Businessman of the Year:
*Porsche boss, Wendelin Wiedeking, roars to top of motor industry.
Feature:
*Energy firm link to blood diamonds (Energem Resources (ENM)).
The Agenda Column:
*Doing nothing not an option in tough times - The economic strength of the emerging economies should help to insulate the West from the full force of the fallout from the sub-prime credit crisis.
*A true leader (Wendelin Wiedeking, boss of Porsche).
Feature:
*Rocked (NRK) by an event that nobody foresaw.
Business Focus:
*9th August - The day that changed the world (the credit crunch).
The Sunday Times business reporters’ share selections for 2008:
*John Waples – Filtronic (FTC).
*Dominic O’Connell – Aricom (ORE).
*Grant Ringshaw – Aviva (AV.).
*Jenny Davey – Berkeley Group (BKG).
*James Ashton – LogicaCMG (LOG).
*Louise Armistead – Hammerson (HMSO).
*Ben Laurance – Galiform (GFRM).
*Matthew Goodman – GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
The Louise Armistead Interview:
*Mike Slade of Helical Bar (HLCL) – Sailing into a property storm.
Feature:
*TV counts cost as writers strike hits home.
Feature:
*Global bargains in China’s sights.
Small Business Feature:
*Working from home leads to a legal mire.
The Inside the City Column:
*Contrarians should hold their horses – Is it time to be contrarian? Some investors will be brave, but the better bet seems to me to take a longer-term strategy and buy into companies with growth potential through a cycle. That list includes Vodafone (VOD), Reckitt Benckiser (RB.), ICAP (IAP), Tesco (TSCO) and Rolls-Royce (RR.).
*SCi Entertainment (SEG) – For now, SCi is a risk not worth taking.
Further news:
*Los Angeles-based Bug Music, one of the world’s largest independent music publishers, has emerged as the frontrunner to buy 90,000 music copyrights put up for sale by Universal Music. The catalogues, including songs recorded by the Spice Girls, Britney Spears and Bryan Adams, are being sold by Universal to meet competition concerns over its £1-billion deal to buy BMG Music Publishing, which creates a new market leader. It has received offers in excess of £74-million.
*The directors of Betgenius.com, an online betting business, are in line to share a possible £60-million fortune, after kicking off a strategic review that could lead to the sale for their company.
Lead Story of the Business and Money Section:
*GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and AstraZeneca (AZN), the drug makers, have been ordered to hand over confidential documents to the Serious Fraud Office as part of its investigation into bribes allegedly paid to Saddam Hussein's deposed Iraqi regime (‘oil for food’).
Feature:
*Maxjet (MAXJ) kisses goodbye to its cash.
The Business Comment Column:
*Handbags at dawn won’t salvage retailers – At the post-Christmas sales, it seems highly unlikely that customers will have bought enough designer handbags or Wii consoles to restore City confidence in the retail sector.
*Amazon (AZZ) riding high.
*Maxjet (MAXJ) uses foreign runway - Insiders at US-based Maxjet are in little doubt that had the business-class only airline been based in the UK, there might have been time to put together a rescue package for the business. Wishful thinking? Perhaps.
*Treasure seekers submerge - There is always at least one company unable to resist the temptation to slip out bad news while the City enjoys its extended Christmas break. This year it was troubled treasure hunter Subsea Resources (SUB) that decided to announce interim results at 6.06pm on Thursday. Subsea shareholders have seen shares in the company fall more than 98% since October 2006.
The Economic Agenda Column:
*The course we chart must encompass the East.
Profile:
*Paul Kelly, chief executive of Selfridges – Jingle tills are music to Kelly’s ears.
Feature:
*2007 charted new territory - Soaring food prices driven by biofuel demand, emerging markets seen as a safe haven for investors, banks refusing to lend to each other. Economic snapshots of the year.
Further news:
*Tom Alexander is endeavouring to poach a number of former colleagues from Virgin Mobile to spearhead his efforts to turn around Orange’s UK business.
*Knight Vinke, the rebel shareholder targeting HSBC (HSBA), is planning to turn its guns on 4 major European energy companies, according to documents published by one of the firm's biggest backers.
*Consumers turn to sub-prime lenders as credit squeeze bites.
The Lead Story of the Business Section:
*The clouds may be gathering, but Britain is in danger of “talking itself into recession” – A survey of leading business figures reveals that the big ‘r’ should not become a reality unless we invite it in.
The Lead Story of the Money Section:
*On the edge of 2008: will house prices bump along the plateau, or are they about to fall off the cliff?
The Lead Story of the Financial Mail:
*Bonus bonanza at John Lewis – Thousands of staff share in profits boom.
Feature:
*The charity boss reaping profits from debt misery (Malcolm Hurlston founder of the Consumer Credit Counselling Service) – It claims to offer independent advice, but some say the CCCS is cashing in on an insolvency boom.
Feature:
*Centrica (CNA) set to drive up energy bills.
Interview:
*Frank Martin, boss of Hornby (HRN) – Racing back.
Further news:
*Vultures eye up retail casualties.
*Property funds in new fall.
*US Pension fund, Calpers, has raised the pressure on HSBC (HSBA), the world’s third-biggest bank, setting its management team a 6-month deadline to outline plans for radical change.
*Arun Sarin, chief executive of Vodafone (VOD), is poised to reap a £45-million bonanza from the turnround in the company’s fortunes.
*Fresh-Pak, readymade sandwich filling company, has been put up for sale according to industry insiders.
*Turf TV signs up Ladbrokes (LAD).
*Setanta saves millions in Luxembourg tax move.
*Friends Provident (FP.) comes closer to break-up.
*Google in search to sell its advertising to newspapers.
*In its first season in the Premier League, Reading FC have announced pre-tax profits to June 07 of £6.6-million, against a loss of £6.5-million for the same period last year.
*Shell (RDSA) plans to outsource 3,600 jobs.
*The value of fines handed out by the FSA has fallen to its lowest level in 6-years despite claims from the regulator that it is cracking down on insider trading and other City crimes.
*Lansdowne Partners up 30% by shorting Northern Rock (NRK).
*RAB Capital (RAB) has seen the performance of its flagship fund boosted by a sudden jump in the value of an Uzbekistani gold mining operation, Oxus Gold (OXS).
*Banks halt commercial property loans.
*Sir Christopher Evans looks to clean up with flotation of Decon Sciences.
*Ministers step up drive to sell Urenco stake and pocket £2-billion windfall.
*John Pluthero, the chief executive of Cable & Wireless (CW.), has asked one of his closest lieutenants, UK human resources supremo Bernard Buckley, to spearhead efforts to improve the telecoms giant's international operations.
*Insolvency experts are on standby amid fears several high street retailers could collapse in January.
*French power giant, EDF, looks favourite to build the first of a new generation of nuclear power stations in the UK.
*Wine merchant Berry Bros & Rudd set to report record profits in the current year, as taste for wine becomes a tonic.
*Chrysalis (CHS) sues over pay row.
*VT (VTG) and BAE (BA.) set to be hit as budget cuts have forced the Royal Navy to axe 2 new Type 45 destroyers.
*Airbus factory to be GKN (GKN) flagship.
SOME ITEMS THAT COULD INFLUENCE SHARE PRICES
*Budget cuts have forced the Royal Navy to axe 2 new Type 45 destroyers.
*Gordon Brown has used his New Year message to say 2008 will be a year of "real and serious changes" in the UK, saying that combating the threat posed by terrorism was crucial and there would be "measurable changes in public services" over the next year. He said that the Government would see through reforms in "vital areas" such as secure energy, pensions and health.
*Jack Straw admits in a Sunday Times interview that David Cameron’s campaign is “resonating” with the public and the Government must “adapt” if it is to keep power.
*In his 2008 message, Tory leader David Cameron said the Conservatives were an alternative to "hopeless" Labour.
*Analysts warn that the UK economy is entering its most "uncertain period" for 15-years in a series of grim predictions.
*A surge in post-Christmas shopping looks set to banish fears that retailers have suffered poor sales in December.
*On eBay, a nation’s unloved presents - Close to a million items have been listed every day since Christmas, according to the company.
*Ministers set to give the go-ahead to mass cull of badgers.
*A murder inquiry has begun after the body of a man who had been shot in the head was found in a communal garden. The 20-year-old man was found next to Chartridge House on the Aylesbury estate in Walworth, south-east London.
*Motherwell FC captain Phil O'Donnell has died after collapsing towards the end of his side's Scottish Premier League game against Dundee United. The 35-year-old midfielder fell to the ground just as he was about to be replaced with Marc Fitzpatrick near the end of Motherwell's 5-3 victory. O'Donnell was treated for around five minutes on the field before being taken to a waiting ambulance. But his death was later confirmed by the Fir Park club.
*The party of the assassinated Pakistani opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto, is set to meet to discuss a successor and whether to contest January's election. Members of the Pakistan People's Party will gather at Ms Bhutto's family home in Larkana to hear her political will saying who should take over as leader. Correspondents say her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, is a possible contender.
*Japan's Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda, has called for increased co-operation with China in the future, at the end of a four-day trip to the country. Mr Fukuda said the neighbours could do more for the world by co-operating than each would achieve single-handedly.
*Egyptian authorities have opened an investigation into a video clip uncovered by an anti-torture activist that allegedly shows a police officer slapping a woman and forcing her to strip, a security official said Saturday. Egypt, where human rights groups say police abuse is pervasive, has seen a series of investigations of police prompted by cell-phone videos showing torture and abuse of suspects. The circumstances of the latest clip are unknown.
Compiled in association with HB PLC and WH Ireland Ltd
