PRESS DIGEST - Financial Times - Dec 24

The Financial Times

TRICHET TO FOCUS ON EUROZONE INFLATION

European Central Bank president Jean Claude Trichet has said the bank will not be distracted in its drive to contain inflation, despite repeated interest rate cuts by its U.S. and UK counterparts. The ECB has held eurozone rates at four percent since June. But the U.S. Federal Reserve has loosened monetary policy three times during that period and the Bank of England this month cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 5.5 percent in what was believed to be the first of several cuts to come. Trichet said other Western central bankers "are in a different position", noting that eurozone inflation is standing at a six-year high of 3.1 percent. He said some members of the Bank's governing council voted for tighter monetary policy during their last meeting on December 6.

CITY PUTS ON KINDER FACE TO HELP RAISE SKILLS

Research by the Financial Times has found the number of City of London staff joining charitable projects sponsored by their employers jumped 40 percent this year. City institutions now spend more than 30 million pounds a year on charitable activities for education and children alone. Michael Snyder, operating head of the City of London Corporation, which gives more than 10 million pounds a year to education, said the City was inspired largely by "enlightened self-interest". Projects backed by City firms include helping local children to read and providing free telephone services for the homeless.

IPHONE USERS REACHING OUT FOR MOBILE DATA SERVICES, SAYS O2

Mobile operator O2 has said consumers who have purchased Apple's iPhone have become voracious users of email and other data services, giving other network operators hope they will also soon gain access to a valuable revenue stream. After years of low take-up, the use of mobile phones for Internet surfing is on the verge of becoming widespread in Europe and the United States, with the iPhone acting as an important catalyst for such activity. Incoming O2 chief executive Matthew Key said 60 percent of the company's iPhone customers are now sending more than 25 megabytes of data a month, the equivalent of 7,500 plain text emails. Analysts have predicted the increased use of mobile Web surfing means the market value of mobile advertising services will rise to 11.3 billion dollars by 2011, with phone operators likely to gain access to a large chunk of that revenue.

HOUSE SALES SIGNAL SLOWDOWN IN PROPERTY MARKET, SURVEY SAYS

A survey of estate agents to be published on Monday by Hometrack has found houses are taking longer to sell than at any time during the past six years. The survey found house prices fell by 0.3 percent in December -- the third consecutive monthly drop -- while the average time to sell rose to 8.3 weeks. The findings from the survey were in line with other recent surveys of the housing market, such as those published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Halifax and Nationwide.

JOB SECURITY FEARS AT NEW HIGH

A survey of 2,000 adults by Lloyds TSB has found workers' fears over job security have reached a six-month high, despite record employment. Trevor Williams, chief economist at the bank, said the slump in confidence coupled with the pressure of rising prices does not bode well and could dampen consumer spending and depress prospects for the housing market.

TULLOCH PUTS FLOTATION ON ICE

Tulloch Homes has indefinitely postponed plans for a flotation on AIM due to challenging market conditions and will instead focus on organic growth and acquisitions. Chairman and chief executive David Sutherland said the company might instead consider private equity support at a future date. He said: "Now is not the right time for a UK housebuilder to be going ahead with an AIM floatation. We never say never, but at this juncture we have no plans for a floatation in 2008."

LAST-DITCH TALKS TO SAVE STRUGGLING MAXJET AIRWAYS

Last-ditch efforts continued over the weekend to put together a financial rescue plan for Maxjet Airways, the struggling all-business class airline. Trading in the shares of the airline -- whose fate is expected to be announced on Monday -- were suspended two-and-a-half weeks ago. The company started flying transatlantic services in November 2005 between Stansted and New York JFK airports. It is believed the deteriorating world financial markets have made the search for a rescue package more difficult.

UK COAL POISED TO REJECT APPROACH FROM AUSTRIAN INVESTOR

UK Coal (UKC.L) is thought to be on the verge of rejecting an informal approach from the Austrian investment group Meinl MPOW.VI for the company's coal and power business. The Austrian group recently made an informal approach without indicating the price it would pay and proposed a meeting UK Coal's management. But UK Coal's board is understood to believe its prospects as an independent company are better than at any stage for several years due to the expiry of undervalued long-term contracts, rising coal prices and the closure of unprofitable mines.

BAUGUR PLEDGES TO STAY IN UK HIGH STREETS

Icelandic investment group Baugur has vowed to remain on the UK high street despite the fact the value of its investments in quoted retailers fell by more than 100 million pounds this year. Chief executive Gunnar Sigurdsson dismissed talk of a fire sale of assets, saying: "I think 2008 will be quite interesting. We will be more likely to be on the buying rather than the selling side." The company's stakes in Woolworths WLW.L, French Connection (FCCN.L), Moss Bros (MOSB.L), Booker (BOK.L) and Debenhams (DEB.L),which were worth almost 370 million pounds at their height, are now valued at about 250 million pounds.

BAE IN 226 MILLION POUND TAKEOVER OF MTC

BAE Systems (BAES.L) has taken over MTC Technologies, a provider of technological, professional and logistics services to the U.S. defence department and intelligence services, in a deal valued at 450 million dollars, including the assumption of debt. MTC, ranked among the fastest growing U.S. defence technology companies, has its headquarters in Dayton, Ohio and employs about 3,000 staff. BAE has been expanding rapidly in the United States, and is now the sixth-largest supplier to the Pentagon.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants.