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FTSE 100 5,127.57 -12.21 DOW 11,257.55 CLOSED NASDAQ 2,460.08 CLOSED /$ 1.55 unc / 1.16 unc /$ 1.33 -0.01

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will say youth unemployment is a slow-burn social disaster Picture: REUTERS

THE GOVERNMENT will hand 1bn toprivate firms in a bid to tackle rising

youth unemployment, Nick Clegg,the deputy Prime Minister, willannounce today.

Under the Youth Contract, firmswill be eligible for a subsidy of 2,275for each employee aged 18 to 24 yearsold they take on. There will be160,000 such subsidies equivalent tohalf the minimum wage for sixmonths available over the nextthree years.

Clegg will say: Youth unemploy-ment is an economic waste and aslow-burn social disaster. If people areout of work when theyre young they

bear the scars for decades.He added: This is a 1bn package

that gets young people into proper,lasting jobs in the private sector.

The coalition is desperate to cutyouth unemployment, which surgedto a 17-year high last month. Officialstatistics show unemploymentamong 16 to 24 year olds is now1.02m, or 21.9 per cent of the work-force in that age group.

George Osborne, the chancellor, will outline how the governmentplans to pay for the 1bn package in

his autumn statement on Tuesday.One possibility under consideration isfreeing up cash by cutting tax credits.

Business groups welcomed the

BY DAVID CROW

POLITICS

www.cityam.com FREE

BECKER: SCRAPSPORTS TAXINTERVIEW P34

BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY

plan. John Cridland, director-generalof employers organisation the CBI,said: This will encourage firms totake a gamble on a young inexperi-enced person and help tackle thescourge of youth unemployment.

Dr Adam Marshall, director of poli-cy at the British Chamber ofCommerce, added: This package,

aimed at tackling the problem ofrecord levels of young people out ofwork, is welcome.

The decision to use wage subsidies

to boost employment is something ofa U-turn for the coalition, whichquickly scrapped 1.3bn of similarpayments, instigated by the Labourparty, when it came to power.

In a bid to ensure the cash helpsthose who need it most, the vastmajority of subsidies will only beavailable to employers who take on a

young person who has been on job-seekers allowance for at least ninemonths.

The government is keen to avoid

the mistakes of Labours Future JobsFund, which was widely criticised forhelping employers cut the cost of tak-ing on university graduates they

would have hired regardless.Clegg is also expected to announce

funding for 250,000 work experienceplacements; 20,000 smaller incentivepayments to encourage employers to

take on apprentices; and a new pro-gramme designed to prepare disen-gaged 16 to 17 year olds for work.

ECONOMICS: P18

Certified Distribution

03/10/11 till 30/10/11 is 100,123

Issue 1,519 Friday 25 November 2011

LLOYDS BACKSOUR CHARITYXMAS APPEAL P9

BORROWING costs for the UK govern-ment fell below those of Germany forthe first time in recent history yester-day, following Germanys failure tosell all of its 10-year bonds in an auc-tion on Wednesday.

Low yields indicate a lower level ofrisk in lending to a country.

Yields on Britains 10-year gilts fell to2.16 per cent yesterday, but German

bund yields rose to 2.194 per cent aspread of 3.4 basis points (bps).

On the same day last month thespread stood at 43.6bps, with gilts hav-ing the greater yield, and the gap wasan even greater 62.2bps a year ago.

Markets panicked after investorsshunned Germanys 6bn (5.17bn)10-year bund auction, buying only3.889bn. Yesterday Eurozone leadersrefused to endorse the use ofstronger European Central Bank (ECB)interventions to weigh down yields.

Yesterday the sell-off continuedwith the Dax losing 0.5 per cent andthe FTSE 100 sliding 0.24 per cent.

The FTSE has now had nine straightdays of drops its longest downwardstretch since 2003. The price of goldalso lifted as the markets movedtowards safer investments, while theeuro slid again against the dollar.

Analysts warned that the jitterymarkets may have over-reacted.Sometimes individual bond auctionsthrow up funny results, and after all

Germany is a strong economy andbund yields have been falling steadily,said Buck Consultants Simon Hill.

MORE: P5, CITY VIEWS: P18

1BN FOR FIRMSWHO HIRE YOUTH BY TIM WALLACEEUROZONE

UK bondsa safer betthan bunds

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News2 CITYA.M. 25 NOVEMBER 2011

Migration upas expats fallNET MIGRATION to the UK reached arecord high of more than a quarter ofa million people in 2010, official fig-ures revealed yesterday.

The large increase in the net fig-ure, from 196,000 in 2009, was aresult not of an increase of immi-grants to the UK but a huge fall in thenumber of people emigrating to workor retire abroad.

Data from the Office for NationalStatistics showed the total number ofpeople entering the UK was steady at591,000 while the number leaving fellto its lowest since 2001 at 339,000.

The figures will be a blow to thegovernment, which has insisted it

will keep net immigration to lessthan 100,000 per year in an effort tokeep the UK population down.

The largest number of immi-grants 238,000 came to study, pro-

viding vital funding to UKuniversities, while a growing numbercame from eastern and centralEurope to work in the UK.

In contrast, British citizens tookfewer jobs overseas and opted not toretire in countries such as Spain asthe economic climate worsened.

Immigration minister DamianGreen said the latest quarterly figuresshowed falls in the numbers of workand student visas issued but saidthere was much more to be done.

BY ALISON LOCK

POLITICS

From Iceland to India: its all change

SOMETIMES, seemingly random facts andevents explain a great deal about the worldwe live in. Here is my pick of the day.

HUMAN CAPITALDuring the five decades from 2000 to2050, the US workforce is expected togrow by 37 per cent, fuelled in particu-lar by continuing migration. In starkcontrast, Chinas workforce is set toslump 10 per cent, courtesy of Beijingsone child policy, while Europes willcollapse by 21 per cent. Indias popula-tion will hit 1.6bn by 2050 and over-take Chinas in twenty years time. The

earths population is expanding by80m per year and will reach 7bn this

year and 9bn by 2045. Demographicsare hugely powerful economic andsocial forces; Americas growing popu-

lation will help it become far morepowerful relative to Europe and Japan;China will lose influence relative toIndia. For wealthy societies, larger pop-ulations are a source of strength, not

weakness.

ICELANDIC MODELIcelands economy is expected to grow2.6 per cent in 2011 and 2.4 per cent in2012, far better than anything the UKor the Eurozone will be able to pro-duce. Sometimes, when all is lost,embracing bankruptcy and defaultingon unaffordable debt is the way to go.Many people in Britain are angry thatthe Icelandic government (in other

words, ordinary Icelandic taxpayers)didnt pick up the bill for UK cus-tomers. But the Icelandics said no to

bailouts and after a total collapse,their economy is recovering.

DONT SPLIT THE BILLResearch by Uri Gneezy, Eman Haruvyand Hadas Yafe, published in theEconomic Journal a few years ago,showed that going to dinner with

friends on the basis that the bill would be split equally (compared to every-body paying for what they eat) leads toan average bill that is 36 per cent high-er. Anybody who believes the Eurozoneshould pool its debts needs to thinkabout this very carefully.Federalisation would guarantee evenmore over-spending. It is madness.

GENEROUS PUBLIC PENSIONSAhead of next weeks strike, it is inter-esting to look at the revised dealoffered to public sector workers. Theexact sums vary between parts of thestate sector. In one case, a worker on afinal salary of 34,200 will retire on22,800, an income for which theequivalent pension pot is an extraor-dinary 600,000. There are probablyno private sector employees in thecountry on those kinds of salaries

who will retire with anything likesuch a pot of cash most people onsuch wages will end up with nothing.In the case of the civil service, some-

body on a final salary of 29,800

would retire on 24,300, an incomethat would require 650,000 to buyon the market. I doubt strikers willgain much sympathy from ordinaryprivate sector workers, who would killfor such generous pensions.

INDIAN DREAMIndia yesterday allowed foreign super-markets to own 51 per cent of joint

ventures. This is a dramatic liberalisa-tion: to date, foreigners could onlyoperate wholesale joint ventures.Single-brand retailers (Apple, say) will

be able to fully own their subsidiary.India is a major opportunity for the UKeconomy. Expect UK retailers to makea move. City law firms will be hopingthat they will be next in line to begranted access.

[email protected] me on Twitter: @allisterheath

NEXT weeks sweeping public sectorstrikes could cost the economy up to500m, the Treasury claimed yester-day, although the figure was swiftly

branded fantasy economics by theTrades Union Congress (TUC).

The Treasury said that if two tothree million union members joinnext Wednesdays industrial action,the hit to public sector output andadditional knock on effects on the pri-

vate sector would total half a billion.The claim was described as a rea-

sonably worst case scenario byLiberal Democrat chief secretary tothe Treasury Danny Alexander. Thatis a loss we can ill afford at what is a

very difficult time for our economyoverall.

In a more optimistic estimate offewer union members striking, the

Treasury told City A.M. that the costcould come to around 280m. The

TUCs Brendan Barber rubbished thegovernments claims.

BY JULIAN HARRIS AND TIM WALLACE

POLITICS

Strikes could cost 500mCoalition minister Danny Alexander said the figure was a reasonable estimate

NEWS | IN BRIEF

AT&T sees merger deal failingAT&T said yesterday it would take a$4bn (2.6bn) charge in case itstakeover of T-Mobile USA fails, a tacitrecognition of the dwindling chancesthat the deal will get through US regula-tors who say it would destroy jobs andcurb competition. The US telecommuni-

cations group and T-Mobile ownerDeutsche Telekom said they would con-tinue to pursue anti-trust approval forthe $39bn takeover from the USDepartment of Justice, but withdrewapplications to the industry regulator,for now at least.

Fosters takeover deal approvedAustralias government gave SABMillerthe green light to proceed with itsA$11.5bn (7.2bn) takeover of brewingrival Fosters last night, but imposedconditions requiring the company tokeep brewing operations within thecountry. The approval is the final regula-tory condition to be cleared ahead of theFoster's shareholders vote set for 1December, which is expected to pass thedeal. Treasurer Wayne Swan saidSABMiller must keep management ofthe Fosters brand in Australia.

EDITORS LETTER

ALLISTER HEATH

Editorial StatementThis newspaper adheres to the system of

self-regulation overseen by the Press ComplaintsCommission. The PCC takes complaints about theeditorial content of publications under the EditorsCode of Practice, a copy of which can be found atwww.pcc.org.uk

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Distribution helplineIf you have any comments about the distributionof City A.M. Please ring 0207 015 1230, or [email protected]

Prime Minister DavidCameron is targetingnet immigration of lessthan 100,000 per year

4th Floor, 33 Queen Street, London, EC4R 1BRTel: 020 3201 8900 Fax: 020 7283 5334Email: [email protected] www.cityam.com

EditorialEditor Allister HeathDeputy Editor David HellierNews Editor David CrowActing Night Editor Marion DakersBusiness Features Editor Marc SidwellLifestyle Editor Zoe StrimpelSports Editor Frank DalleresArt Director Jo SimpsonPictures Alice Hepple

CommercialSales Director Jeremy SlatteryCommercial Director Harry Owen

Head of Distribution Nick Owen

TERRA FIRMA SEEKS 1BN SOVEREIGNFUND POOLGuy Hands Terra Firma CapitalPartners is looking to raise up to 1bn(860m) from a sovereign wealthfund to retain its ability to do dealsafter the investment period of its buy-out fund runs out next year. The pri-

vate equity group has beenapproached by several large investorsfrom China and the Middle East that

want it to set up a separate poolworth between 500m to 1bn.

CHINA CRACKS DOWN ON ROGUEEXCHANGES

The Chinese government haslaunched a crackdown on hundreds ofunregulated electronic equity andfutures exchanges that have sprungup in recent years to trade everythingfrom fine art and commodities to

insurance products. The countrysState Council published a notice

announcing a campaign to clean upand consolidate the many exchanges.

ALARM OVER INCREASE IN RATE OFPUB CLOSURESPub campaigners have warned thatthe pace of pub closures could accel-erate after the government said it

would not intervene in the so-calledbeer tie the contracts that make ten-ants buy beer from pub companiesrather than on the open market. Theselect committee had called forstatutory intervention on the beertie to help the struggling pub sector.

CODELCO OPENS DOOR TO DEAL WITHANGLOCodelco has opened the door to a

financial settlement with AngloAmerican in a tug-of-war over a prizedmine in Chile, but the state-ownedcopper miner has suggested that anydeal would not come cheap. ChiefDiego Hernndez conceded that it

could buy less than the full 49 per centstake in Anglos south Chilean arm.

3,000 JOBS GO AT BAE AND THETAXPAYER FOOTS THE BILLBAE Systems has handed the taxpayera bill for up to 110m to fund 3,000redundancies and the closure of itshistoric Hawk jet manufacturingplant near Hull, MPs have been told.In an excoriating attack on thedefence group in the Commons yes-terday, David Davis accused BAE ofexporting high-end British engineer-ing jobs abroad.

LAW GIANT IN RETREAT FROM EUROPEOne of the Citys leading legal part-nerships has been forced to rethink itsinternational strategy after scrappinga long-running alliance with two con-tinental European firms yesterday.Herbert Smith said it had severed itsties with Gleiss Lutz of Germany andStibbe of the Netherlands days after

the Europeans rejected an overturefor a formal merger.

THOMAS COOK'S BANKS MULL EXTRA100M LOAN

Thomas Cooks 17-strong banking syn-dicate is close to extending the compa-ny a 100m loan to save it fromimminent collapse. Shares in the 170-

year old holiday business jumped47pc yesterday, rising 5.23 to 16.35p,as the company held frantic talks withits banks aimed at securing a short-term refinancing deal before the

weekend.

GROUPON PILOTS SOCIAL NETWORKOnline coupon business Groupon ispiloting a social network target at pre-mium customers but shares havecrashed to below the level of its initialpublic offering (IPO). Sources at thecompany have told The Daily

Telegraph that it intends to developits service, Groupon Reserve, as an

invitation-only social network. It iscurrently being tested in New York.

SUZUKI TAKES VOLKSWAGEN DISPUTETO ARBITRATIONSuzuki Motor Corp yesterday fol-lowed through on its threat to take itsdispute with Volkswagen AG to inter-national arbitration, demanding thatthe German car maker return itsnearly 20 per cent stake in Suzukiafter the Japanese company declaredan end to their fractious alliance.

SIGNS OF SPENDING SWITCH FORCONSUMERS

As the annual post-Thanksgiving shop-ping onslaught begins, the spendinghabits of Americans will be closelyscrutinised for clues. But there arealready signs that consumers havechanged their behavior in ways notseen during other economic cyclesand the recovery is suffering becauseof it. Their dollars are far more likely

to flow to goods like cellphones thanto services like getting hair cuts.

WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING

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THREE executives of scandal-hit elec-tronics maker Olympus resigned withimmediate effect yesterday ahead of a boardroom showdown with oustedchief executive Michael Woodford.

Former president and chairmanTsuyoshi Kikukawa; former vice-pres-ident Hisashi Mori and internal audi-tor Hideo Yamada, tendered theirresignations from the board.

All three were blamed for playingcritical roles in the cover-up of hugelosses by paying vastly inflatedtakeover costs for worthless business-

es, including a $687m (440m) fee to afirm in the Cayman Islands.

ATTEMPTS by UBS to evict protestersfrom its disused City offices have beendelayed after the Occupy group chal-lenged mistakes in the legal papers.

The Swiss bank will make a secondeffort to have the activists removed onMonday, after initially serving a noticeon the group last Friday.

City A.M. understands the paper-work had not been stamped by courtofficials, was unsigned and did notshow a claim number.

The protesters have repossessedthe property on Sun Street, behindLiverpool Street Station, and takenover four floors, following the estab-lishment of other camps outside StPauls and at Finsbury Circus.

The group has also discussed takingover the three other empty buildingsin the UBS complex.

Activists said they have filed anapplication to set aside the UBS injunc-tion although this is expected to bedefeated on Monday, clearing the wayfor an eviction.

The other UBS site on the street,

where Kweku Adoboli allegedly car-ried out rogue trades, has not been tar-geted by the protesters.

Activists entered the empty buildingin the early hours of last Friday. After aweek inside they have set up closed cir-cuit television to monitor theentrance, opened an office and are inthe processing of creating their ownradio station. They have also bannedfinancial transactions of any kind inthe building.

The occupiers, who number around100 at their daily peak, have also recon-nected the electricity supply and begun using gas cookers, althoughLondon Fire Brigade has not beenalerted to any safety concerns.

The activists vary between idealisticmen and women in their twenties and veteran middle-aged protesters whocampaigned against the NewburyBypass in 1996.

Last night UBS declined to commentbeyond an earlier statement saying itis taking appropriate action.

A separate City of London actionagainst the St Pauls protesters will beheard in the High Court on 19December.

Legal errors

delay evictioneffort at UBS

THE PRIVATE equity arm of taxpayer-owned Lloyds bank has run into trou-ble in its bid for a family-owned Britishmanufacturer in a deal worth about70m, City A.M. can reveal.

The family that owns BensonGroup, which produces packaging forwell-known brands sold in Asda, Tescoand Boots, has been trying to sell outof the company for months and

entered exclusive talks with LloydsDevelopment Capital (LDC) in the

spring of this year.But the talks have dragged on with-out result and, in a blow for theLeicestershire-based manufacturer, thedeal is now believed to be close to col-lapse, with Benson potentially seekinganother buyer.

Over the timeframe of the talks, thecost of finance for the leveraged debtthat funds many private equity dealshas skyrocketed. LDCs parent, LloydsBanking Group, has been hit particu-

larly hard by rising funding costs andwas forced to put up the cost of its

mortgages recently. It is not known ifLloyds financing was being used forthe Benson deal, but the bank pro-vides all of the capital that LDC invests.

Among Bensons best-known prod-ucts are the packaging for Neurofenpainkillers, Marks & Spencerreadymeals and Asdas cheeky mon-key cake. The company had an annu-al turnover of some 90m in 2010.

Lloyds, Benson and LDC declined tocomment on the deal.

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Lloyds private equity bid forUK manufacturer in trouble

JAMES Turley, the global chief execu-tive of Ernst & Young, is to retire inJune 2013, the group said yesterday.

Turley told the firms worldwidepartners on 10 November that hewould retire at age 58, on 30 June,2013, the firm said. A replacementwill be named by April 2012.

Turley, who became chairman in2001 and chief executive in 2003, ledthe firm through stormy times. Histenure started just before the Enronand Worldcom accounting scandalssparked congressional hearings on

the profession and led to tough over-sight under a new watchdog.

Ernst & Youngchief to retire Olympus losesthree top staffBANKING

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

News 3CITYA.M. 25 NOVEMBER 2011

BY JULIET SAMUEL

EXCLUSIVE

BY PETER EDWARDS

EXCLUSIVE

Anti-UBS protesters could cling on for several more days Picture: Getty

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LEGAL changes may be on the way toforce overspending nations back intoline, after crisis talks between GermanChancellor Angela Merkel, FrenchPresident Nicolas Sarkozy and newItalian Prime Minister Mario Montiyesterday.

The three want to change Europeantreaties to make sure states only runsmall deficits in future.

Each country has its budget but itis about the ones who do not respectthe Stability Pact and can in future becalled to account, said former EUCommissioner Monti.

We have had 60 violations of theStability and Growth Pact, includingby Germany, and these German viola-tions were not punished. We are pay-ing a high price for this now.

The Pact was meant to keep budgetdeficits below three per cent of GDP,but was ignored, resulting in the cur-rent sovereign debt crisis.

Although future rules are being

considered, there is not yet any evi-dence of a plan to extricate strugglinggovernments from the huge burdens.

Merkel has already rejected the ideaof a jointly issued euro bond, proposedon Wednesday by CommissionPresident Barroso.

Yesterday she restated her view thatthey are not necessary.

Economists fear such bonds wouldrely on Germanys willingness to paythe debts of less fiscally retrainedcountries.

Elsewhere in Europe, Hungary washit by a downgrade from credit ratingagency Moodys late last night.Moodys dropped the Hungarian gov-ernment bond rating by one notch toBa1 from Baa3, and will keep it on anegative outlook.

Earlier in the day Hungarianauthorities said it was seeking a differ-ent deal with international lendersthan its very strict 2008 bailout,while Standard & Poors deferred deci-sion on a potential ratings downgradeuntil February after news of theplanned talks.

Merkozy to

seek closerfiscal rules

Dexia taps emergency funds

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TROUBLED Franco-Belgian bankDexia is drawing on emergency liq-

uidity funds, a banking source said yesterday, as its host governmentsrush to finalise a long-awaited deal toprovide guarantees on its debt.

A French finance ministry sourcesaid an interim agreement to guaran-tee Dexias financing would be signedwithin days and would be based onthe deal reached in October.

That echoed comments by Belgian

Finance Minister Didier Reynders,who said on Wednesday he hoped toreach an agreement with theEuropean Commission about Dexiasrestructuring plan in the coming days.

Belgium, which is expected to beliable for 60.5 per cent of the 90bn(78bn) in guarantees that it, Franceand junior partner Luxembourg saidlast month they would provide, hasnow been hit by the Eurozone debtcrisis.

France, which is due to provide36.5 per cent of the guarantees, leav-ing Luxembourg with the remaining

three per cent, has its own concernson debt, with credit rating agencyFitch saying on Wednesday that thecountry would have limited room toabsorb any new shocks to its public

finances without endangering itsAAA status.While it continues to wait for the

guarantees to be finalised Dexia ismaking use of the EmergencyLiquidity Assistance (ELA) facilitiesfrom the Belgian national bank andother national banks (within theEurozone), the banking source saidyesterday.

BY TIM WALLACE AND JULIAN HARRIS

EUROPEAN ECONOMY

BY HARRY BANKS

BANKING

GERMAN business confidence rose inNovember, defying economists predic-tions that the economy was weaken-ing rapidly, the IFO business indexrevealed yesterday.

The Federal Statistical Office alsoconfirmed that GDP grew at a healthy0.5 per cent in the third quarter, boost-ed by strong consumer spending.

However, the economy is set to be

hit by falling exports as its neighboursand trading partners economies take

turns for the worse.We see weaker external demandfor the near term and expect firmsincreasingly to delay investment deci-sions due to the uncertainty created bythe euro area sovereign debt crisis,said Barclays Capitals Thomas Harjes.For the final quarter in 2011, we nowproject German GDP to shrink by 0.3per cent.

Last German spurt as theeconomy slows into 2012

EUROZONE


STRIKES AGAINST PORTUGUESE CUTS

PROTESTS against austerity measures swept Portugal yesterday, as the governmentstruggles to control its budget deficit in line with the terms of the IMF and EUs bailout.Public transport and government services ground to a halt across much of the country.Although windows were broken in three tax offices, police reported that the protestsremained peaceful through the day.

BELGIUMS King Albert II has told ElioDi Rupo, the man tasked with form-ing a government, that he cannotresign and must press ahead withcoalition talks.

Worries over the countrys deficitare intensifying political crisis inBelgium, which still lacks a govern-ment following indecisive elections inthe summer of 2010.

Yields on 10-year Belgian debt havesurged to over 5.7 per cent, frombelow 4.8 per cent at one point lastweek.

Belgian authorities have joinedFrance this week in calling for theEuropean Central Bank (ECB) to stepup its role in stemming contagionacross the Eurozone.

And there was more bad news yes-terday as Belgian business confidence was confirmed as declining for theeighth straight month.

The indexs top line deteriorated tominus 12.2, from minus 10.4 the pre-vious month. The score is consistentwith zero GDP growth year on yearover the next quarters, BNP Paribassaid in a note.

Meanwhile pressure on Italian debtwas also heightened yesterday, withyields on 10-year bonds rising as highas 7.13 per cent, before closing at 7.11per cent, up nearly two per cent.

Belgiums Kingurges coalitiontalks continue

EUROZONE

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CITY broker Arbuthnot has lost the ris-ing star chief executive of its wealthmanagement business, Dean Proctor,

who has quit to move to Qatar.Proctor (pictured) will leave the

bank in the first quarter of next year totake an executive role at Qatari lenderCommercialbank, in a move that hiscolleagues said was a sign that the Cityis failing to hang onto top talent.

Arbuthnot executives blamed acombination of high personal taxes,

an increasing burden of regulationand the toxic political climate forthose who work in finance forProctors departure.

The pre-eminence of the City ofLondon and the UKs financial services

business will be damaged unless stepsare taken to ensure that the businessenvironment remains competitive,said Arbuthnot chairman and chiefexecutive Henry Angest.

Dean Proctor leaving to pursue hiscareer elsewhere in the world is to me

a further example of the danger of notmaintaining a strong enterprise cul-ture in the UK.

A source close to the situation saidthat the prospect of a larger and lessregulated pay package in Qatar wasone factor in Proctors decision.

But it is also understood thatProctor believes ac a s h - r i c h ,growing econ-omy like Qataroffers bettercareer oppor-tunities due to

its attitudetowards wealthcreation.

The bank hasfound a suc-cessor forProctor, buthe has yet toget formalregulatoryapproval.

Star exec atArbuthnotditches City

STANDARD Chartered has lost itsglobal head of fixed-income, curren-cy and commodities as departures

continue to rise in investment bank-ing amid a worsening financialmarket.

Singapore-based Remy Klammers,a high-profile hire from LehmanBrothers back in 2008, is expected to

begin his own startup, two sourceswith knowledge of the move said.

A bank spokesman confirmedKlammers departure and said hislast day was 18 November, but did notprovide details such as why he left.

StanChart head

of FICC leaves

BY JULIET SAMUEL

BANKING

BANKING


BRITAINS banks are drawing up con-tingency plans in case there is a dis-

orderly break-up of the Eurozone orexit of some countries from the sin-gle currency, a top UK regulator said

yesterday.Andrew Bailey, deputy head of the

Prudential Business Unit at the UK'sFinancial Services Authority (FSA),said UK banks do not have largeexposures to the Eurozone, but mustplan for the worst.

We cannot be, and are not, com-placent on this front, Bailey said ata conference. As you would expect,

as supervisors we are very keen tosee the banks plan for any disorderlyconsequence of the euro area crisis.

He also talked about retail banks,saying they should be more trans-

parent over the fees they charge cus-tomers.

What is very hard is for the pub-lic to work out for what its payingfor the simplest elements of bankingservices and that of course has aneffect on things like switching[accounts], he said.

Bailey, who was Chief Cashier atthe Bank of England, moved to theFSA as part of preparations for ashake-up of the UKs f inancial super-

vision from 2013.

BYHARRY BANKS

REGULATION

Banks see Eurozone risk

The FSAs Andrew Bailey said banks must prepare for the worst

INTESA Sanpaolo yesterday picked atop manager at insurance group

Allianz as its new chief executive tosteer Italys biggest retail bankthrough a worsening sovereign debtcrisis that has reduced its access tofunding.

Enrico Cucchiani, head of AllianzsItalian unit, succeeds CorradoPassera, who left the bank to joinItalys new government.

He takes the helm of Intesa at a crit-ical juncture for Italys lenders, whichhave borne the brunt of a market sell-off since the summer.

Intesa chooses

new chief execBANKING

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PRIVATE equity icon Jon Moulton hasmoved closer to a takeover of softwarefirm Clarity Commerce by winning

backing from nearly half of its share-holders.

Moultons Enigmatic Investmentsyesterday said it has gained the sup-port of investors owning around 45per cent of Clarity stock, despite direc-

tors holding out for more cash.It is the latest twist in a long-run-ning saga which has seen Claritytwice reject offers from Enigmatic asundervalued.

Enigmatic has been pursuingClarity since September. City A.M.understands a deal could see the soft-

ware firm joined with DigiPos StoreSolutions, an electronic point of salesystems firm, which is owned byMoultons Better Capital group.

Yesterday Clarity declined to com-ment on Enigmatics move but itappears to have been left with fewalternatives to the 10.36m offer.

Its hopes of an immediate chal-lenge to the Enigmatic offer weredashed on Monday when a mysterythird-party bidder, with which it had

been in advanced negotiations, walked away from an offer after being set a Monday morning dead-line by the Takeover Panel.

Moulton gains strengthin battle to buy Clarity

Moultons empire stretches from aerospace to publishing Picture: CityAM / Micha Theiner

BY PETER EDWARDSM&A

www.c

ityam.c

om

NEWS | IN BRIEF

Santander bond swap flopsSantander said yesterday only around afifth of investors had accepted its offerto swap junior bonds into new debt, partof an exchange some of Europes biggest

investors say will shut the Spanish bankout of future funding markets. The banksaid just 23.8 per cent of bondholdershad taken up its offer, making it fall farshort of its 6.8bn (5.9bn) targetannounced last month. I think itsunlikely Santander will be able to do anysenior unsecured issuance or coveredbonds, said Roger Doig, a credit analystat funds house Schroders.

Raiffeisen may close some armsAustrian bank Raiffeisen could cut assetsand reshuffle its capital structure tomeet regulatory targets without curbinggrowth in its core emerging Europe mar-kets, the region's third-biggest lendersaid yesterday. The bank also said itmight withdraw from some activities incentral and eastern Europe due to toughnew regulations and poor profitability.New rules proposed by regulators, whichwould link lending in central, eastern andsoutheastern Europe to the amount ofrefinancing that CEE units of Austrianbanks can arrange locally, have stokedfears of a regional credit crunch.

Ryanair pushes Aer Lingus on EGMIrish airline Ryanair said yesterday it willpursue Aer Lingus directors for a breachof company law if the former state carri-er refuses again to hold an extraordinarygeneral meeting. Ryanair, Aer Lingus'slargest shareholder with a near 30 percent stake, said it had the right torequest a meeting at which it wanted todiscuss Aer Lingus's 400m (344.2m)pension deficit and a tax settlement. AerLingus, which said last week that Ryanairwas using its shareholding simply toharass a competitor, once again rejectedthe call.

Toyota to create 1,500 UK jobs

Toyota will invest 228m in Europe tobuild the next generation of its Auriscompact hatchback in the UK and acompact saloon in Turkey, adding up to1,900 new jobs in total. Toyota said itexpects to recruit up to 1,500 addi-tional workers in the UK, with a firstrecruitment phase of around 500 fromthe middle of 2012. The Japanese car-maker, which is suffering under astrong yen, wants to both increase thetotal volume of compact cars pro-duced in Europe while better utilisingplant capacities.

Raymond Blanc chain expandsRaymond Blancs restaurant chain hasbought up eight Chez Gerard restaurantsout of administration. The eight London-based outlets employ almost 250 people,and administrator Deloitte is ensuringtrade continues at a further 24 siteswhile it looks for a buyer. The deal takes

the total number of Brasserie Blancbranches to 19.


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My mobile phone rings for theumpteenth time today. Theyare so much a part of our

everyday lives that its hard to imag-ine a time when we functionedwithout them.

It might surprise you to learn thatin some of the poorest countries ofthe world, mobiles are an indispen-sable part of daily life too. Imaginewalking or cycling for several hoursto get to market only to find thatthe price being offered for your cropis too low. Get the prices in advance

by text and you can save much timeand effort.

With 60 per cent of our Malawiancustomers owning a mobile, it madesense to introduce cellphone bank-ing. Banki Mmanja, which meansbank in my hand, puts a packageof financial services literally in thepalm of the hand. Its a win-win, cut-ting our costs and allowing clients inremote areas to conduct transac-tions without the time and expenseof travelling to a branch.

CHIEF EXECUTIVEOPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL UK

EDWARD FOX

Community service is celebratedwithin the organisation, says Tate,pointing to a magazine on his officetable called Give, which celebrates thecontributions Lloyds staff make. Hespeaks proudly about Dave Charlton,an employee who has taken in 80 fos-ter children over the past 22 years.

Lloyds is also the official bank spon-sor of the Olympic and Paralympicgames and is a contributor to theHigh Street Fund, which was set up inthe aftermath of the summer riots inthe UK. The bank contributed 76m to

charitable causes in 2010.Opportunity is part of the puzzle,

says Tate, for whom it has become afamily affair since his wife alsobecame involved as a volunteer.

Tate says the bank has receivednothing but support from regulators

and investors, including UKFI, thegovernment-controlled organisa-tion that manages the publicsstake in Lloyds and RBS.

He thinks advanced economiesmight have something to learn

from the methods used byOpportunity, which

makes all its borrowersembark on courses cov-ering literacy (bothfinancial and verbal),marketing and entre-preneurship beforethey qualify for aloan.

The emphasis isnot really about asingle entrepreneur

but its about familyand village success.

Its a new definition ofcapitalism, the kind of

vision that might even be champi-

oned by the protesters at St Pauls.Tate says he was recently asked at a

conference what he considered hisdream. He answered: I think I wouldlike to be introduced as being fromLloyds Banking Group and people

would beam, not chuckle or sneer.

I can imagine us being an organi-sation known for what it is at its core;for its people, for its commitment andfor its courage and leadership. It willbe famous for its spirit, its culture andits heart....That will be a great day.

IF youre looking for just one reason toback City A.M.s Christmas charityappeal, try this from a banking execu-tive who has been intimately involved with Opportunity International forthe past seven years.

This is not a charity that givesaway money. It enables people torealise their entrepreneurship and when you see how much you can

achieve with so little it is a humblingexperience. So says Truett Tate (pic-tured), executive director of LloydsBanking Group, which is sponsoringour appeal this year.

Tate says his visits to Opportunitysprojects have been inspiring:You go off with the mind-set that this is charity andyou end up being in awe of what they are doing andbuilding.

Lloyds has generatedabout 250,000 a year forOpportunity for the past five years and Tate, who isresponsible for the banks corporate andsocial responsibilityefforts, thinks the link with the charity ishugely beneficial.

Lloyds might still be dealing with theafter-effects of itsacquisition of HBOS, but that hasntstopped it being agenerous giver tocharities.

Why Lloyds ischampioningour appeal

Proudly sponsored by

Matching your donations with

CITY A.M. readers have demonstrated their outstand-ing generosity this week by pledging huge support forour Christmas appeal.

Through your donations we have raised an impressive98,000 in the past five days alone, with donationspouring in by phone, by text, and through our website.

Every contribution, no matter how small, is very wel-come and can make an enormous difference to ourcharity of choice, Opportunity International.

Through our match funding agreement, all donationsfrom UK individuals will be matched by the Governmentpound for pound.

We were very grateful to receive significant giftsfrom a number of private donors, including one worth10,000 and a second worth 500. Donations can bemade by telephone to 01865 725304.

Our online auction is still taking bids on our excitingand unique prizes visit www.cityam.com/auctiontoview the lots and start your bidding.

98,000 RAISED THIS WEEK

BY PHONE: by debit or credit card to

01865 725 304Text donations may not work from companymobile phones as these often block

premium messages

BY TEXT: CITY11 and amount (5 or 10 only) to

70070 www.cityam.com/appeal

City A.M. Christmas Appeal 9CITYA.M. 25 NOVEMBER 2011

BYDAVID HELLIER

MEET OUR SUPPORTERS

Bgard Matgmba, anOpportunity client inMalawi, at workPicture: Zsofia Molnar

98,000

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staff, flying to London on 14December to discuss how creating a

new financial centre for Moscow willallow business to flow backwards andforwards between the two cities.

London is the preferred partner forthe MIFC over Frankfurt, after DavidCameron signed a memorandum ofagreement on his Moscow visit inSeptember, and the Kremlin is keen toencourage dual stock exchange list-ings between London and Moscow.Funding is likely to come fromRussias state-run VEB Bank, said asource close to the project.

BUSINESS BURDENTHERE was a lively line-up of speakersat the Institute of Directors annualdinner last night: Eden Projectfounder Tim Smit, business secretary

Vince Cable, and his Strictly ComeDancing predecessor John Sergeant,the BBC political broadcaster.

And, of course, the IoDsnew chief Simon Walker,

who used his debut as direc-tor general to deliver anattack on the failings of UKemployment law.

The sheer weight of

employment law is a mas-sive drag on business, hecomplained. Our latestsurvey of IoD membersshows that the burden ofemployment law hasstopped almost half of youfrom hiring at some point.

Thats a lot of jobs not creat-ed.

PRINT RUNCASH-STRAPPED GuardianNews & Media is considering itsoptions for saving costs by out-sourcing its printing operationsto a third party.

And if the newspaper groupcan hold on for just threemonths, Richard Desmond(right) will be more than happyto take on the printing con-

tracts for the Guardian andthe Observer at his new

printing plant in Luton, once he hastransferred presses for his Express

Newspapers titles from Docklands. Thepresses start rolling next Monday withthe Daily Star, and The Capitalistunder-stands Desmond plans to go after fur-ther publishing contracts once hisnewspapers have bedded in.

The words over and my deadbody spring to mind when imaginingGuardian editor Alan Rusbridgersresponse to Desmonds efficient busi-ness proposal. But then desperatetimes, as they say, call for desperatemeasures.

CRICKET PITCHFORGET the ongoing 233m acquisi-tion of rival Evolution Group, the

biggest deal at Investec is its record-length sponsorship of Test Matchcricket.

The South African investment bankmay have posted a two per centdecline in earnings for the sixmonths to the end of September, butit still found the cash to yesterdayemerge as the title backer of the sportuntil 2021. Excellent news, said theEngland Cricket Boards chief execu-tive David Collier just no word yet

on which side the Johannesburgand London-listed Investec will be batting for whenEngland meets South Africanext summer in one of thefirst fixtures under the

banks ten-year association

BAR FLIESREMAINING atInvestec, a numberof the banks employ-ees were yesterdayamused by one of

their insuranceclients choice oflunch venue.

Not for themBarbecoa or Gaucho Investecs guestsasked to be taken tothe vodka bar

Revolution, where thehouse specialities are

the Revolution vodkaburger and the Revolution

vodka pizza. And lets notforget the restaurants new

vodka-based Christmas cock-tail the Twinkle Berry, or its30 different variations ofhomemade vodka shots.Investec wouldnt say whichgood-sized insurance com-pany was propping up the bar but the Lloyds of Londonmarket is within shouting

distance of RevolutionsLeadenhall venue

LORD MAYOR STEPS UP SECURITYFOR AMBASSADORS RECEPTIONSIT HAD to be the Queen. No-one elsehas that level of police presence, saidone City observer when he noted aconvoy of four police motorbikes andtwo impressive cars making its waytowards the Walbrook Building instately fashion.

But no it was Lord Mayor David Wootton, who had stepped up hisusual security to escort an overseasdignitary as part of his mission to

strengthen the Citys business finan-cial ties. So was it the president ofPanama, Columbia or Turkey beingshown the sights of EC4 in the backof the car with Wootton?

Who knows all three have visitedthe new Lord Mayor in the last tendays, with NBNK chairman LordLevene, Lloyds Banking Group chair-man Sir Win Bischoff and energyminister Chris Huhne among those

who turned out to receive Turkishpresident Abdullah Gul at a state ban-quet for 500 at Mansion House on

Wednesday night.One of the Lord Mayors main proj-

ects for his time in office will be theMoscow International Finance Centre(MIFC), as first reported on 22 July.

And moves have been made here,with Russian powerbroker AlexanderVoloshin, the ex-presidential chief of

East meets West: MIFC leaders Alexander Voloshin (left) and Lord Mayor David Wootton

IoD director general Simon Walker

The Capitalist10 CITYA.M. 25 NOVEMBER 2011

EDITED BY

HARRIET DENNYSGot A Story? [email protected] The Capitaliston Twitter: @dennysharriet

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DIXONS Retail posted a better-than-expected half year loss after Europessecond largest electrical goods retailer

won market share from its rivals,helping to limit the impact of weakconsumer spending.

The company, which is home to theCurrys and PC World chains inBritain, said it made a loss before taxof 25.3m in the 24 weeks to 15October.

That compared with a loss of 6.9m

the same time last year, but was aheadof analysts average forecast for a lossof about 30m. Losses at its UK busi-ness narrowed from 10.7m to 3.9m.

John Browett, chief executive, saidthe group was pleased with its per-formance compared with the previ-ous year, when sales were buoyed bythe Fifa World Cup.

Browett said sales of white goods,such as washing machines, coffeemachines and expensive headphoneshad grown while smaller consumer

items like sat navs and cheap camerashad fared worse.

Dixons said it had outperformedrivals in part thanks to a store revampprogramme focused on more popularmegastores and consolidating itsCurrys and PC World Stores.

Its operations in Italy and Greececontinued to be hit by the Europeaneconomic crisis, whilst its other inter-national markets including Turkeyand the Nordics performed strongly.

Net debt fell over 70m to 143m,helping to ease concerns over thegroups financial position.

Dixons Retailnarrows itsfull-year lossBYKASMIRA JEFFORD

RETAIL


ANALYSIS l Dixons Retail PLC

p

18 Nov 21 Nov 22 Nov 23 Nov 24 Nov

11.0

10.5

10.0

9.5

10.0224 Nov

MARKS & Spencer took its waresback to France after a decadesabsence from its soil yesterday,claiming that Parisians were

yearning for its gourmet chut-ney and sensible knickers.

The return to France is part ofa new international strategyaimed at a handful of countries.Goods will be priced around 10per cent higher than in the UK.

The opening came as Kate

Bostock, the head of its clothingand homeware business,refused to deny that she was intalks to take a senior job atonline retailer ASOS.

Im obviously very disap-pointed about the piece thats inthe press today. Im here in Paris

with the team, Im so proud ofthis business and this store, shesaid when questioned.

BYALISON LOCK

RETAIL

ANALYST VIEWS: ARE THESE FIGURES GOODNEWS FOR DIXONS? Interviews by Kasmira Jefford

DAVID JEARY | INVESTEC

The renewal and transformation plan has clearly been transformationalfor Dixons, although the parlous state of the electricals market has not allowedthis to shine t hrough strongly. We retain some concerns on the short-term tradingoutlook and the relative dearth of must-have products at present.

PHILIP DORGAN | PANMURE GORDON

Given the depths of poor sentiment towards struggling UK retailers, wethink that the decent performance in the UK business, which actually did fairlywell, and cashflow performance may not yet be enough to prompt a re-rating, butthis statement is helpful as a first staging post.

KEITH BOWMAN | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN

Dixons remains in a difficult place. Market share is being won, with therate of decline in same store sales improving, and debt continues to be reduced.On the downside, management outlook comments remain understandably cau-tious and exposure to Southern Europe continues to be endured.

Dixons chief executive John Browett said sales of large goods were up

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BRITISH Gas has said it is simplify-ing its tariffs after admitting cus-tomers were being baffled by thecurrent system.

All customers would be able tochoose between two tariffs vari-able and fixed under the shake-up. Energy industry regulatorOfgem earlier this year told ener-gy companies they must offer sim-pler billing.

The British Gas overhaul wouldallow people to choose a fixed

price over a set period of time, ora price that varied at the compa-nys discretion. However, there

would be different prices chargeddependent on factors such as howcustomers paid. For example, pay-ing by direct debit with online

bills would be cheaper thanreceiving a paper bill and paying

by cheque.British Gas, owned by Centrica,

is sending a letter to all its cus-tomers explaining its new policy.In the letter managing directorPhil Bentley says: It is clear that

we need to make things better forour customers.

To make sure we do that, I amcommitted to having an honest

conversation with [them].Earlier this week, E.On said thatit would change its systems while

other major energy suppliers havesaid they are working towardssimplifying their tariffs.

Consumers tell us they want asimpler, more competitive energymarket, said Ian Marlee ofOfgem.

British Gas pledges

to simplify tariffsBY JOHN DUNNE

ENERGY

Youngs toasts profits rise fuelled by60m purchase of Geronimo Inns

been heavily discounting winter cloth-ing over the last couple of weeks, offer-ing savings of up to 40 per cent.

Green said he anticipated no let-up tothe discounting before Christmas.

How can it and why should it?Everybodys trying to get out their win-ter goods, he said.

Green (right) was positive thatinflation would drop in 2012 butdid not expect a material change inthe UK consumers mood.

The entrepreneur, who boughtBHS for 200m in 2000, Arcadia for850m in 2002 and has twicetried and failed to buyMarks & Spencer, said hisdealmaking days werenot necessarily behindhim, although nothingcurrently excited him.

Arcadia is one ofthe UKs biggest pri-

vate employers, withmore than 44,000staff in 2,507 stores.It also has 600 fran-chised outlets in 36

countries worldwide.A second flagship US Topshop store was opened in Chicago in Septemberand a third will follow in Las Vegas inMarch, with possibly Los Angeles to fol-low.

Green said he thought the overallTopshop business could double in size in

four years and is keen to open in Chinain 2012. He said Topshop would openits own stores in China rather thanfranchises.

Given the very challenging con-ditions both in the UK and around

the world, I am pleased to reportcash generation of 297m,

Green said. We remain astrongly cash generative business, enabling us tocontinue to invest in all ofour brands.

We have invested113m in the last finan-

cial year, bringing ourtotal investment over thelast five years to in excessof 550m.

Green to cut hundreds of shopsas wary consumers stay homeBYKASMIRA JEFFORDRETAIL

ANALYSIS l Centrica PLC

p


294

292

290

288

286

285.8024 Nov

ARCADIA Group, the retailer owned by billionaire Sir Philip Green, yesterdaysaid it planned to close up to 260 storesover the next three years after announc-ing a big fall in profits.

The group, which owns fashion retailstores including Topshop, MissSelfridge, and department store BHS,said it would not renew half of its 480leases that are due to expire over thenext three years.

Acradias pre-tax profit fell 38 percent to 133.1m in the year to 27

August, down from 213.2m last time,after the group wrote-off more than250m from expiring leases.

Total sales at its 3,100 outlets world-wide were down by 3.4 per cent whilesales, were down 4.4 per cent for the

first 12 weeks of the new financial year,which Green blamed on the warmestwinter on record.

Its been the hottest October andNovember in history. Nobody can deal

with that. Winter goods are tough, hetold reporters at his flagship Topshopstore on Londons Oxford Street.

Its 13 degrees centigrade differencein temperature today than a year agoon the same day, Green said,

Retailers such as Debenhams, Marks& Spencer and Greens own BHS have

M&S France

launch seesBostockquizzed

BREWER Young & Co said yesterdayit had seen revenues rise stronglyin the first half.

The company said revenue wasup 34 per cent to 90.5m duringthe six months to October.

Adjusted profit before tax wasup 11 per cent to 12.5m. However,

including exceptional items thecompany posted a loss of 16m.

Managed house revenue was up37.9 per cent year-on-year and oper-ating profits were up 23.1 per cent.Managed house like-for-like rev-enue was up four per cent whilerecently acquired Geronimo Inns

saw revenues rise 12.6 per cent.Youngs announced an interim div-

idend of 6.68p, up five per centfrom the first half of 2010.

Chief executive StephenGoodyear said the firms estate hadtraded very well, with the recentacquisition of Geronimo proving asuccess, and its hotels businessshowing further strong growth.

Youngs paid 60m for London-focused Geronimo.

LEISURE

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BRITISH construction and infrastruc-ture companies Kier, Balfour Beattyand Morgan Sindall have been award-ed multi-million pound contracts for

work on Londons Crossrail project. A joint venture between British

contractors Balfour Beatty andMorgan Sindall, together withFrances Vinci Construction, has beenawarded a 110m contract for workon Whitechapel station in eastLondon, the companies said yester-

day.The project is worth some 29m to

Morgan Sindall. A three-way venture between

British construction firms Kier andBam Nuttall with Spanish infrastruc-ture firm Ferrovial was awarded acontract worth more than 200m forengineering work on Farringdon sta-tion, which serves the City.

Kier said work was due to start inJanuary 2012 with completion sched-uled for 2018.

Crossrail, Europes largest infra-structure project, is an east-west com-muter line project linking centralLondon and the southeast ofEngland. It is expected to cost around16bn.

The opening of Crossrail waspushed back until late 2018 from2017 in last years spending review tocut the projects cost. Crossrail isexpected to play a key role in Britainseconomic recovery.

The British government has esti-mated that the project will add some42bn to the economy.

Contracts areawarded forCrossrail plan RAIL infrastructure group NetworkRail said its debts have jumped,though it remains on track with cost-savings and improvement works.

Its debt rose to a whopping 25.7bnin the period, which the group said

was at an expected level due to cap-ital expenditure and the rising valueof its inflation-linked bonds.

Around 1.25bn of Network Railsdebts are bank loans and overdrafts.

Capital expenditure soared byalmost a fifth to top 2bn, as thegroup forged ahead with Thameslinkupgrades at Farringdon andBlackfriars, as well as Crossrail work.

But Network Rail said that its run-ning costs are, in real terms, morethan 300m lower than in 2008-09,

when the Office of Rail Regulationasked it to cut costs by 22 per cent

between 2009 and 2014. The group also booked a gain of

1.1bn for the rise in value of the rail-way network.

The growing number of coppercable thefts on the rail network areimpeding its performance, with 92.8per cent of trains running on timecompared with 93.5 per cent last year.

Network Rails operating profitrose 8.6 per cent to 1.23bn in the sixmonths to the end of September butprofits after tax halved to 136m.

Network Rail

is on track as

its debt soars

Whitechapel

Farringdon

Crossrail is planned for completion by the end of 2018 Picture: REUTERS

BY JOHN DUNNE

TRANSPORT

TRANSPORT


ANALYSIS l Balfour Beatty PLC

p


230

225

220

215

218.9024 Nov

110m

200m

ANALYSIS l CROSSRAIL CONTRACTS

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HERITAGE Oil has lost a $404m(261m) tax row in Uganda after theeast African country's tax authorityruled it was liable to pay a disputedcapital gains bill.

But Heritage said the ruling wasfundamentally flawed and that itwould look at its options for appealthrough the courts and arbitration.

The dispute centres on tax claimed by the government on the $1.45bnHeritage made from the sale of itsUgandan assets to UK-based TullowOil last year.

Shares in Heritage fell 5.6 per centyesterday.

STOCK trading platforms Chi-XEurope and BATS Global Markets weregiven the final green light to merge bythe competition watchdog yesterday,clearing the way for them to control aquarter of Europes equities volume.

The UK Competition Commissionrubber-stamped an earlier provisionaldecision and will allow the exchangesto complete a $300m (192m) dealthey started discussing a year ago.

BATS Global is a formidable pres-ence in the US market, where it oper-ates the third-biggest equities market, but failed to gain ground in theEuropean market where its rival Chi-Xemerged as the biggest equitiesexchange by trades.

Chi-X had almost a fifth of theEuropean cash equities market withturnover of 546.6bn in the thirdquarter of the year, whereas BATSEurope had a 5.5 per cent marketshare and 194.2bn turnover.

BATS will now buy Chi-X to gain itspresence in the market and take onestablished exchanges such as theLondon Stock Exchange and NYSE

Euronext by creating a new entitycalled BATS Chi-X Europe.

BATS chief executive Joe Rattermansaid the deal would create an evenmore formidable competitor in pan-European securities trading, offeringgreater market efficiencies for theentire investing community.

The Commission had investigatedtheir merger, which will make themEuropes third-biggest equity tradingmarket, over concerns that it wouldcut out a source of competition.

Chi-X had turnover of145.7bn inOctober, behind the London StockExchange Group with 191.7bnturnover when its Turquoise multilat-eral platform was included. The third-biggest, NYSE Euronext, had turnoverof 112.6bn, figures from theFederation of European SecuritiesExchanges showed.

The deal comes as a second stockmarket merger, between DeutscheBoerse and NYSE Euronext, remainsunder scrutiny from Europes compe-tition authorities.

Their $10.2bn merger would createthe biggest exchange in Europe, witha turnover of205.6bn by Octobersfigures.

BATS gets go

ahead to buyChi-X Europe

THE Highways Agency could save200m per year by taking a muchmore businesslike approach to man-aging the UKs busiest roads, its chair-man said in a new report yesterday.

In his independent review of thestrategic road network for the depart-ment for transport, Alan Cook saidthe agency had become inefficient

and ineffective through a cosy rela-tionship with the government andneeded a culture change that putsusers and taxpayers first.

Cook warned that the agency hadan over-centralised working culturethat is unnecessarily risk-averse with no continuous external pres-sure for efficiency.

He said most infrastructure busi-nesses in regulated sectors typicallyachieved average annual cost efficien-

cies of about three to six per cent peryear, or between 15 and 35 per centevery five years. The SRN is now theonly major item of economic infra-structure in England still run by thecivil service, he said.

The UKs strategic roads network ofmotorways and trunk roads makesup just three per cent of all roads butcarries nearly a third of all traffic.

Congestion on these roads costs theeconomy an estimated 1.6bn a year.

Highways Agency chief callsfor 200m annual savings

SHAREHOLDERS in MerchantSecurities have overwhelminglybacked a takeover offer from SouthAfrican investment group Sanlam.

Investors holding nearly 94 percent of Merchant shares agreed to the12.25m deal, which will seeSanlams SPIH subsidiary buy the Citystockbroker. Sanlam, which had beenMerchants largest investor with near-ly ten per cent, will take its stake to 75per cent.

Sanlam wanted Merchant so itcould win a foothold in corporate

broking and gain access to its privateclient wealth management arm.

Deal agreed forCitys MerchantHeritage losesUganda spat

BYALISON LOCK

CAPITAL MARKETS

M&A

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Alan Cook said major roads could be maintained far more efficiently Picture: REUTERS

BYALISON LOCKINFRASTRUCTURE


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GRAINGER, the UKs largest residen-tial landlord, posted an 8.2 per centrise in full year net asset value andremained confident in its outlook forthe UK residential market as it focus-es on London and the south east.

Gross net asset value per share atthe company grew to 216p at the endof September up from 200p a year

before. The company, led by chief execu-

tive Andrew Cunningham, swung back into the black in the year,reporting a pre-tax profit of 26.1mcompared with a loss of 20.8m the

year earlier.Grainger owns residential property

worth 2.4bn 82 per cent in the UKand the rest in Germany which gen-erated 86m in rents and asset sales

of 223m during the year. The rise in rental income wasboosted by its two acquisitions duringthe year including a portfolio of 317properties, developed for the Ministry

of Defence for 18.5m in February.Grainger has 62 per cent of its prop-

erties in London and the south east,helping it to benefit from high prop-erty prices compared to other parts ofthe UK.

It has secured new borrowings of1.2bn this year, taking the averagematurity of its debt to just under six

years.We brought in five new lenders

during course of the year, which to usshows confidence in the businessfrom the lending market,Cunningham said.

BYKASMIRA JEFFORD

PROPERTY

HELICAL Bar swung to a first-half pre-tax profit, while its underlying netasset value slipped lower, and said itexpected to sell more non-core assetsin the coming months.

The company, led by property veter-an Michael Slade, posted a pre-tax

profit of 4.1m for the six months, upfrom a loss of 3.2m.

The group has taken great stridestowards implementing its strategy ofrecycling capital with the acquisitionof over 250m of investment propertysince January 2010, doubling our

annual gross rental... to over 30m,Slade said yesterday.

Property developer Helical Barswings back into full year profit

PROPERTY

LONDON & Stamford Property swungto a loss in the six months toSeptember, thanks to a jump inexceptional costs and losses on deriv-atives.

The firm, which owns One CarterLane and Fleet Place in the City, post-ed a pre-tax loss of 3.4m, compared

with a profit of 23.2m in the sameperiod last year.

Net income, however, rose 43 percent to 21.5m for the half, and thefirm said its underlying trading prof-it has risen 51 per cent to 8.6m.

Executive chairman RaymondMould said the firm still has a 700m

war chest to make further acquisi-tions as they arise in the currentcomplex market.

The firms net asset value slippedslightly to 645.5m, though overall

yields have remained stable, the firmsaid.

London & Stamford slumpsinto the red on higher costsBYMARION DAKERSPROPERTY


THE W Hotel in Leicester Square has been sold to Qatari investor Al Faisal Holding forjust under 200m, the developer said yesterday. McAleer & Rushe, the Northern Irishfirm that built the 192-bed hotel and 11 flats, said the sale was completed yesterday, withJones Lang LaSalle and Steerforth Partners advising.

ANALYSIS l London & Stamford Property Plc

p


118

117

116

115

114

114.9024 Nov

W HOTEL SOLD TO QATARI INVESTOR

Grainger upon a southeast boost

ANALYSIS l London & Stamford Property Plc

p


118

117

116

115

114

114.9024 Nov

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HTC, the worlds number foursmartphone maker, warned it

would see no revenue growth thisquarter, in a further sign that big-ger rivals Apple and Samsung arestealing sales.

The Taiwanese company, whichis valued at around $16bn (10bn),had previously forecast fourth-quarter revenue would grow 20-30per cent from a year ago.

The surprise cut sent HTCshares tumbling seven per cent on

yesterday to their lowest inaround 16 months.

Analysts, several of whomdowngraded the stock and cuttheir share price targets, said HTC

did not have enough new productramp-ups to offset the loss of mar-ket share in the US and Europe to

Apple and Samsung Electronics.In terms of content, HTC is

incomparable to Apple; in termsof performance and price, HTC isalso no better than Samsung, said

Yuanta analyst Vincent Chen, not-ing HTCs disappointing sale ofhigh-end phones in the US, a mar-ket that accounts for around halfits revenue.

Citi analyst Kevin Chang wrotein a client report that HTC couldhave better products from the sec-ond quarter of next year, but

warned it can prove a long road torecovery for handset makers, cit-ing the example of Nokia, oncethey start missing product cycles

and guidance.Sanford Bernstein analyst

Pierre Ferragu said HTCs revisedguidance came as a surprise, and

was at odds with recent discus-sions we have had with distribu-tion channels, especially inEurope.

HTC plummets afterit cuts sales outlookBYHARRY BANKS

TECHNOLOGY

ANALYSIS l Future Publishing PLC

p

Sep Oct Nov

12

11

10

9

SHARES in Future, the troubled maga-zine publisher, plunged by almost afifth yesterday, after it fell to an annualpre-tax loss of 18m.

The firm, which publishes maga-zines as diverse as Total Film, CyclingPlus and Simply Knitting, scrapped itsdividend until at least 2013 after rev-enues at its ailing US division tum-

bled by 16 per cent.Shares in the firm, which have lost

almost 70 per cent of their value sincethe start of the year, closed down 16.7per cent yesterday at 8.75p. In 2010, itposted a profit of 5.6m.

Last month, former chief executiveStevie Spring quit the firm along withthe then finance director, in a movethat will save the business around1m in annual costs.

Yesterday, new chief executive Mark Wood said he would continue torestructure the business with a viewto cutting costs by an annualised4.5m before the end of the year.

Wood pointed to higher digital rev-enues, which were up 31 per cent to16.2m, as a reason to be hopeful.

But online sales accounted for just atenth of group revenue. Print sales

which comprised some four fifths ofgroup income fell by 11 per cent to113.4m.

The firm refused to be drawn onsuggestions it was now cheap enoughto be a target for a private equity bid-der.

The strongest-performing part of

the business was the Active divisionthat houses its cycling magazines and

websites, which benefited from the bike craze that is sweeping acrossBritain.

Future shares tankas ailing publisher

falls to annual lossBYDAVID CROW

MEDIA

ANALYSIS l HTC Corp

$ (TWD)


650

625

600

575

550

526.0024 Nov

What a difference a month makes WHAT a difference a monthmakes. At the end of October, HTCsaid it expected fourth quarterrevenues to jump by almost athird; yesterday, the Taiwanesefirm shocked markets by sayingsales in the last three months ofthe year would in fact be flat. Incash terms, HTC has chalkeddown its estimates by a staggering635m in the space of just a few

weeks.It would be wrong to interpret

this as a general cooling of thesmartphone market. Rather it justgoes to show how quickly thingsmove in this fast-paced industry.

HTC pencilled in the bullishestimates after it boosted its mar-

ket share of the US smartphone

market to a staggering 24 percent in the third quarter, higherthan Apple (20 per cent) andSamsung (21 per cent).Management clearly assumed it

would maintain or even grow its slice of the cake in the closingmonths of the year.

The reason for its amazinggains in US, and other maturesmartphone markets, was itsadoption of Google Android.

Android has become the mostpopular smartphone operatingsystem, dethroning Apple at the

beginning of this year; as one ofthe earliest makers of Android-compatible handsets, HTC was amajor beneficiary.

The problem is that HTCs

handsets just arent very good, orrather theyre not as good as thosesold by fellow Android makerSamsung. Now there is a greaterchoice of better alternatives,HTCs share of mature markets

will start to slide. Weve always argued the

Taiwanese company would be bet-ter focusing its efforts on theemerging markets, where the saleof cheaper smartphones will

become the norm.Maybe after yesterdays shock

announcement, managementwill think again.

BOTTOMLINEAnalysis by David Crow

Digital channels such as the Apple

iPad are rapidly opening up new routes tomarkets in which our niche products canquickly build a loyal following.

Mark Wood, Future CEOMEDIASET, the media empire owned

by former Italian leader SilvioBerlusconi, yesterday confirmed ithas made a joint bid for TV producerEndemol.

The company has made a joint bidwith Clessidra, an Italian asset man-ager.

Pier Silvio Berlusconi, the ex-Italian PMs son and Mediaset chair-man, told reporters yesterday thatthe two firms had put forward a

joint bid.Mediaset already owns around a

third of Endemol, which makes pro-grammes such as Big Brother, Dealor No Deal and Home and Away.

Endemol works with around 300broadcasters worldwide, but is heav-ily indebted. Goldman Sachs andinvestment boutique Cyrte also have

stakes in the firm. Time Warner put forward a

takeover offer earlier this month,but was rebuffed by Endemol and itslenders.

Mediaset in atakeover bidfor Endemol

MEDIA

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CONTRACTION may be underway, theBank of Englands Ben Broadbent warned as the Office for NationalStatistics revealed more informationon the composition of the third quar-ter GDP figures yesterday.

Growth was confirmed at 0.5 percent in the last three-month period, asproduction industries increased out-put by 0.4 per cent and the servicessector expanded by 0.6 per cent.

But Monetary Policy Committee

member Broadbent told CNBC thecentral forecast for GDP growth isaround zero for the fourth quarter, sothe chances of this being negative inthat quarter are roughly one half.

Business investment fell by 1.4 percent in the third quarter comparedwith the previous three months andhousehold consumption was flat, indi-cating a future growth may be weaker.

Furthermore, pay rose 2.3 per centin the year to September, whilst thecost of living, measured by the retail

price index, rose far faster at 5.6 percent. The gap means real incomes fellsharply in the year.

Government consumption rose by0.9 per cent, largely driven byincreased health and defence spend-ing.

Manufacturers experienced fallingdemand in November, according tothe Confederation of British Industrys(CBI) monthly industrial trends survey,published yesterday.

A net balance of 31 per cent sawexports decline, which will lead firmsto cut production in coming months.

MPC membersays economymay contract RECORD numbers of under-24s are notin employment, education or training(Neets), Department for Education fig-ures revealed yesterday.

Now 1,163,000 16 to 24 year olds areNeets, up 137,000 in the year, takingthe proportion to 19.2 per cent.

Over one fifth (21.5 per cent) of 19 to24 year olds fall into the category, upfrom 18.6 per cent in the same quarterof last year and 20.2 per cent in thethird quarter of 2009.

The number of 16 year olds without work or education rose from 6.7 percent to 8.7 per cent in the year, and for17 year olds the proportion rose from14.9 per cent to 15.1 per cent.

However, the number of 18 year oldsout of jobs or training fell from 19.5per cent to 18.1 per cent in the year.

Our research uncovered city black

spots where over one in four youngpeople are Neets for the sake of allour futures we need to wake up to this waste, said Shaks Ghosh from thePrivate Equity Foundation charity.

At the moment, the solutions arefragmented but they are there. Short-term fixes will not do, children and young people need sustained helpnow. Businesses working with chari-ties to support young people in schooland as they move into work can makethis happen.

Neets up againas young jobshunt continues

BY TIMWALLACE

UK ECONOMY

UK ECONOMY


Its no safer than Germany thats for sure I think itwas just their lucky day yesterday. I think Germany is

the power house, but I think its a question of whetherit bails out everybody else or goes its own way...Whatever happens in Europe is going to drag [theUK] down or up.

To some extent Germany will suffer because of this,but from a currency perspective I guess they are ben-efitting from a weakened euro so they can workharder and produce more value because they aremore competitive. For the UK, Europe is the largesttrading partner so we will be affected.

Without a doubt the UK is more stable than theEurozone. The issue with Europe is that you areincluding countries under one regime that arent aseconomically sufficient as other countriesso to me that doesnt make sense at all.

CITY VIEWS: IS THE UK A SAFER HAVENTHAN GERMANY?

Interviews by Kasmira Jefford

In association with RateSetter:A better way to Save and Borrow, Peer to Peer

* These views are those of the individuals above and not necessarily those of their company.

ANALYSIS l Orders plummet

Nov Dec Jan Feb MarAprMay Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

15

10

5

0

-5

-10

-15

-20

-25

-30

-35

Total order books

Export order books

ROBERT DANES | RBD BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

IVAN MAZALOV | PROSPERITY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

DAVID ADAMS | PURE SPORTS MEDICINE

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BRITISH water and sewerage servicescompany Pennon Group reported a better-than-expected pre-tax profitsfor the first half helped by stronggrowth at its waste management unitViridor.

Waste management, recycling andrenewable energy company Viridornow accounts for a third of totalgroup profits.

First-half total pre-tax profits rose12 per cent to 107.4m, higher thanestimates of 105.7m, according to acompany-supplied poll.

April-September revenue rose 8.3per cent to 642.6m.

call 0800 049 6022 or visitcarphonewarehouse.com/openforbusiness

All informationis accurateatthe timeofgoingtoprint.Promiseonlyappliestopricespublisheddirectlybythe networks.Identicalphoneandtariffcombinationonly,throughthesamechannelofpurchase(bychannelwemeanretailstore,phoneoronline).AppliestonewandupgradingPayMonthlyandPayAs YouGocustomers. PriceonPayMonthlymeansphonecostonthespecifiedtariff.PriceonPayAsYouGo meansphonecost(pleasenoteanytop-uprequirementsmustbethesame).Promiseconditionaluponproofofnetworkofferbeingprovidedandacceptedatthepointofpurchase,orupto14daysthereafterthroughthesamechannelofpurchase.Someexclusionsapply.Seewww.carphonewarehouse.comfordetails.

Whether youre a one-man band or leading a team, weve

got a great range of phones plus all the major networks

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REGIONAL airline Flybe has signed fora loan with the Brazilian ExportDevelopment Bank for $500m(330m) to help update its fleet.

Flybe is buying 35 new Embraer air-craft, with delivery between 2011 and2016, and the firm is using its newloan to pay for around 20 of those.

Chairman and chief executive JimFrench said the loan was an impor-tant milestone that signals Flybesstrong financial position.

Flybe agreed a deal to buy the newplanes at last years Farnborough Air

Show. The firms shares closed up 1.3per cent yesterday.

Flybes $500mnew plane fundPennon profitsrise on recyclingINDUSTRY

TRANSPORT


FSAThe Financial Services Authority hasappointed Sir Nicholas Montagu as the

new chairman of the FinancialOmbudsman Service, the service thatsettles complaints between consumers

and businesses providing financial serv-ices. Sir Nicholas is currently the chair-man of the Aviva UK Life With-ProfitsCommittee, a director of the PensionCorporation and is a former chairman ofthe Board of Inland Revenue.

Geo Genesis GroupThe advisory and investment companyfocused on emerging markets hasappointed Philippe Allain as an execu-tive director. Allain joined the companyearlier in the year as co-chairman of theadvisory committee; he is also the presi-dent of Opencap Brazil.

Garwyn GroupThe liability loss adjuster has appointedArtur Niemczewski as CEO, effectivefrom 1 December. He has most recentlybeen working as an adviser in theEuropean insurance sector; prior to this,he was managing director at Xchanging.

More Th>nDominic Grounsell, marketing director ofCapital One, will join More Th>n as mar-keting director in February 2012.

ICFRThe International Centre for Financial

Regulation has appointed Usha Thoratand Margaret Cole to its internationaladvisory council. Usha Thorat is directorof the centre for advanced financialresearch and learning, Reserve Bank ofIndia, and Cole is a managing director ofthe Financial Services Authority.

State StreetKeith Burman has been appointed as sen-ior managing director of private equityand real estate services in Luxembourgand Ireland. He joins from BrownBrothers Harriman in Luxembourg,where he was a senior vice president.

CITY MOVES | WHOS SWITCHING JOBS Edited by Harriet Dennys

+44 (0)20 7092 0053morganmckinley.com

To appear in CITYMOVESplease email your careerupdates and pictures to [email protected] SPECIALISTS IN GLOBAL PROFESSIONAL RECRUITMENT

in association with

BetfairMatt Lambert has been appointed as direc-tor of public affairs at the gaming group. Hewill oversee Betfairs global public affairsstrategy. Lambert is currently director ofcorporate affairs and citizenship at

Microsoft UK, responsible for governmentand political relations, community affairs andenvironmental practice.

London 2012

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

EDF, the official electricity supplier of the2012 Games, this week unveiled Team EDF,a line-up of 36 Olympic and Paralympicathletes, at Tower Bridge, which EDF ishelping to relight. Lord Coe, EDF Energychief executive Vincent de Rivaz and headof 2012 EDF Catherine Lescure attended.Joining the team are British Olympic andParalympic medallists Victoria Pendleton,Tim Brabants and Liz Johnson.

Between now and the 2012 Games,City A.M. is publishing its Olympic

Image of the Week. We welcomephotos from all sources sponsors,athletes, local businesses, commuters,residents if you have a shot you thinkreaders will like, please email

[email protected] with IOW2012 inthe subject line. Full details:www.cityam.com/london-2012.

LONDON 2012 |OLYMPIC POWER

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Allinformationisaccurateatthetimeofgoingtoprint.Important:duetothefastmovingnatureofthismarket,alloffers,pricesandavailabilityaresubjecttochange.1Paymonthlypricesaresubjecttocreditcheckandminimumtermof24monthsonselectednetworksandtariffs.

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BEST OF THE BROKERS

To appear in Best of the Brokers email your research to [email protected]

ANALYSIS lBabcock InternationalGroup PLC

675

7.00

650

600

625625

Sep Oct Nov

p673.50

23 Nov

BSKYBNomura rates BSkyB neutral with a 10.00target over the Competition Commissionsbid to encourage more bidders for moviebroadcast rights. The CC suggests lettingthird parties sell directly to Skys Anytimecustomers, and that Sky publish the dates

its film contracts end. Nomura sees limitedimpact in these as in two recent dealsNetflix and LoveFilm outbid Sky, a sign thatnew names can enter the market.

ANALYSIS lBritish Sky BroadcastingGroup PLC

740

700

660

620

Sep Oct Nov

p 715.5024 Nov

PADDY POWERUBS rates the betting group neutral with a12 month price target of 41.00 (35.33)as it views the share price as 13 per centovervalued. UBS valued Paddys businessesat 37 per share, below the current shareprice, which puts its domestic online busi-ness at a premium to its peers. WithPaddys growth rates on track, UBS sees noreason for the stock to be de-rated to alower valuation.

ANALYSIS lPaddy Power Plc

42

38

40

34

3636

Sep Oct Nov

39.7224 Nov

BABCOCKGoldman Sachs rates Babcock neutral with

a 770p target price after its consortiumwon a 1.5bn, 10-20 year, government con-tract to decommission the Dounrey nuclearsite. GS sees this as a clear positive thatdemonstrates Babcocks ability to diversifyaway from the MoD and deliver complexprojects. The contracts revenue should besmooth while the margin should be higherthan in Babcocks support services division.

Sixth day offalling stock

EUROPEAN shares fell for thesixth consecutive session in low

volume yesterday after GermanChancellor Angela Merkel restat-

ed her position against changing therole of the European Central Bank toease the Eurozone debt crisis.

The market trimmed gains afterthe comments by Merkel about theECB as well as remarks that sheremained opposed to the use of joint-ly issued euro bonds to combat theregions debt crisis.

Banks, which have been in focusdue to their exposure to the region'ssovereign debt, pared earlier gains.

But after a sell-off of 10 per centover the past five days many bankingstocks were in oversold territory

after the Relative Strength Index (RSI)came close to 30 on Wednesday andtechnical factors kept the up one percent.

The main mover in the bankingsector was Belgian lender Dexia, up27.9 per cent, after a French FinanceMinistry source said an agreement toguarantee the troubled banks financ-ing would be reached within days.

On Wednesday Dexias RSI was at22.8, but had risen to 34.8 by yester-day.

THE UKs blue-chip share indexended lower for the ninth con-secutive session yesterday in its

worst run since January 2003after Germany reiterated its opposi-tion to the use of euro bonds or mone-tary tools to help solve the Eurozonesdebt crisis.

Following a meeting with the lead-ers of France and Italy, German chan-cellor Angela Merkel quashed markethopes that Europes paymaster wouldopen the door to the launch of jointEurozone bonds or a quantitative eas-ing programme by the EuropeanCentral Bank.

It was a completely wrong signal;anyone that was in for the short termclosed their position, Lee Curtis, atrader at City Index, said.

With Wall Street shut for Thanksgiving, volumes on the FTSE100 were light at 88 per cent of their90-day average, encouraging intra-dayprofit taking and causing sharp moveson the index, traders said.

The FTSE 100 closed 0.24 per centlower at 5,127,57 points, having risento a day high of 5,184 in morning

trade, boosted by better-than-expectedmacro data from Germany, beforefalling to a trough of 5,098 afterMerkel made her comments.

People were just taking profitswhere they could, thats all. From aneight-days trough, they were just see-ing a bit of profit and they were tak-ing, Adam Saward, a trader at PensonFinancial Services, said.

No-one is looking to see any goodnews until the end of the year,Saward noted, adding he expects theFTSE 100 to climb around 200 points to5,300 in the remainder of the year,pointing a 10.2 per cent annual fall.

The index fell 7.9 per cent in the lastnine sessions, with banks and minersresponsible for most of the losses.

However, the two sectors reboundedyesterday, led byFresnillo and RoyalBank of Scotland, up 4.4 per cent and3.6 per cent respectively.

FTSE sees longestslide in nine yearsTHELONDONREPORT

THEEUROPEAN

REPORT

p

18 Nov 22 Nov21 Nov 23 Nov 24 Nov

5,600

5,200

5,200

5,300

5,400

5,400

5,500

5,500

ANALYSIS l FTSE

5,127.5724 Nov

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EVER since the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was nearing completion at Cern, the

European centre for particle physics nearGeneva, particle scientists have been

earnestly explaining that it really doesnt mat-ter if the huge accelerator fails to snare its mainquarry, a particle called the Higgs boson. Maybeit exists; maybe it doesnt. Its interesting either

cityam 2011-11-25

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