FTSE 250 housebuilder, reported that demand for its properties has all but dried up and that average sale prices are stagnating. Analysts said that Bovis would be forced to scrap its declared target of raising profits by 10 per cent for 2007 as a result of the sudden slump in confidence among homebuyers. Bovis’s share price fell by more than 8 per cent.
Real Estate Opportunities, the owner of Battersea Power Station in South London, is thought to be looking to raise more than £100 million in a share placing to start construction on the landmark site, which has been left derelict for 25 years.
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Down by 0.4%
The Campaign for Real Ale described the Conservative Party’s proposals to raise beer prices as being “as flawed as they are naive”, arguing that it would prompt more people to buy their alcohol at supermarkets and force more pubs to close.
Premier Foods, the UK’s biggest food manufacturer, said it is “confident” that it will meet its expectations for the year but shares in the group fell by 5 per cent after it issued a mixed trading statement.
Umbro, the UK sportswear group which also makes replica football kits, is facing legal action from Teamsport, its Germany, Benelux and Austria licensee, after deciding to end its agreement with the Dutch company last week.
Danone, the French foods group, announced a €12.3 billion (£8.3 billion) deal to buy Royal Numico of the Netherlands in a a move that will gain it the ownership of the Cow & Gate, Nutricia and Milupa baby foods brands.
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Up by 0.8%
Sequa, the US aerospace and car parts manufacturer, said it has agreed to be bought by Carlyle, the US private equity group, for $2.7 billion (£1.3 billion).
Toshiba, the Japanese electronics maker, said that it was in talks about the possibility of selling a stake in Westinghouse Electric, the nuclear reactor maker, to Kazatomprom, the Kazakh state-owned resource group.
Lear, the US car parts maker, saw American Real Estate Partners raise its takeover offer to about $3 billion after Lear shareholders had balked at an earlier proposal.
Down by 0.3%
Roche Holdings, the Swiss drugs maker, said that it considers the price it will pay for a co-operation with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals as adequate, despite obtaining non-exclusive rights only to the US biopharmaceutical company’s technology in genetic therapeutics.
Down by 1.8%
Akzo Nobel The European Union’s second-highest court has backed a European Commission decision that unconditionally cleared the acquisition of Akzo Nobel’s inks and adhesive resins business by Hexion Speciality Chemicals, a unit of Apollo Group. A plea by the Sun Chemical Group to annul the Commission’s decision was dismissed.
Up by 0.6%
Arena Leisure, the racecourse operator, said that no fixtures would be lost despite recent storms that had left two of its tracks under water. The group said it was “hopeful” of being able to open its Worcester racecourse next week and added that while its Southwell racecourse remained closed, it would transfer all fixtures to its two other all-weather tracks at Wolverhampton and Lingfield Park to avoid disruption.
Up by 0.6%
BSkyB The Competition Commission said that its investigation of BSkyB’s acquisition of a 17.9 per cent stake in ITV, its rival broadcaster, would cover The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun and the News of the World newspaper titles that are owned by News Corporation, which has a 39.1 per cent stake in BSkyB.
Up by 1.6%
Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, and Rosneft, the Russian energy group, said they have reached a strategic co-operation agreement for projects in the oil and gas sectors.
Gazprom, the Russian gas giant, said that it is close to offering foreign companies a role in tapping its Shtokman gasfield in the Barents Sea.
Xstrata and Anglo American, the London-listed mining groups which part-own one of the world’s largest copper mines, Collahuasi in northern Chile, said that workers at the mine have gone on indefinite strike.
BHP Billiton, the Anglo-Australian mining company, is understood to have begun talks with private equity firms over a possible $40 billion (£19.9 billion) takeover of Alcoa, the US aluminium producer.
BP, the UK oil group, has sought to play down a new row in the United States by insisting that a decision to freeze nearly £2 million in pay owing to Lord Browne of Madingley, its former chief executive, and John Manzoni, its former head of refining and marketing, had been taken with their support.
Up by 0.3%
Wm Morrison Sir Ian Gibson, the former boss of Nissan Europe, is expected to be confirmed as deputy chairman of Wm Morrison at the end of this week as the supermarket chain puts in place a successor to Sir Ken Morrison, the chairman who is set to leave next year.
Mosaic Fashions, the parent company of Karen Millen, Oasis, Warehouse and Whistles, announced that it has appointed Mike Shearwood, the head of Inditex’s UK operations, as its deputy chief executive.
Kwik Save King Sturge, the property company, has been appointed by the administrators to Kwik Save, the discount supermarket chain, to sell off its property assets.
Up by 1.1%
Jarvis, the engineering support services group, said its Jarvis Rail unit has signed rail contracts worth more than £50 million.
Babcock International, the engineering support services group, said its offer for International Nuclear Solutions has become unconditional after it received valid acceptances for 31.7 million INS shares, about 50.9 per cent of the company’s issued share capital.
LogicaCMG, the information technology services group, said it has signed a letter of intent to sell an element of its payroll business in the Netherlands.
Up by 1.2%
Google, the American internet search engine, said that it has agreed to acquire Postini, the e-mail security company, for $625 million (£310 million).
Sony, the Japanese group, has sparked a video games console price war by cutting the cost of the PlayStation 3 in America by $100, or 17 per cent, after competition from Microsoft and the Nintendo Wii, its rivals.
Down by 0.1%
Completel Europe, the French business telecoms company, has appointed Morgan Stanley to study a possible sale, according to reports. The investment bank was apparently hired after Completel received an unsolicited takeover offer.
Cable & Wireless Morgan Stanley, the investment bank, has taken the unusual step of downgrading Cable & Wireless partly in response to a controversial executive incentive scheme at the telecoms group.
MTC, the Kuwaiti telecoms group, is negotiating the world’s largest Islamic loan to raise $3.7 billion (£1.8 billion) to help to pay for the $6.1 billion licence that it recently acquired to operate in Saudi Arabia.
Up by 0.6%
Qatar Airways is believed to be a customer for Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner model which was launched at the weekend. An order for 30 787s, worth almost $5 billion (£2.5 billion) at list prices, was recorded on Boeing’s online order book in April, attributed to an unidentified customer.
Air Berlin, the German carrier, said that the number of passengers it carried in June had risen by 13.9 per cent, from a year earlier, to 2.17 million.
Virgin Atlantic Sir Richard Branson is to start talks with Singapore Airlines about buying back its 49 per cent stake in his Virgin Atlantic airline. Singapore is understood to be talking to bankers about the possible sale of the stake, which it bought for £600 million in 1999.
Up by 1.4%
National Grid, the UK energy supplier, said that formal documentation of the settlement terms has been filed with the New York State Public Service Commission regarding the acquisition of KeySpan, the US natural gas distributor. The companies had announced their $7.3 billion merger in February 2006.
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