PRESS DIGEST - British business - March 14
The Times
EMI FAVOURITE TO BUY CHRYSALIS AS WARNER DROPS OUT OF RACE
On Thursday, it emerged Warner Music (WMG.N) had been sidelined and that EMI was edging closer to winning the auction for Chrysalis (CHS.L), one of Britain's last big independent music groups. Chrysalis owns the music publishing rights to artists such as Blondie, David Gray and much of David Bowie's early work. It is understood a few others are also involved in the auction, but sources said Terra Firma-owned EMI was a strong contender.
UTV COMMITMENT TO BUYING VIRGIN RADIO
UTV (UTV.L) has announced its commitment to buying Virgin Radio, saying it has a similar demographic to its national radio station. The owner of talkSPORT said although the television market was still challenging, this decline was offset by its radio division. SMG is understood to want at least 60 million pounds for the assets.
GALA WARNS THE TREASURY
Gala Coral, the gambling operator, has said that if the Treasury's failure to get rid of VAT on bingo was "the end of the line" on the matter, it would be obliged to "decide on the optimum size of our bingo estate".
The Daily Telegraph
CHANNEL 4 PITCHES FOR PUBLIC SERVICE
Channel 4 has begun another campaign to get more money from the taxpayer by highlighting its public service credentials. The broadcaster has also made a commitment to cut spending on U.S. imports and put more money into news, regional production, British films and shows for older children. Channel 4 is asking for 150 million pounds worth of help from the public purse, but attempts to get it have so far been stalled by premium rate phone-in scandals and the Celebrity Big Brother racism row last year.
GPG SENDS FORM FOR SIEFF TO SACK HIMSELF
The former Marks & Spencer director who chairs Newbury Racecourse (NYR.PZ), Sir David Sieff, has been sent an already filled-in proxy voting form inviting him to sack himself. The sender, Guinness Peat Group, is using some controversial tactics as the race towards Wednesday's extraordinary meeting reaches its final furlong. Sieff said: "The proxy form can only confuse shareholders and muddy the waters. This is the first time I have come across this approach when running the board of a public company."
PATRICIA HEWITT AND LLOYDS TSB CHIEF JOIN BT BOARD
BT (BT.L) has appointed former Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt and Lloyds TSB (LLOY.L) chief executive Eric Daniels to its board. Both Daniels and Hewitt will be paid 60,000 pounds for their role as non-executive directors, but BT also said their salary could rise as they took on additional committee responsibilities. BT non-executives are expected to attend nine board meetings every year.
The Independent
NAPSTER AND O2 LINK UP TO OFFER FIVE MILLION TRACKS
O2 OTOWE.OB has signed a deal with Napster NAPS.O that will give the mobile phone operator's subscribers access to five million tracks for download to both PC and phone. The service prices individual songs at 99 pence and bundles of five at four pounds. Antony Douglas, head of entertainment content at O2, said: "In dealing with the music industry it is important to have a partner with contacts with the leading labels because we need all the parts to come together."
SPORTS DIRECT "ON RIGHT TRACK"
Sports Direct International (SPD.L) said it is on track to deliver underlying earnings of 148 million pounds for the year to April. The sports retailer, controlled by Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, made the announcement despite the challenging retail market. In the 13 weeks to January 27, group sales were 137 million pounds, with gross profits of 142 million pounds.
ARGOS OWNER IN PROFITS WARNING
Home Retail Group (HOME.L), owner of Homebase and Argos, said it is braced for a fall in profits and underlying sales this year. Terry Duddy, chief executive, said: "We're only beginning to feel the impact of the interest rate rises that were put through over the last 12-18 months." Analysts' consensus forecasts show underlying profits falling to 393 million pounds in the year to February 2009 from 429 million pounds.
The Guardian
BEBO SALE TO AOL NETS FOUNDERS A FORTUNE IN THREE YEARS
On Thursday, Michael Birch was celebrating as Bebo was sold to AOL for 417 million pounds. The deal was hailed by AOL as a good way to enhance its Internet business, which has faced some difficulty in recent years. However, Mike Butcher, the editor of technology news Web site TechCrunch UK, said: "The smartest thing AOL can do is to leave Bebo well alone in terms of management and day to day operation."
GAZPROM BUYS INTO UK SMART METERS
The largest gas group in the world, Gazprom (GAZP.MM), has bought a stake in a British smart meter supply company, hoping the energy efficiency product will make its supplies more attractive to UK customers. The Russian company said the stake in TruRead would help it "differentiate" itself by offering innovative services. Vitaly Vasiliev, chief executive of Gazprom Marketing & Trading, said: "With rising public and regulatory concern about the need to reduce carbon emissions, this propriety technology will enable multi-commodity consumers to be more energy efficient and to control their energy use more easily and cost effectively."
BONUS REVISED SO BOSSES DON'T GO SHORT AT B&B
Last year, boardroom bosses at Bradford & Bingley BB.L received a special bonus because they were paid less than their rivals even though profits at the former building society halved. The annual report revealed chief executive Steven Crawshaw received over two million pounds after getting the special bonus of 640,000 pounds and an extra 280,000 pounds from performance share plans. The bank is launching new pay deals for its executives whose performance will be measured against non-financial measures for the first time.
Prepared for Reuters by Durrants
