cityam 2012-03-23

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FTSE 100 ▼5,845.65 -46.30 DOW ▼13,046.14 -78.48 NASDAQ ▼3,063.32 -12.00 £/$ ▼1.58 -0.01 £/¤ 1.20 unc ¤/$ 1.32 unc

Branch sale in danger as Lloyds delays signing deal with Co-op

LLOYDS was forced to push back thedeadline for signing its sale agreement with the Co-operative Group yesterday,in the clearest sign yet that its divest-

ment of 632 branches, known asProject Verde, is in danger.

The bank said it is now aiming toclinch the deal with the Co-op in the

second quarter of this year rather thanthe first. Lloyds believes that if it can-not get the contract signed by then, itschances of meeting the European

Commission’s end-of-2013 deadline forfully completing the branch sale will be slim.

For now, the bank said yesterday

that it is “continuing to prepare for adivestment through an initial publicoffering (IPO)” alongside the sale, incase the deal collapses.

In effect, that means that Lloyds ispreparing the branches to be a stand-alone bank. It has now kicked off hir-ing for 500 extra staff and is setting up

phone centres for the business. The deal is being held up by theFSA’s detailed interrogation of the Co-operative Group. A source close to the

deal said the FSA’s demands couldinvolve legal changes to the group’sstructure to ensure its financial servic-es arm is capitalised separately. It is

also querying whether Co-operativeFinancial Services has a sufficiently experienced management team inplace. MORE: P2

BY JULIET SAMUEL

BANKING▲

Stephen Robertson, head of the BRC (left) and Kingfisher boss Ian Cheshire (right) have both criticised Osborne’s business rates hike

SOME of the UK’s most senior retailers yesterday slammed the chancellor’s

supposedly pro-business Budget, sayinghis failure to address a planned hike in business rates will deal a blow toBritain’s ailing high streets.

George Osborne has said he will cutcorporation tax faster than planned to24 per cent this year. But retailers wereleft smarting after the chancellorfailed to address the eye-watering 5.6per cent increase in business rates – atax on commercial property linked tothe September’s retail price inflationfigure – coming into effect in April. It isestimated that the increase will add£350m to UK retailers’ costs in the com-ing year.

Ian Cheshire, chief executive of DIY giant Kingfisher, said the hike in busi-ness rates were a “back-door” rate rise,adding that they could force it to recon-sider leases on some of its existingstores.

Despite issuing an upbeat tradingupdate yesterday, Next boss Lord Wolfson said next year’s performancecould be hit by the planned rise, and warned of a “very uncertain” outlook for the high street in 2012.

British Retail Consortium directorgeneral Stephen Robertson said yester-day that its members, who representover 80 per cent of trade on the highstreet, “were up in arms” over the chan-cellor’s failure to act on business rates,saying that while a cut in corporation

BYKASMIRA JEFFORDAND LAUREN DAVIDSON

RETAIL▲

www.cityam.comIssue 1,598 Friday 23 March 2012 FREEBUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY

tax was welcome: “the burden of othertaxes needs to be addressed if they arenot to act as a drag on growth”.

The backlash came as figures pub-lished yesterday showed that retailsales suffered their biggest fall in ninemonths in February, falling short of forecasts as consumer spendingremained weak.

Adding fuel to the fire were new fig-ures from the Local Data Company,

which surveys over 2,700 towns andcities, revealing shop vacancies inFebruary reached a record high of 14.6per cent.

And the fate of video game retailerGame – which signalled it was set foradministration on Wednesday – wasfurther evidence that the pain on thehigh street is continuing.

As retailers’ quarterly rent paymentdeadline looms this Sunday, Roberston

warned that the business rate hikecould mean retailers are forced toreview their leases on the high street,leading to store closures if costs become unfeasible.

“It’s deeply disappointing there wasnothing done to bring the imminent5.6 per cent increase in business ratesmore in-line with reality,” he said.“Action on business rates is needed toshow the government is serious about

Certified Distribution

30/01/2012 till 26/02/2012 is 98,573

wanting to revitalise our high streets.”Meanwhile, baker Greggs saw more

than £20m wiped off its market capi-talisation yesterday as the marketresponded to the government’s exten-

sion of VAT to include all hot takeaway items such as sausage rolls and toastedsandwiches.

The sandwich maker’s share pricedropped five per cent to £5.20 afterOsborne said he would plug loopholesthat have allowed vendors of hot take-away food items to avoid paying VAT.

High street cafes such as Subway,Pret a Manger and Eat are also expect-ed to take a hit from the levy.

Though it is likely to have less of animpact on supermarkets given the fair-ly small contribution of hot items tototal sales, Shore Capital analyst CliveBlack said WM Morrison could also behit more than competitors due to its“market street” format. Morrison’s yes-terday spoke out against the VAT hike,saying: “This is a straight tax on ourcustomers at a time when their budg-ets are already hard pressed.”

MORE: P10, P12-13

ANALYSIS l Consumers cut back spendingagain in February

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-2Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb

BUDGET FUELS CRISISON THE HIGH STREET

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


News2 CITYA.M. 23 MARCH 2012

THE NUMBER of Americans claimingnew unemployment benefits droppedto a four-year low last week, offeringfurther evidence that the jobs marketrecovery was gaining traction.

Initial claims for state unemploy-ment benefits fell 5,000 to a seasonal-ly adjusted 348,000, the lowest levelsince February 2008.

And a separate report showed agauge of future US economic activity rose solidly in February, pointing tostrengthening growth even as Chinaslows. Firming labour market condi-tions helped to lift the governmentConference Board’s leading economicindex 0.7 per cent last month.

While the data remains relatively upbeat, analysts worry slowing globalgrowth could hamper the US econo-my and dampen job creation.

Unemploymentclaims in the USat four year low

US ECONOMY▲

Vodafone issplit on deal VODAFONE’S board is understood to be divided over whether to pursue a£1bn acquisition of Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW), with some direc-tors concerned about the reputation-al consequences of buying a groupthat has more than £5bn of UK taxlosses.

Chief executive Vittorio Colao issaid to be broadly in favour of thedeal for industrial reasons but hisdeputy chairman Sir John Buchananhas doubts based on the possible rep-utational damage emanating from asuccessful transaction.

If Vodafone buys CWW the tax loss-es of the acquired company couldeither be used to offset the entire costof the deal or be used to create alengthy tax holiday for Vodafone.

While using up another company’s

tax losses is perfectly legal there aresome on the board who feel that it would be harmful to the Vodafone brand, both in the UK and around the world.

Analysts at Espirito Santo recently said in a note: "Vodafone may be con-cerned about reputational damage with consumers following any deal which potentially could be perceivedas the company actively trying tolower its UK tax burden (albeit legally).

The telecoms group has beencaught up in a string of tax disputesin recent years.

BYDAVIDHELLIER

TELECOMS▲

Osborne’s middle class tax bombshell

THERE was a time when the 40pincome tax rate was paid only by atiny minority. No longer. Next year,5m taxpayers – 15 per cent of the total– will pay this higher rate, accordingto the Institute for Fiscal Studies, com-pared with only 3.7m a year ago. For achancellor supposedly committed toimproving incentives to work, this is amonumental blunder. The top rate(which in reality is 42p with employ-ees’ national insurance) will start at£41,450 in 2013 – now frighteningly close to the average full-time maleincome of homeowners of about

£37,000, according to the Halifax.One of the Institute for Fiscal

Studies’ other findings is that thephasing out of child benefit for thoseon incomes between £50-60,000 adds

11 per cent to the marginal tax rate of families with one child, 18 per cent tothat with two and 24 per cent to that with three. To this another factormust be added: student loan repay-ments. Starting at an income of £15,795 per year, employees with a stu-dent loan (taken out since 1998) startto pay back their debt – this happensthrough the pay as you earn process via a levy of nine per cent on incomeabove that threshold. In other words,rather than feeling like a mortgage, where payments happen regardless of circumstances, the student loanrepayment system feels like extraincome tax.

There are lots of three child fami-lies, therefore, where the main earner will now be paying a 66 per cent mar-ginal tax rate. A smaller but still sub-stantial number, when student loan

repayments are included, will be los-ing a total of 75 per cent of their mar-ginal income. And all of this excludesthe 13.8 per cent extra tax levied onthese incomes via employers’ national

insurance. Of course, families withfour or more children will be payingeven more – in a few cases, horren-dously so. Roughly 400,000 families will lose some (but not all) of theirchild benefit and will be hit by thesecrippling marginal rates. Around500,000 parents will have to registerfor self-assessment. In some cases the benefit will be paid and the tax willcome later. Families will be incen-tivised to split or not to live together,and there will be intrusive policing.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m in favourof fees for university, as those whoenjoy a higher education reap most of the rewards. I’m also against universal welfare benefits. It is wrong that pros-perous families are given handouts – but in return they should be taxedmuch less. But Osborne’s reform ispoorly constructed. He has improved

the marginal tax rates for over 500,000folk at the bottom: if you earn lessthan the personal allowance, the rate you face on an extra pound of earn-ings is very low (though you may still

pay national insurance and of course you then have the problem of the withdrawal of other benefits).Osborne will also improve incentivesfor those at the top, thanks to hisforthcoming 45p rate. But he hasmade the situation worse for the 1.3m being dragged into the 42p tax rateand for the 400,000 parents affected between £50k-£60k. The range over which the personal allowance is with-drawn also keeps on increasing as theallowance grows, dragging thousandsmore into very high marginal rates(the range will be £100-£120k by 2014).

Astonishingly, therefore, the Budgetmay even have increased more taxpay-ers’ marginal tax rates than itreduced. Incentives to work harder aregoing down, not improving, in Britain.

[email protected] Follow me on Twitter: @allisterheath

EDITOR’S 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 Editor’sCode of Practice, a copy of which can be found at www.pcc.org.uk

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Vodafone chief VittorioColao is believed to bein favour of the deal tobuy Cable&WirelessWorldwide

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Regulators say they want competitionbut actions speak louder than words

WHAT does the FSA want?Like all of us, the regulator wants to have it all: a highstreet banking sector that

is both competitive and ultra-safe.But when push comes to shove, it

is clear where the watchdog’s priori-ties lie. Its commitment to competi-tion has been sorely tested by Lloyds’ branch sale.

First there was the bank’s decisionto sell to the Co-op instead of LordLevene’s buy-out vehicle NBNK. Itmay be that the Co-op’s offer wasoverall more generous than itsrival’s. But that was not the reasonLloyds gave for its choice.

The bank said that it had a betterchance of getting the deal done if itsold to an existing lender because of the regulatory nightmare and costsof setting up the branches fromscratch for a newbie.

There could hardly be a clearerindictment of the FSA’s influence onthe competitiveness of British retail banking. Setting up a new bank issimply not worth it under the FSA and Bank of England’s ground rules.

It is now hitting Lloyds’ negotia-tions with the Co-operative Group. Itis fair to question whether the Co-op’s management has the chops torun a huge retail bank. But the regu-lator has made it almost impossibleto recruit talented, experienced exec-utives prepared to build a new entrant to a shrinking industry in apoisonous political environment. Who on earth wants to take it on?

Then there is the maze of ever-changing capital and liquidity rulesthat make it increasingly difficult tooffer a unique proposition for cus-tomers (although it is still just aboutpossible for very specialised firms with a banking license, like Aldermore Bank).

Lloyds’ branch sale is required,under EU law, to create a new bank-ing competitor. But UK authoritiesare in danger of creating a bankingsector so regulated that proper com-petition becomes impossible.

BOTTOMLINEAnalysis by Juliet Samuel

SPAIN’S BORROWING COSTS SOARSpain’s borrowing costs rose above 5.5per cent for the first time since January as investors fretted aboutanother escalation of the eurozonecrisis amid signs of further economic weakening even in Germany.Investors pushed Spain’s benchmark 10-year bond yields up 14 basis pointsto as high as 5.53 per cent.

US RECOVERY PUSHES DOWN GOLDInvestors are losing their enthusiasmfor gold as signs of improvement inthe US economy tempt them away.Interest in gold surged in the past ten years, as prices rose from $253 in2001 to a peak of nearly $2,000 last year. But it has dropped 9 per cent

since late February and on Thursday hitting a 10-week low of $1,627.68.

OBAMA ATTACKS ENERGY CRITICSBarack Obama has hit back at hisenergy critics over sharply risingpetrol costs, amid fears that econom-ic recovery and his re-electionprospects are being undermined by arise in oil prices. “Anyone who saysthat we’re somehow suppressingdomestic oil production isn’t payingattention,” Mr Obama said.

STAR ARCHITECT FOR GOLDMAN HQGoldman Sachs underlined the scaleof its ambition for its new Europeanheadquarters in London, by holdingtalks with three high-profile architectpractices, including Foster + Partners,the practice behind the Gherkin and Wembley Stadium.

FEARS GROW FOR VAUXHALL AS GMMULLS CLOSURESStorm clouds are gathering over the Vauxhall car plant at Ellesmere Portafter reports from Germany indicatedthat General Motors is intent on clos-ing two European automotive facto-ries. The reports suggest that GM willpropose the closure of two car plantsas it aims to reduce production inEurope by 30 per cent.

INVESTORS TURN ON KEYSTONEGulf Keystone was on a collisioncourse with some of its biggest insti-tutional investors last night afteragreeing to pay executives andemployees a £26M bonus if the oilexplorer is taken over.

GOLDMAN SACHS IN HUNT FOR'MUPPET' EMAILGoldman Sachs has started scanningemails for the term “muppet” as the Wall Street bank investigates allega-tions made by a former employee last week. Greg Smith last week used theNew York Times to publish a resigna-tion letter in which he alleged manag-ing directors referred to clients as“muppets” on internal email.

RATING AGENCIES TOLD TO IMPROVECredit rating agencies Moody’s,Standard & Poor’s and Fitch have beentold to improve internal processes orface possible enforcement from theEuropean Securities and Markets Authority.

NORWAY'S OIL INDUSTRY SNAPS UPSWEDISH WORKERSFirms in Norway are seeing a chanceto snap up staff from the decliningSwedish auto industry. Saab’s bank-ruptcy and cutbacks by Volvo havereleased thousands of workers intothe labor market in Western Sweden, workers Norway now hopes to lure toits booming petroleum industry.

VW TO HIRE 800 WORKERS IN US Volkswagen said it will hire 800 staff at an American factory it opened last year, reflecting anticipated demandfor a new car built there. The hiring will help the German auto makerincrease production of its Passat mid-size sedan at the Chattanooga plant.

WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING

The new jobs website for London professionalsCAREERS.com

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


YESTERDAY was a day of musicalchairs at two of the City’s top invest-ment banks as both UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML)made significant managementchanges.

UBS, the bank still reeling fromthe after-effects of the rogue traderscandal, indicated its intention toremain a major force in investment banking by hiring Andrea Orcel, themost formidable dealmaker atBoAML, to jointly lead its invest-ment bank with the current incum- bent Carsten Kengeter.

Then it emerged that JonathanMoulds, president of BoAML’sEuropean business, was retiring

after 18 years at the bank. Mouldshad been planning his retirementfor several months in order to pur-sue his philanthropic activities.

The sudden departure of Mouldsand Orcel leaves BoAML with a biggap in its European investment banking operations. In the interimthis will be filled by Christian

Meissner, who only recently locatedto New York when he became solehead of the bank’s corporate andinvestment banking unit.

Moulds’ departure appears tohave been announced early becausethe original intention was for Orcelto take on part of his role.

In hiring Orcel, UBS will feel it haspulled off a major coup. He is a con-summate deal-maker and clienthandler, with a large roster of clients that have included recently Unicredit, the Milan-based bank,Santander and Russian investment bank VTB.

Colleagues at BoAML describehim as something of a colossus but warn that he is not necessarily ateam player. “He is a brilliant banker but he sees everything through theprism of power,” said one former col-

league. That could make life difficult for

Kengeter: although the two men will run separate businesses, withOrcel in charge of corporate financeand Kengeter running sales andtrading, one source close to UBS saidthat some senior bankers expectKengeter’s influence to diminish.

Day of change at UBSand Bank of America

ANDREA ORCEL

BY DAVID HELLIER AND JULIET SAMUEL

INVESTMENT BANKING▲

News 3CITYA.M. 23 MARCH 2012

Andrea Orcel's departure will leave a big gapat Bank of America Merrill Lynch. In a worldwhere contacts and relationships matter somuch, the suave late 40s banker had it all. Hiscontacts include Santander, Danske Bank,Unicredit (where he helped BoAML take a leadrole in the rights issue earlier this year) and theRussian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. He hasworked on some of the biggest mergers inEuropean banking history, including, unfortu-nately for him perhaps, the takeover of ABNAmro by RBS, which brought the Edinburghbank to its knees.

Christian Meissner, who won the biggestinvestment banking job at BoAML in January,was yesterday awarded more responsibility. Inthe wake of the departures of Orcel andMoulds, the Austrian-born former Lehman andGoldman Sachs banker has been appointedinterim president of Europe and Emerging

Markets (ex-Asia). Meissner will continue to behead of global corporate & investment bankingand will continue to be based in London duringthis interim period. Meissner is popular inter-nally and may be relieved by the exit of Orcel,who always posed a threat.

Jonathan Moulds, president of Europe andCanada, indicated earlier this year that hewished to retire from the firm to focus on anumber of philanthropic projects. Moulds hasworked for Bank of America for 18 years, dur-ing which time he has been based in the USand Europe. Outside the bank Moulds is knownwell for his charitable and philanthropic work.He is a legendary collector of priceless violinswhich he lends out to talented musicians. Hewas an important and generous supporter of City A.M.’s Christmas charity appeal on behalf

of the bank.

UBS group CEO Sergio Ermotti, who knows Orcel well, said: “I ampleased that we are adding Andrea’sdepth of experience and skillset toour group executive board.”

In another move to strengthenUBS’s investment bank, Alex Wilmot-Sitwell, currently CEO of the Asia Pacific region, was appointed asits chairman.

CHRISTIAN MEISSNER

JONATHAN MOULDS

CHANGING OF THE GUARD AT BANKOF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH

What did you make of chancellorGeorge Osborne’s latest Budget?

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Apply to join today atwww.cityam.com/panel

This week we are asking members of our Voice of the City panel, run inconjunction with PoliticsHome, whatthey thought of the Budget.

Was it a good idea to raise thelevel of tax free allowance? And wasOsborne right to bring the top ratedown to 45p from next year?

Are you one of the Londoners whocould be hit by higher stamp duty onproperties worth £2m or more?

Have the changes affected yourviews on the coalition parties?

To answer the above questions andmore apply to join atwww.cityam.com/panel

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8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


CHANGES to the way child benefit ispaid means that larger families willsuffer a faster fall in income thanthose with just one child.

Research by the Institute for FiscalStudies (IFS) said George’s Osborne’sdecision to remove child benefit“gradually” from families where oneparent earned more than £50,000,meant those with more children would lose income at a faster rate.

Its calculations indicate that theone per cent fall in benefit for every £100 earned over £50,000 meant thatan individual’s effective marginal taxrate would rise by 24 percentagepoints if you had three children, and just eleven percentage points if youhad one child.

“In cash terms, you lose child bene-fit at a faster rate as income rises if

you have more children,” IFS directorPaul Johnson said.

Child benefit, worth £1,752.40 per year for a family with two children, will now no longer be paid at all tofamilies where one individual earnsmore than £60,000.

“Gradual withdrawal means peoplecannot have a lower net income aftera pay rise unless they have eight ormore children,” Johnson said, sayingthe reforms were an “improvement”on the original plans.

Big families hithardest by childbenefit reforms

GlaxoSmithKline, led by Andrew Witty (inset), had pledged to build a new UK factory

TAXATION▲

Budget News4 CITYA.M. 23 MARCH 2012

Glaxo reveals new factorybut asks for more breaks

GLAXOSMITHKLINE yesterday unveiled plans to invest more than£500m in its UK sites, including a new factory, in light of tax breaks revealedin the Budget.

And the firm said it would doubleits investment at the new biopharma-ceutical plant in Ulverston – but only if the government “improv[es] theenvironment for innovation”.

Speaking just a day after George

Osborne’s speech, GSK chief executive

Sir Andrew Witty heralded new tax breaks for earnings made frompatents, as set out in the Budget.

“The introduction of the patent boxhas transformed the way in which we view the UK as a location for new investments,” he said.

The factory will be Glaxo’s first new plant for 40 years. It is also ploughingcash into two manufacturing sites inScotland, and the combined invest-ment is expected to create 1,000 jobsover the lifetime of the projects.

BYMARION DAKERS

PHARMA▲

ONE-IN-SEVEN workers will pay thehigher rate of income tax by 2014thanks to George Osborne’schanges to the tax brackets, accord-ing to estimates from a leadingthink-tank.

Five million people will be in the40p tax bracket in 2013-14 – a riseof 1.3m from 3.7m in 2011, theInstitute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) believes, taking the proportionpaying the higher rate to 15 per

cent of the workforce. That compares with just five per

cent who paid it in the late 1980s when the rate was initially set at40 per cent.

“This is part of a long-term trendtowards the encroachment of 40per cent income tax onto peopleearning above-average but relative-ly modest salaries,” said the IFS’director Paul Johnson.

“It would be useful to know if the chancellor has a view as to

what proportion of taxpayersshould be paying the higher rate.”

Those earning over £41,450 willpay the tax from April 2013 – a cutfrom the £42,475 it was previously expected to stand at, denying high-er earners the full benefit of thelarger tax-free allowance.

Meanwhile, the IFS warned thegovernment had only implementeda small proportion of the planned budget cuts so far, representing amajor risk to Osborne’s chances of hitting his deficit targets.

The Institute of Economic Affairs

(IEA) also warned that officialclaims the government will elimi-nate the deficit in five years are based on optimistic economicgrowth forecasts.

The chancellor will only meetthe targets “by the skin of histeeth,” warned Arbuthnot econo-mist Ruth Lea at the IEA yesterday,arguing a worsening of theEurozone debt crisis or furtherrises in oil prices could mean they are missed.

Five million topay 40p taxrate in 2014BY TIMWALLACE

UK ECONOMY▲

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


GEORGE Osborne was forced to defendhis “granny tax” Budget yesterday after pensioners’ groups attacked his“outrageous assault” on older people.

The chancellor (pictured) said pen-sioners would be “better off” despitehis shock decision to phase out theirage-related allowances, first intro-duced by Winston Churchill in 1925.

Saga boss Ros Altmann criticisedthe move, at a time when record

low interest rates have hit sav-ings, but Osborne claimed thefreezing of age-relatedallowances and raising of thethreshold at which under-65sstart to pay tax was the “biggesttax cut for a generation”.

“It creates a much simplersystem for everyone. I’mnot embarrassedto say that pen-sioners aregoing to get

the largest increase in the state pen-sion from next month,” he told Today on the BBC.

The changes to age-relatedallowances will leave 4.41m pensions worse off by an average of £83 a year,HM Revenue & Customs said, butOsborne insisted his package of reforms would boost pensioners andsaid state pensions would rise in line with average earnings or by 2.5 percent, whichever is greater. Think tank

the IFS said pensioners wouldlose only an average 0.25 per

cent of their income in 2014as a result of the Budget.

Osborne also said he would not personally benefitfrom the cut in the 50p taxrate and said he is not a top-

rate taxpayer. As chancellor heearns £134,565 a year and he

also benefits from a trust which has a stake in

family wallpaper business Osborne& Little.

Pensioners inprotest overBudget cutsBY PETER EDWARDS

BUDGET▲

BIG Y ellow Group’s stock plunged fourper cent on the Budget’s surpriseannouncement that self-storage unitscould from October no longer beexempt from value added tax.

In the name of correcting VAT anomalies and closing loopholes,Os borne outlined that self-storage will be taxed as other forms of storage andno longer be classed as rental of com-mercial property, which is V AT-free.

Inv estec analyst A lan Carter saidthat while storage company Safestore’s business would not be materially affected, the industry had stronggrounds to dispute the measure asself-storage companies could be liableto a multi-million VAT re bate on accu-mulated capital expenditure.

He told City A.M.: “The industry was blindsided – this announcement cameout of the blue.”

“The decision demonstrates a poten -

tial lack of forethought” by the govern-ment, Carter added.

Big Yellow Group said it “intends toactively engage” in the consultationprocess with HMRC, adding: “Thischange w ould require the reimburse-ment of a significant sum to the groupunder the Capital Goods Scheme.”

Safestore, whose share pricedropped one per cent, released a simi-lar statement. It said it would take asmaller hit than rival firms, as 25 percent of revenues come from Paris.

Storage taxto backfireBY LAUREN DAVIDSON

RETAIL▲

Budget News 5CITYA.M. 23 MARCH 2012

Hot takeaway food, such as pies, will now attract a 20 per cent VAT charge

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

MELISSA CARSTENS | MIZUHO

“At the moment, prices have been going up anyway. It’s a treat get-ting pasties and hot sandwiches, so people will probably continueto look at it as non-essential and stop buying it so frequently.”

KAT ROSTAMI | CALVIN KLEIN

“I think the addition of the VAT will deter some people from buyingthings that were not taxed before. People are struggling at the

moment and need to cut back on treats like that.”

ANDREW WIFFEN | BGC

“Although our wages aren’t going up, our hours are, so when youwork in London you usually have to buy your lunch. Most peopledon’t have time to make sandwiches the night before work. I knowI’ll continue to buy hot takeaways, even if the prices do go up.”

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

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF VAT BEING ADDED TOHOT TAKEAWAY ITEMS?* Interviews by Kendal Gapinski

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


THE GOVERNMENT will today announce the introduction of a mini-mum price for alcohol as part of meas-ures that aim to reduce the socialimpact of excessive drinking.

New legislation will force retailers tocharge a minimum of 40p per unit of alcohol. Prime Minister DavidCameron has also promised to ban bulk-buy discount deals in supermar-kets. Crates of beer will be particularly badly hit, with 20 medium-sized cansof Kronenberg lager set to cost a min-imum of £17.60, ten per cent morethan Tesco’s current deal.

Meanwhile a bottle of wine willhave a minimum legal price of £3.60,hitting multi-buy deals.

The Prime Minister knows that thestrategy “won’t be universally popu-

lar”, especially amongst responsibledrinkers who will find the price of

their favourite tipple substantially increased.

But he is promising an all-outattack on what he terms “BoozeBritain”.

“Binge drinking isn’t some fringeissue, it accounts for half of all alcoholconsumed in this country. The crimeand violence it causes drainsresources in our hospitals, generatesmayhem on our streets and spreadsfear in our communities,” the PrimeMinister explained.

“My message is simple. We can’t goon like this. We have to tackle thescourge of violence caused by bingedrinking. And we have to do it now.”

Andrew Opie of the British RetailConsortium criticised the decision:“David Cameron is seriously misguid-ed. It’s simplistic to imagine a mini-mum price is some sort of silver bulletsolution to irresponsible drinking.

Effectively, a minimum price is a taxon responsible drinkers.”

Governmentto ban cheapalcohol sales

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BY JAMESWATERSON

REGULATION▲

MORGAN Stanley is losing AlistairCochran from its UK corporate broking team. He is joining theexploration group BG to head up itsmergers and acquisitions depart-ment.

Cochran joined Morgan Stanley in2004 from Credit Suisse along with

Alisdair Gayne, as the US bank looked to build out its corporate

broking franchise. A managing director, he last year

worked on British energy firmInternational Power’s merger talks with GDF Suez Energy, Vedanta’s pro-posed acquisition of a stake in CairnIndia and National Grid’s $5bn rightsissue. He was also part of the teamthat advised Glencore on its block- buster UK flotation last year, and has

recently advised First QuantumMinerals and Polymetal.

Morgan Stanley loses corporatebroker Cochran to BG GroupBROKING

▲

THE BANK of England is creating a“corrosive” environment for credit,according to analysts at UBS, while itsclaim that regulations are not to blame for choking off lending “holdsno water”, they said.

Respected banking analysts John-Paul Crutchley and Alastair Ryanaccuse BoE governor Mervyn King of failing to recognise that if bank sharesdo not provide decent returns and pay

out dividends, the credit system willnot function properly because few investors will put money into banks tolet them grow.

And the analysts pin the blamespecifically on regulators as opposedto politicians. While parliament haslargely completed its legislative agen-da, they say, the FSA and BoE contin-ues to chop and change.

“The lack of regulatory ‘closure’ is inour view profoundly corrosive to a willingness to extend credit,” they say,

adding that the gap between Britishand US regulators is “widening” inthis respect, pushing the UK into “(lessthan) splendid isolation”.

The analysts’ report also details thedramatic degree to which British banks’ balance sheets have improvedsince the crisis. RBS and Lloyds haveshrunk their non-core portfolios by acombined £320bn, for example, while both banks in addition to Barclayshave boosted their stock of liquidassets by £262bn altogether.

Analysts blame Mervyn Kingfor economy’s credit droughtBY JULIET SAMUEL

BANKING▲


NIKE headed into the spring quarter with strong demand and improving margintrends, as the top sportswear retailer forecast a strong year with plans to cash in on theOlympics. The firm saw futures orders for delivery from March through July rise 15 per cent, with chief executive Mark Parker (above) saying he is optimistic about the future.

UPBEAT NIKE TARGETS MORE GROWTH

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


$

ANALYSIS lGlobal M&A Volumes Quarterly

Global ($bn)

US Target ($bn)

European Target ($bn)

Asia Pac. ex Japan Target ($bn)

1,000

800

600

400

200

2Q2011

700

2 5 9

2 0 7

1 3 5

3Q2011

559

2 0 7

1 4 4

1 0 2

4Q2011

568

2 0 6

1 5 8

9 5

1Q2012

1 3 7

1 2 7

416

6 7

1Q2011

737

3 1 7

2 0 5

1 1 6

1 5 JP Morgan 107,027.6 59

2 1 Goldman Sachs 103,671.5 593 4 Citi 101,243.5 43

4 12 Deutsche Bank 95,892.6 395 2 Morgan Stanley 94,908.7 69

6 7 Barclays 89,952.6 397 6 Credit Suisse 85,631.8 41

8 20 Nomura 61,162.6 36

9 16 Lazard 56,459.9 10

10 3 Bank of America 54,602.2 42Merrill LynchIndustry Total 1,407,307.5 18,664

THE M&A MARKET might be mori- bund in 2012, but a handful of massivedeals have helped prop up activity fig-ures – and the rankings of several top banks.

Glencore’s long-awaited advanceson Xstrata in February added $48.9bnto Thomson Reuters’ M&A values forthe first quarter of the year.

And the army of banks working onthe tie-up have enjoyed a boost to theirdeal numbers. JP Morgan andGoldman, number one and two in world M&A work in the year to date,are working for Xstrata, alongsideDeutsche Bank, Nomura and M Klein.

Barclays was added to the roster rel-atively late, but its inclusion hashelped lift the bank to sixth place.

Citi, Morgan Stanley and CreditSuisse kept places in the top ten in

part thanks to their work for Glencore.BNP Paribas has snuck into the Europetop ten via its place on the deal.

Cisco’s purchase of TV-encryptioncompany NDS last week has added afurther $5bn to JP Morgan’s stats, while Brazilian banking giant Itau’s$6.8bn acquisition of Redecard boost-ed Citi and Rothschild.

UPS’s $6.5bn purchase of TNT hashelped Lazard secure ninth place, upfrom 16th a year ago.

Glencore deal bonanza helpsprop up a struggling marketBYMARION DAKERS

CAPITAL MARKETS▲


Source: THOMSON REUTERS

WORLDWIDE M&A RANKINGS 2012 YEAR TO DATE

2012YTDRANK

FinancialAdviser

Rank ValueUS$

2011YTDRANK

No.Deals

NERVOUS companies have held off from buying up or merging with rivalsso far this year, with global activity down by almost half on a year ago,according to Thomson Reuters’ latestfigures.

The market is particularly subduedin Europe, where the value of announced M&A deals has slumped toits lowest quarterly level by value since2009, and by volume since 2004.

Worldwide M&A totaled $416bn inthe first three months of the year,down 44 per cent on last year and aslide of 27 per cent on the previousquarter.

JP Morgan has been involved inongoing and completed deals worth$107bn in the year to date, allowingthe American bank to clinch the topspot for global M&A work.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch suf-fered the biggest drop in the top tenrankings, falling from third to tenth inthe world, and from first down tothird in the US.

A handful of huge deals, includingGlencore’s $56bn double whammy,helped Goldman Sachs take secondplace in the world with deals worth$103.7bn.

Goldman is also the top takeover bank in Europe, working on 29 deals worth $78bn in the year to date.

The material and energy sectors arepropelling the bulk of M&A activity,making up 23 per cent of all dealsthanks in part to Glencore. However,the total value of deals announced wasstill down one per cent on last year.

While deals in emerging marketshave also tailed off, the drop of 18 percent was less stark than in the devel-oped world. Companies in China,Russia and Brazil are still dealmaking.

M&A activitystill in slumpBYMARION DAKERS

CAPITAL MARKETS▲

M&A DEALS IN 2012 SO FAR

Glencore Xstrata $48.87

Glencore Viterra $7.36Investors EP Energy $7.15Itau Redecard $6.82UPS TNT $6.79Roche Illumina $6.35Cisco NDS $5

Buyer Target Value (bn)

Glencore, led by Ivan Glasenberg, has propped up a flagging M&A market

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


NEXT CHIEF executive Lord Simon Wolfson said a permanent relaxationof Britain’s Sunday trading hourscould add £40-£50m to the fashionretailer’s annual turnover.

In Wednesday’s Budget chancellorGeorge Osborne said he will introducelegislation lifting the six-hour limit onopening hours for larger stores overeight weekends from 22 July coveringthe Olympics.

Wolfson said: “We estimate the

extension for the eight Olympic week-ends will be worth an extra £5-£8m inlike-for-like sales,” adding that he would welcome the liberalisation being made permanent.

He was speaking as the retailerunveiled a five per cent jump in under-lying profits to £570m in the full yearto the end of January 2012, at the topend of analyst estimates. Sales in storesopen more than a year rose by 4.3 percent to £3.44bn. Its online business,Next Directory in the UK and overseas,

now accounts for more than a third of the group’s turnover. New store open-ings also added 2.9 per cent to groupsales.

Next opened 24 homewear storeslast year as well as launching its firstlarge concept store combining NextHome and Fashion. It aims to open afurther 14 of these “mini-departmentstores” over the next four years.

Wolfson remained cautious in hisoutlook for 2012, warning that con-straits from continuing high unem-ployment, tight credit availability andinstability in the Eurozone would out- weigh much of the good prospects.

Next calls forSunday boostas sales jump

Lord Wolfson said he would welcome a permanent relaxation of the UK’s restrictions on Sunday trading Picture: GETTY

BYKASMIRA JEFFORD

RETAIL▲


WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF NEXT’S PERFORMANCE? By Kasmira Jefford

“

FREDDIE GEORGE |SEYMOUR PIERCE

Next has beenan outstanding performer

over the last year and hasrisen over the last quarterby 13 per cent despite theslightly disappointingtrading overChristmas...The companywill continue with the share buyback pro-gramme, £200m planned in the full year to2013, and we believe the company still hasa good opportunity to open new space anddevelop its online offer in the UK andthe Directory overseas.

”

“

DAVID JEARY | INVESTEC

The results arereassuring and show

Next’s resilience in atough environment. Thecontinuing profit beforetax of £570.3m istowards the top of theguidance range and a oneper cent beat to our forecasts. Our ‘buy’case, based on strong cash generation,Home stores roll-out and InternationalDirectory remains intact. The shares havehad a good run of late, but we seefurther upside potential.

”

“

JEAN ROCHE |PANMURE GORDON

Next has pro-duced preliminary results

which are slightly belowour top of the range esti-mate at profit before taxlevel of £572.6m, mainlydue to operating cost pres-sure which partly offsetgross margin gains. The company is now guid-ing 2013 profit before tax into a £560m-£610m range, from flat guidance before,implying increased uncertainty but more pos-sible upside. Our estimate is £593.1mand is unlikely to change significantly.

”

ANALYSIS l Next PLC

p2,960

2,940

2,920

2,900

2,880

2,860

2,910.0022 Mar

16 Mar 22 Mar19 Mar 20 Mar 21 Mar

“We estimate thatthe extension [of opening hours] for

the Olympics willearn us an extra£5m-£8m in sales.”

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


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NEWS | IN BRIEF

Sofa chain sees dent in profitsSofa chain DFS said it would continuewith its expansion plans despite postinga 31 per cent drop in first-half underlyingprofits to £28.3m yesterday. The retailer,which opened eight stores in the first sixmonths of the year, plans to launch a fur-ther four sites by the end of its financialyear, creating 500 jobs.

Hermes hikes dividend 33pcHermes showed its confidence in theglobal luxury goods market by raising itsdividend 33 per cent after tourist spend-ing in Europe and buoyant demand in

Asia and the Americas fuelled full-yearprofit. The 175-year-old French company,which is 72 per cent owned by Hermesfamily shareholders, reported a 40.9 percent rise in net profit in 2011.

Portmeirion eyes jubilee boostPortmeirion forecast a £1m boost tosales this year from the Queen’s diamond

jubilee after demand for commemorativegoods to mark the marriage of hergrandson helped to lift 2011 profits. Thechina maker, whose products range fromplates and gravy boats, said pre-tax prof-its rose 20.6 per cent to £6.3m.

KINGFISHER, the owner of B&Q, yes-

terday announced it had beaten fore-casts with a 20 per cent rise inannual profit to £807m as it set outplans for further growth.

Sales at the group, which also con-trols Castorama and Brico Depot inFrance, rose 3.6 per cent to £10.8bn, while the full-year dividend was lift-ed 25 per cent to 8.84p a share.

Profit was up substantially in itsUK stores, even as like-for-like salesfell 1.4 per cent.

Attempts to introduce DIY intoChina have faltered and Kingfisher’slocal business, which relies on fittingout new homes, lost £3m last year.

“DIY doesn’t exist in China. If youhave the money, you get someoneelse to do it for you. They tend to ren-ovate and overhaul the whole flat,”chief executive Ian Cheshireexplained.

Despite the struggles he said it was

too big a market to exit and the firm were set to experiment with a “do itfor me” format: “If we can demon-strate a format which works then we will stay [in China.]”

Cheshire is set to receive a pay packet worth over £7m after smash-ing growth targets set out in 2008under the four-year “Delivering

Value” scheme.Investors are now eagerly awaitinghis new ‘creating the leader’ growthpackage which will see the firm buy more goods directly from manufac-turers and focus on the challengefrom online retailers.

The firm is also looking to down-size some of its enormous ‘big box’stores in the UK and focus on moreconvenient locations.

Despite growth worries it expectsto open 67 stores in the next finan-cial year, including 50 in Britain.

Shares in the firm closed up 2.5per cent at 307.4p.

Success for the lucky few that don’t rely on the high streetIT’S bleak out there on the high street,about that there is no doubt. Non-foodsales volumes fell by 1.5 per cent inFebruary compared to a month earlier(see facing page). With Christmas longgone and the heavily-discounted January sales a distant memory, con-sumers have little to look forward to.

Inflation might be less aggressivethan a few months ago, butFebruary’s CPI figure of 3.4 per centstill outstrips January’s annual earn-ings growth reading, which stood atan anaemic 0.7 per cent. The ONS saidthe retail price deflator actually increased in February to 2.4 per cent,compared to a two-year low of 2.2 percent in January, suggesting inflationcould be stickier than retailers hoped.

Yesterday we got a sense of how twoof the biggest names on the highstreet have been coping. On the face of it, retail stalwart Next is doing well.Underlying annual pre-tax profits were up around five per cent to£570.3m on sales that were 1.4 percent higher at £3.5bn.

That was in large part due to salesat Next Directory, its online division, where sales jumped 16.4 per cent to£1.1bn, passing the £1bn mark for thefirst time. Store sales fell by 1.4 percent. International sales from Next’sfranchise partners were also strong, with total revenue up 13.4 per cent to£76.3m, but they constitute only asmall part of the group’s overall sales.

The same can’t be said for B&Q-

owner Kingfisher, which generatesaround 60 per cent of its revenues out-side of the UK. Its French stores, whichaccount for 40 per cent of sales, grew like-for-likes by 3.7 per cent.International sales – 20 per cent of rev-enues, also rose 2.2 per cent. But UK like-for-likes dropped 1.4 per cent.

So Next and Kingfisher: one a hugesuccess online, the other internation-ally diversified. Neither too reliant onthe UK high street. Those who can’tclaim the same have some toughtimes ahead.

BOTTOMLINEAnalysis by David Crow

ANALYSIS l Kingfisher PLC

p312.5

310.0

307.5

302.5

297.5

305.0

300.0

295.0


307.4022 Mar

OCADO CHIEFS FORFEIT BONUSES

EXECS at online grocer Ocado will not receive a bonus this year, after the firm failed to generate a pre-tax profit. Chief executive Tim Steiner’s (above) total pay has slumped 38 per cent to £354,000 for the year to November 2011 as the company grew sales but suffered supply problems. Finance chief Andrew Bracey, who leaves the firm today to join Michael Page, saw his pay halve to £203,000 – and his near-50,000 share options are

set to lapse upon his departure. Chairman Lord Grade saw his basic salary cut in half to £100,000, and no new share options were awarded to directors.

BY JAMESWATERSON

RETAIL▲

B&Q owner see

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


CONSUMER worries over job security resurged and retail sales fell inFebruary, fresh data revealed yester-day.

Sale volumes fell 0.8 per cent from January although they rose one percent compared with February 2011,according to the Office for NationalStatistics (ONS).

Food sales fell 0.1 per cent month-on-month, while shops sold 1.2 per

cent fewer clothes and one per centless fuel.February also saw the cautious

optimism of the beginning of the year fade, figures from Nationwideshowed, with its consumer confi-dence index falling three points to44. However, that remains above theall-time low of 38 recorded inDecember, and well below the long-run average of 76.

“Consumers also scaled back their

expectations for the future, with theforward-looking aspects of the index weakening during the month,” saidNationwide’s Robert Gardner.

“Even though interest rates remainat historic lows and the Bank of England opted to inject another£50bn into the financial system, weak labour market conditions and weaker than expected economicgrowth are continuing to weigh onconfidence.”

Consumers cut back spendingdue to fears for UK economy

UK ECONOMY▲


profits surge

Kingfisher CEO Ian Cheshirelans further growth

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


THE FINANCIAL Services Authority (FSA) needs almost 16 per cent morecash this year to fund its separationinto two bodies, the watchdog con-firmed yesterday.

In the FSA’s final business plan, written and printed before news of chief executive Hector Sants’ depar-ture emerged, the chief says “ourmain focus… for the coming year” isto move to a “twin peaks” model

before officially splitting in 2013. The FSA will be scrapped and

replaced by two authorities – thePrudential Regulation Authority forsupervision of banks and insurers,and the Financial Conduct

Authority to monitor financialfirms and markets.

To do this, the FSA needs£32.5m in restructuring costsand £22.4m for an improvedIT system, which both con-tribute to a 15.6 per cent hikein the annual budget to£578m.

The jump

in costs will be bornemostly by

larger firms, it said, with the top tencompanies paying 28 per cent of fees.

The regulator added: “This rate of growth cannot continue indefinitely,particularly when the financial serv-ices industry continues to be underpressure and so we would like toemphasise our commitment toensuring direct costs of regulationare proportionate.”

Firms should also find out this year how they will be expected tofund the Financial ServicesCompensation Scheme, as the FSA pledged to finish its review of thelevy by September.

The business plan also lists Sants(pictured) as the designer of the

PRA’s structure, headcount andfirst year budget. It is not clear who will take over this task.

The watchdog also said it will soon publish plans tomake it easier to block direc-tors of failed banks fromreturning to the financial

sector, in the wake of the RBS bailout. It will also re

examine client assetrules following

the collapse of MF Global last year.

FSA asks for£55m to helpit dismantle

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BYMARION DAKERS

REGULATION▲

LLOYDS has continued to cut its vastloan book by agreeing to sell a portfo-lio of loans to the US private equity firm formerly run by presidential can-didate Mitt Romney.

The British bank, 41 per cent taxpay-er owned, is offloading the leveragedloans to Sankaty Advisors, the creditinvestment arm of Bain Capital.

The portfolio of UK loans has a face

value of about £500m but was sold at a“significant” discount, insiders said. Itis made up of about 26 leveragedloans, most of which are believed to beperforming well and were made to pri-

vate equity-backed firms. The deal is part of a much bigger

project in which Lloyds sells off non-core assets in order to boost its balancesheet. It has been chipping away at its£141bn book of non-core loans, whichincludes property loans, general corpo-rate loans and specialist finance loans

and it also wants to sell its $10bn port-folio of shipping loans.Sankaty, which has a base in

London, accounts for about a quarterof Bain’s $60bn of assets under man-agement. Lloyds and Sankaty declinedto comment.

Last week Bain, co-founded by Romney, moved to defend its record of investments after months of beingcriticised as a “corporate raider” as itsformer boss seeks the Republicannomination for US President.

Lloyds offloads £500m loanpackage to Bain Capital armBY PETER EDWARDS

BANKING▲


FUND manager Henderson yesterday stepped up its row with LochardEnergy by saying it has “lost confi-dence” in chief executive HaydnGardner and another director. An EGMto discuss their roles will be held in

April and Henderson said it has 40 percent shareholder support. Lochard did

not comment but is expected to high-light Gardner’s record in drilling.

Henderson oilrow deepens

ASSET MANAGEMENT▲

INTER-dealer broker Tullett Prebonhas been ordered by a New York courtto pay arch-rival BGC Partners$800,000 (£505,000) for misusingdata, it said yesterday. This is far

below the sum claimed by BGC, which said it had suffered “hundredsof millions of dollars” in damages,

according to court documents. BGC’sclaim for legal costs was rejected.

Tullett to payup over data

FINANCIAL SERVICES▲

METROBANK ADDS 260 JOBS

METRO Bank, whoselaunch in 2010marked the arrival of Britain’s first new High Street retail bankin more than 100 years, has plans tohire around 260 morestaff this year and islooking for additionalcapital to fund itsdevelopment Picture:CITY A.M.

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


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ECONOMIC activity in the Eurozonefell again in March, influential sur- vey data showed yesterday, indicat-ing the economy will contract in thefirst quarter of the year, taking thearea into a technical recession.

German output growth slowed, while economic activity fell inFrance and declined sharply for therest of the currency union combined, according to initial purchas-ing managers’ indices (PMI) data

from Markit.For the Eurozone as a whole, the

manufacturing PMI declined from49 to 47.7, and the services figure fellfrom 48.8 to 48.7 – both below theno-change level of 50, showing out-put fell even faster in March than inFebruary.

The composite index, representing both sectors, fell from 49.3 to 48.7,indicating the contraction is deepen-ing, not improving.

The index for employment fell to

its lowest level since March 2010, andnew business in manufacturing fellfor the tenth consecutive month.

“The Eurozone is far from out of the economic woods and is finding ithard to return to growth after GDPcontracted by 0.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2011,” warned Howard Archer, econ-omist at IHS Global Insight.

“The region is still facing majorheadwinds, notably includingincreased fiscal tightening in many countries, rising unemployment,and increased oil prices.”

Fresh slumpfor Eurozoneon output fall

THE IRISH economy slumped back into recession at the end of last year,in part because of weak demand fromthe rest of the Eurozone, official fig-ures showed yesterday.

GDP fell 0.2 per cent in the finalquarter of 2011, following a 1.1 percent fall in the third quarter and tak-ing the economy back into recession.

Over the year as a whole the econo-my grew 0.7 per cent, below govern-

ment forecasts of one per cent and

below the hopes of internationallenders who bailed out the country.

Meanwhile, an inquiry concluded yesterday that former taoiseachBertie Ahern had lied about pay-ments into a bank account connectedto him when he was finance minister.

Ahern was forced to resign as PM in2008 after giving evidence to a tribu-nal which revealed a series of unusu-al transactions. However, the tribunalcould not identify the source of all of the funds in question.

Ireland back in recessionas slowdown hits exports

Ireland was highly exposed to other Eurozone economies Picture: REUTERS

BY TIMWALLACE

EUROZONE▲

EconomicsCITYA.M. 23 MARCH 2012

BY TIMWALLACE

IRISH ECONOMY▲

15

NEWS | IN BRIEF

Chinese manufacturing tumblesFactory activity in China shrank for afifth month in March, aggravating fearsof a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy. Initial results fromMarkit and HSBC’s manufacturing pur-chasing managers’ index (PMI) slowedto 48.1 from 49.6, representing a fur-

ther fall in the sector as any score under50 represents contraction. Losses inmainland Chinese stock markets accel-erated slightly after the data werereleased in mid-morning trade, with theShanghai Composite Index slipping 0.4per cent at midday. “Weakening domes-tic demand continued to weigh ongrowth, as indicated by a slowdown innew orders which came in at a four-month low,” said HSBC economistHongbin Qu. “External demandremained in contraction territory, butthe decline was at a slower pace, imply-ing that there are no improvements inthe demand outlook.

Japan moves towards recoveryJapan’s first trade surplus in five monthsand a revival of confidence among man-ufacturers yesterday added to evidencethe economy is growing again as the yenweakens and external demand picks up,

reducing the need for further monetarypolicy easing. Exports to the US rose by11.9 per cent in the year to February –their fastest annual pace in more than ayear. Car exports jumped by more than aquarter, supporting the government’sview that the economy is picking upafter contracting in late 2011. Still, totalexports fell 2.7 per cent from a year ear-lier, but that was much smaller thaneconomists’ median forecast of a 6.4 percent decline and the 9.2 per cent drop inJanuary.

ANALYSIS l Markit (Flash) Eurozone PMI and GDP

PMI

GDP

%Index

65

60

55

50

45

40

30

35

2.0

1.0

0.0

-1.0

-2.0

-3.0

0605 07 08 09 10 11 12

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23



BORIS Johnson has promised to securespecific improvements to London’ssuburban rail services if he is re-elect-ed, in the form of longer trains andenlarged stations.

The Budget includes a pledge to con-sider further investment in the capi-tal’s rail network, prompting Johnson(pictured) to assert that he is the best-placed candidate to winfunds from the Treasury.

Although the gov-ernment will only reveal a detailed breakdown of thefunding in June –after the mayoral elec-tion – it is understoodthat improvements under con-

sideration include upgrading Wimbledon station, length-

ening peak-time trains from the KentCoast and increasing capacity on theEssex Thameside services by fifty per

cent. The policy is a direct challenge toKen Livingstone’s popular pledge tocut fares on public transport by sevenper cent, a move which the Labourcandidate says will save averageLondoners £1,000 over four years. Johnson has ruled out reducing fares,saying the money is needed for invest-

ment in infrastructure.Meanwhile Bob Crow,

the vocal leader of theRMT Union, hasannounced that hisorganisation will cam-

paign for a new socialistelectoral chal-lenge in May’selection.

The new party listthreatens todraw votes

away fromLabour.

Boris pledgesnew deal forsuburban rail

BUDGET airline Ryanair yesterday lostthe latest round in its legal battle toavoid paying for hotels, meals anddrinks for passengers disrupted by delayed flights during the Icelandic volcano eruption in 2010.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ)published an opinion indicating thatairlines were not exempt from regula-tions requiring them to pay for

stranded passengers’ extra-careexpenses, such as hotels and meals,even if the flight cancellations weredue to circumstances beyond the air-line’s control.

“It does not appear to be dispropor-tionate to impose on air carriers suchan obligation to provide care in so faras they are free to pass on the result-ing costs to airline ticket prices,” theadvocate general, Yves Bot, said in adecision published on the court’s website.

The decision comes after a Dublin woman, Denise MacDonagh, tookRyanair to the ECJ for its failure torefund her expenses when her flight was held up by nine days due to the volcanic ash cloud in 2010.

Last night Ryanair issued a state-ment saying it noted that the advo-cate general’s opinion is not bindingon the ECJ, hoping that the court will

side with the airline in its final deci-sion.

Ryanair hit bysetback in claimover payoutAVIATION▲

BYJAMES

WATERSON

MAYORALELECTION

CANDY’S CPC IN £35M SIDDONS HOUSE DEAL

PROPERTY tycoon Christian Candy’s CPC Group yesterday snapped up Georgian man-sion Siddons House near Regent’s Park for an estimated £35m. It plans to rent out theluxury house, which overlooks the park, to wealthy clients. CPC bought the mansion

from developer Oakmayne Properties which has developed the crescent – believed to rankas the world’s most expensive row of terraced houses.

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


TNT POST is further encroaching onRoyal Mail territory by launching anend-to-end delivery trial in London aspart of a long-term plan to rival thegovernment-owned postal service.

Following a successful trial inLiverpool, TNT postal workers will hitthe streets of west London from mid-

April to test the waters for extendingthe company’s current collection andsorting service to include delivery.

But the mail service, owned by Dutch company PostNL NV, said it will

not be able to roll out the service per-manently unless “barriers to competi-tion are removed.”

Royal Mail is exempt from paying VAT on “final mile” delivery – the laststage of the process – making it diffi-cult for other companies to offer aneconomically viable rival service.

TNT Post said: “The company has along held ambition to launch its owndelivery service within the UK but isunable to realise this strategic goaluntil the Royal Mail VAT exemption on

final mile delivery is removed.” TNT Post chief Nick Wells added,

“We need the government toannounce that it is going to allow faircompetition” in order for the postal

business to invest in infrastructureand “create thousands of jobs.”

A TNT spokesperson told City A.M.the company would absorb the extra

VAT costs incurred during the trial butsaid this was not viable in the longterm.

The company also announced yes-terday it won a contract from Tesco

which will see TNT Post handle 180mitems per year. Its other clients include

TNT Post bidsto rival RoyalMail’s serviceBY LAUREN DAVIDSON

CONSUMER▲


NEWS | IN BRIEF

Olympic Tube strike talks stallTalks to avoid a transport strike duringthe Olympics stalled yesterday, withunion reps slamming LondonUnderground for imposing “even morestrings” on workers alongside an £850bonus. Five days of negotiations brokedown yesterday morning when the RMT

union objected to what it said wereunreasonable and “inherently unsafe”demands that staff work more flexiblyduring the Games. London Undergroundsaid it was hopeful of reaching a dealwith the three other unions involved inthe talks.

Lovefilm leads on streamingOnline streaming overtook DVD rentalfor the first time last month at Lovefilm,the Amazon-owned film subscriptionservice which has over two million mem-bers. Movies and TV shows streamed viathe internet exceeded the number of physical rentals by 20 per cent – despitea 25 per cent rise in DVD rentals –showing a growth of 400 per cent onFebruary 2011. Lovefilm also said SourceCode was its most streamed film lastmonth, while Lost was its most popularTV show.

Profit growth for BrainJuicerBrainJuicer grew its pre-tax profits 24per cent to £2.76m last year as revenues

jumped 27 per cent to £20.7m. Theonline market researcher pointed tostrong growth in the US, Germany andSwitzerland and said the UK, whichaccounts for 42 per cent of revenues,grew operating profit 11.7 per cent to£4.54m. BrainJuicer ended the yearwith 33 per cent more cash, at £3.68m,and no debt. Shares rose two per cent toclose at £3.06 yesterday.

A STRONG holiday season and mild winter helped FedEx top Wall Street’sprofit forecast, but the world’s sec-ond-largest package delivery compa-ny warned that it had lowered itsexpectations for the rest of this yeardue to Europe’s weak economy.

“The fourth quarter is still very good, but what we’re seeing at themoment is we just don’t have as

strong an economy as we would havehoped it would be a year ago,” financechief Alan Graf said.

FedEx said yesterday that net earn-ings in the third quarter to 29February rose to $521m (£329.4m), or$1.65 per share, from $231m, or 73cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, profitrose to $1.55 per share from 81 cents a

year ago.Revenue increased nine per cent to

$10.56bn from $9.66bn a year ago.

FedEx tops forecasts butwarns on Europe impact

FedEx is the world’s number two package delivery company Picture: GETTY

BYHARRY BANKSCONSUMER▲

ANALYSIS l Postnl NV

€4.85

4.80

4.75

4.70

4.65

4.60

4.55


4.7022 Mar

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


UNITED Utilities saw its share priceclimb yesterday after it indicated that both sales and profit were on track for the full-year.

The FTSE-100 water company saidfull-year sales would increase by between three and four per cent, inline with analyst forecasts.

“This increase is slightly below theallowed regulated price rise, princi-pally reflecting the ongoing impactof customers switching to meters and

lower commercial volumes in the sec-ond half of the year,” it said.

The company said it expects netdebt at the end of the financial yearto be slightly higher than its positionon 30 September. It said this was dueto expenditure on the regulatory cap-ital investment programme and pay-ment of the interim dividend. It saidit had made an early repayment of a£150m loan from the EuropeanInvestment Bank, which was due forredemption in June.

Analysts expect the company toreport 2012 revenue of £1.58bn, upfour per cent from 2011 levels.

United Utilities also said total regu-latory capital expenditure for the year would be about £700m.

“The company is encouraged by itsrecent progress and will continue with its strong operational and cus-tomer focus, with the aim of deliver-ing further service improvements forcustomers combined with greaterefficiency,” it added.

United Utilities’ shares closed 1.3per cent higher at 618p.

Jump in salesboosts UnitedUtilities stock

SHARES in Energy Assets Group, aprovider of gas metering equipmentto Corona Energy and British Gas, fellin their debut on the London Stock Exchange yesterday.

The Livingston-based company’sshares closed down 7.6 per cent lowerat 194p.

The company, which was acquired by Australian investment banMacquarie Group in 2008, had pricedthe offering at 210p apiece.

On Monday, Energy Assets raised£11.9m through a share sale to insti-tutional investors and said it plannedto sell an additional 7.2m shares.

The company said that it woulduse the funds from the private place-ment to expand its business in line with growth plans and strengthen its balance sheet.

Energy Assets has 60,000 meters

and 20,000 data loggers in businessesacross the globe.

The group had revenue of £9.6mfor the year to 31 March 2011. Thegroup’s profit was £2.3m.

Chief executive Phil Bellamy-Leesaid on Monday: “In the short term we are looking for organic growth but may look at acquisitions later. With the IPO we can grow the busi-ness.”

Energy Assets had revenue of £9.6m in 2011.

SHARES in gold miner Randgoldplummeted yesterday after fears overproduction in Mali where renegadesoldiers claimed to have grabbedpower in a coup.

Two-thirds of the group’s produc-tion is in the west African country, with Randgold working closely withthe government. Chief executive Mark Bristow said “Malians respect laws and

I don’t believe this will come with ahigh-handed change in political direc-tion. We don’t expect any subsequentgovernments to disregard proper anddue process.”

Bristow is at the company’s Loulocomplex in the west of Mali to monitorthe ongoing situation.

Randgold’s shares closed 12.6 percent lower yesterday at 5,765p. Sharesin Aim-listed Cluff Gold, which alsohas operations in western Mali, fellfour per cent yesterday.

Energy Assetsshares drop onmarket debut

Randgold rocked as Malicoup threatens production

Randgold chief executive Mark Bristow is in Mali to monitor the situation Pic: GETTY

BY JOHNDUNNE

UTILITIES▲

ENERGY▲


BY JOHNDUNNEMINING▲

ANALYSIS l United Utilities Group PLC

p625

620

615

610

605


618.0022 Mar

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


BRITISH oil explorer Premier Oilsaid it will benefit from new tax

breaks unveiled in the Budget which will enable it to expandoperations and target acquisitions.

The company said annual profitafter tax jumped 32 per cent to$171.2m (£108.3m) beating a con-sensus forecast of $165m from acompany-supplied poll of analysts.

Premier reiterated its averageproduction target of between60,000 barrels of oil equivalent perday (boepd) and 65,000 boepd for2012, 50 per cent higher than in

2011, as new projects comeonstream in the North Sea.

“Big thumbs up from us. I could-n’t have wished for a better result,”chief executive Simon Lockett saidof the expansion in the small fieldallowance announced by chancel-lor George Osborne on Wednesday.

In the North Sea Premier’s Solanoil field and three fields within theCatcher area will all benefit fromthe new measures, Lockett said.

Premier said it had cash andundrawn bank facilities of around$1.4bn in early 2012, giving it thefirepower to make acquisitions andexplore for oil in new areas.

It said Kenya would be a key ter-

ritory in the future.“Based on our initial evaluation

the small field allowance changesare worth over $100m net toPremier,” said Oriel Securities ana-lyst Nick Copeman.

North Sea tax breakis bonus for PremierBYHARRY BANKS

OIL▲

Please remember, investments into an ISA will depend on individual

circumstances and all tax rules may change. The value of investments and

income can go down as well as up and you may not get back the amount

you invested. The Select List is not a recommendation to buy or sell funds.

Annual management charges apply. If you would like further information,

please contact our UK call centre. Alternatively, if you require a

recommendation, please contact an adviser.

Ours or theirs.Yours for less.

*0% initial charge if you invest in Fidelity or Select List funds online or by phone by midnight on 5 April 2012. †Terms and conditionsapply, offer ends 30 March 2012 and applies to investments over £10,000. ** Based on gross sales for w.c. 5 March 2012. The SimplifiedProspectus or Key Investor Information Document (KIID) for Fidelity and non-Fidelity funds is available in English and can be obtained fromour website at www.fidelity.co.uk/importantinformation or by calling 0800 41 41 61. The full prospectus for Fidelity funds may also beobtained from Fidelity.For non-Fidelity funds the full prospectus and the KIID or Simplified Prospectus are available from the Fund providerdirectly. Issued by FIL Investments International, authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Services Authority. Fidelity, Fidelity

Worldwide Investment, the Fidelity Worldwide Investment logo and F s ymbol are trademarks of FIL Limited. CSO3420/0312/V1

From Aberdeen and AXA, to Schroders and Standard Life – you can pick

up everything you need at the Fidelity fund supermarket.

We’ve over 1,200 funds from some 70 leading providers. And if you want help

choosing some for your ISA, take a look at the Select List – a collection of

over 50 funds hand-picked by our experts. With no initial charge,* plus £20

cash back,† it now costs less than ever to buy through Fidelity. So, whether

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FOR MORE NEWS

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ANALYSIS l Premier Oil PLC

p432

430

428

424

420

426

422

418


426.2022 Mar

London 2012 IMAGE OF THE WEEK

This week the London 2012Organising Committee con-firmed the 7,300 peoplewho will carry the Olympicflame during its 8,000 mile journey across the UK.Dinah Gould, pictured herewith Dominic MacGowan,will be the oldest torch-bearer – a centenarian bythe time she walks her 300metre leg.

Photo: GETTY

Between now and the start of the Olympics,

City A.M. is publishingits Olympic Image of the Week. If you have a shot you think our read-ers will like, pleaseemail [email protected] IOW2012 in the subject line. Full details:cityam.com/london-

2012

OLYMPIC TORCHPASSING ON THEFLAME

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


Terms apply. Subject to credit check.

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The CapitalistGot A Story? Email [email protected]

PLAYING TO WIN IN THEWINE TASTING LEAGUE

SOME of the City’s young bucks like tosweat it out after work with a game of five-a-side football at the Old Streetpitches. But those with more refinedtastes might prefer a new “wineleague” coming to the Square Mile, giv-

ing them a chance to channel some of that professional competitive spirit.

The mastermind is Mike Reynolds –an actor turned-restaurant reviewer-turned wine specialist, who heads up acorporate wine tasting firm called Tasteof the Grapes.

He told The Capitalist: “We got thisidea where you see corporates going fortheir five-aside football team in theevening. We thought what aboutrather than having to get changed andshowered, they had a wine tasting

league instead.” We doubt the nuisance of showering

will convince City folk to ditch theirsporting endeavours, but an eveningguzzling wine and competing againstrival firms in aid of charity certainly

might. The gist of the tournament, which

costs £4,000 to enter, is that twenty teams of five made up of City law firms,stockbrokers and accountants will gettogether once a fortnight at Chigwell Stdining rooms for a champagne recep-tion, followed by the wine tasting com-petition and lastly – a three course meal– much needed by then for those notspitting out the wine. That sounds likeour kind of fun. For more informationlook at www.topgrape.tv

TED BAKER MAN’SGETTING HITCHED

THE EBULLIENT Ted Baker founder RayKelvin couldn’t care less how many

dips there are in the recession and will not be giv-ing a second thought to the Greek debt crisis – he

jokes it’s all “taramasalata and hummus” tohim (double dip – get it?).Because he is getting marriedtomorrow, he proudly told The Capitalist yesterday, breaking outin song “I’m so excited, and I justcan’t hide it…..”Sadly he didn’t have time toanswer whether he or hiswife would be togged outin Ted Baker wear fortheir big day.

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


BarclaysBarclays has made two new appoint-ments within its London business servic-es team. Sarah Prebble joins as a

relationship director from Royal Bank of Scotland. Will Drane, an internalappointment, will be responsible formoney service clients.

BoltBolt Partners, the turnaround consultan-cy and asset management firm, hasannounced the appointments of DannyWulwick and Scott Philips. Wulwick

joins as primary care asset director from

Ackerman, a property management anddevelopment company. Philips, on sec-ondment from Healthcare ManagementPartners, a US-based turnaround spe-cialist, will assist Bolt in strengtheningits care home and acute hospital offer-ing.

KPMGKPMG has made three new appoint-ments to its healthcare consulting prac-

tice. Beccy Fenton and Jonathan Hale join as directors and Tim Rideout joins asan associate. Fenton was previouslydeputy chief executive of MidStaffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.Hale has joined KPMG from CapitaConsulting, where he was the director

lead to its consulting services to hospitalclients. Rideout was previously pro-gramme director for the development of the NHS Commissioning Board.

Cushman & WakefieldThe world’s largest privately held com-mercial real estate firm has announcedthat Carlo Barel di Sant’Albano, itschairman, will oversee the company’soperations in Europe, the Middle East

and Africa. He has been named chief executive of Cushman & WakefieldEMEA with effect from 1 July. Hereplaces Paul Bacon. Barel diSant’Albano was previously chairman of EXOR, the European investment compa-ny.

Simmons & SimmonsThe international law firm has continuedits expansion in China with two newappointments. Lesli Ligorner joins asemployment partner from Paul HastingsShanghai, where she chaired theemployment law practice. Vivien Yang

joins as corporate partner from CliffordChance’s Hong Kong office, where shewas head of natural resources.

CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS Edited by Tom Welsh

+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

Investors unnervedby poor factory data

C YCLICAL sectors led US stockslower yesterday, setting the S&P500 up for its first negative week in six, after factory data showed

a slowdown in both the Eurozone andChina.

The weak data is hardly a surprisefor markets, as many analysts havealready factored in a recession in theEurozon and early this month, Chinatrimmed its 2012 growth target to aneight-year low of 7.5 per cent.

However, investors were unnerved by the drop in new orders in bothregions, which highlighted concernsthat an unexpectedly severe down-turn could hurt the global recovery.

The drop in demand fuelled callsfor the pullback in stocks after theS&P 500 scored 10 weeks of gains outof this year’s 11 weeks so far. The benchmark index is still near four- year highs hit on Monday.

“The advance we’ve had so far this year is not sustainable, and the mar-ket is taking a little breather,” said Terry Morris, senior equity managerfor National Penn Investors TrustCompany in Reading, Pennsylvania.

“The market could easily comedown three to five per cent and still

be within the context of an improv-ing economy and continue to work higher,” he said.

FedEx shares dragged down theDow Jones Transportation Averageafter the world’s second-largest pack-age delivery company warned of alower outlook, due in part to Europe's weak economy.

The S&P energy sector fell 2.1 percent and the basic materials sectordropped 1.6 per cent.

US stocks have risen sharply this year, due in part to a steady string of

better-than-expected US economicdata. Next week, the S&P 500 could wrap up its best back-to-back quarterssince mid-2009.

The Dow Jones industrial averagefell 78.48 points, or 0.60 per cent, to13,046.14 at the close. The S&P 500Index dropped 10.11 points, or 0.72per cent, to 1,392.78. The NasdaqComposite lost 12.00 points, or 0.39per cent, to 3,063.32.

It was the first close below 1,400 forthe S&P 500 in six sessions. About6.3bn shares changed hands on theNew York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaqand Amex, compared with the cur-rent daily average for 2012 of about6.86bn shares. FedEx fell 3.5 per centto $92.50. The Dow Jones Transportation Average lost 2.1 percent. Blue-chip McDonald’s fellone per cent to $95.80 a day after the world’s biggest hamburger chain said

chief executive Jim Skinner is retiringafter seven years at the helm.

BRITAIN’S top share index fell yes-terday, heading for its biggest weekly loss so far this year assigns of slower growth in China,

the world’s second-largest economy, weighed on cyclical stocks.

Heavyweight mining shares fell 3.2

per cent after data showed industrialactivity in China, the world’s largestconsumer of metals, shrank for a fifthstraight month in March.

Industrial metals and constructionmaterial stocks fell 1.1 per cent and 1.2per cent, respectively.

“Investors have got more concernedabout slowing growth in China,” Jonathan Stubbs, a strategist atCitigroup said.

“The shift in emphasis in Chinafrom investment to consumptionmeans there is likely to be less supportfor rising commodity prices fromChinese demand and that miningcompanies will have to sweat theirassets to enjoy outperformance fromhere.”

While the sector faced short-termrisk, Stubbs said Beijing was likely tointervene to stimulate the economy over the coming months, in a move

that would support miners in themedium term.

Still in the mining sector,Randgold was down 12.6 per cent in volumenearly eight times the average on wor-ries over the impact of unrest in Mali,home to some two-thirds of thegroup’s production and where rene-gade soldiers say they have seizedpower in a coup.

It was the top faller on the FTSE 100index, which shed 46.30 points to close0.8 per cent lower at 5,845.65, havingtraded 95 per cent of its 90-day volumeaverage.

“Prices remain supported by their

rising 50-day moving average but thefailure (to) break out of February’shigh calls for caution,” Nicolas Suiffet,a technical analyst at Trading Centralsaid.

“The resistance level at 5,989 (anintra-day high reached on 14 March)remains a significant hurdle; a pushabove this resistance threshold wouldopen the way to 6,100, a key medium-term resistance level,” he added.

On the downside, Suiffet recom-mended watching out for the 5,710mark, which he saw as the short-termstop loss for buyers.Kingfisher was among top blue-

chip gainers, rising 2.5 per cent in vol-ume more than double the average,after Europe’s biggest home improve-ments retailer reported consensus- beating full-year results and said it wasgrowing more optimistic about the UK market.

Next, Britain’s second-largest fash-ion retailer, also said it saw better

times ahead for consumers as itsunderlying pretax profit neared thetop end of the groups’ forecast range,helping the shares close flat.

“Lower inflation this year meansthat the UK consumer will see a rever-sal of the real income shrinkage wehave seen in the last few years,” GerardLane, an equity strategist at ShoreCapital, said.

“It’s not going to be gang busterslike in the good old days when peoplecould spend money they didn't have but there is an upside risk on UK

spending and valuations are not pric-ing in this improvement.”But official data underlined how

any recovery in sentiment will be ahard slog, as figures showed anothercut in spending last month.

“Disappointing manufacturing datafrom China, Germany and France sug-gests that the recent recovery in eco-nomic activity...could well be startingto run out of steam,” added CMCMarkets analyst Michael Hewson.

Fears of slowdown in Chinasee miners and FTSE tumbleTHELONDONREPORT

THENEW YORKREPORT

BEST OF THE BROKERS To appear in Best of the Brokers email your research to [email protected]

ANALYSIS l Laird PLC

218

216

214212

210

208

206

204

16 Mar 19 Mar 20 Mar 21 Mar 22 Mar

p 206.4022 Mar

LAIRDUBS downgraded the engineer from “buy” to “neutral” and increased thetarget price from 190p to 198p after its recent sale of the loss-makinghandset antennae business in China for £20m.The Swiss bank added: “We note that the underlying growth driversremain intact and as such expect continued momentum in the business, butthe valuation is now quite full in our view.”

208.0022 Mar

ANALYSIS l Chime Communications PLC

225.0

222.5

220.0

217.5

215.0

212.5

210.0


p

CHIME COMMUNICATIONSInvestec kept Chime Communications as a “buy” and lowered the targetprice from 238p to 230p. The firm, run by Lord Bell, Margaret Thatcher’sformer public relations adviser, is scaling up its Sports division with acquisi-tions to offset the PR “profit gap” after the rundown of a US contract and“some other international PR weakness”, Investec said.The broker added that Chime’s shares could “drift in the near term”.

ANALYSIS l Ted Baker PLC

810

800

790

780

770

760

750


p 789.5022 Mar

TED BAKERPanmure re-instated its “hold” rating and moved the price target from 765pto 783p after the British designer clothing brand reported a surge in retailsales and said it planned more international store openings in NorthAmerica and Asia in 2012. Panmure reduced its 2013 profit estimate main-ly due to expectations of a higher interest payment but added: “Ted Bakerremains one of the fastest growing retail stories in our coverage.”

19 Mar16 Mar 20 Mar 21 Mar 22 Mar

5,875

5,850

5,900

5,925

5,950

5,975

ANALYSIS lFTSE

5,845.6522 Mar

AllanfieldThe specialist insurance broker has announcedthe appointments of Paul Leader and PaulWilliams as managing directors of companies inthe Allanfield Group. Leader joins in June fromglobal insurance broker HW Wood, where he was

director with responsibility for the real estate andcommercial teams. Williams joins, with immedi-ate effect, from Gallagher Health Real Estate,where he was executive director responsible forstrategic direction. James Manning has also beenappointed to support the team.


8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


I T IS crucial for the UK’s economic recovery

that London remains a global centre fortrade, able to compete with old rivals suchas New York and Tokyo as well as new

emerging cities like Beijing, Doha and SaoPaulo.

As the rhetoric around diversifying the econ-omy and ending our reliance on f inancial serv-ices ramps up, we need to remember that theability to trade goods and services relies on being physically able to exchange them. Aviation is the only mode of transportationthat can facilitate this exchange in a short time-frame.

Frontier Economics recently looked into theimpact of poor aviation links on the UK econo-my. Its research showed that the UK is in dangerof missing out on £14bn worth of trade fromemerging markets, due to inadequate aviationlinks. This is equivalent to the profit made by HSBC in 2011.

This trend is corroborated by a BritishChamber of Commerce study which revealedthat two-thirds of business leaders in Brazil,China, India, South Korea and Mexico are morelikely to trade with France, Germany or theNetherlands rather than the UK, as they cur-rently offer a greater number of direct flights totheir market.

Later this month the government is expectedto publish its draft framework for sustainableaviation which will examine all the optionsavailable to London and the rest of the UK. Theonus on the government will be to design aframework that allows aviation to be a conduitto the growth of our industry. London acts asthe gateway to and from the UK for internation-al commerce and if we are to shield the econo-my from further damage we must ensure thatit is seen by the rest of the world as “open for business”.

The list of potential options open to the capi-tal is somewhat limited. Boris Island is an imag-inative idea and one must commend the visionof those behind it, but the £50bn cost and 20 year timeframe to develop means that it is not

the silver bullet that some might like to claim.

Another recently mooted idea was to link Heathrow and Gatwick by the supposedHeathwick train line. However, while this is aquicker and cheaper proposal than Boris Islandit creates no additional capacity for London as a whole. Furthermore, if a passenger is faced with the option of using Frankfurt or ParisCharles de Gaulle as a European hub or flyinginto Heathrow, transferring to Gatwick by trainand then flying on from there, it is pretty mucha no-brainer. London loses every time.Interconnectivity between the two neithersolves the problem of capacity, nor makesLondon a more desirable international hub.

Policy makers have explored numerous solu-tions. However, now is the time to accept that

the only sensible and realistic option is to pressahead with the previous government’s plans to build a third runway at Heathrow. The argu-ments are well researched and well founded.Heathrow offers a solution that can be deliv-ered within a reasonable timeframe and cost. A third runway will increase capacity at the air-port, enabling it to reduce congestion and, con-trary to popular opinion, will offer theflexibility required to then minimise noise pol-lution and associated carbon emissions.

February’s figures from the Office of National Statistics underlined another reason why expansion at Heathrow should come back on the agenda. The statistics showed that therate of unemployment was 8.4 per cent of theeconomically active population, an increase of 0.1 on the previous quarter. Yet it is estimated

that around 20,000 jobs are currently provided

by the wider Heathrow community, not to men-tion the vast number of people who areemployed by multinational companies whochoose to locate in its vicinity; the M4 has become a high-tech hub precisely because of itsproximity to Heathrow, while the number of international businesses who have located tothe Chiswick Business Park speaks for itself.

As David Cameron wrote recently, Britain issuffering from a severe “infrastructure deficit”.In recent months the transport debate has beendominated by investment in our highways andin High Speed 2 (HS2). Worryingly, some com-mentators see this as an alternative to allowingour aviation sector to grow. We are deluded if we think HS2 will help our prospects at devel-oping links with emerging economies.

George Osborne frequently discusses theneed to have a plan for growth, but this is beingundermined by the infrastructure deficit thatthe Prime Minister speaks of. The government was due to publish its aviation framework inMarch, but the chancellor announced in hisBudget that this would be delayed until thesummer. If his plan is to be credible then itmust provide a roadmap that will enable theaviation industry to help UK companies fightfor business in a highly competitive global mar-ket. If we don’t take this opportunity, our rivalscertainly will.

Paul Willis is head of aviation at EC Harris.

24 The ForumCITYA.M. 23 MARCH 2012

Heathrow offers a solution

that can be delivered within

a reasonable timeframe

A third runway at Heathrowis essential if London is to bea globally competitive city

cityam.com/forum

PAUL WILLIS

Agree? Disagree? Got a sharp comment?The Forum wants you to join the debate.

COMMENT NOW ON

Twitter: @cityamforum;

on the web : cityam.com/forum;

or by email: [email protected].

Top responses will be reprinted in The Forum.

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


BEECHEN HILL HOUSEPrice: from £2mThis five bedroom house was originally two semi-detached cottages dating from the19th Century that were demolished and re-built almost 30 years ago by the current

owners. It offers wonderful views over the grounds and towards the Chess Valley.Contact www.knightfrank.com or 01494 675368

OCTOBERCOTTAGEPrice: £650,000A double fronted,detached characterhome on a popularroad to the west of the village. The fourbedroom propertyhas been renovatedby the current own-ers but retains manyfeatures of the peri-od, including fire-places and exposedfloorboards.Contact Hamptons International 01753 886464

DENHAMLANEPrice: £750,000A five bedroom,two bathroommodern familyhome set on theChalfont Commonside of ChalfontSt Peter. Groundfloor offerskitchen break-fast, utility room,dining room, fam-ily room andstudyContact Hamptons

International 01753 886464

William Furniss, office head atKnight Frank Beaconsfield said:“The Chalfonts have always been apopular destination for buyersheading out of London. The ease of access, with mainline railway con-nections into Marylebone fromAmersham and also theUnderground Metropolitan line run-ning from Little Chalfont givingaccess to the city. The M40 and

M25 are near enough to be anadvantage and yet far enough awayto offer no blight. Situated in theChilterns, the villages offer beauti-ful countryside whilst being close toLondon. Buckinghamshire retains aselective Grammar school systemand the Chalfonts boast very goodschooling (Dr Challoners GrammarSchool and High School) both forboys and girls.

NEED TO KNOW | AREA INSIGHT

Living | Focus onCITYA.M. 23 MARCH 2012

LOCAL AREA | PRICES (SOURCE: KNIGHT FRANK)

Detached Semi-Detached Terraced Flats

Chalfonts £708,683 £368,024 £303,210 £196,000

26

THE COTTAGEPrice: £700,000Situated in on the edge of the village, this three bedroom propertyforms part of an 18th Century home, divided in 1977 to form three resi-dences. Contact www.knightfrank.com or 01494 675368

STOCKINGS HOUSEPrice: £1.7mThis five bedroom house is situated on the edge of Coleshill, on BottrellsLane, a quiet country lane surrounded by beautiful Chilterns countryside,Contact www.knightfrank.com or 01494 675368

FOCUS ON: CHALFONTS, BUCKS

STUMPWELLPrice: £4.25mA six bedroom proper-ty that caters to yoursporting needs with ahard surface tenniscourt and a swimmingpool protected byneatly trimmed hedg-ing. Contact www.knightfrank.com or 01494 675368

GREENGARTHPrice: £1.8mThis four bedroomproperty is posi-tioned in privategardens andgrounds boundedby woodland in alittle over twoacres. It has beenextensively reno-vated. Contact www.knightfrank.c om or 01494 675368

DEANFIELDPrice: £4.15mThe stunning galleriedentrance hall to this fourbedroom house is animpressive space with acircular staircase androof lantern above, fin-ished in sapele woodand wrought ironbalustrading.Contact www.knightfrank.com or 01494 675368

LONDON

CHALFONTS

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


Garter Way SE16

£495,000 reehold

A bedroom modern amily house located within this quiet cul-de-sac close to Canada Water & Surrey Quays. Te property has a good sized garden overlooking the canal & allocated parking.

Butlers Whar SE1

£950 per week

A beautiully presented & spacious 2 bedroom apartment on the 5th foor o thisconverted warehouse in the heart o Shad Tames. Te property benets rom 2 doublebedrooms, 2 bathrooms & a large open plan reception room with eat in kitchen.

Roy Square E14

£675,000 leasehold

A reurbished 3 bedroom duplex apartment located in the heart o Limehouse Village.Features include a large open plan reception room, 3 double bedrooms, large roo terrace,allocated parking & daytime concierge. Oered with no onward chain.

Te Landmark E14

£625 per week

A stunning 38th foor apartment comprising 2 double bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, open plankitchen/reception room with direct access to a balcony with breathtaking views acrossCanary Whar & London. Te apartment benets rom secure parking & is locatedmoments rom Canary Whar.

ower Bridge & City

020 7357 [email protected]

ower Bridge & City


Canary Whar & Docklands


Canary Whar & Docklands


chestertonhumberts.com

70 Offices 5 Continents 11 Countries

Russia Italy France Spain South Africa Australia Singapore

UAE Barbados Gibraltar United Kingdom

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


Living | Property28 CITYA.M. 23 MARCH 2012

Q.I am selling my house for£5m but the buyer’s sur-vey report has shown that

the roof needs some work andthey want me to fix it betweenexchange and completion. Thebuyer’s surveyor is saying thatthey should allow up to £25,000to do the works but my builderthinks he can do it for less. Whatshould I do?

A.You could agree to fix theroof and if your builder thinksit will cost less than the

£25,000 the surveyor has suggested,then great. That said, I strongly rec-ommend that rather than take this onyourself, the much cleaner way of dealing with this will be to simplyagree a sum to deduct from the sale

price and let the buyer deal with takeon the repairs himself. The problemwith dealing with it personally is thatlawyers will almost certainly want afurther surveyor prior to completionto ensure the work has been carriedout to a sufficient standard, whichwill incur additional costs for thebuyer. It could also cause problems(and additional costs) for you if, forwhatever reason, their surveyordecides that he is unhappy with how

your builder had done thework. I would offer them£15,000, explain your reasoning andsee how you get on.

Q.I am selling my flat andwant to buy a new buildapartment in central

London. What are the mainadvantages of these develop-ments?

A.There are a number of advan-tages that new build homesoffer over second hand

homes. Unlike ordinary refurbishedflats, they have the advantage of being built around a completely newinfrastructure, from foundations toplumbing, wiring and insulation all theway through to the roof. They will bebuilt with modern building regula-tions in mind too, so will be moreenergy efficient and benefit from suit-able sound proofing. If you chooseyour development carefully they willhave state-of-the art fixtures and fit-tings too as well quality commonparts which should ensure that thebuilding stands head and shouldersabove anything else in the area which

will also help you from a longer terminvestment perspective and youshould reap the rewards when youeventually come to sell. If you arelooking centrally, I would suggest youtake a look at Ftizrovia Apartments, aluxury scheme by RidgefordProperties and The Manhattan LoftCorporation close to Great PortlandStreet in W1. It is a very well thoughtout development, which ensures youwon’t be disappointed.

Q A&SELL

GROSVENOR RENTS SHOW BUOYANT MARKETProperty giant Grosvenor says it has secured a record rental priceof £93 per sq ft for a prime property on Green Street in Mayfair,smashing the average area price of between £63-£65 per sq ft.The firm said the new tenants of the triplex apartments areEuropean including one Englishman and one Italian, working in theWest End. The deal equates to an annual rent of £250,000 for thebiggest triplex. The leases are one year with no break clause, withthe option to extend for a second year. The company says there are

additional apartments available to rent, in the same development,on lower floors.

CHINA COULD BE A PROPERTY INVESTOR’S DREAMA new report by Jones Lang LaSalle has highlighted the propertyinvestment opportunities in a number of Chinese cities. The firmsays growth areas include Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Hangzhou,Nanjing, Shenyang, Suzhou, Tianjin and Wuhan. The firm says over80m sq m of modern retail and nearly 30m sq m of Grade Aoffices will be built in China’s main cities over the remainder of thedecade, bringing much needed stock to the market. Jones LangLaSalle predicts that retail will provide the greatest real estateopportunity.

PROPERTY NEWS

CURRENT MORTGAGE DEALS Source: MoneySupermarket.com

Lender Fixed/Flexible Rate Until APR Maximum Loan(per cent) (per cent) to Value (per cent)

First Direct Flexible 2.29 2 years 3.6 65

Chelsea BS Flexible 2.39 May 2014 5.4 70

HSBC Flexible 2.39 Term 2.5 60

Norwich & Peterborough BS Flexible 2.49 2 years 4.7 75

HSBC Fixed 2.54 June 2014 3.9 60

Chelsea BS Fixed 2.64 May 2014 5.5 70

Market Harborough BS Fixed 2.69 April 2014 5.1 75

First Direct Fixed 2.79 3 years 3.6 65

MartinBikhitMANAGINGDIRECTOR OF KAY &CO, CENTRAL LONDON

ESTATE AGENCY

Travel time obtained from www.tfl.gov.uk

T 0203 040 8710WWW.THEFOLDSIDCUP.COM

COMING SOONSTUDIOS, 1 & 2 BED APARTMENTS

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


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*Price correct at time of going to press. Photographs depict Queen Mary’s Gate.

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Prices from £200,000*

99%SOLD

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


SALES & MARKETING SUITE AND TWOBEDROOM SHOWHOME LAUNCHING

SATURDAY 24th MARCH

New Festival Quarter,

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Register your interest today

call:0845 459 5020

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Living | Interiors30

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New FestivalQuarterA landmark developmentclose to Canary Wharf

31

swinging 60shese timeless classics, by Steve Dinneen

RETRO BISCUIT TINS

£35 FROM ORLA KIELYBaking is back – do it in stylewith these retro flower-printtins.orlakiely.com

60s STYLE PHONE

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FLATBANK TV TABLE

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8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


Lifestyle | Going Out

32

THIS isn’t your average East End gang-ster saga. Wild Bill is an impressivelysubtle, no-nonsense debut from first-time director Dexter Fletcher, centringaround Bill Hayward (Charlie Creed-Miles), a troubled guy coming out of prison, trying to live the good life whilestill tangled up in his murky past. It maysound rather gangsta-by-numbers butthanks to a wicked sense of humourand the underlying fear that a properpunch-up is only moments away, it is

rarely less than gripping.Trying desperately to keep a lidon his temper, Creed-Miles

strikes a convincingfigure as the hardman attemptingto better himself,

especiallyconsider-

ingyou’re

never

Surreal, nightmarishThe new Cinnamon Club Soho opensthis week on the old Bar Red site onKingly street. This is the third estab-lishment from executive chef Vivek

Singh who brought you the originalCinnamon Club in Westminster and themore contemporary Cinnamon Kitchen inthe City. This time they have a younger,cheekier outlook and are aiming for atrendy Soho crowd. The all-day menucombines modern Indian fare with a nodto British favourites and the designretains Cinnamon’s sleek style but with asexy Soho twist. The bar is on the groundfloor and looks nice in teak and shinysteel. Downstairs is more loungy withleather banquettes but you do have toeat. There will be some tables outside toofor when the weather picks up.

Over in the City Ed and Tom Martin(ETM Group), responsible for The Gun,The Botanist, the recent Angle & Crownin Covent Garden and The Chiswell StreetDining Rooms, have just launched their10th venue. The Jugged Hare is also onChiswell Street which is seeing all sorts of new signs of life around The Brewery. Therestored Grade II listed property includesexposed ceramic tiles on the vaulted ceil-ings and walls and oak timber floor-boards throughout, including whiskeybarrel tables. The main focal point is aback bar display of carefully selected andlovingly placed antique British taxidermy.Whilst this would definitely class as agastro pub they also have a walk in wineroom worth checking out.

At the other end of town in the SouthKen/Gloucester Road area Umami has

just launched on the Cromwell Road.Whist predominantly a multi influencedAsian restaurant (Umami meaning “pleas-ant savoury taste”), it also has a greatlounge bar designed by a feng shui mas-ter, which is shared with the Hotel.There’ll be an expansive al fresco gardenarea in time for the summer too.

Another restaurant with a cool baropened last week, although this one is of the more bijou variety. Cotidie onMarylebone High Street (previously, rela-tively briefly, Café Luc) has had a smartrefurbishment and the bar is a welcomeaddition and a stylish choice for a quick if you are in the area. Despite meaning“everyday,” it should probably not be keptfor just the locals.

GOING

OUTTIM BADHAM

Film

THE HUNGER GAMES12A

hhhhI by Lisa Melvin

E very year in post-apocalypseNorth America, the Capitol of the nation of Palem forces theouter districts to send two

teenagers as “tributes” to The HungerGames. Half punishment for a failedup-rising, half reality show, TheHunger Games are an annual tele- vised fight to the death where the 24teenagers must be the last to survive by any means necessary. When her

younger sister is picked, KatnissEverdeen volunteers to take her place,

plunging her into a world of violence,rampant consumerism and troublingmoral choices.

Based on Suzanne Collins’ best-sell-ing novel, The Hunger Games stars Jennifer Lawrence as the stoicalKatniss. It is refreshing to see a girl ina movie who runs, jumps, shoots andgenerally does something other thanmoon after her sparkly vampire boyfriend or be a token, prissy annoy-ing wizardess. She handles the role with aplomb, equally comfortableshooting apples from the mouths of roast pigs and letting bee hives fallonto fellow contestants’ heads. Woody Harrelson also features as a believably cynical former tribute whois sent to mentor Katniss and her fel-

low District 12 tribute, Peeta (JoshHutcherson).

Visually The Hunger Games is a hit,flitting between lush forest scenes, where the teenagers bludgeon eachother with sharp things, and theCapitol where the rich citizens tend tofavour blue hair, pink afghan houndsand lashings of gold eyeliner.

Where it falls down slightly isthe violence. With a 12A rating,there isn’t much scope for actualfear-mongering or limbs flyingoff, which makes the film occa-sionally feel a little stunted.

But The Hunger Games works – it’s a genuinely terrify-ing prospect of where our con-tinued obsession with sadistic voyeurism could lead. It may be made with teenagers in

mind, but there’s plenty herefor adults to chew over.

Theatre

THE MASTER AND MARGARITAThe Barbican

hhhhh by Steve Dinneen

Cowardice is the worst sin” is a phraseoften repeated in Mikhail Bulgakov’shallucinatory satire The Master andMargarita. And cowardice is certain-

ly not an accusation that can be levelled atComplicite’s production – it is a bold,cacophonous, at times baffling play thatnever flinches at the challenge of adaptingthe seemingly unadaptable.

It opens with a scene of utter confusion, with the 16-strong cast simultaneously

repeating a series of apparently unrelatedtasks, which director Simon McBurney pro-ceeds to skillfully tie into a narrative.

Bulgakov’s nightmarish tale of madnessand despair charts the arrival of the deviland his entourage (including a giantdemonic cat named Behemoth) in 1930sMoscow, where they set about exposing thegreed and hypocrisy of the emerging bour-geoisie – starting with the city’s literary clique. This self-satisfied bunch is responsible for rejecting an apparent masterpieceretelling the story of Pontius Pilate (accu-rately, if the devil is to be believed) on thegrounds that religion is dead – a sentimentthe devil is, perhaps understandably, unim-pressed by.

Pilate and Jesus Christ become charac-ters in a sub plot, and the narrative weavesand overlaps between the two. All of whichis exactly as easy to follow as it sounds.

At times the entire house of cards comesdangerously close to collapsing into com-plete incoherence, especially towards theend of the first half, when the various lay-ers are stacked so high you fear you may never see daylight again. But a clear visionfrom McBurney and a series of exemplary performances – especially Paul Rhys as theeponymous Master – just about keep thethreads from irrevocably tangling.

The stage seamlessly transforms fromsnow-swept Moscow to the bakingevenings of Jerusalem to shabby inner-city flats with the help of some breath-taking projection and lighting effects. These are used to spectacularly effect to

create the impression the beguilingSinaed Matthews’ Margarita is flyingthrough the streets of Moscow (naked.She’s naked a lot. Really, a lot).

Welcome light relief comes fromBehemoth, the foul-mouthed, sexually sadistic cockney moggy, who extolls the

FilmWILD BILL

Cert: 15

hhhhI by Stevie Martin

virtues of wearing a bow tie but shirks wearing trousers. It is safe to say the adaptation takes liberties with the source mate-rial – but they are liberties you suspect theauthor would wholeheartedly approve of.

Some of the biting satire of Bulgakov’snovel is lost amid the general air of confu-

Gangster saga hits right note

quite sure whether he’s about to lose itor not. This tension drives the film,with British cameos popping up allover the place –from Jaime Winstoneto Neil Maskel –as Bill is spurred on torecovery by the rejection of his eldestson. It’s a pitch perfect performancefrom relative newcomer Will Poulteras the young man caught between theresponsibility forced on him by anabsent father and all the usual teenagecrises. It may be a story told before,but Fletcher has nonetheless mouldeda well-worn tale into a surprisinglytense and worthy addition to the

British gangster movie canon.

Battle Royal comes to America in this

terrifying post-apocalyptic thriller

Paul Rhys and SinaedMatthews shine in thissurreal adaptation

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


Navy SEALs: deadlykillers but rubbishactors

and brilliant

sion (a dazzling variety show excepted), with Complicite instead crafting a very human, often touching tale of love and lossand redemption.

There are plenty of surprises along the way, with the thrashing twists in the tail wonderfully orchestrated by McBurney.

Starring active duty US Navy SEALsalongside a smattering of actors,this fictionalised version of realoperations follows the Bandito

Platoon on a straightforward missionthat leads to a terrorist conspiracy of unimaginable proportions. Followingextensive interviews with the troops,directors Mike McCoy and Scott Waughtook five acts of bravery and wove theminto a fictionalised story attempting toportray what it’s like to be one of themost elite and highly trained warriors of the modern world.

Though US Navy SEALs are undoubt-edly impressive, it’s probably a good ideato ensure they’re never made to act in afeature film ever again. It’s cruel –bothfor the guys, whose wooden performanc-es detract from their heroic feats, andfor the audience who are forced to watch some truly awful acting.

The two leads (Michael and Rorke)aren’t actors for a reason, in the same way Al Pacino doesn’t attempt to extractagents from heavily guarded huts in themiddle of the jungle.

Oh, and while we’re at it, can some-one sit script writer Kurt Johnstad downand give him a bit of a talking to? His300 wasn’t exactly a verbal masterpiece but these poor guys weren’t given achance. Stilted dialogue is one thing, buttop it off with a narration lifted from a(bad) recruiting video and throw insome guys unable to convey basic emo-

tion and you’ve got a world of jingoisticcringe cinema. When not being awkward-ly banterous the guys tend to look wistfulas the dreaded narration drones on aboutfightin’ the good fight and missin’ thosefolks back home.

They look far more comfortable whenkicking arse – watching how they work isfascinating, thanks to McCoy and Waugh’s attention to detail and, whenthe violence explodes, it’s a gripping blurof gunfire, exploding eyeballs andunflinching feats of human endurance.

Unfortunately, they start speakingagain. The complexities of the conspiracy they uncover are pushed aside andreduced a world where it apparently takesnothing more than a brief mention of acriminal mastermind’s (Alex Veadov) fam-ily for him to break down and spill hisguts. Not sure where the secret tunnel sys-tem the terrorists are using is? Just ask that guy – he’ll know. It’s a cartoonishly simple race to the next overwhelmingcliché that someone, somewhere downthe line, mistook for pathos. Yes, the USNavy SEALs are impressive and yes, they deserve a great film dedicated to their bravery, but this is not it.

Film

ACT OF VALOUR

Cert: 12A

hIIII by Stevie Martin

Navy SEAL film plays like

a bad recruitment video.These guys may deserve agreat movie but this ain’t it

There aren’t many films made par-tially on an iPhone and smuggledinto the Cannes Film Festival in acake. Banned for 20 years from film-

making and sentenced to 6 years in prisonafter supporting the opposition duringthe Iranian elections in 2009, this docu-mentary follows renowned Iranian direc-tor Jafar Panahi (The Circle and Offside) ashe goes about his daily life under house

arrest.Shot over the course of a particular day,

Film

THIS IS NOT A FILM

Cert: U

hhhhI by Stevie Martin

first by himself with a camera set up on atripod, and then by his close friendMojtaba Mirtahmasb, Panahi calls hislawyer, plays with his iguana, andattempts to re-enact the film he never gotto make. But, in doing so, he hits a wall: “If we can tell a film, why make a film?” heasks, and instead decides to throw thedirector’s handbook out of the window.

He ends up creating a study of filmitself, exploring the different ways in which a story can be told – whether hisown screenplay, or the tiny, seemingly insignificant narratives of life. He begins afrustrated film-maker but, with the helpof Mirtahmasb, the spark reignites and theeffect is compelling in its simplicity andlightness.

As Iggy the Iguana slowly crawls behind

the bookcase, so Panahi crawls behind hisown, and our, ideas of art. He’s frustrated

33

The Master and Margarita requires adegree of work from its audience – if youhaven’t broken out in a sweat before thehalfway point you’re doing something wrong – but if you’re willing to leap inheadfirst, you might not see a better play this year.

by his inability to convey truth throughfilm so, as an experiment, the camera rollseven when he asks Mirtahmasb to cut,even when they both think nothing of interest is happening.

Slowly but surely, something is indeedhappening. The numerous attempts toconvey honesty are brought together themoment he throws the director’s handbook out the window and stops trying- beautiful narratives are to be found in life,in the unscripted. The neighbour’s yappy dog, the guy coming to take the trash and,subsequently, Panahi’s own overarchingnarrative.

And it’s a narrative of triumph because,despite the restrictions imposed upon by the law, and that of film-making itself, hehas indeed successfully made a film that’s

funny, touching, brave and, above all,truthful.

Iranian director shows what can be done with

one man and his iPhone in this poignant study

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


T E R

R E S T R I A L

BRITAIN’S FIRST PHOTO ALBUM

BBC2,6.30PMJohn Sergeant visits Francis Frith’shome town of Chesterfield inDerbyshire, and explores a medievalcountry house near Bakewell.

HOLLYOAKS

CHANNEL 4, 6.30PMRiley and Mitzeee are thrown whenthey are confronted by a surprisingly

calm Mercedes, and Jacqui vows tomake Phoebe pay for her actions.

EDDIE STOBART:TRUCKS AND

TRAILERS CHANNEL 5, 8PMThe Stobart Rail crew mans the17-ton Gopher reballastingmachine to conduct overnightrepairs on a train track.

BBC1

SKY SPORTS 17pm Premier League Preview

7.30pmLive Super League 10pm

Take It Like a Fan 10.30pm

Premier League Preview 11pm

Football League Weekend 12am

Friday Fight Night 1.30am Take It

Like a Fan 2am Premier League

Preview 2.30am Football League

Weekend 3.30amTake It Like a

Fan4am-6am Super League

SKY SPORTS 21.25pm Live International One-DayCricket 9.25pm Live Test Cricket

5am Premier League Preview

5.30am-6amTake It Like a Fan

SKY SPORTS 37pm Live PGA Tour Golf 10pm

European Tour Golf 12am PGA

Tour Golf 3am European Tour Golf

5amKings of the Snow

5.30am-6amRoad to London

BRITISH EUROSPORT8pm Cycling 9pm Timbersports

Series 10pm Mark Webber

Challenge10.30pmRowing11.30pmCycling 12.30amHorse

Racing Time 12.50am-1am

WATTS

ESPN6.45pm Premier League Preview

7.15pm Live Bundesliga 9.30pm

French Top 14 Rugby Union11.15pm ESPN Kicks: Extra11.30pmPress Pass 2012 12am

Premier League Preview 12.30am

Off the Ball 1am Total ItalianFootball 1.30amMMA Live 2am

Live UFC 3am AMA Supercross

4am NBA Action 4.30am

Euroleague Basketball Magazine

5am FIBA Basketball

5.30am-6am ICC Cricket World

Magazine

SKY LIVING6.30pm CSI: Crime Scene

Investigation7.30pmCriminal

Minds8.30pm Cougar Town 9pm

Criminal Minds 10pm CSI: Crime

Scene Investigation 11pm Bones

12am The Love Machine 1am

Criminal Minds 1.50am CSI: CrimeScene Investigation 3.30am

Medium4.20amBones

5.10am-6amJerry Springer

BBC THREE7pm Doctor Who 7.50pmDoctor

Who Confidential 8pm World’s

Craziest Fools 8.30pm The Real

Hustle: Celebrity Chancers 9pm

Russell Howard’s Good News 10pm

Pramface 10.30pmWhite Van

Man 11pm Family Guy 1.40amStand Up for Sport Relief 2.40am

Russell Howard’s Good News

3.40am The Real Hustle: Celebrity

Chancers 4.10am-5.10amBeing

Human

E47pm Hollyoaks 7.30pmHow IMet Your Mother 8pm Supernanny

US 9pmFILM Hitman 2007.

Action thriller, starring Timothy

Olyphant.10.50pmWorld’s

Greatest Celebrity Body Shockers

11.55pmThe Big Bang Theory

12.50amScrubs 1.45am How I

Met Your Mother 2.15am The ITCrowd 2.40am Rules of

Engagement 3am Greek3.40am

Ugly Betty 4.25am-6amSwitched

HISTORY7pm American Restoration 7.30pm

Pawn Stars 8pm IRT Deadliest

Roads: The Andes 9pm Mud Men10pm American Restoration 11pm

The Universe 12am AmericanRestoration 12.30am Pawn Stars

1am True Horror: Dracula 2am TheUniverse 3am American

Restoration 4am The Roman

Empire in the First Century

5am-6amAmerican Pickers

DISCOVERY7pm Bear Grylls: Born Survivor8pm Aircrash Confidential 9pm

Storm Chasers 10pmAmerican

Chopper: Senior Versus Junior

11pm Cook County Jail 12am

Bear Grylls: Born Survivor1am

Monsters Inside Me 2am Storm

Chasers3am Wheeler Dealers

3.50amMythbusters4.40am

Industrial Revelations

5.30am-6amDestroyed in Seconds

DISCOVERY HOME &

HEALTH7pm Supernanny US 8pm 18 Kids

and Counting 9pm Quints By

Surprise10pm Kate Plus 8 11pm

Tourettes Uncovered 12am Quints

By Surprise 1am Kate Plus 8 2am

Tourettes Uncovered 3am

Supernanny US 4am A Baby Story

5am-6amBaby’s Room

SKY17pm Futurama 7.30pm The Middle

8pm Modern Family 8.30pm

Raising Hope 9pm An Idiot Abroad

10pm Glee 11pm The F1 Show

12am Dog the Bounty Hunter

1am The Real A&E 1.55am

Caribbean Cops 2.45am

MacIntyre: World’s Toughest

Towns 3.40am Dom Joly’s Happy

Hour 4.35am Crash Test Dummies

5.05am-6amHello Goodbye

BBC2 ITV1 CHANNEL4 CHANNEL5

S A T E L L I T E &

C A B L E

TVPICK6pm BBC News

6.30pm BBC London News

7pm Sport Relief 2012: Gary

Lineker, Claudia Winkleman,

Davina McCall and Dermot

O’Leary present the fundraiser,

featuring music, sketches and

special editions of many TV

favourites.10pm BBC News

10.25pmRegional News

10.35pmSport Relief 2012:

The concluding part.1.30amDavid Walliams’ Big

Swim: A Sport Relief Special

2.30amWeatherview

2.35am-6amBBC News

6pm Eggheads

6.30pm CHOICEBritain’s First

Photo Album

7pm Coast

7.30pmMastermind

8pm Mastermind

8.30pm Gardeners’ World

9pm Reverse Missionaries

10pm Sport Relief 201210.40pm Newsnight

11.10pmThe Book Review

Show: Weather

11.50pmThe National Lottery

Friday Night Draws

12amFILM The Visitor. 2007.1.35am FILMClimates. 2006.

3.15am-6am Close

6pm London Tonight

6.30pm ITV News

7pm Emmerdale

7.30pmCoronation Street

8pm Safari Vet School

8.30pm Coronation Street

9pm Benidorm

10pm ITV News at Ten

10.30pm London News10.35pmFILMAir America:

Vietnam War comedy

adventure, with Mel Gibson

and Robert Downey Jr. 1990.

12.35amThe Zone; ITV News

Headlines2.40amFILM Jaws. 1975.

4.45am-5.30amITV Nightscreen

6pm The Simpsons

6.30pm CHOICE Hollyoaks

7pm Channel 4 News

7.55pm 4thought.tv

8pm Come Dine with Me

9pmFILMSahara: Adventure,

starring Matthew

McConaughey. 2005.

11.30pm Rude Tube: RudeTunes

12.35am FILMNapoleon

Dynamite. 2004.2.10am Random Acts 2.15amMy

Name Is Earl 2.40am My Name Is

Earl 3.05am Hung 3.35amHung

4am Reaper4.45am 90210

5.25am-6.10amCountdown

6pm Home and Away

6.30pm 5 News at 6.30

7pm The Secret D-Day

Disaster: Revealed: 5 News

Update

8pmCHOICE Eddie Stobart:

Trucks and Trailers: 5 News

at 9

9pm The Mentalist10pm Castle

11pm Law & Order: Criminal

Intent

11.55pm Inside Hollywood

12am SuperCasino3.55am Motorsport Mundial

4.20am Wildlife SOS 5.10am

Michaela’s Wild Challenge

12 9 13

45

12 30

13 24

8 21

29 10

39 6

6 17

17 10

45

7 7 11

7

27

9

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29

21

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33

22

11

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34

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42

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Fill the grid so that each block

adds up to the total in the box

above or to the left of it.

You can only use the digits 1-9

and you must not use the

same digit twice in a block.

The same digit may occur

more than once in a row or

column, but it must be in a

separate block.

COFFEE BREAKCopyright Puzzle Press Ltd, www.puzzlepress.co.uk

KAKURO

QUICK CROSSWORD

LAST ISSUE’SSOLUTIONS

KAKURO

WORDWHEELUsing only the letters in the Wordwheel, you have

ten minutes to find as many words as possible,

none of which may be plurals, foreign words or

proper nouns. Each word must be of three letters

or more, all must contain the central letter and

letters can only be used once in every word. There

is at least one nine-letter word in the wheel.

SUDOKU

Place the numbers from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so that each

row, each column and each 3x3 block c ontains all the numbers

from 1 to 9 to solve this tricky Sudoku puzzle.

SUDOKU

QUICK CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Went out with,

courted (5)3 Bundle, of straw

for example (5)6 Bowl-shaped vessel (5)9 Should (5) 10 Hold firmly (5) 12 Calm, with no emotional

agitation (6) 13 Use a container

to remove waterflooding a vessel (4)

14 State parliamentof Russia (4)

15 Speak unfavourablyabout (6)

19 Glossy fabric (5) 20 Conscious, aware (5) 21 Encourage, cause

to act (3,2) 22 Choose by a vote (5) 23 Deserving of a

scratch (5)

DOWN

1 Financial

obligations (5)2 Deport from a

country (5)3 Retail establish-

ment (4)4 Etching into a material

or surface (9)5 Bringing death (5)7 Method of beginning

play in rugby (9)8 Grandmother (3)11 Patty Bouvier’s

twin sister in TV’sThe Simpsons (5)

14 Male duck (5) 16 Consumed (3)17 Of comparatively little

physical weight (5) 18 Forename of the wife

of former US presidentRonald Reagan (5)

19 Despatched (4)

U

H

E

C

FO

A

V

S

T R U S S A I R E R

O R I N N

S G R I B S C

S I E V E I M A M

E N U T S M

S W O T S T O P S

E R O A D H

C A N E R E C U R

K B I R O A I

E L S F N

A N G E L S W E D E

9 3 8 3 9 3 1

5 1 3 9 2 7 7 9

3 2 7 1 5 2 4 3

8 6 9 4 8 5 6

8 2 1 9 8 1

6 8 5 1 3 7 4 9 2

1 6 2 6 9 8

5 1 9 8 7 9 4

2 3 4 6 1 6 7 3

1 7 7 3 5 1 4 2

5 9 8 4 9 6 1

WORDWHEELThe nine-letter word was

BLEACHING

Lifestyle | TV& Games CITYA.M. 23 MARCH 201234

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


Punter | Football

Text MOBILEto 65559

coral.co.uk

1700+ Shopsnationwide

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FIRST HOUR CASHBACK: Singles only on specified markets qualify. Max refund £100 per customer permarket. Pre-match bets only. Applies to any Live domestic match this weekend only. Any remote refunds willbe credited within 24hrs. Coral rules apply. For additional terms see coral.co.uk. Where a bet qualifies for thisoffer and ‘Consolation Cash Back’, stakes will only be refunded once regardless of the number of concessionsto which the bet qualifies. £30 NEW ACCOUNT OFFER: Available on mobile, online and by phone. Newcustomers, 18s + & UK residents only. Deposit and stake up to £30 on any sporting event(s) to receive amatched deposit free bet on selected markets. Free bet stake not returned with any winnings. Full terms atcoral.co.uk/30tc You will be charged the cost of a standard SMS by your mobile network provider. Mobileservice compatible with all internet enabled handsets. Bet Responsibly. Gambleaware.co.uk

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BRITISH SUMMER TIME SPECIAL!

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TOMORROW’S LIVE FOOTBALL

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on any LIVE domestic match this weekend. Prices subject to fluctuation

FIRST GOALSCORER

11/2 D. Drogba (C)11/2 F. Torres (C)6/1 D. Sturridge (C)7/1 L. Saha (T)

7/1 J. Defoe (T)7/1 E. Adebayor (T)7/1 R. van der Vaart (T)8/1 F. Lampard (C)

FIRST GOALSCORER

4/1 M. Balotelli (M)4/1 C. Tevez (M)4/1 S. Aguero (M)5/1 E. Dzeko (M)

13/2 D. Silva (M)8/1 P. Crouch (S)9/1 J. Walters (S)9/1 K. Jones (S)

CORRECT SCORE

Chelsea Tottenham

9/1 0-0 9/1

15/2 1-0 11/113/2 1-1 13/2

9/1 2-0 20/1

Chelsea Tottenham

15/2 2-1 11/1

12/1 2-2 12/116/1 3-0 55/1

14/1 3-1 30/1

10/11 Chelsea 12/5 Draw Tottenham3/1Premier League, Kick-off 12.45pm, Live on Sky Sports

5/1 Stoke 11/4 Draw Man City 4/7Premier League, Kick-off 5.30pm, Live on ESPN

35

FOOTBALL TRADER BEN CLEMINSON WITH HIS BEST FOOTBALL BETS OF THE WEEKEND

Improving Chelsea canstake a claim for fourth

ANDRE Villas-Boas must be wondering what his former Chelsea players have beeneating for breakfast since he was sacked

earlier this month. The Blues have looked acompletely different side since Roberto diMatteo took over, winning four of fiveacross all competitions, and almost becom-ing the first team this season to leave theEtihad Stadium with some points on Wednesday night.

The Blues would have been lucky to havetaken all three against Manchester City, butthey are definitely playing with more confi-dence at the moment. They have a goodchance of progressing to the semi-finals of the Champions League and they are secondfavourites for the FA Cup. So, a season that was slipping away from them just a few weeks ago is suddenly coming good.

Tottenham looked absolute certainties tofinish third in early March, but the way things are going they could quite easily miss out on the Champions League. Yes,they have had a tough run of fixtures, butthey have taken just a point from their lastfour league games and only managed thatthanks to an injury time Rafael van der Vaart equaliser against Stoke in midweek.

Harry Redknapp needs a change of luck, but he couldn’t wish for a much more diffi-cult fixture than a trip to Stamford Bridge.Spurs have a reasonable record against theBlues at home, but they haven’t won in this

part of West London for 22 years and havelost five of the last six.

As I’ve mentioned before in the past few weeks, Spurs haven’t been playing badly –they just seem to have lost their cuttingedge. Redknapp will know that a positiveresult against Chelsea will act as a catalystfor the remainder of the season, but I think it’s going to be a real struggle for his side.

Chelsea need to bounce back from thedefeat at Man City, but back on home turf they should be very difficult to beat. Thehome win is a best price 10/11 with Coraland I’ll be taking that.

There has been fewer than two goals inonly one of the last 10 meetings between

these sides and I can see them both gettingon the scoresheet. Neither team are partic-ularly solid at the back and the 2-1 home win is decent value at 15/2 with Coral.Sporting Index have pitched goals at 2.8-3and that looks about right.

Coral are also refunding losing bets onfirst/last goalscorer, correct score and score-casts if three or more goals are scored inthe first hour, which wouldn’t be the biggest shock.

TOMORROW – 12.45PM SKY SPORTS 2

TOTTENHAM

CHELSEA

POINTERS...

Chelsea at EVS with CoralChelsea to win 2-1 at 8/1 on Betfair

THERE are always some huge moments inPremier League title races – Ryan Giggs’slate winner at Norwich last month wasone, but perhaps even more important was

Samir Nasri’s winning goal against Chelseaon Wednesday.In recent weeks Manchester City haven’t

looked as deadly as they did in the early stages of the season, but a moment of magic from Nasri and Carlos Tevez gaveCity the win they desperately needed. A

draw would have been disappointing, but adefeat, which was looking likely beforeSergio Aguero’s penalty, would have been acomplete disaster and would have effective-ly ended their title aspirations.

Things are looking rosier now forRoberto Mancini, although he will makesure his players don’t get complacent withanother huge game at Stoke tomorrow evening. City are yet to win at the BritanniaStadium in three league games since thePotters were promoted in 2008/09 and now would be a very good time for them to pick

up their first win in Staffordshire. There aren’t many tougher places to visitthan the Britannia and Tony Pulis alwayshas his team very well-organised. They seem to raise their game against the betteropponents and it will be a very tough 90minutes for City’s ‘galacticos’.

Stoke were unlucky not to take all threepoints at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night, but they will be relishing anothermatch in front of their passionate fans. That said, this is a must win game for City and I just fancy them to shade it with thequality in their squad.

City can be backed at 4/6 on Betfair which isn’t a bad price, although my main bet will be the 1-0 correct scoreline ataround 6/1. There have been just five goalsin the three league games between thesetwo at the Britannia, so it’s also worth sell-

ing total goals at 2.5 with Sporting Index.

TOMORROW – 5.30PM ESPN

MANCHESTER CITY

STOKE

POINTERS...

Manchester City at 4/6 on BetfairManchester City to win 1-0 at 6/1 generalSell total goals at 2.5 with Sporting Index

NOT many sides have impressed me morethan Swansea this season and managerBrendan Rodgers should be congratulatedfor sticking with his philosophy of playingdecent, free-flowing football. The Swans have

been a breath of fresh air and their homerecord is outstanding, losing just twice at the

Liberty Stadium and beating both Arsenaland ManchesterCity.

Their away form hasn’t been too shabby inrecent weeks, either, when they have wonthree of their last four on the road. This isgoing to be a real test for Everton who havestuttered in the past couple of weeks.

David Moyes’s side beat Spurs a few weeksago, but since then they have lost againstLiverpool and Arsenal in the Premier Leagueand drawn against Sunderland in the quar-ter-final of the FA Cup. The replay takes placeon Tuesday night and I just think Moyes will be focusing more on that than tomorrow’s

game. The Toffees would love to win a trophy this

season and a mid-table position is the bestthey can really hope for in the league.Swansea, on the other hand, want to end theseason as high as possible and they look agood bet at 5/4 with Paddy Power.

There have only been 29 goals in theSwans’ 14 home matches this season and Ican see another low scoring contest tomor-row. Back the 1-0 home win at 7/1 on Betfairand sell total goals at 2.3 with Sporting Index.

TOMORROW – 3.00PM

EVERTON

SWANSEA

POINTERS...

Swansea at 5/4 with Paddy Power

Swansea to win 1-0 at 7/1 on BetfairSell total goals at 2.3 with Sporting Index

Can Fernando Torres get on the scoresheet for a second consecutive weekend? Picture: GETTY

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


CITYA.M. 23 MARCH 2012CITYA.M. 14 OCTOBER 2011Punter | Sport36 CITYA.M. 23 MARCH 2012

SPORT TRADER OLLIE DREW AND BILL ESDAILE WITH THEWEEKEND’S BEST CRICKET AND RACING BETS

In-form Cook to lead

England to a seriesvictory in Sri LankaA

LACK of preparation was to blame for England’s recentsorry 3-0 Test series defeat atthe hands of Pakistan and

ironically, it’s the lack of preparation by their opponents which may help Andrew Strauss’s men land the twomatch Test series against Sri Lanka which begins on Monday.

The hosts will line-up in Galle next week on the back of more than 20straight one-day matches in a 10-

week period stretching back to theirlast Test match action in South Africa, just a few days into 2012. Thechosen starting XI will walk straightinto Monday’s game without a warm-up match and will face a well-pre-pared England team full of confidence after recording twostraight wins against a Sri LankanBoard XI and a Development XI.

The Sri Lankans will also take tothe field fairly demoralised after a

terrible showing in the Asia Cup. They lost all three games whichincluded an embarrassing five wick-et defeat at the hands of Bangladesh.

England won the ODI seriesagainst Pakistan 4-0 and then wenton to record a 2-1 T20 series winagainst the same opponents. Notonly would those victories haverestored a strong team confidence, italso allowed some out-of-sorts bats-men like Kevin Pietersen to knock

themselves back into form.England can be backed at 11/8 with

Coral to win the series and thatseems like fair value. In fact, I cer-tainly wouldn’t put anyone off back-ing the 2-0 series whitewash at 11/2as an English victory in the openingmatch would see the hosts’ confi-dence hit rock-bottom.

A back-to-form Pietersen will obvi-ously have plenty of supporters inthe top England series batsman mar-

ket at 4/1 (just 3/1 with Coral),although I prefer the chancesof Alastair Cook at the freely available 11/4. Cook has beenin great nick recently and followed ascintillating ODI series againstPakistan with a cheeky 163 not out inthe first of England’s two warm-upgames.

The key to the 27-year-old left-han-der’s success abroad is his ability toretain his concentration levels and

bat for long-periods of time inunbearable heat.

His colleagues in the national sidehave already nicknamed him the‘freak’ because he doesn’t sweat intortuous conditions. Apparently, herarely needs to change his gloves andhis forehead is always dry after stren-uous warm-up runs. If he continuesin the same vein of form, it’s hard toenvisage anyone else topping thescoring charts.

As for top English bowler, almost

everyone expects the spinners tocome out on top and it’s perfectly understandable that Swann (just 11/8 with Coral) and Panesar (generally 5/2) head the lists. If you forced me to back one of the pair, I’d probably side with Monty as there isn’t much between the two and he’s arguably in better form.

However, I cannot resist having afew quid on James Anderson at 9/2 asthat simply looks a massive price.

England’s seam attack performed

well enough on extremely unhelpfulpitches in Dubai and 9/2 is too big fora fresh Anderson who remains one of the world’s best new-ball bowlers.

POINTERS...

England to win the series at 11/8 with CoralAlastair Cook to be England’s top series batsmanat 11/4 with CoralJames Anderson to be England’s top seriesbowler at 9/2 with Blue Square

TOMORROW’S Blue Square

Winter Derby (3.25pm) atLingfield Park is the richestrace of the all-weather season

and Chris Wall’s Premio Loco is the7/2 favourite with Coral. He is thehighest rated in the field, but hehas to carry a 5lb penalty and has yet to win over 1m2f.

In fairness to the eight-year-old,he was only beaten a nose by Richard Hannon’s Scintillo in thisrace in 2009, but he can’t be improv-ing at his age and I’m happy to takehim on. Hannon’s CAI SHEN has been a major market mover this week and that is a big enough hintfor me to suggest backing him at

5/1 with Coral. The four-year-old is yet to race on

the all-weather, but he works on itat home and he has some really solid form from last year. This racehas clearly been the plan andalthough his draw in stall 13 is farfrom ideal, Jamie Spencer is theideal pilot to execute a perfectly timed hold-up ride. It doesn’t look the strongest of renewals and I’d be very surprised if Cai Shen didn’t fin-ish in the first three.

Junoob has shown incredibleimprovement over the past few months, but this is a big step up, while I’m not sure if Circumvent,Riggins or Myplacelater are quite

good enough. However, don’t ruleout William Haggas’ Sooraah, whohas the assistance of Ryan Mooreand won a decent handicap atMeydan last month.

It could be a good day for theHannon stable as GUSTO must sure-ly go very close in the 2.25pm. Hefinished last season with a bangand I expect him to see off Bannock,Gatepost and stablemate CrownDependency.

The Hever Sprint Stakes (2.55pm)is a top quality Listed sprint and it would be great if the old boy Borderlescott could start his season with a bang. However, he may needa couple of runs to blow the cob-

webs away and the two I like areNoble Storm and MEDICEAN MAN.Both go well fresh, but the latterhas winning form on Polytrack andPaul Hanagan is an eye-catching booking.

GEORGE GURU has been mightily consistent this winter and he wasreally unlucky behind Forceful Appeal over course and distanceearlier this month. He came with alate rattle that day and hopefully he will get a stronger pace to aim at inthe 4.00pm.

The jumps action takes a back seat now until Aintree, but thereare a couple of decent races atNewbury tomorrow afternoon. IKO-

RODU ROAD held on grimly to beatGrand National fancy Junior in theGrimthorpe Chase at Doncaster lasttime and he tends to run his bestraces on flat tracks. Charlie Poste was in the saddle that day and theduo are fancied to notch up another win in the Ultima BusinesSolutions Handicap Chase (3.40pm).

You can follow me on Twitter@BillEsdaile.

POINTERS...

GUSTO 2.25pm Lingfield (tomorrow)MEDICEAN MAN e/w 2.55pm Lingfield (tomorrow)CAI SHEN 3.25pm Lingfield (tomorrow)IKORODU ROAD 3.40pm Newbury (tomorrow)GEORGE GURU 4.00pm Lingfield (tomorrow)

Cai Shen can give the Hannons another Winter Derby success

Cook scored 163 not out in the first of England’s warm-up matches Picture: GETTY

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


Sport 37CITYA.M. 23 MARCH 2012

Results

email [email protected]

SPORT | IN BRIEF

Rock’s Masters dream in ruinsGOLF: Englishman Robert Rock’s Mastersdream is in tatters after a septuple bogey atthe Hassan Trophy in Morocco. Rock needsto finish in the top two to qualify for nextmonth’s first Major of the year, but a cata-strophic 11 at the par four fourth left him 12shots off leader Damien McGrane of Ireland.

Harrison comeback bout scrappedBOXING: Scottish former WBO world feath-erweight champion Scott Harrison’s come-back has been scrapped after his arrest onsuspicion of shoplifting. Harrison, 34, hadbeen due to fight for the first time in almost

seven years next week on a Blackpool billarranged by Frank Maloney, but the promot-er said he had cut all ties with the troubledCambuslang fighter.

Pakistan eke out Asia Cup triumphCRICKET: Bangladesh came within awhisker of their first major trophy at the

Asia Cup but were beaten by just two runsin the final against Pakistan. Fast-bowlerShahadat Hossain needed four off the lastball to hand the hosts an unlikely victory butearned only a leg-bye. Wicketkeeper SarfrazAhmed’s final-over 19 proved decisive asPakistan made 236-9.

Exiles eye final flourishas season nears climax

BRITAIN’S Lewis Hamilton insistshe will not hide his disappoint-ment if he fails to live up to hislofty expectations at this week-end’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

Hamilton cut a disgruntled fig-ure on the podium in Australia last week after squandering pole posi-tion and finishing third, whileteam-mate Jenson Button won.

“I was disappointed and I don’tfeel I should have to disguise that,”

said the McLaren driver, reflectingon the opening race of the 2012season.

“It’s just that I worked massively hard over the winter, harder thanI’ve ever worked, and the result of the race didn’t go the way I wantedit to. But I’m only looking forwards.It’s only one race and I still got 15points. It’s very early days – anoth-er 19 races to go.”

McLaren outshone champions

Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel inMelbourne and are tipped to excel

again in Sepang, a track similar toBarcelona, where they performed well in pre-season testing.

But Button has warned heexpects their biggest rivals, whichalso include Mercedes and Lotus, would improve on their perform-ances Down Under.

“We’ll be competitive, but you’llsee other teams up there as well,”said the Englishman.

“When Red Bull get their act

together – and a few others –they’ll be very competitive.”

FORMULA ONE▲

I’ll carry on sulking, says Hamilton,as McLaren target consecutive wins

Ojo admits the Exiles’ season has flagged Picture: GETTY

London Irish starTopsy Ojo wants fivefrom five, startingagainst Leicester

Q.WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIMEYOU PLAYED LEICESTER IN THE

AVIVA PREMIERSHIP?

A. We drew 24-24, scoring a charge-down kick late in the game. I

went off injured, so that wasn’tgreat. We started well, Leicester came back but we picked up a bit moreand got a draw, so we were pretty happy. It’s a tough place to go andour record there is terrible so it’s def-initely a step in the right direction.

Q.WHAT TYPE OF GAME CANSUPPORTERS EXPECT TO SEE?

A. We’ll try to move the ball when we can, attack when we can and

defend aggressively. Those are thehallmarks we have tried to set outfor this club and, having hadsome time to recharge our bat-teries, it’s what we’ll be lookingto do against Leicester.

Q.WHAT DO YOU PERCEIVE TOBE THEIR MAIN THREATS?

A.Leicester are a powerful side; youhave to stop their scrum and

lineout. A lot of momentum comesfrom their forward power, but they have dangerous runners out widetoo. They have an international squadso we know it’ll be tough. But wehave too; it’s up to us to match them.

Q.WHICH INDIVIDUAL MATCH UPARE YOU MOST LOOKING FOR-

WARD TO SEEING?

A.Off the back of the Six Nations,especially, it will be good to see

Alex Corbisiero up against Dan Cole.Facing each other first game back,especially after the Ireland game, it will be one to look out for.

Q.HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP YOURSEASON SINCE THAT MEETING?

A. The season hasn’t gone as we would have liked since then. We

Q A&had ambitions to kick on andcement a top half, or top-four,spot. It hasn’t quite worked outthat way but we still have fivegames. If we win them the pic-ture suddenly looks a lot brighter.

Q.WHICH ACADEMY PLAYERCAN WE EXPECT TO SEE BIG

THINGS FROM IN THE FUTURE?

A. Anthony Watson has hadsome rave reviews coming

back from the Under-20s and intraining he definitely looks like aprospect. He’ll come on full-timenext season I think, so it will beinteresting to see how quickly hedevelops, but he’s got the talent.

Q.WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR HIGH-LIGHT OF THE SEASON?

A. The big result we have had was the win away at Racing-

Metro. It’s never easy travellingaway in the Heineken Cup, so togo to Metro and get the result wedid is great. French teams arerenowned for their home form,and their intimidation of opposi-tion. The first half was a struggle but we turned it around and blitzed them in the second half.

Q.WHO HAS BEEN THE UNSUNGHERO OF YOUR SEASON?

A. I’d probably say JonathanSpratt. Centre is a tough posi-

tion, with Jonathan Joseph,Shontayne Hape and Joe Ansbro,so there is international talentthere, but he’s been quality every time he’s played. He’s a goodsolid player who probably doesn’tget the plaudits he deserves.

London Irish play Leicester on Sundayin their St Patrick’s Day game. To buy aticket see www.london-irish.com

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


Sport38

CHELSEA have been handed a fillipfollowing their first defeat in fivegames, with captain John Terry set toreturn to the side for tomorrow’s piv-otal London derby against Tottenham.

Terry missed Wednesday’s 2-1 lossat Manchester City with a calf prob-lem but successfully came through atraining session yesterday and lookspoised to be recalled against falteringSpurs.

The fixture has huge implicationsfor Chelsea’s hopes of salvagingChampions League qualification froma season of extreme turbulence onand off the field, even by their singu-lar standards.

Defeat would leave the Blues eightpoints behind Tottenham with justeight Premier League games remain-ing – a huge gap to make up while still juggling European and FA Cup com-mitments.

It would also drain further belief from a team that had looked revi-talised since the sacking of manager Andre Villas-Boas and the appoint-ment of Roberto di Matteo as caretak-er boss – until the City match.

Victory, however, would slashfourth-placed Tottenham’s advantageto just two points and, in inflicting a

fourth defeat in five matches, deliver acolossal blow to the north Londoners’ wavering spirits.

Spurs have already seen a 13-pointlead over arch-rivals Arsenal chippedaway since January, with Wednesday’sresults seeing the Gunners overtakeHarry Redknapp’s men for the firsttime this season.

Redknapp remains confident of re-establishing his team’s advantage over Arsene Wenger’s in-form outfit, butdefeat at Stamford Bridge wouldnudge them closer to being usurped by another capital foe.

While Terry appears likely to returnand reclaim the armband, fellow defender Branislav Ivanovic remains aslight doubt with a thigh injury suf-fered in the defeat at City.

Tottenham, meanwhile, haveagreed to play David Beckham’s LA Galaxy and Thierry Henry’s New York

Red Bulls during a pre-season tour tothe United States in July.

Terry set toreturn for

Tottenhamshowdown

BY FRANK DALLERES

FOOTBALL▲

Terry missed Wednesday’s defeat at Citybut trained yesterday Picture: GETTY

ENGLAND wicketkeeper Matt Prior isconsidering playing without pads inthe upcoming Test series against SriLanka after a successful experimentin yesterday’s second tour match.

Prior, who top-scored with a speedy 84 as the tourists successfully chased359 to beat a Sri Lankan DevelopmentXI by four wickets yesterday, went bare-legged behind the stumps in anattempt to combat stifling heat.

With humidity nudging 80 percent in Colombo, Prior (right) was so

happy with the improvement that heis ready to discard his pads or settle

for lightweight shin-guards only when the first Test starts on Monday.

“It’s pretty warm here and every lit-tle helps. These are extreme condi-tions, with the heat and humidity, so when you’re trying to keep your ener-gy up and run around I found itmade a difference,” he said.

“It’s not something I’d ruleout in England or anywhereelse in the world. The game ismoving and it’s changing.

“It would be silly just tothink: ‘keepers havealways worn pads’. Youhave to adapt.

“You don’t need agreat deal of protec-

tion. I don’t think there’sany law on keepers wear-ing pads.”

England’s batsmenrevelled in the chancefor some final practice before the two-Testseries, once the hostshad declared on 199-4

at lunch, with Priorone of four to scorehalf-centuries.

A l l - r o u n d e rSamit Patel plun-dered 72, RaviBopara, who suf-

fered a sidestrain, hit 66 and

Kevin Pietersen 52 off as many balls, but there was no respite for out-of-sorts Ian Bell, who fell for just 11.

Bell was bumped up the order toopener in an attempt to cure amalaise which saw him dismissed fora two-ball duck in Saturday’s firsttour match and manage no higherthan 29 in six innings againstPakistan earlier this year.

His form remains a worry, whileEngland chiefs said Bopara wasunlikely to bowl in either Test follow-ing his injury.

Spinner Graeme Swann wrappedup victory in emphatic fashion, with

three successive boundaries in a 12- ball knock of 31 not out.

Adidas angstat ChambersTeam GB roleExclusive: Sportswear giant “not favourabletowards doping – present, past or future”

TEAM GB kit provider Adidas has

revealed unease at the growingprospect of former drug cheatsprinter Dwain Chambers repre-senting the nation at the London2012 Olympics.

Chambers (inset), who served atwo-year ban for taking the steroid THG, is likely to be selected if, asexpected, a landmark legal rulingquashes the British Olympic Association’s lifetime ban on dop-ers next month.

Despite notoriety, he remainsone of the country’s mostrecognisable track starsand, should he com-pete, would be broad-cast globally in kitmade by Adidas, who cut ties withhim following his ban in 2004.

“We are very clearly not favourabletowards any type of doping – present, past orfuture,” Gil Steyaert, manag-ing director of Adidas GroupMarket North, told City A.M.

“It’s not for me to put the rulesin place. Different countries havedifferent regulations, but very clearly we don’t support doping inthat sense and we don’t push any athlete in that sense.

“It’s not our decision if he’sselected or not; that is for the BOA. We have no contract with DwainChambers. He has received kit in

the past. If he’s part of the team,it’s the decision of the BOA, andhe’ll be supported in the same way as everybody else.”

Steyaert was speaking at thelaunch of the new Team GB kit, which the sportswear giant hopes will help it achieve £100m net salesrevenue from the Games.

Income from official merchan-dise is only half of its target, how-ever; as Tier One sponsors it hasexclusive rights to make allLondon 2012 clothing and acces-sories, which will be unbranded but hugely lucrative.

In order to achieve its goal, Adidas has increased its invest-

ment in the market “threeor four-fold” and secured

temporary warehousespace to cope withextra demand, but isalso at the mercy of Team GB’s perform-ances.

Steyaert added:“We’ve made the best

ever kit and momentum behind the team; if they

perform to expectations it will be a firework.”

Team GB football kit will be “acollectors’ item” he said, compar-ing its appeal to that of the Britishand Irish Lions rugby team, butsaid he had no indication whether Adidas-backed David Beckham would make the final squad.

“We would be very happy if David Beckham is part of thatteam,” Steyaert said. “I think every-one in the country would be.”

BY FRANK DALLERES

OLYMPICS▲

Idowu (left) modeled thekit yesterday with other Team GB stars (top)

Picture: GETTY

BY FRANK DALLERES

CRICKET▲

Bare-legged wicketkeeper hits 84 as England prepare for Test with tour match winPrior bins pads to cool down in warm-up

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


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ENGLISH football’s top doctor saysplayers could be screened for heartirregularities more frequently follow-ing Bolton midfielder FabriceMuamba’s on-field cardiac arrest.

Dr Ian Beasley, the Football Association’s head of medical servic-es, warned fresh funds would have to be raised if checks were to increase.

But he suggested the governmentcould pick up the tab, if it could be

shown the tests were worthwhile for

the wider population as well.“There is some feeling in footballthat players should be screened more. That is something we would have to work out how to fund,” he said.

“Whether that is from the PremierLeague or from a national institution,is something to be decided later on.

“If it was decided by governmentthat screening in young people was beneficial and saved enough livesthen the government should think

about funding it.”

Muamba was last night still recov-ering at the London Chest Hospital, where he has regained consciousnessand is slowly improving. The 23-year-old’s heart stopped during Saturday’sFA Cup tie at Tottenham, and wasonly revived 80 minutes later whenhe arrived at hospital.

Bolton will play their first matchsince the incident tomorrow whenthey host fellow relegation candi-dates Blackburn.

FOOTBALL▲

Muamba case may mean more checks

ENGLAND hooker Dylan Hartley’sanxious wait to discover whether hefaces a lengthy ban over allegations of biting will draw closer to conclusionon Tuesday.

That is when the Northamptonfront row will appear before an inde-pendent Six Nations disciplinary committee, who will decide whetherto ban him for up to four years.

Hartley was cited after England’s30-9 win over Ireland on Saturday, in which it was claimed he bit flankerStephen Ferris on the finger.

A guilty verdict would likely ruleHartley out of the three-Test tour of

South Africa in June. A lenient sen-tence could be as short as 12 weeks, while an offence of moderate severity carries an 18-week sanction.

Serious cases can attract bansexceeding 24 weeks and, while four years is the maximum, it is only usedin extreme cases.

England head coach StuartLancaster may be made to wait forthree weeks before the Rugby Football Union decides whether tohand him the job permanently.

Lancaster, who faces competitionfrom Nick Mallett, was interviewed yesterday and sources told City A.M.

that the RFU was determined not to be rushed into a decision.

RUGBY UNION▲

England hooker’s bitinghearing set for Tuesday

Team GB athletes divided over StellaMcCartney-designed London 2012 kit

THE Stella McCartney-designed TeamGB kit for London 2012 has receivedmixed reviews from the men andwomen who are going to wear it thissummer.

Cyclist Bradley Wiggins declaredhimself unimpressed with the range,writing on Twitter: “Oh dear, theOlympic kit!!”.

Hurdler Andy Turner was lukewarm,the Nike-sponsored athlete also takingissue with the branding of rival manu-facturers Adidas.

He tweeted: “So what do u all thinkof the new Olympic kit? I’m undecided,looks....ok. (Should have a swooshrather than stripes too).”

He added: “I love how all Adidas

athletes are being diplomatic aboutthe kit ‘erm yeah I really like it, it’samazing’.”

Triple-jumper Phillips Idowu, knownfor his flamboyant style, struck a morepositive note, saying: “I love whatStella has done with the design.”

Idowu was one of 30 Team GB ath-letes who modelled the kit at a spec-tacular launch in the grounds of theTower of London yesterday.

It features a bold, blue-only decon-struction of the Union Jack, with onlyscant red on the trim.

Adidas believes its innovations willgive Team GB athletes an edge, withswimsuits said to be 35 per centlighter than their competitors’.

“THE SEASON HASN’T GONE ASWE WOULD HAVE LIKED”LONDON IRISH’S TOPSY OJO PREVIEWSWEEKEND LEICESTER CLASH: PAGE 37

8/2/2019 Cityam 2012-03-23


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