The Lex Column:
*Lost Citi (CGP) - Getting investors to swallow a capital raising is one thing. But there is no positive spin that can be put on Citigroup’s two big capital raisings in quick succession.
*BA (BAY) and consolidation - Bigger is better in the airline industry and rumours often circulate of a takeover offer for British Airways. Is there more substance to them than usual?
*US banking losses - Big numbers have lost their power to shock – at least when it comes to Wall Street’s accident-prone banks.
*China slowdown - China, according to the panglossian scenario, will save the world by buying up all the goods cash-strapped Americans can no longer afford. Recent data, however, suggest the reverse may be the case.
*News Corp reshuffle - James Murdoch’s appointment to take charge of businesses in Europe and Asia was billed as allowing ‘more cohesive management’ of a ragbag of operating units. How, exactly?
The Lombard Column:
*Stansted surprise puts more pressure on BAA.
*When to be less prudent (fallout from Northern Rock
(NRK)) – Granting more powers to the Treasury is risky.
*Food, inflationary food – Official figures show that producers have raised food prices by 7.4% over the past year.
Power Player:
*David Greene, lawyer.
Further news:
*S&N
(SCTN) waits for better offer.
*LSE (LSE) playing catch-up on China listings.
*Buyers line up to bid for pub group owner Regent Inns
(REG).
*Taylor Wimpey
(TW) chief fears knock-on effect for housing.
*Equities sharply lower on economic outlook.
*Enterprise Inns
(ETI) offers scant reason to be cheerful.
*Pipex
(PXC) ‘close to’ naming suitor.
*Harbinger move lifts Tate & Lyle
(TATE).
*Citi (CGP) loss and poor retail data prompt steep fall.
The Business Commentary Column:
*A short, sharp housing shock may be best.
*Apt appointment – Hedge fund group Paulson, has hired Alan Greenspan as part-time adviser and the more his past policy proves to have been misguided, the more his new employer wins.
*Wheeling out fresh firepower (Japan’s banking industry).
Feature:
*(Guy) Hands tells staff ‘welcome to the future’.
Business Big Shot:
*Mike Clasper, the man who has the task of reshaping operations and services at EMI.
The Tempus Column:
*Debenhams
(DEB) – One to avoid.
*Uniq
(UNIQ) – Avoid.
*Gresham House
(GSE) – Investors may want to take profits now rather than wait for a quick turnaround in Gresham’s fortunes.
Further news:
*Gloomy Wall Street triggers London slide.
*Carphone Warehouse
(CPW), down 19.5p to 293p, was again hit by the general retail sell-off, ahead of trading figures this Friday. Sector-watchers believe that it will have been resilient to the slowdown on the high street.
*Cellcast
(CLTV), the interactive digital broadcaster, jumped 0.875p to 3.75p after it signed a deal to supply Orange mobile networks in France and Israel with its video-sharing service.
*Jim Mellon, who runs Charlemagne Capital
(CCAP), bought 5.7% of Medical Solutions
(MLS), the provider of laboratory diagnostic services, before Christmas and may increase his holding.
The Comment Column:
*Retail’s ‘Super Tuesday’ had wet Wednesday in store - It was dubbed "Super Tuesday" by retail watchers wading through a deluge of high street trading updates, but the consumer-facing economy felt anything but super.
*The hands that cradled the Rock
(NRK) deserved to fail – It’s not surprising that the two opportunistic hedge funds who swooped on the wounded bank as it limped across the savannah should have garnered support from two-thirds of the Rock's shareholders.
*The shipping news is in and it’s not so good (the Baltic Dry Freight index) - When you need a ship you pay what you have to and equally when demand falls a bit, or a few more tankers come on the market, prices can tumble. And how they've tumbled, bringing the index below 8,000 at the last count.
The Outlook Column:
*After Citi
(CGP) bail-out, what about UK banks?
*Howard’s way of regulating markets - Sir Howard Davies, former chairman of the FSA and now director of the London School of Economics, was in characteristically articulate form last night in lecturing the Oxford Institute for Economic Policy on the future of financial regulation.
*Public finance rules lose their credibility.
The Business Analysis Column:
*Burberry
(BRBY) checked.
From The FT
*Northern Rock investors
(NRK) call for north to show its mettle (p1)
*Slowdown ends Tesco’s
(TSCO) run (p17)
*Boeing
(BOE) faces further delays over 787 delivery (p17)
*Supreme Court ruling protects third parties from fraud lawsuits (p17)
*Treasury relearning how to nationalise (p19)
*Debenhams
(DEB) result fails to please (p20)
*Burberry
(BUR) warns it could miss profit forecasts (p20)
From The Times
*Japanese banks stand ready to bail-out stricken US firms (p36)
*Blue chips swoon on worries about US recession (p36)
*Tesco
(TSCO) finance chief turns on critics after not so merry Christmas (p37)
*Brown gives strongest hint yet that Rock
(NRK) may be nationalised (p41)
*Citigroup
(CGP) is staring at a further writedown of $3-billion, analyst says (p43)
From The Daily Telegraph
*Northern Rock's
(NRK) rebel shareholders have scored a significant victory over the ailing lender's board at the extraordinary general meeting, but failed to win on key resolutions they hoped would block a fire sale of assets (Business p1)
*Shipping shares sink on slowdown fears (B1)
*Eurotunnel
(GETS) raises cash call to £1.27-billion (B2)
*Blacks Leisure
(BSLA) issues warning (B3)
*Northern Foods
(NFDS) stays healthy as customers eat up its costs (B3)
*Merrill Lynch raises $6.6-billion to shore up sub-prime losses (B5)
From The Independent
*Citigroup
(CGP) and Merrill Lynch raise $21-billion to cover mortgage losses (p37)
From The Daily Mail
*China keeps metals red hot (p72)
*Founder Peter Levine sells third of stake in Imperial Energy
(IEC) (p73)
From The Daily Express
*Footsie hit for £48-billion on US fears (p64)
SOME ITEMS THAT COULD INFLUENCE SHARE PRICES
*The Dow fell 277.04-points to 12501.11, the Nasdaq lost 60.71-points to 2417.59, while the S&P dropped 35.30-points to close at 1380.95.
*The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors says that confidence in the housing market has dropped to its lowest level since 1992.
*Shares dive in London as UK inflation stays above target.
*The Civil Aviation Authority has been told by the Department for Transport to keep setting caps on Stansted landing fees.
*Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain was guilty of "an incompetence" over donations to his Labour deputy leader campaign, Gordon Brown has said. The Electoral Commission is looking into the late declaration of £103,000 in donations to Mr Hain. The PM said Mr Hain, who faces MPs for Wales questions on Wednesday, had made a mistake he had "readily admitted to".
*Israeli forces have killed at least 18 Palestinian militants and five civilians in Gaza in the worst bloodshed since Hamas took control of the territory last summer.
*A worker has died after an accident at BP's
(BP.) ill-fated Texas City oil refinery, scene of a massive fatal explosion in 2005. The incident, which happened in a petrol processing unit that is thought to have been restarted only last week, could further delay BP's plan to bring the refinery back up to capacity.
*Republican Mitt Romney has won his party's presidential primary in the US state of Michigan, throwing the race for the nomination wide open. Mr Romney, who had lost the two previous contests, said his win was "the beginning of a comeback". Senator John McCain, who came second, congratulated Mr Romney, saying he had worked hard to ensure he won the vote.
Compiled in association with HB PLC and WH Ireland Ltd
