PRESS DIGEST - British business press - Nov 8

The Mail on Sunday

DEAL PUTS SPARKLE BACK INTO AURUM

Aurum is understood to have agreed a vital refinancing with its lenders that will cut its debt by a third. Borrowings of 42 million pounds at Britain's biggest private jeweller, mostly owed to Landsbanki, will be converted to equity leaving the retailer owing about 55 million pounds. Aurum Chairman Don McCarthy will also lend an extra 10 million pound with support from Landsbanki. The new arrangement will cut the company's interest bill to about 3 million pounds a year.

INNOCENT HAS A ROUGH TIME WITH SMOOTHIES

Innocent, the smoothies fruit drinks company, plunged into the red last year having made a pre-tax loss of 11.2 million pounds for the year ending Dec. 31, compared with a profit of 12.1 million pounds the previous year. The losses were due to falling sales and an ambitious European expansion plan which saw their administration costs double. Turnover during the period fell from 112 million pounds to 99 million pounds.

GINSTERS MAKER BEATS RECESSION

Samworth Brothers has reported a 5.2 percent increase in turnover to 597 million pounds in 2008, weathering the recession with near record sales. The Melton Mowbray based firm, which supplies food to all the leading supermarket chains as well as producing its own brands, recorded a pre-tax profit of 42 million pounds, slightly up on last year. Margins were squeezed in the second half due to rising costs of fuel, distribution and raw materials but, in order to meet demand, the firm plans to hire more staff and is commissioning two new production facilities.

Sunday Times

MIRROR CLOSES FINAL PENSION SCHEMES

Trinity Mirror (TNI.L: 株価, 企業情報, レポート), the owner of newspapers including the Daily Mirror, has decided to close its final-salary pension scheme to existing members citing its deficit which stands at 275 million pounds and accounts for 70 percent of the group's debt. The 3,000 active members of the scheme will be transferred to a less generous defined-contributions scheme, as will 20,000 pensioners and deferred members. Trinity estimates the measure will save 9 million pounds a year and says the savings will be invested in reducing the company's debt.

BRITAIN'S SULTAN OF SCRAP TAKE HOME 9 BILLION POUNDS IN WAGES

European Metal Recycling, the UK's largest scrap metal merchant, has reported an underlying sales rise of 25 percent to 2.8 billion pounds during 2008. Such a rise in profits during a period of plummeting commodity prices indicates that EMR continue to be boosted by the boom in recycling, as well as government legislation on recycling such as the "cash for bangers" incentive. Philip Sheppard, head of the Warrington-based family-run company, earned 9 million pounds last year.

PHONE GIANTS EYE MORE CUTS

Both Vodafone (VOD.L: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) and BT (BT.L: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) are to attempt to counteract poor sales growth by increasing their cost-cutting measures. Vodafone blames its lethargic performance on increased competition in the Indian market, where new entrants such as Tata have launched a price war, but believes it can make another 500 million pounds of savings. The chief executive of BT, Ian Livingston, is expected to increase the company's savings target from 1 billion pounds to 1.3 billion pounds.

SHAREWATCH

Antofagasta (ANTO.L: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) (W-shaped recession would hit share price badly)

The Sunday Telegraph

BARCLAYS IN BONUS PLEDGE AS INVESTMENT PROFITS HOLD FIRM

Barclays (BARC.L: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) will this week pledge to reduce cash bonuses despite reporting near-record profits at its investment bank. Their report this Tuesday is expected to show that Barclays Capital saw revenues of 4.6 billion pounds in the three months to September, lifting group profits to 1.5 billion pounds. However, Barclays chief executive John Varley is to risk the anger of investment banking staff, with bonuses expected to be reduced and paid largely in shares.

BAE HIRES PINOCHET LAWYER TO FIGHT SFO

Clare Montgomery, the barrister who represented former Chilean dictator General Pinochet in his Lords extradition hearing, will defend arms manufacturer BAE Systems (BAES.L: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) if the Serious Fraud Office is successful in persuading the attorney general to proceed with a fraud prosecution against BAE. QC Timothy Langdale is acting as adviser to the SFO before it submits to Attorney General Baroness Scotland a file alleging BAE's involvement in corrupt arms deals in Tanzania and Eastern Europe. The company has denied any wrongdoing.

SAINSBURY'S TO GO GREENER WITH CARBON DIOXIDE

Sainsbury's(SBRY.L: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) Chief Executive Sir Justin King will announce this week that the supermarket is to become the first in the UK to cool food using carbon dioxide, rather than "F-gas" chemicals. The supermarket is expected to report a 300 million pound first half pre-tax profit on Wednesday and will commit millions of pounds to the new method of refrigeration. Asda (WMT.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) trialled green refrigeration at its "eco-store" near Liverpool this year, while Marks & Spencer (MKS.L: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) and Morrison's (MRW.L: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) have said their new equipment will not rely on F-gases.

SUNDAY QUESTOR

Shanks (SKS.L: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) [Buy]

Tate & Lyle (TATE.L: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) [Hold]

The Independent on Sunday

INQUIRY ASKS IF HBOS MISLED OVER RIGHTS ISSUE

An investigation by the Financial Services Authority could reveal that former HBOS board members misled their investors about the future of the bank during the bank's 4 billion pound rights issue last year. A circular sent by the board to HBOS investors in June 2008 said the bank was "well placed to deliver long-term sustainable growth" but four months later it had collapsed. This news could cause hundreds of civil court cases against Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L: 株価, 企業情報, レポート), which acquired HBOS in January, and could lead to the former directors of HBOS facing an "unlimited financial penalty".

SHORT-SELLERS STRENGTHEN THEIR GRIP ON TROUBLED BA

The percentage of British Airways (BAY.L: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) shares on loan to short-sellers has increased to more than 16 percent, according to research conducted by Data Explorers. This shows that there is a lack of confidence in the valuation of the shares. BA has announced a 292 million pound revenue shortfall for the six months to September, a figure which BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh believes could total 1 billion pounds for the full year. BA is also meeting resistance in its attempts to restructure its workforce, a move which would result in 3,000 job losses. A Christmas strike is being threatened by unions.

TIME CALLED ON SELF-CERTIFICATION HOME LOANS

Platform, an arm of the Co-operative bank, has withdrawn itself from the self-certification mortgage market. It is the last lender to do so but has followed suit due to the controversy surrounding the products as the borrower does not have to prove their income in order to obtain one. A review by the Financial Services Authority said the sale of these mortgages should be banned. However, this does cause problems for self-employed people who are much less likely to be able to prove their income in line with the rules set by other mortgage packages.

The Observer

CADBURY'S FUTURE UNCERTAIN WITH TEN BILLION POUND KRAFT TAKEOVER BID IMMINENT

The U.S. food company Kraft (KFT.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) has, under stock market rules, until 5 p.m. on Monday to make a formal offer for Cadbury (CBRY.L: 株価, 企業情報, レポート). The UK confectionary manufacturer has for the past two months rejected informal approaches from Kraft, describing the proposed 10.2 billion pound takeover as "unappealing". Kraft predicts annual cost savings of between 625 million dollars and 1 billion dollars should the takeover go ahead, achieved largely through factory closures and job losses, particularly in Western Europe.

UK'S NUCLEAR FUTURE COULD RUIN KALAHARI

Rossing Uranium, a subsidiary of British mining firm Rio Tinto (RIO.L: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) (RIO.AX: 株価, 企業情報, レポート), is to expand its existing giant uranium mine in the Kalahari desert, Namibia, into the country's Namib-Naukluft National Park. Rossing, which is also part owned by French state-owned company Areva (CEPFi.PA: 株価, 企業情報, レポート), part manager of the Sellafield nuclear complex, has leased hundreds of square kilometres of desert and plans to build one of the world's largest uranium mines in order to satisfy an increasing global demand for the radioactive material to fuel nuclear power stations.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants.