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Marius Kloppers (left) is the latest to go after the planned exit of Glencores Mick Davis

Rio Tintos Tom Albanese and Anglo Americans Cynthia Carroll a re also departing

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CITY banks yesterday refused to pub-licly attack EU plans to limit theirbonus payments for fear sparking abacklash, despite the intervention ofMayor of London Boris Johnson.

Leading banks and industryorganisations contacted byCity A.M.put up a wall of silence, even thoughmany privately expressed concernsthat limiting bonus levels at doubleannual pay will damage Londonsstatus as a global financial centre.

The Treasury is understood to haveinstructed some trade organisationsto remain quiet and avoid attractingadverse publicity while the issue isdebated in Brussels.

On Monday, Mayor of London BorisJohnson told City A.M. that we dontneed Europe butting in on the issuebut no other politician has beenwilling to make a public stand forLondons financial sector.

The CBIs Katja Hall expressedconcern that regulating bankerswages could be the thin end of thewedge. She fears Europe would betempted to expand this legislation toapply to businesses more generally,damaging investor confidence andeconomic growth.

Dr Roger Barker of the Institute ofDirectors said there was some needfor pay restraint but the EUsapproach to remuneration policy isexcessively rigid and prescriptive.This is a clear example of regulatorypolicy that would be better designedand implemented at national ratherthan EU level, he added.

MEPs are also considering makingthe EUs biggest firms report f inanceson a country-by-country basis.Lawmakers want this to be added to

new banking regulations, seizing themoment to add to the burden onlenders. Banks do not currently breakdown their finances in such detail.

BY JAMES WATERSON

BY JAMES TITCOMB

THE MINING industry was shakenby its latest change at the top lastnight, as BHP Billiton chiefexecutive Marius Kloppersannounced his retirement.

The departure, the latest in astring of shake-ups among theFTSE 100s mining giants, will seeAndrew Mackenzie, who joinedfrom rival Rio Tinto five years ago,take the helm at the Anglo-Australian company, which is theworlds largest miner.

It follows the exits of AngloAmerican boss Cynthia Carroll andRio Tintos chief executive TomAlbanese. Xstratas Mick Davis isalso due to step down six monthsafter the companys mega-mergerwith Glencore is completed.

Kloppers departure means thatthe FTSE 100s four biggest miningcompanies have all announcedthat their chief executives areleaving in the last six months.

Last nights announcementcame as BHP posted a 43 per centdrop in half-year profits to $5.68bn(3.68bn), as falling metals pricestook their toll.

Mackenzie, who will takecontrol on 10 May, is currently

head of BHPs non-ferrous metalsdivision. The 56-year-old Scot waspoached from Rio Tinto in 2008,having previously spent 22 years at

BP.Mackenzie is understood to enjoya good working relationship withKloppers, whose departure is

believed to be his own decision.Ive been very fortunateto lead one of the worldsgreat resource

companies, the South African saidlast night. Deciding the righttime to retire was never going tobe easy. However after almosttwenty years with BHP Billiton, 12as a senior executive and nearly sixas CEO, I believe now is the righttime to pass the leadership baton.Kloppers had previously said thathe planned to serve around fiveyears as chief executive.

BHP blamed the profit fall thebiggest in more than a decade ona combination of lower prices, aweak dollar and inflation. Thecompany also took a $3bnwritedown on its aluminiumassets.

BHP chairman Jac Nasser praisedthe outgoing boss last night,saying: He leaves BHP Billiton asafer and stronger company.

Despite an exceptionallydifficult economic

environment duringhis tenure, Mariusand his team havedelivered forshareholders,Nasser added.

THE IODS SIMON WALKER ON WHY NUCLEAR AND SHALE CAN SAVE THE DAYUK ENERGY CRISIS

8 8

8 8

Banks refuseto speak outin bonus rowCLEAN SWEEP AS

MINE BOSS QUITSBHP Billitons Kloppers is fourth industry giant to go in six months

Andrew Mackenzie

has been at BHPBilliton

since2008

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[email protected]

Follow me on Twitter: @allisterheath

Our pensions timebombis the worst in the worldUK WORKERS are worryingly under-prepared for retirement, data outthis morning has revealed, withmany predicted to run out of savings

just seven years after leaving work.The UK came at the top of a table of

the worlds worst savers, with theaverage Briton facing a financialshortfall of 63 per cent over the 19

years they are expected to live afterretiring.The report by HSBC ranked UK

savers behind France, the US, Egypt,China and Mexico.The global average is a shortfall of

44 per cent, with just 10 years out ofan expected 18 years of retirementcovered by current provisions a fig-ure that is expected to worsen as lifeexpectancy continues to rise in devel-oped and developing economies.

This is yet another wake-up callfor people to start thinking about

where their later life income is com-ing from, pensions campaigner Ros

Altmann told City A.M. There is nomoney tree for retirees.According to HSBC, nearly one in

five people working in the UK todaysaves nothing at all, while 56 percent are not preparing well enough.

Fifty-seven per cent of UK workerssaid they would prioritise going onholiday over saving for retirement,compared to two-fifths worldwide.

Big Anglo-French buyout plannedA British-based private equity consortiumis preparing a 3.5bn bid for Frenchcatering company Elior in what would bethe biggest buyout in continental Europesince Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008.CVC Capital Partners and BC Partnershave teamed up to launch a buyout ofElior, underlining how confidence isreturning to Europes private equitysector. Their bid would be for the whole ofElior, not just the 2bn catering unit itsprivate equity owner Charterhouse hadinitially planned to offload.

Esure speeds up stock market launchEsure has appointed the brokers Numisand Canaccord as the motor insureraccelerates plans for a stock marketlaunch. The group is considering filing anintention to float within days, the latestsign of a revival in Londons IPO market.

Warner Music in deal with indiesWarner Music has struck a deal with twogroups representing independent recordlabels to secure their support as it seeksregulatory backing for its 487m deal forEMI labels such as Parlophone, home toColdplay and Pink Floyd.

FBI investigates Heinz dealThe Federal Bureau of Investigation hasopened a criminal inquiry into allegedinsider trading before Warren Buffettlaunched his $28 billion takeover bid forH.J. Heinz.

Not enough tenants for Heron TowerGerald Ronson and an Arab consortiumthat backed the development of theHeron Tower in the Square Mile may haveto inject tens of millions of pounds offresh equity with lettings disappointing.

Cameron embarrassed over briberyDavid Cameron has suffered anembarrassing public intervention fromIndia over a bribery scandal involvingFinmeccanica, an Italian defence firm withmajor British interests.

Bullying blamed for horse meat crisisCattle producer body The National BeefAssociations has pinned the blame for thehorse meat crisis on supermarkets andaccused them of short-sighted, price-led,purchasing tactics.

Parties trade blame for looming cutsWith less than two weeks to go before thelatest fiscal face-off, members of bothAmerican political parties yesterdayexchanged fire in a bid to shape publicopinion about it.

Apple attacked by hackersApple said some employee computerswere infiltrated by hackers, adding to thewave of companies recently reportingcyber attacks, although customer datawas not compromised.

ENERGY groups yesterday calledfor more technological investmentto solve the UKs looming crisisafter warnings from regulators afuture squeeze on production willcause price hikes for consumers.

The chief executive of energywatchdog Ofgem, AlistairBuchanan, yesterday warned a fallin the UKs power production overthe next few years would lead tomore energy imports and risingprices.

The UK is slowly closing its coal-fired power plants and turning to

gas, but this is coming at the sametime as a squeeze on international

gas supplies.The chief executive of trade

body Energy UK Angela Knightsaid: It is essential that theauthorities pay close attention tothe transition such as assessing

what capacity is needed and whatheadroom is required.

Simon Harrison, a chair at theInstitution of Engineering andTechnology, said: A stable policyregime and confidence arounddecarbonisation targets isrequired to bring [...] investmentforward.

Senior Conservative MP Tim Yeoyesterday said the last Labourgovernment was to blame forneglecting energy policy.

UK trade bodies

call for solutionto energy crisis

Ros Altmann, pensions campaigner, warned that there is no money tree for retirees

2 NEWS

BY MICHAEL BOW

MARKETS hit their highest levelsfor five years yesterday, asoptimism on further big M&Adeals and bullish Germansentiment ignited confidence.

The Dow Jones index rose to14,035.67, the highest level seenfor more than five years, while theFTSE 100 reached its highest levelsince the financial crisis struck,reaching 6,379.

The pound was driven down,however, hitting its lowest valueagainst the dollar since last July.

Markets reach

five-year highsBY JAMES TITCOMB

SPANISH real estate companyReyal Urbis filed for insolvency

yesterday after failing torenegotiate debt with its creditors,the latest victim of Spain'sproperty market crash.

The move takes the propertydeveloper closer to becomingSpain's second-largest bankruptcyafter Martinsa Fadesa, whichdefaulted in 2008. Dozens ofproperty companies havecollapsed in Spain, where houseprices have dropped 40 per centsince their 2007 peak.

Spanish buildergoes bankrupt

BY CITY A.M. REPORTER

BY BEN SOUTHWOOD

To contact the newsdesk email [email protected]

So what, exactly, could thechancellor do to boost growth?He is, of course, hamstrung bytwo conflicting realities: the fact

that the budget deficit remains huge,and may even increase this year, as

well as by the realities of coalitionpolitics. But unless he changes

course, and is willing to take a majorrisk, proper rates of growth areunlikely to return in the near future,

which guarantees that the Tory party,already behind in the polls and facingan unreformed electoral system

biased in favour of the Labour party,will face catastrophe at the 2015general election.

For a given level of total demand,companies and individuals will investmore or less depending on theirreturn to capital. There is a straight-forward way of boosting this: slashcorporation tax and axe capital gains

EDITORSLETTER

ALLISTER HEATH

Time to take drastic action to reboot Britains feeble economy

WEDNESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2013

tax entirely. While this sounds dras-tic, this would immediately up thereturns on capital from all UK invest-ments; at a stroke, it would becomesignificantly more profitable forfirms to invest and operate in Britain.

There is a catch, however: in the shortterm at least, this would increase the

budget deficit. Unfortunately, there isno alternative: our rocketing nationaldebt is reaching the sorts of levels

where any chance of growth will soonbe snuffed out; but without a drastic

improvement to incentives, compa-nies wont start investing.Regrettably, therefore, the deficit willneed to go up temporarily by up to 1.5per cent of GDP, though some of this

would need to be cancelled out byaccelerating Osbornes spending cuts.His deficit targets are toast anyway so

he might as well go for it.Before any changes in behaviour areaccounted for, slashing corporationtax to a symbolically low level of 11per cent, below Irelands 12.5 percent, would reduce tax revenues byaround 20bn a year; when takingaccount of increased investment and

jobs over time, the revenue loss wouldend up being significantly less.Repealing capital gains tax wouldreduce revenues by 4.6bn; that

would need to be accompanied bystricter rules to define what isincome, to prevent avoidance from

alternative to a compulsory livingwage. He should also make it clearthat he believes in across the boardincome tax cuts, albeit at a later date.

On top of these tax changes, weneed to allow energy firms to kick-start a shale gas revolution; planninglaws need to be torn up to allow a

mass privately-financed housebuild-ing programme, with homes forowner occupiers, private investors butalso for a new generation of profes-sional, corporate landlords. We alsoneed new roads and airports; the pri-

vate sector would build many of theseif it were allowed to do so. A lot moreneeds to be done; I havent eventouched on demand-side reforms. Butthat would be a great start to gettingthe economy moving again.

spiralling out of control. Countriessuch as New Zealand, which donthave a CGT, have managed this, sothere is no reason why we cant.These reforms would transform the

UK into the most competitive destina-tion for company locations of anydeveloped economy; it would elimi-

nate at a stroke much of the avoid-ance issues. The psychological impactwould be explosive: Britain would betruly open for business. Every busi-ness leader in the world would standup and take notice.The chancellor should also

announce that he will, over time,increase the personal allowancemuch more significantly. Nobody

who earns the minimum wageshould pay national insurance orincome tax. This will take years toachieve but would boost incentivesfor the low paid and be a job-friendly

Despite this lax attitude to saving,people in the UK think they need aretirement income of around 73 percent of their current earnings to enjoya comfortable standard of living.

The UK needs to do more to face upto saving for its old age, warnedNational Association of Pension Fundschief Joanne Segars. For millions ofpeople that will mean working longeror saving more, or both.

But Segars said that the report didnot directly include workplace pen-sions, which pay an income untildeath and so could go some way toovercoming the 12-year savings short-

fall highlighted by HSBC.She also said the governments

recent auto-enrolment scheme couldhelp ease the severity of the shortfall

by nudging people to save more.Meanwhile Altmann, who recently

stepped down as Saga director-general,blamed the lack of financial planningon a pensions system that automati-cally disincentivises you from saving.Means-testing currently guaranteeseveryone gets at least 142.70 in statepension per week, though there is aprovision designed to boost saving. Butthis is set to end in 2017 with the onsetof the universal state pension.THE FORUM: Page 20

MARKET REPORTS: Page 18

WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING

Find your next step at CITYAMCAREERS.com

Retirementshortfall (%)

Retirementshortfall (years)

WORLD'S WORST SAVERS

Global 8/18 44%

1: UK 12/19 63%

2: Egypt 6/11 55%

3: France 10/19 53%

4:China 10/20 50%

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BUMI yesterday inched closertowards defeating Nat Rothschild atthe long-awaited boardroom battletomorrow, as institutional share-holder Standard Life Investmentsspoke out in favour of the board.

Standard Life Investments, whichowns 2.17 per cent of the share capi-tal of Bumi, said it would voteagainst co-founder Rothschilds

board proposals at the meeting.He has proposed removing 12 out

of the 14 current directors.Head of equities and executive

director of Standard Life Investments

David Cumming said that therestructured Bumi board has the

best prospects of exiting the Bakrierelationship and maximising longterm value for the remaining share-holders.

However, Cumming said there werecaveats with the support. We havemade clear to Bumi the importance

we attach to the successful restruc-turing of its board and the strength-ening of its executive team, he said

yesterday.

Investor backsBumi as battle

reaches climaxBY CATHY ADAMS These are pre requisites for restor-

ing confidence and delivering thereturns shareholders expect.

Rothschild responded: We bothagree that this board and the existingmanagement team needs to berestructured.Almost all institutional sharehold-

ers have now spoken out in supportof either Rothschild or Bumi in therun-up to tomorrows meeting, withthe exception of Abu DhabiInvestment Council, which hasaround a four per cent stake.

Earlier this week, Indonesian share-holder Rosan Roeslani sold off his 13per cent voting stake in the miner.

Bumi PLC

19 Feb13 Feb 14 Feb 15 Feb 18 Feb

440

400

420

380

460 p

396.0019 Feb

HUNDREDS of millions of pounds

in unpaid back taxes will berecouped next year under a newagreement with the Isle of Man,the Treasury announced yesterday.

A disclosure facilit y aims toclaim taxes on undeclaredincomes back to 1999, while anautomatic tax informationexchange agreement shouldprevent similar tax evasionoccurring in the future.

Individuals will have from Apriluntil 2016 to declare the tax theyowe and pay a discounted penalty.

The government is committedto tackling tax evasion and thisagreement will greatly enhanceHM Revenue and Customs abilityto clamp down on those who tryto hide their money offshore,said chancellor George Osborne

yesterday.I welcome the progress made

with the Isle of Man and lookforward to working on this newstandard in the automaticexchange of tax information.

The measures follow si milaragreements with Switzerland andthe US, while talks are ongoingabout a deal with Jersey andGuernsey.

The government has alsopledged to focus on internationaltax transparency during the UKspresidency of the G8 this year.

Treasury in taxevasion dealwith the Manx

BY TIM WALLACE

WEDNESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 20133NEWScityam.com

BANK of America boss BrianMoynihan's pay increased 73 percent to $12.1m (7.8m) in 2012

from the previous year, as the bankgave him a bigger package of stockawards.

The second-largest US bank gaveMoynihan 926,238 shares of stockin three types of grants, includingrestricted shares and performance-

based shares, according to aregulatory filing last night.

Moynihan earned a $950,000salary in 2012, but received no cash

bonus, similar to 2011, a personfamiliar with the situation said. His

Bank of America pays its bossMoynihan $12.1m as shares rise

BY HARRY BANKS 2013 salary will increase to $1.5m,the person said.

The stock grants for 2012 wereworth $11.1m at the closing priceof $12.03 on Friday, the date they

were awarded. Moynihan receivedgrants worth about $6.1m for 2011.

Bank of Americas shares rose109 per cent in 2012, the bestperformance among stocks in theDow Jones Industrial Average, asinvestors grew confident it had thecapital it needed to meet new rules.

Moynihan, however, is stillwrestling with losses from BAMLs2008 purchase of CountrywideFinancial and is under pressure toshow the bank can grow earnings.

Brian Moynihan has held the top spot at global banking giant BAML for the past three years

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STATE-BACKED bank RBS isconsidering selling off a stake in the316 branches it is being forced tooffload, ahead of a larger sharelisting or sale, it emerged yesterday.

Such a move could drum upinvestor interest in the unit, dubbedProject Rainbow, by showing buyersare prepared to buy into the unit.

The branches were nearly sold toSantander but the deal fell throughlast year. The bank is not likely toannounce its plan soon as it is still

working through its options.

RBS considershybrid selloff

BY TIM WALLACE

CANADIAN life insurer Great-WestLifeco bought state-rescued insurerIrish Life for 1.3bn (1.13bn)

yesterday in a deal that increases itspresence in Ireland and lightens theIrish governments debts.

Ireland last year paid the sameamount to take over Irish Life,formerly the insurance arm of

bailed-out Irish Life & Permanent,after the Eurozone debt crisis forcedthe suspension of its sale in late2011. The sale, expected to close in

July, will help to push the Irishgovernments debt to just below 120per cent of GDP this year.

Irish Life soldto Canadians


TOP regulator Andrew Bailey was yes-terday named as head of the incom-ing Prudential Regulatory Authority(PRA) and deputy governor of theBank of England, posts which givehim major new powers over banks.

Bailey is currently head of the pru-dential business unit within theFinancial Services Authority (FSA) andused to be chief cashier at the Bank.The powers of the post mean Bailey

will face a grilling by MPs on theTreasury Select Committee ahead ofstarting the new role in April.The FSA is being split into the

Financial Conduct Authority and thePRA. The PRA is designed to promotestability in the financialsector, ensuring banksare allowed to failsafely rather thancausing widespreaddamage.

Bailey will monitorbanks capitalbuffers, andwhether theyare well run.

Bailey gets topjob in the new

bank watchdogBY TIM WALLACE Those powers mean he can set stan-

dards for banks and supervise howthey are run, looking to reduce risks intheir operations.The position also gives Bailey a seat

on the Financial Policy Committee,judging when bubbles are building infinancial markets and altering capitalrequirements to dampen any danger-ous movements.

I am very honoured to have beenchosen for this role and excited to seethe PRA taking shape, Bailey said.

There have been important andpainful lessons from the crisis and wemust ensure that the UK has a success-ful system of financial regulation

Treasury Select Committee chair-man Andrew Tyrie MP warned thatthe size of the task facing Mr Baileyshould not be underestimated.

His leadership will be instrumentalin shaping a much-needed culturalchange at the regulator, moving awayfrom the failed box-ticking exercises ofthe FSA towards more judgement-led

regulation, said Tyrie.

Andrew Bailey has worked toset up the new watchdog

LLOYDS was yesterday fined 4.3mfor failing to compensate 140,000payment protection insurance (PPI)

mis-selling victims promptly,adding to the 5bn already setaside to cover the scandal.

Thousands of those customershad to wait as long as six monthsfor compensation, when it shouldhave taken 28 days, the FinancialServices Authority (FSA) said.

The problems from May 2011 andMarch 2012 also saw 25,000 claimsdrop out of the process. They wereonly identified when customerscalled the bank to complain.

Lloyds fined for failing to makePPI redress payouts on time

BY TIM WALLACE Lloyds PPI redress systems fellwell below the standard the FSAexpects, and the size of this finereflects how seriously we viewthese breaches, said the FSAs

Tracey McDermott.Lloyds blamed the problems on

the huge volume of complaints.We acknowledge that this led

to some customers not beingcompensated on time and weapologise to those customers

whose payments were delayed,said a spokesperson for the bank.

The problems have since beenaddressed, with the bank addinginterest to all payouts at a rate ofeight per cent per year.

WEDNESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 20134 NEWS cityam.com

Chief Antonio Horta Osorio has seen the PPI compensation bill rise far higher than expected

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VODAFONE has appointed banks to

advise on its proposed acquisition ofGerman cable operator KabelDeutschland, with Goldman Sachsand UBS to work on the deal, sourcesclose to discussions have said.

The British telecoms giant isconsidering a takeover of theGerman firm, which wouldstrengthen its presence in one of itsbiggest markets.

Goldman and UBS have a historyof working with Vodafone. UBS ledVodafones 1bn takeover of Cable &Wireless Communications, andGoldman has long worked with thecompany.

Speculation over a deal for KabelDeutschland sent shares in thecompany up almost nine per centlast week. The companys marketcapitalisation was 5.95bn (5.2bn)last night, a price that would makea deal Vodafones biggest

acquisition since 2007.Kabels earnings report, released

this morning, will be pored over byVodafone before a bid is made.

The companies did not comment.

Voda hires UBSand Goldmanfor cable deal

BY JAMES TITCOMB

THE COST of running a retail businesshas soared far beyond the increase insales over the past six years, theBritish Retail Consortium (BRC) haswarned today, as it urged the chancel-lor to slash red tape and support con-sumer spending.

Retailers total operating costs haveincreased by 21 per cent a huge20bn since 2006, taking annualoperating costs to 116bn, accordingto a study by Oxford Economics forthe BRC. But over the same period thevalue of retail sales rose by just 12 percent. The BRC warned that spiralling

costs are forcing store closures andcurbing job creation.Ahead of George Osbornes budget

on 20 March, the industry bodyrenewed its plea to freeze business

Retailers urgeOsborne to cut

business costsBY KASMIRA JEFFORD

rates, which are set to rise to 175m inApril, and laid out a string of reforms,including the introduction of a time-limited National Insurance holiday forall firms which take on an unem-ployed young person. It also called forthe coalition to speed up progresstowards its target of a 10,000 per yearpersonal tax allowance.

BP wins spill fine argumentas it gears up for court caseOIL GIANT BP last night clincheda $3.4bn (2.2bn) reduction in thepotential fine it faces under theUS Clear Water Act for the 2010Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The FTSE 100 firm, which ispreparing to defend itself at nextweeks court fight against the USgovernment, has agreed with theUS Department of Justice thatthe amount of oil spilled into theGulf of Mexico was lower thanthe latter had been arguing.

BP yesterday said that the 4.9mspilt barrels estimate from the USgovernment is too high by 20 percent, believing 3.1m barrelsshould be considered themaximum limit as it alsorecovered 810,000 barrels directlyfrom the Macondo well.

The maximum fine payable

BY CATHY ADAMS under the act is $4,300 per barrel,and the reduction sees BPspenalty fall from a maximum of$21bn.

BP said yesterday that it ispreparing for Mondays trial afterfailing to reach a reasonablesettlement for civil claimsrelating to the 2010 DeepwaterHorizon oil spill.

We have always been open tosettlements on reasonable terms,failing which we have alwaysbeen prepared to defend our caseat trial, Rupert Bondy, groupgeneral counsel of BP, saidyesterday.

The two-phase trial, which willbegin in New Orleans, will decidewhether BP was grossly negligentat the time of the disaster, whichkilled 11 workers and spilled oilinto the Gulf of Mexico for threemonths. Bondy said yesterday

that BP firmly believes it wasnot grossly negligent.

Earlier this month, BP said itstotal liability for the oil slickcould reach $90bn.

Yesterday, a US federal judgegave final approval toTransocean the Switzerland-based owner of the DeepwaterHorizon vessel for its $1bn civilsettlement relating to the oil spill.

DELLS profits fell by almost athird in the final quarter of2012, the company revealed lastnight, in what may well be itsfinal public report before thecomputer maker is takenprivate.

The firm, which is set to bebought out by founder MichaelDell and private equitycompany Silverlake Partners for$24bn (15.6bn), saw profitsdecline by 31 per cent to $530mon an 11 per cent drop inturnover to $14.3bn.

Dell has been one of the PCmanufacturers worst hit by a

global slowdown in sales as

consumers instead spend ontablets and smartphones.

BY JAMES TITCOMBIt is also struggling to

compete with new competitionfrom Chinas Lenovo, which isexpected to overtake HP to

become the worlds biggest PCmanufacturer this year.

Sales in Dells consumer armfell by 24 per cent in the finalquarter of the year, whileoperating profits in thedivision slumped by 87per cent. Sloweconomic conditionsin Europe werepartially responsiblefor the decline, with

group sales in theEMEA regiondown 14 percent in the

quarter.The firms

enterprise software, a target forgrowth, did well however.

Since Dells board announcedthe proposed sale, several bigshareholders have come outagainst the deal, claiming itundervalues the company.

Investors holding around 14per cent of Dell have said theyplan to vote against the deal,although it is still believed the

buyout will go ahead, even if itis at an altered price.

Dells shares are currentlytrading at above the $13.65 priceproposed by Michael Dell, who

founded the company in 1984and took it public in1988.

UK retailers operating costs 2012, BNand as per cent of total

Labour

Property

Utilities and Transport

Professional servicesand other

Source:OxfordEconomics/HaverAnalytics

%

48.1bn

29.7bn

7.2bn

31.4bn

BP PLC


455.0

450.0

452.5

447.5

445.0

457.5 p

446.3519 Feb

Michael Dell founded thefirm in 1984

Dells profits fall ahead of $24bn buyout deal

SUPERMARKETS slice ofconsumer spending hasdramatically increased during thelast decade as consumers spendless on the high street.

Around 58p in every pound

spent in the retail sector goes tosupermarkets such as Tesco andSainsburys, up from 46p a decadeago, according to data from thePayments Council, the payments

More than half of UK consumerspend made in supermarkets

BY KASMIRA JEFFORD services watchdog.Their growth has come at the

expense of high street retailersincluding homeware shops, whichhave seen spend fall by nearly half.

Sainsburys also revealedyesterday that annual sales in its

general merchandise business hit1bn for the first time, with non-food sales including homewares,clothes and cookware growing atthree times the rate of food.


Sainsburys said yesterday that its non-food business has hit 1bn of annual sales

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THE LAUNCH of the UKs first 4Gmobile network has so far failed toconvince Vodafone and O2 customersto switch to EE, company results sug-gested yesterday.

EE, which owns Orange and T-Mobile as well as its new self-brandednetwork, signed 201,000 new cus-tomers to contracts during the finalquarter of last year. The period beganshortly after EE launched the UKsfirst high speed mobile internet serv-ice, gaining a head start on its rivals.Although EE did not reveal how

many customers are now on 4G con-tracts, citing the sensitive situation asoperators bid in the 4G auction, thefigures for new customers wereunspectacular. In fact, EE had signedup more new contract cus-tomers in the previousquarter, when it was notoffering 4G.

Chief executive OlafSwantee played down sug-gestions the 4G launch hadgone poorly, saying hisfocus was on con-

vincing Orangeand T-Mobilecustomers withexpiring con-

tracts toupgrade to 4G.

4G off to a slow

start as EE failsto woo users

BY JAMES TITCOMBWe had 1.9m of our customers leav-

ing contracts [in the quarter], that wasmy first priority, trying to convincethem to take a 4G device. Thats a verystrong feeding ground, Swantee toldCity A.M.. The next priority is acquir-ing new high-value customers; Imnot interested in chasing volume.

EE said those signed up to 4G werepaying an average of 10 per cent morethan those on Orange and T-Mobile,although this did not prevent a 2.6per cent fall in annual service rev-enues to 5.95bn. Mobile revenues

were hit last year by enforced cuts tocharges for calling other networks.Without these changes, EE said

annual revenues rose 2.7 per cent. Thecompanys pre-tax losses more thandoubled to 249m, although the com-pany put this down to writing downthe value of its assets and the invest-ment associated with 4G.

Swantee said the loss would beunlikely to put off EEs owners France Telecom and Deutsche

Telekom from floating the firm. Ofcom will today reveal the win-

ners of the crucial first round ofthe 4G auction, which isexpected to raise at least3.5bn for the Treasury.

Swantee said his focus ison retaining customers


BOTTOMLINE

STEPHAN SHAKESPEARE

LINKEDIN, the social networkfor professionals, this weekran a fantastically successfulsocial marketing campaign,

showing how one social networkcan harness the power of anotherto get its message out.

To celebrate reaching 200m

profiles, LinkedIn sent emails tomany of its users congratulatingthem on being in the top 10 percent, five per cent or one per centmost viewed profiles.

The ego boost that t hesemessages gave to users receivingthe emails led to many of themturning to social media tocelebrate their popularity. Otherstook to Twitter to double-check theauthenticity of the email.

The impact is seen at a g lance onYouGovs social media audiencemeasurement tool, SoMA.

On the four days the emailswent out, LinkedIn achieved reachfigures on Twitter (that is, thepercentage of the UK Twitterpopulation hearing about them) ofup to 13 per cent.

The firm then got a secondar y

boost earlier this week whenarticles started appearing talkingabout the success of the campaign,

which enabled LinkedIn to achieve18 per cent reach, which camedespite a big drop in the volume oftweets.

ONLINE TALK SNOWBALLSCombining the initial hit and thefollow-up story, LinkedIn hasreached 40 per cent of UK Twitterusers since 7 February. All of this

was achieved simply by running aglobal event-driven marketingcampaign that persuadedrecipients to talk about it on socialmedia.

Pretty impressive stuff, madeeven more so by the audience that

LinkedIn managed to reach. Themost valuable audience for theprofessional networking giant is inthe higher income brackets, andthe second chart shows the reachamongst those earning 50,000 ormore.

Among this group, L inkedInreached over 15 per cent of the

Twitter audience on t hree separateoccasions, and got a total of 45 percent reach over the period.

Stephan Shakespeare is the chiefexecutive of YouGov

LinkedIn shows the power of harnessing social media

HTC has unveiled its newflagship handset in a bid toclaw back market sharefrom rivals.

The Taiwanese firmyesterday launched its HTCOne device, promising a hostof new features it hopes willattract customers who haveabandoned the company for

smartphones made by Appleand Samsung.

HTC launches high-end phonein effort to take on Samsung

BY JAMES TITCOMB Chief executive Peter Chou,unveiling the phone in London,

emphasised the Onesadvanced photography andmusic features, as well as anew homescreen designfeaturing live updates fromnews websites and socialnetworks.

Chou hopes the newfeatures will differentiatehis phones from Samsung,

despite them both runningGoogles Android software.

LinkedIn's reach on Twitter

7Feb8 Feb9Feb10Feb11Feb12Feb13Feb14Feb15Feb16Feb17Feb18Feb

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INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Groupreported an 11 per cent jump in full-year operating profits yesterday, driv-en by a strong performance in the USand its expansion in developing mar-kets.The owner of the Crowne Plaza,

Holiday Inns and InterContinentalbrands made an operating profit of$614m (387m) in 2012, while rev-enue rose five per cent to $1.84bn.

Pre-tax profit rose five per cent to$556m from $532m a year earlier.

Global revenue per available room(revpar), a key hotel industry meas-

ure, grew 5.2 per cent in 2012, withits US market up 6.3 per cent andChina 5.4 per cent ahead.Tom Singer, IHGs chief financial

officer, said revpar in Greater Chinafell 0.3 per cent in the fourth quarterdue to the China-Japan territorialisland dispute and the political lead-ership changes. He expects salesgrowth to recover once the new lead-ership take official charge in March.The FTSE 100 group, which runs

more than 670,000 rooms in over

IHG unveils risein profits led

by US growthBY KASMIRA JEFFORD 4,500 hotels worldwide, said it was on

track for a further good performancein 2013 with global revpar in Januaryup 6.6 per cent.

IHG recently put its London ParkLane hotel up for sale and is also look-ing for a buyer for its New YorkBarclay Hotel after talks with a poten-tial buyer collapsed last year. Analystsexpect the pair to fetch over $700m.The sale of the Barclay hotel has

proved complicated because of thesignificant costs a buyer would needto invest to revamp the site. Singersaid the market for trophy real estatehas firmed up in the past year andit expects to complete a sale this year.

IHG opened a net 18,000 rooms during the year and has a pipeline of around 169,000

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC


2,000

1,960

1,980

1,940

2,020 p 1,953.0019 Feb

InterContinental has announced itspreliminary results reporting $560mprofit before tax versus consensus of $551m and our forecast of $552m. We expectconsensus forecasts for 2013 will move up around two to three per cent onthese results and weakening sterling makes the stock less expensive.

ANALYST VIEWS

InterContinental has reported a two per cent full year earnings beatand, in our view, the stock is a core travel and leisure sector holding, offeringhigh returns, global growth and diversity, leading brands and projectedongoing cash shareholder returns.

IHG stock up 26per cent over thepast quarter. We would not expect IHG toroar away on these results but it does show the strength of the groups global mix,especially with the Americas region strong again in January. It remains ourpreferred hotel stock in 2013 due to its relative lack of European exposure.

DID INTERCONTINENTALSRESULTS MEET YOUREXPECTATIONS?by Kasmira Jefford

SIMON FRENCH PANMURE GORDON

JAMES HOLLINS INVESTEC

GEOF COLLYER DEUTSCHE BANK

A US judge said yesterday thatDavid Einhorn's hedge fund hadshown a likelihood of success ifhis legal attack against Apple goesforward, though he made no

immediate ruling on whether toblock next week's shareholdervote on a proxy proposal.

Einhorn wants to stop a vote onone of Apples shareholderproposals, which would eliminatethe iPhone maker's ability to issuepreferred stock without investorapproval. He wants the firm toreturn more cash to shareholders.

Einhorn couldwin Apple suit


LONDONS escalating rents areforcing two-thirds of businesses to

consider moving offices, a new studyseen byCity A.M. has found.

A OnePoll survey commissionedby outsourcing specialist CapitalCapture found that 63 per cent offirms in the f inance, IT, legal andinsurance industries have consideredmoving, with over half blamingproperty-relating costs.

Nearly half of the 300 London-based businesses surveyed reporteda rise in their commercial rent inthe last two years.

Rent promptsoffice moves

BY KASMIRA JEFFORD

WEDNESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 201310 NEWS

cityam.com

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SWISS drug firm Novartis yesterdaydropped plans to pay its outgoingchairman SFr72m (50.6m) to stophim going to work for rivals.

Daniel Vasellas golden handcuffsdeal was announced on Friday butabandoned after a very negative reac-tion from shareholders.

Executive pay has come underintense scrutiny in the country aheadof next months referendum on

whether or not to bring in new con-trols. If it succeeds, non-competitiondeals will be banned and sharehold-ers will get a binding vote on pay.

Vasella has long been a top earner,taking home SFr13.1m last year andSFr13.5m in 2011. But the proposedexit package proved too much forinvestors to bear and activist fund

Novartis scraps50m payoff

for chairmanBY HARRY BANKS managers urged investors to oppose

the deal in this weeks meeting.I have understood that many people

find the amount of the compensationlinked to the non-compete agreementunreasonably high, despite the fact Ihad announced my intention to makethe net amount available for philan-thropic activities, Vasella said

THOMAS Minders campaign against executive pay packets beganalmost exactly five years ago at a UBS shareholder meeting in thesleepy Swiss town of Basel. Until then Minder was best known for hisfamilys traditional herbal toothpaste, Trybol, but he was flung intothe spotlight when he attacked then-UBS chairman Marcel Ospelover the subprime writedowns that had forced the bank to seek agovernment bailout. Though Ospel stepped down weeks later,Minders campaign really began in earnest later that summer, when hecollected 100,000 signatures and called for a referendum to imposeexecutive pay restrictions including forcing all listed companiesto have binding votes on compensation for company man-agers and directors, and banning golden handshakes and

parachutes. If passed on 2 March, the new rules wouldmake the Swiss system one of the strictest in the worldon pay a dramatic departure for a country betterknown for its secret bank accounts and populated bysome of the richest individuals in the world.

Daniel Vasella has led the firm for 17 years but shareholders still rejected his huge payoff

Novartis AG


64.25

63.75

64.00

63.50

63.00

63.25

62.75

64.50 CHF64.3019 Feb

SIR Richard Branson yesterdaypledged to give away half hisfortune to good causes.

The British entrepreneur and hiswife Joan were one of 12 newsignatories to Bill and MelindaGates Giving Pledge Initiative.They join a list that includes MarkZuckerberg, David Rockefeller and

Branson pledges to give away half his worthBY A CITY A.M. REPORTER

Warren Buffett. Yesterday sawthe first billionaires fromoutside the US pledge to donatethe funds to philanthropicactivities, with other signatoriesincluding Russian nickel mogul

Vladimir Potanin and Indiansoftware tycoon Azim Premji.

Sir Richard has an estimatedfortune of 2.7bn. In a letter tothe Giving Pledge Initiative,

which now counts donations ofaround $500bn (324m), SirRichard said: Stuff really isnot what brings happiness.Family, friends, good health andthe satisfaction that comes frommaking a positive difference are

what really matters.Happily our children, who

will be our principal heirs,agree with me on this.

DANONE said yesterday it plansto axe around 900 jobs to cope

with the downturn in southernEurope that is hurting its coredairy business and aims to returnto more profitable growth next

year.Danone yesterday reported

sales of 20.1bn (17.3bn) in 2012,up 5.4 per cent from a yearearlier. It warned margins would

fall again this year in the face ofweak European demand.

Danone to cut900 jobs in EU


AMERICAN payment processorTSYS sa id last night it will buyprepaid debit card providerNetSpend Holdings for about$1.4bn (907.4m) in cash toexpand its presence in the prepaidprocessing market.

TSYS of fered to pay $16 pershare for NetSpend -- a premiumof 30 per cent to the stocksclosing price yesterday.

NetSpend shares were uparound 28 per cent at $15.80 in

trading after the bell.

TSYS to snapup NetSpend


PROFILE: THE MAN MINDING SWISS EXEC PAY

WEDNESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 201311NEWS

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IN BRIEFBA offers light luggage discount

n British Airways followed its budgetrivals yesterday in offering cheapertickets for passengers who only travelwith hand luggage. BA said customersflying from Gatwick to five Europeancities will be able to buy tickets up to15 cheaper if they stick to carry-onbaggage. The firm said the deal will notaffect the price of tickets that comewith a check-in luggage allowance.

Dairy Crest unveils shake-up

n Dairy Crest, which has been tryingto cut losses in its core milk business,said yesterday it will consolidate itsbusiness into a single structure fromthe next financial year. The maker ofCathedral City cheese said it expectsannual cost savings of at least 5m.Dairy Crest also said Tom Athertonwould replace Alastair Murray asfinance director, starting 23 May.

Regus raises offer for MWB

n Office space supplier Regusyesterday raised its offer for MWBBusiness Exchange by nearly two-thirds to about 65.6m, marginallyabove a bid by Hong Kong-basedPyrrho Investments. Regus said it

would pay just over 101p per MWBshare, up from its prior offer of61.576p. Shares in MWB closed up oneper cent at 99p yesterday.

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THE Honourable Artillery Companywas the venue for the 2013 UKStock Market Awards on Mondayevening.The third annual ceremony, com-

pered by BBC Radio 4 sports presen-ter Garry Richardson, was held tocelebrate all that is great aboutpublicly listed British companiesand the equity market within

which they operate.With that in mind, solicitors

Baker & McKenzie won bestlegal adviser, the London StockExchange was named bestexchange, Plexus Holdingsreceived the oil andgas gong, and thetop financial servic-

es firm went to HargreavesLansdown, while Numis Securitiestook best adviser and Inmarsat wonthe best telecom company title.There were no speeches as recipients

were hastily whisked on and off thestage. However, that did not preventa token audience groan when

HSBCs investor relationsmanger Guy Lewis took to

the stage to collect thebest bank award. Not to asolemn orchestral piece,but to the tune of SouthKorean rapper Psys songGangnam Style.

Turns out thereaint no party

like aBritish list-ed compa-ny party.

Plexus Holdings chiefexecutive Ben vanBilderbeek

What is this? A bit ofunchallenged discrimination in

the City of London? It is strictlywomen-only at the Guildhallsbusiness library next month, whenSusan Attard deputy town clerk of

the Corporation gives the keynotespeech at the International WomensDay networking lunch on 8 March. TheCapitalisthears there will be seminarson personal finance, convertingcontacts into customers, and the dosand donts of being a woman inbusiness. And if that wasnt enough totempt you, then the all-you-can-eatsushi buffet should be an addedincentive. Sure to sell like hotcakes,ladies who lunch can secure tickets,which cost 10, by calling 020 73321812.

Time to rejoice the Eurozoneeconomies are rebalancing and

the crisis is over. Or is it? It seemsesteemed experts at CapitalEconomics were divided on the topic

earlier this week. Only a few hoursafter boss Roger Bootle and hiscolleague Jonathan Loynes sent out anote pointing to positive signs in thelabour cost data, senior economistJennifer McKeown took the oppositeapproach. McKeown sent her ownemail arguing: There is little sign ofthe rebalancing that is sorely neededboth within and between Eurozoneeconomies. Nothing like a bit of livelyoffice debate.

WHILE a game of squash or roundof golf are the more traditionalCity pastimes for the competitivelyinclined among us, a new sportseems to be ruffling a few feathers

within the Square Mile.Yes, the City Slickers Grand Prix

is back for a third year. With go-kart racers from Morgan Stanley,Barclays, UBS, JP Morgan, HSBCand Deutsche competing last year under imaginative team names

such as The SpeedoPhiles andBottom Gear The Capitalistassumed it would be a sportsman-like contest. However spies informThe Capitalistthat one team, whomade it to the podium last year butmissed the top spot, were sopeeved at losing the winningtrophy that they threw down theirmedals and made a swift departurefrom the track. Handbags at theready, gentleman...

Left to right: Connection Capitals Julian Carr and TeamSport boss Dom Gaynor

Tantrums and tyres as Square

Mile go-karting contest returns

UK firms partyGangnam Styleat market bash

12cityam.comWEDNESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2013

cityam.com/the-capitalistTHECAPITALIST EDITED BY CALLY SQUIRESGot A Story? Email

[email protected]

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BANCOLOMBIA, Colombias largest

lender by assets, agreed to purchaseHSBC Bank SA Panama for $2.1bn(1.36bn), the most ever paid by alocal bank and the latest in anexpansion wave by financial entitiesinto Latin America.

The acquisition includes HSBCPanamas brokerage, fiduciaryservices unit, banking business andits insurance company, Bancolombiasaid in a regulatory filing yesterday.

The transaction is aligned withBancolombias strategy to expand itsinternational operations by investingin the growing, solid and profitablemarket of Panama, where it has beenpresent for over 40 years, it said.

The Bancolombia agreement doesnot include HSBC Panamas units inColombia, it said.

The sale is expected to closeduring the third quarter of 2013,subject to regulatory approvals. Last

year, Banco GNB Sudameris agreedto buy HSBCs units in Colombia,Peru, Paraguay and Uruguay for$400m, while Banco Daviviendaagreed to acquire HSBC assets inCosta Rica, El Salvador andHonduras for $801m.

HSBC could make about $1.4bnfrom the sale of the Panama assets,as the business is being sold at threetimes its net asset value of $700m.

Bancolombiasnaps up HSBCPanama assets


LAWYERS saw their total pay pack-ages fall by five per cent last year, asrising bonus payouts failed to stemthe drop in average salary.Total remuneration for lawyers in

2012 came in at 139,040, down from146,500 in 2011 according torecruiters Laurence Simons.Though bonuses edged up very

slightly to 35,000, it wasnt enoughto offset the seven per cent drop in

base pay to 103,450 down from111,500.The survey showed a stark differ-

ence between the amounts that in-house counsel can expect to receive

compared to their private practicecounterparts. The average bonus foran in-house lawyer working in finan-cial services last year came in at48,688, compared to just 14,852 forprivate practice professionals.

2012 was a tough year for legalfirms and departments, meaningthey couldnt replicate the sharp risein pay seen in 2011, said LaurenceSimons director Lucinda Moule. The

Higher bonusescant halt fall in

lawyer payoutsBY ELIZABETH FOURNIER

focus was on stability and a conserva-tive steadying of salary costs.

But she said the pattern of bonuspayments, which ticked up sharply inDecember after a lull from August toNovember, offers some green shootsfor lawyers, suggesting performanceexceeded expectations.

Falling salaries have left manylawyers considering jumping ship,

with two-thirds of those surveyed say-ing they were actively looking for anew role, or would move if the rightopportunity came up. And 69 per centsaid they would be willing to moveabroad in search of the perfect role, upone per cent from last year.

But Moule said those moving job inthe hopes of securing a substantial risein pay would be disappointed. Theaverage lawyer looking to change rolesin 2013 will be expecting an increasein basic salary of 15 per cent. This typeof increment is more the exceptionthan the norm.

WITH so much focus on the

latest bonus controls thatEU politicians want to slapon Europes banks, its

sometimes easy to forget just howseverely economic uncertainty hasalready slashed pay.

Its also often forgotten that banksarent just populated by the deal-makers that attract the publicsattention behind every rainmakertheres a growing army of compli-ance staff, lawyers and IT whizzes,most of whose salaries are also suf-fering.Theres no doubt that banks in-

house lawyers have stepped out ofthe shadows over the past five years.Back in 2008 it was all-too familiarto hear bankers counsel bemoan-ing their lack of status in the trad-

ing room, shouting to be heard onthe incoming slew of new rules andbeing asked to sign off deals almostas an afterthought. Now the compli-ance gurus are front and centre of

every decision that banks make but unless their salaries match themore high-profile role then thereslittle chance of attracting the bestpeople into the fold. Its no wonderso many lawyers are on the lookoutfor a new job but can anyone offerthem the salary bump theyre after?With the Citys new roster of regu-

latory bodies hardly offering the bigbucks (even the FSAs top enforcerMargaret Cole made just 263,686

in 2010-11, much less than an equitypartner at a City law firm wouldtake home) hungry lawyers willinstead have their fingers crossedthat the recent uptick in deal activi-

ty will drive hiring and salaries in the right direction. Industryinsiders say private equity depart-ments have already been rampingup hiring in anticipation of a surgein deals. Heres hoping it materialis-es, and that next years pay packagesare enough to keep the Citys bright-est minds exactly where they

belong.

KLOPPERS WILL BE MISSED AT BHPSO BHP Billitons Marius Kloppersis the latest mining domino totopple, in the wake of Tom

Albanese and Cynthia Carroll.Pressure on mining bosses may berife as low commodity prices dragon shares, and China could soonslow again, but Kloppers was astraight-talking CEO who saw the

firm through the financial crisiswith aplomb after winning the topjob in 2007. His successor AndrewMackenzie has some rather bigshoes to fill.

IN BRIEF

Car boom helps Pendragon

n Car dealer Pendragon yesterdayposted an 18 per cent rise in full-yearprofit, helped by growing new carsales in Britain, Europe's only brightspot for car sales. The company,which runs 250-plus retail outlets,reported underlying pre-tax profits of36.4m on revenues five per centhigher at 3.63bn. The firm said itslike-for-like car volumes increased by15 per cent during the year, helped, inpart, by an 18 per cent increase in

visitors to its main dealer websites.

Brammer revenues hit record

n Industrial equipment firmBrammer yesterday reported an 11.9per cent rise in yearly revenues to arecord 639.6m, on pre-tax profitsup 19 per cent to 34.5m. The FTSE-listed firm said it expects to performwell ahead of the market in 2013 inspite of choppy economicconditions, following a successfuland significant year. Brammersshares closed up two per cent at348p, the highest level since last

May.

Cash for green car charge-points

n The coalition has set aside 37m tohelp pay for new charge points forelectric cars, transport ministerPatrick McLoughlin said yesterday.Local authorities, train operators andindividuals can claim back up to 75per cent of the cost of installing acharge point until April 2015, in a bidto encourage UK drivers to choosegreener vehicles. There were almost3,000 electric cars on the roads inLondon last year, according to the

Greater London Authority.

ELIZABETH FOURNIER

SINGAPORE has granted fourinternational law firms the right topractice in the city state, in onlythe second round of licences to be

awarded since it liberalised its legalsystem in 2008.

Linklaters, Sidley Austin, GibsonDunn & Crutcher and Jones Day all

won approval to practice Singaporelaw including corporate, projectfinance and banking, but excludingdomestic litigation and generalpractice such as criminal law.

But 19 other firms failed to meetthe Singapore Ministry of Laws

BY ELIZABETH FOURNIERtough criteria, which look at the

value of work a firm will bring tothe jurisdiction, and the number oflawyers it would base there.

Linklaters Singapore managingpartner Kevin Wong said the firm

was delighted to be approved.Linklaters has a long-term

commitment to Singapore and weare privileged to be an establishedmember of its legal community, headded.

Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance,Herbert Smith, Latham & Watkins,Norton Rose and White & Case wonlicences when the first round wasawarded in 2008.


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US MANUFACTURING output

started 2013 with a fall, accordingto data out yesterday, driven byweakness in car production.

Factory production dropped 0.4per cent in January, Federal Reservedata showed, pushed by the 3.2 percent crash in car output.

The fact that the decline wascoming mainly from one sector,combined with upward revisions tothe numbers for November andDecember, made analystsoptimistic that the underlyingtrend was still positive.

Given that most of the weaknesswas due to the give-back in motorvehicle production after the 11 percent surge in activity during thelast two months of 2012, we expectthis retreat in industrial output to

be temporary, said MillanMulraine at TD Securities.

And consumer confidence data,

released separately, supported amore hopeful view. The ThomsonReuters consumer confidence indexclimbed to 76.3 in February from73.8 in January, after job gains.

US industrialoutput caughtin traffic jam

BY BEN SOUTHWOOD

FALLING output across the Eurozonepulled the Organisation forEconomic Co-operation andDevelopment (OECD) group of majoreconomies into decline in the fourthquarter of 2012, the organisationsaid yesterday.The total output from OECD coun-

tries fell 0.2 per cent in the finalthree months of last year, draggeddown by a 0.6 per cent contraction inthe Eurozone economy.

But other major economies werelittle help: the UK shrank 0.3 percent, Japans GDP crept down 0.1 per

cent, US GDP was almost completelyflat and Canadas figures were not

yet released.But this gloomy quarterly picture

was not mirrored exactly in the

OECD falls intocontraction on

Eurozone woeBY BEN SOUTHWOOD annual figures. OECD output rose 0.7

per cent between the fourth quarterof 2011 and the same period last year,the organisations numbers revealed.

But for a 2.7 per cent plunge inItalian GDP, the OECD would havedone better, as US output increased1.5 per cent, Japan edged up 0.1 percent, and Germanys economy grew0.4 per cent. UK output was almostcompletely flat over the year, with astrong third quarter outweighed bypoor performance in the other ninemonths of the year.These yearly f igures, which give a

much stronger impression of thepace of expansion in the US, are in

line with widely-held hopes that theworlds biggest economy is finally onthe path to solid growth, potentially

bringing other countries with it onits way up.


Find yournext step at

C

ITYAMCAREERS.c

om

Source: OECD

Change in GDP between third and fourth quarters of 2012

OECD total

-0.2%EU

-0.5%Eurozone

-0.6%

Germany-0.6%Italy

-0.9%

US

No changeJapan

-0.1%

UK

-0.3%

OECD FALLS INTO DECLINE BY THE END OF 2012

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EUROZONE construction output

sank further in December, putting itat the lowest level since early 1996,excluding two apparent blips.

Eurostats construction outputindex fell 1.7 per cent to reach 80.1in December, which is the lowestsince February 1996, excepting twoone-off sharp drops last Februaryand in December 2010.

Over the whole year, output isdown some 4.8 per cent across the17-member currency union, Eurostatrevealed, and since the pre-recessionpeak, when the index neared 110,output has crashed over a quarter.

The wider EU is also in the midstof a construction slide, the datarevealed. Though output in the 27-member region is not as far below itspre-recession peak, it fell 2.7 per cent

between November and December tocap off an 8.5 per cent drop in 2012.

Among the countries, Poland a

member of the EU but not the crisis-hit Eurozone did worst, with a 23.7per cent blow to constructionproduction over the year.

But Eurozone members were notfar behind, with Portugal sufferingan 18.2 per cent hit, and Sloveniaand Slovakia also seeingconstruction output fall by doubledigit percentages.

Italy keeps its data confidential fortwo months, while Greece publishesonly quarterly figures, and itsestimates for the fourth quarter of2012 have not been released.

But the other Eurozone memberhit hard by the sovereign debt crisis,Spain, enjoyed a 4.5 per centimprovement in building over the

year, in spite of the tough recessionsqueezing the country.

Constructionoutput headsto record low

BY BEN SOUTHWOOD

NEW CAR registrations in the EUcollapsed to their lowest Januarylevel since 1990 last month, dealingthe unions carmakers a drubbing.

Peugeot Citroen, Ford, Fiat, Toyota,Volvo, Suzuki and Mitsubishi suf-fered double digit falls in sales

between already-poor January 2012and January 2013, figures revealed

yesterday, as Europes economictroubles clobbered one of its biggestindustries.

Overall sales were down 8.7 percent over the year, according to theEuropean Automobile

Manufacturers Association (ACEA),bringing total sales across the unionto 885,159, under a million for thefirst time in 23 years.

Sales were down 9.6 per cent inSpain, 15.9 per cent in Sweden, 18.8per cent in Ireland, 15.1 per cent inFrance, and 17.6 per cent in crisis-hitItaly. And even powerhouse econo-my Germany felt the pain, with an8.6 per cent plunge only slightly

better than the bloc average.Other smaller economies that

have also avoided much of theEurozone pain nevertheless came infor a car sales hammering. Salescrashed 28.2 per cent in Finland,and plummeted 31.2 per cent in theNetherlands.

But the worst fall was saved forGreece, with 34.5 per cent fewer car

Worst Januarysince 1990 for

EU carmakersBY BEN SOUTHWOOD sales than a year before. That

amounts to around 5,533 new carsshifted in January, in a country witha population of around 11m mean-ing just one 20th of a per cent ofGreeks bought new vehicles.

By contrast, sales in the UK soared11.5 per cent, sales in Poland jumped8.8 per cent, and Belgium, Austria,Denmark and Estonia also saw sig-nificant gains.

Despite the combination of UKgrowth and German decline, the lat-ter remained the biggest EU car mar-ket, with 192,090 new registrationsduring the month, followed by theUK at 143,643, France at 124,798 and

Italy at 113,525.The worst-hit carmaker in propor-

tional terms was Mitsubishi, withsales down some 37.4 per cent, fol-lowed by Ford, which suffered a 25.5per cent drop, Suzuki and PeugeotCitroen.The best performer was Jaguar

Land Rover, which managed to growits sales 19 per cent.

Honda and Mazda also enjoyeddouble-digit growth, and Kia sales

were up 7.2 per cent.Volkswagen retained its top spot,

with sales falling 5.5 per cent lessthan average so that it gained 0.8percentage points of market share.

In January it sold 24.4 per cent ofall cars sold in the EU, some 13 per-centage points ahead of the nearestcontender, Peugeot Citroen.

Hollande wants tohelp Greece

German investor sentiment roars up in 2013

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2013 IS WORST JANUARY FOR CAR REGISTRATIONS SINCE 1990

New car registrations in JanuaryCar sales in January, millions1.4

1.3

1.2

1.1

1.0

0.9

0.8Jan

2003Jan

2004Jan

2005Jan

2006Jan

2007Jan

2008Jan

2009Jan

2010Jan2011

Jan2012

Jan2013

BIGGEST FALLERS (COUNTRIES)

BIGGEST FALLERS (FIRMS)

Netherlands 31.2%

Greece 34.5%

Finland 28.2%

Peugeot/Citroen 16.3%

Ford 25.5%

Toyota 16.8%

Source:AC

EA

France pledges privatisationand tourism help for GreeceFRENCH President FrancoisHollande yesterday told Greecethat austerity alone could not

bring the country out of itscrippling recession, and that he

would help the stricken statewith privatisations, economicreforms and improving tourismnumbers.

We must make sure that

growth and jobs come back inGreece, Hollande said aftermeeting Greek leader

Antonis Samaras. We

BY CITY A.M. REPORTER need more growth in Europe.That is how well reach our public

deficit goals. Greecesgovernment has

been bailed outtwice, but hasstruggled to meetthe tough termsattached to thefunding. Muchof the problemhas come from

the collapse ofGDP,

making it harder to reducespending and borrowing as ashare of the economy.

The latest figures show thecountrys economy shrank six percent through 2012. Meanwhileunemployment soared to 24.8 percent in the third quarter.

We have to show the Greekssolidarity, support and alsoconfidence that will allow growthto come back, Hollande said,

promising to help increase Frenchtourism to Greece visitor levelsfrom the country are just halfthose of Germany and toencourage French investment

when state-owned Greekindustries are sold off.

GERMAN investors were moreupbeat in February than at anypoint since the end of 2009,according to a prominent surveyout yesterday.

Economic sentiment climbed16.7 points to hit 48.2, ZEWsaid, a 38-month high afterthree successive months of

improvements.The financial market experts

BY BEN SOUTHWOOD have made their peace with theweak fourth quarter of 2012,ZEW chief Professor WolfgangFranz said.

In their opinion the Germaneconomy faces less headwindsfrom the euro crisis thanthroughout the last months,Franz added. He went on topredict a pick-up in German

output if these economicpressures remained muted.

Respondents to ZEW were lesspositive on the actual state ofthe German economy with thethink tanks situation indicatorfalling from 7.1 in January to 5.2this month.

This means that according toinvestors, Germanys economicsituation is worse than at anytime since June 2010, when the

Eurozone powerhouse wasrecovering from recession.

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IN BRIEFOrix buys asset manager Robeco

n Japanese financial services firmOrix Corp said yesterday it hasagreed to buy Dutch asset managerRobeco from its owner, Rabobank,for 1.935bn (1.68bn) in a cash-and-stock deal. The acquisition is thebiggest ever by Orix, a diversifiedfinancial services company withbusinesses ranging from leasing, lifeinsurance, real estate and corporatelending to a professional baseballteam.

Morgan Sindall sees rough 2013

n Construction company MorganSindall yesterday halved its finaldividend and said it expected themarket to remain challenging in theshort term, sending its shares down asmuch as 11 per cent. Profit before taxfell to 34.2m in 2012, from 40m inthe previous year. Revenue declinedeight per cent to 2.05bn, while theorder book slipped nine per cent to3.1bn. Margins at the constructionbusiness will remain under pressure in2013, chief exec John Morgan said.

Rank gets go-ahead for Gala buy

n The Competition Commission

yesterday cleared Ranks purchase ofGala Casinos, on the condition that itsells off four of the 23 casinos boughtas part of the deal. Rank must alsodispose of a licence it holds inEdinburgh or the commission willblock its acquisition of a casino in thecity. The firm, which agreed to buyGala in May 2012, said it remains intalks about how to amend its purchasein light of the commissions ruling.

THE LEEDS Building Society hikedmortgage lending on the back ofrising savings deposits and supportfrom the Bank of EnglandsFunding for Lending Scheme (FLS),the mutual announced yesterday.

Pre-tax profits came in at 52.4mfor 2012, up four per cent on theyear, while capital and reserves roseseven per cent to 614m.

New mortgage lending jumped35 per cent to 1.65bn, whilenet residential lending soaredto 737m, more than doublethe 300m recorded in 2011and the building societys

highest ever figure.The group attracted

an extra 61,000 newmembers, including39,000 savings mem-bers taking total mem-bership to 696,000 andsavings balances up384m to 7.74bn.

BY TIM WALLACE In also raised 375m in long-termwholesale markets and drew down200m from the FLS.

Whilst this initiative supportedour mortgage volume aspirations,retail savings remain the core of ourfunding requirements, and will con-tinue to be so, as we look to growthe business over the coming years,said chief executive Peter Hill.

All of our residential mortgagebalances are funded entirely by

members savings. Our whole-sale funding ratio reduced to18.8 per cent, compared to19.2 per cent a year earlier.

In a sign of improved mar-ket conditions charges for

impairment losses fell6.6m to 41.9m, whileresidential arrears fellfrom 3.23 per cent to2.89 per cent.

But an increase of30 jobs contributedto a small annualrise in the buildingsocietys cost ratio

from 31 per cent in2011 to 33 per cent in

2012.

Leeds chief Peter Hill saidit is reducing reliance onwholesale funding

WEDNESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 201316 NEWS

cityam.com

Mortgage loansup sharply at

Leeds mutual

THE COMPETITION Commissionyesterday raised concerns thatEurotunnels purchase of defunct

SeaFrances ferries could drive upfares for passengers.

Eurotunnel bought three ofSeaFrances four boats for 60m(52m) last year with the aim oflaunching its own English Channelferry service. The Office of FairTrading referred the deal to the

watchdog.The Competition Commission

claimed that Eurotunnel decidedto acquire the SeaFrance ferries inorder to prevent a rival ferry

BY AMY-JO CROWLEY operator buying them, a move thatcould have driven down prices.

Given that the companyalready holds a market share ofover 40 per cent, were concerned

that customers could lose out fromEurotunnel increasing its shareeven further and being able toraise prices on the tunnelservices, said CC deputy chairman

Alasdair Smith.Eurotunnel, which now runs 16

ferry crossings a day, said it wouldchallenge the finding, saying in astatement that its new brandMyFerryLink would increasecompetition and bring morechoice to customers.

Eurotunnel bought three boats from the collapsed operator SeaFrance last year

Eurotunnels ferry deal runsinto competition headwinds

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STRUCTURAL steelwork makerSeverfield-Rowen yesterday said itwas looking at a 50m rights issue,as it said it would take a 20.1m hitthanks to spiralling costs on anumber of contracts.

In a review of 70 of the companyscontracts, Severfield-Rowen said itwould take close to a 10m chargein relation to the 122 Leadenhallproject, known as the Cheesegrater.

The technical challenges of thesite works on this contract aresignificantly greater than originallyestimated and will require longertimescales and greater resources tocomplete, it said yesterday.

Eight other contracts totted upcost overruns of 10.2m, Severfield-Rowen revealed.

The group added thatconstructive discussions werecontinuing with its lending banks,which have agreed to waivecovenants that were due to be testedon 31 December.

As a result of the review, thesteelwork maker said yesterday itsexpectations for the full year arenow somewhat lower.

Former chief executive TomHaughey resigned last month afterthe full extent of the cost overrunson the Cheesegrater project wereunveiled, which sent its sharestumbling.

Shares in Severfield-Rowen closeddown 5.1 per cent yesterday at74.5p.

Steel makereyes 50mrights issue

BY CATHY ADAMS

WILDCAT strikes halted productionat South African mining giant AngloAmerican Platinum yesterday, fol-lowing violence which erupted earli-er this week.

Employees in the Rustenberg andPilanesburg areas went on strike,effectively suspending mining oper-ations at all of Amplats mines inSouth Africa yesterday.A spokeswoman for the belea-

guered platinum miner confirmedthat the employees would return towork this morning.

Earlier this week, 12 Amplatsemployees were injured at AmplatsSiphumelele mine in the Rustenbergregion, 70 miles north-west ofJohannesburg, when rubber bulletswere fired at employees by securitypersonnel following a clash betweenunions.The work stoppage yesterday is

thought to be in response to the ear-lier incident.

More than 50 people were killed inlabour strife last year, including 34shot dead by police at LonminsMarikana mine in August thedeadliest single security incident in

BY CATHY ADAMS South Africa since apartheid endedin the 1990s.Amplats, which is 80 per cent

owned by its parent Anglo American,reported its first ever annual loss ear-lier this month as it was battered byweeks of violent strikes, soaring costsand softening platinum prices.The unrest last summer cost the

firm 306,000 ounces of platinum,reducing full-year output by eightper cent to 2.2m ounces.Amplats, whose majority share-

holder is Anglo American, recentlyunveiled a radical overhaul of itsoperations, which could see up to14,000 jobs cut from South Africaand the closure of several of itsmines.

Simon Hardy, Lee Morton and HarryNicholas work for Jefferies Hoare Govett,which is both the financial adviser and thecorporate broker to Severfield-Rowen.Jefferies Group bought the historic Citybroking institution Hoare Govett from RoyalBank of Scotland last February.Hardy has previously worked as a managingdirector of UBS Investment Bank, before

joining RBS Hoare Govett in 2008. Hebecame managing director at Jefferies in

2012 following the takeover.As well as Severfield-Rowen, Hardy hasworked with junior stock market-listed

President Energy, nutritional solutionsgroup Glanbia and oil and gas explorer3Legs Resources.In September last year, Hardy was involvedwith President Energys share placing,which raised more than 24m.Hardys colleagues on the deal includeNicholas, a graduate in American Studiesfrom the University of Manchester, who haspreviously worked for BDO Stoy Haywardand Landsbanki before joining RBS in 2005.Morton, who works in the equity syndicateteam, has been with Hoare Govett for 32years, and was involved with the share plac-ing of Keller Group in March last year.Pelham Bell Pottinger is the PR adviser.

ADVISERS SEVERFIELD-ROWEN

SIMON HARDYLEE MORTON

HARRY NICHOLASJEFFERIES HOAREGOVETT

Drax gears up to total biomassconversion as annual profit fallsANNUAL profits dipped at coalfired power producer Drax, as itramped up its transformationinto a biomass-fuelled business.

Drax, which runs a coal-firedpower station in Yorkshire, said

yesterday that earnings beforeinterest, tax, depreciation andamortisation over the full year fellto 298m from 334m in 2011,although this was in line withforecasts.

In October, the power stationoperator raised 190m through ashare placing to support its

growth into a biomass-fuelledelectricity generator.

BY CATHY ADAMS In a statement yesterday, Draxconfirmed that its plannedtransformation was well underwayduring a pivotal year for thecompany.

With government support andour financing secured, both in thesecond half of 2012, we are ontrack to convert our first

generating unit fully to biomass inApril of this year, with the secondto follow in 2014, chief executiveDorothy Thompson said.

Capital spending will increase tobetween 250m and 300m thisyear, to cover costs of the biomasstransformation, and earnings are

likely to be impacted adverselyover the period by the rising cost

of carbon, Drax said.Investors were upbeat on Draxs

update though, and shares closed6.12 per cent up yesterday at641.5p.

Anglo American Platinum Ltd


48,000

47,000

46,000

45,000

44,000

ZAc

44,204.0019 Feb

Drax Group PLC


640

620

630

610

590

600

650 p641.5019 Feb


cityam.com

The Cheesegrater, at 122 Leadenhall, has this week overtaken the Gherkin in height

Broadwalk AssetManagement

Mark Shepperd will join theasset management firm as asenior analyst. He was mostrecently a senior adviser in theinvestment banking divisionat UBS, and previously spent20 years running its supportservices team.

Scipion

The African commodities investment firm has

appointed Georgina Fleming to oversee productmanagement and development. Fleming was mostrecently a business development coordinator at ClearyGottlieb Steen & Hamilton in New York.

Barclays

The bank has appointed Nicki Thomson as head ofbusiness services for corporate banking. She has beenworking at Barclays for over six years, and will replace

Mike Daniels, who has been promoted to head ofLondon, corporate banking.

KPMG

The professional services firm has appointed two new

directors to its economics and regulation advisoryteam to focus on the energies and utilities sector.Duncan Michie most recently led the utilitiesregulatory consulting team at PwC. Adrian Leaker hasover 20 years experience working in energy marketsin the UK and Europe. He also joins from PwC.

LaSalle

The investment management firm has announced theappointment of Elisabeth Stheeman as global chiefoperating officer. She was most recently at MorganStanley in London, where she was chief operatingofficer in its investment banking division focused onreal estate and natural resources.

The Ashton Partnership

Nick Aitchison will join the executive search firm as apartner. Aitchison will be responsible for developingthe firms client relationships in the UK and emergingmarkets. He began his search career at RussellReynolds Associates, where he was managing director.He was most recently a partner at Stork & May.

Grainger

Sebastian Cave will join the property company as jointmanaging director in its German office. He was mostrecently director of corporate development atGrainger in London, and has previously worked as ananalyst at Deutsche Bank.

WHOS SWITCHING JOBS Edited by Annabel PalmerCITY MOVES

To appear in CITYMOVES please email your career updates and pictures to [email protected]

Amplats haltsproduction asstrikes erupt

XSTRATAS $5.9bn (3.8bn) miningprojec

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