Red tape: New employment and tax laws will cost UK businesses more than £25 billion to implement over the next four years, the British Chambers of Commerce said. The business body said that this cost could hamper the economic recovery.
France: The French Government has almost doubled its forecast for economic growth this year as the country’s rebound from recession accelerates. Christine Lagarde, the Finance Minister, expects an annual pace of growth of 1.4 per cent, up from her previous forecast of 0.75 per cent. In 2009, the economy shrank by 2.3 per cent. The stronger growth would mean more tax receipts, which is good news for the budget shortfall. Ms Lagarde will present a revised Budget tomorrow.
Japan: Industrial output rose by 2.2 per cent in November, compared with the previous month, revised data showed. The figure compared with an initial reading of a 2.6 per cent rise in November and comes after a 0.5 per cent increase in October.
Advertisement
Goldman Sachs: The investment bank’s annual global strategy conference was so oversubscribed that delegates spilt into three overflow rooms and had to watch proceedings on video screens. Goldman’s record in correctly predicting the remarkable stock market bounce of last year has won it new followers, with many more delegates than a year ago.
Northern Rock: The nationalised mortgage lender has signed a four-year sponsorship deal with Newcastle United Football Club, worth up to £10 million. The deal extends Northern Rock’s relationship with its home-town club as both go through a rebirth — the bank is on the hunt for a buyer to return to the private sector, while Newcastle, the Championship leaders, are chasing promotion. The total value of the contract will vary between £1.5 million and £10 million, depending on Newcastle’s performance on the pitch.
Corporate governance: Britain’s biggest auditing firms will be required to appoint independent non-executive directors under measures designed to safeguard the transparency of listed companies’ accounts. The Audit Firm Governance Code, backed by the Financial Reporting Council, is the first formal guidance on best practice issued for UK auditors and is expected to come into force next year.
Fraud: Police are searching for Mark Hazelwood, 46, a Hertfordshire-based insurance broker who was expelled from the financial services industry for defrauding hundreds of doctors’ surgeries in a £400,000 scam. Mr Hazelwood — who has not been accused of any criminal offence — is believed to be in South-East Asia.
Spanish banks: Bad loans held by Spanish financial institutions rose to the highest level in 13 years in November as banks reined in new credit and borrowers struggled to pay debts. Non-performing loans as a percentage of total credit, excluding retail credit cards, rose to 4.93 per cent in November, from 4.89 per cent in October, Bank of Spain data showed. Bad loans rose by €1.46 billion (£1.3 billion) to €87.997 billion in November; total lending slipped by €54 million to €1,771 billion.
Advertisement
Equal pay: Italian construction workers at the site of a power station in the East Midlands were paid on average €1,300 (£1,150) a month less than their British colleagues. Workers for CMN, of Italy, who are building Staythorpe, at Newark, Nottinghamshire, received lower wages than British workers from April to December last year, according to an audit conducted at the insistence of the GMB and Unite unions. The company has agreed to bring pay up to the correct level.
Taylor Wimpey: Peter Redfern, chief executive of the loss-making construction company, said that Britain was unlikely to return quickly to the peak rate of housebuilding during the boom of the past decade.
Cadbury: The British chocolate maker is on the verge of accepting a raised offer from Kraft, the American food group, thought to value the company at up to 850p a share, or £11.7 billion. It is believed that Kraft has proposed a significantly improved deal that could end Cadbury’s 186 years as an independent company.
Advertisement
Tobacco: China, the world’s largest tobacco-consuming nation, is planning to ban smoking in indoor public spaces in seven provincial capitals. The outcome of the health drive may provide the best indicator yet as to whether broad efforts to restrict tobacco use can overcome resistance from retailers and some local governments, which profit significantly from tobacco taxes. China’s population accounts for more than one quarter of the world’s 1.3 billion smokers.
General Motors: The carmaker has paid €650 million (£570 million) to Opel/Vauxhall, its troubled European division, to cover engineering services as part of a restructuring, according to a statement sent to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. GM decided to retain Opel/Vauxhall after initially agreeing to sell it off and needs €3.3 billion to finance the division’s restructuring.
Gala Coral: The uncertainty hanging over the embattled gambling operator could be dispelled in the next few days amid indications that protracted negotiations over a £540 million debt-for-equity swap are close to a resolution. If a deal falls through, private equity suitors including Providence, of the United States, are on standby to bid for a controlling stake.
Advertisement
Mitchells & Butlers: Piedmont, the investment vehicle of Joe Lewis, the billionaire trader, is expected to reject a fresh move by the pub company to resolve their spat ahead of next week’s annual meeting, citing the continued boardroom presence of Simon Laffin, the chairman, as the stumbling block.
Travelport: The United States-based travel services provider will announce plans today to raise $2 billion (£1.2 billion) through an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange. The offering is being arranged by Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and UBS. Blackstone Group, the private equity firm, bought Travelport from Cendant, the American conglomerate, in August 2006 for $4.3 billion.
Pubs: Like-for-like sales across Britain’s leading pub and restaurant groups rose by 2.9 per cent in December, the ninth consecutive month of positive growth, the Coffer Peach Business Tracker indicated.
32Red: The internet gaming group reported a turnaround in its recent poor trading performance, helped by the removal of the 32Vegas website run by William Hill, the bookmaker, after a legal suit for brand infringment.
Essenden: The tenpin bowling operator reported an improvement in second-half like-for-like sales, but said that interest charges on its higher-than-expected debt level meant its full-year results would be no better than break-even.
Advertisement
Satellite television: The Ofcom board will discuss today whether to force BSkyB, which is 39.1 per cent-owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Times, to drop the price it charges rival broadcasters for its Sky Sports channels. The regulator is expected to make a final decision in March.
BBC television: The broadcaster has outlined plans to create a “drama village” in Cardiff Bay, which will house Doctor Who and Casualty, subject to planning consent. The BBC said that the new centre would be at the heart of a growing stable of network drama produced in Wales. Casualty, which has been produced in Bristol for more than 20 years, will start production in Wales from summer 2011 — a move that has faced opposition in Bristol. However, the corporation has said that the city will remain a “centre of excellence” for natural history and factual programming.
DQ Entertainment: The animation and entertainment production group has signed a deal with Noga Communications, of Israel, to broadcast its 3D-high definition animated series of The Jungle Book. It comes after similar deals for the series with ABC in Australia and Disney Multiplex channels across Asia.
Petrochemicals: Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) said that its joint venture with Sinopec, of China, had obtained financing worth $2.68 billion (£1.6 billion) for their Tianjin petrochemical complex. SABIC has also started trial operations at an ethylene plant in the complex, which has a production capacity of 3.2 million tonnes per year. The joint venture obtained 12.26 billion yuan (£1.1 billion) in long-term financing from Chinese lenders and six billion yuan to cover its working capital needs, SABIC said in a statement on the Saudi bourse website.
Heritage Oil: Tullow Oil has made a $1.5 billion counterbid for the Ugandan oilfields that Heritage has agreed to sell to Eni, the Italian state oil company. Tullow and Heritage each own a half-share in the two fields and Tullow has the right to pre-empt any offer for Heritage’s half, matching the price that the bidder is paying. Heritage said that the final decision on the sale would be made by the Government of Uganda.
Asos: The online fashion retailer will open an American website this year. It reported a rise in sales of 30 per cent in the five weeks to January 3, lower than the rate of growth it enjoyed last year.
HobbyCraft: The out-of-town art and craft retailer reported a strong Christmas, with like-for-like sales rising 10.6 per cent in the six weeks to January 3. In total, sales in the 45 weeks to January 3 are up 24 per cent. The company has 45 stores and plans to open ten more this year.
Richemont: The luxury goods maker and retailer behind Piaget watches, Montblanc pens and Chlo? handbags reported a 2 per cent increase in third-quarter sales, ahead of expectations.
Mint Velvet: The fashion retailer launched last year by the former management of Principles is to open 25 new concessions and stores by the spring, adding to its 14 House of Fraser concessions and two standalone stores.
C&J Clark: The shoemaker and retailer, which trades as Clarks, has appointed Melissa Potter as chief executive. Ms Potter, who joined Clarks as a graduate trainee in 1988 and is managing director, will take over from Peter Bolliger, who retires in May.
Care homes: Choice, a privateequity backed specialist care provider, has secured £31 million from Royal Bank of Scotland to fund future growth. Based in Reading, the company operates 39 care homes across England.
Apple: The computer maker has sent out invitations to the media for the launch of a new product on January 27, stating: “Come see our latest creation.” Apple declined to reveal the product but analysts widely believe that it will be its much-rumoured touchscreen tablet personal computer. Reports suggest that the tablet, possibly called the iSlate, will have a 25cm (10in) screen and will cost about $800 (£500). It is expected to ship in March.
Cobham: The Dorset-based defence engineering and technology group has completed the takeover of SafeLife Systems from Procon, of the United States, for $600,000 (£370,000).
SDL: The translation software and services provider said that 2009 revenues and profits were likely to beat market expectations. SDL, based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, expects underlying pre-tax profits of between £29 million and £30 million, against the £28 million analyst consensus forecast.
Nokia: The world’s leading mobile phone maker has won its patent dispute case against IPCom, the German licensing company, in the High Court. Nokia said that it would now seek to recoup legal costs from IPCom.
British Airways: Thousands of cabin crew at the airline are to hold a fresh ballot on strikes. Unite, the union, said that 13,000 of its members would vote again on whether to take industrial action in a long-running dispute over jobs, pay and working conditions. BA cabin crew were due to stage 12 days of strikes over Christmas, but the airline took legal action to stop them.
Japan Airlines: Asia’s biggest carrier by sales is expected to file for bankruptcy today in what would be the biggest failure of a Japanese non-financial company since the Second World War. Meanwhile, Delta and American Airlines, the US carriers that have made rival bids to buy a stake in JAL, are competing to the wire to resolve the future of the airline.
International Power: The Financial Services Authority is examining dramatic movements in the FTSE 100 energy company’s share price last night after it abruptly broke off talks with GDF Suez, of France, about a possible tie-up.
Pennon: The owner of South West Water, the UK’s most expensive water company, has accepted the industry regulator’s demands to keep household bills flat over the next five years. Pennon said that it would not refer Ofwat’s final decision on prices in November to the Competition Commission. But it added that it had been set a “very tough challenge” and could not rule out compulsory redundancies to drive down costs.
Nuclear stand-off: The nuclear industry in France has been left in turmoil after uranium supplies dried up and the treatment of spent fuel was blocked amid a bitter row between the heads of its two main state-backed operators. EdF, the electricity group, which runs 58 reactors in France, said that Areva, the nuclear energy group, had stopped uranium deliveries on January 4 and was refusing to take away spent fuel for reprocessing.