PRESS DIGEST - Financial Times - Sept 10

The Financial Times

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION FALLS BY 1.1 PERCENT

Official data just released reveals that in the three months to July industrial production fell by 1.1 percent compared to that in the three months to June. In July industrial production contracted by 0.4 percent with activity affected by routine maintenance work on North Sea drilling equipment. Separately, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research has issued figures forecasting a 0.2 percent fall in industrial output for the month to August. For the three months to August 30, the NIESR forecasts GDP shrank 0.1 percent

DARLING DEFIANT ON PUBLIC SECTOR PAY

Speaking at the Trades Union Congress annual conference on Tuesday, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling vowed to keep firm control of public sector pay. Darling attempted to sweeten his tough message with an attack on "excessive bonuses" in the City, which he said fuelled the credit crunch. The chancellor faced a hostile audience which believes the Labour government is too close to business and unwilling to risk upsetting the City by raising cash to help society's poorest. He is facing a growing list of demands from unions and the Labour left, including a windfall tax on energy companies, higher pay for public sector workers and higher taxes on the "super rich".

BANKS FIGHT "NAME AND SHAME" MOVE

Leading banks have launched a rearguard action against plans to "name and shame" them over their handling of customer complaints. The banks are lobbying hard against proposals from the Financial Ombudsman Service to draw up a league table of how institutions deal with unhappy clients. The banks' complaints come as the industry is in conflict with competition watchdogs and the ombudsman over key areas ranging from overdraft charges to insurance. The British Bankers' Association says the league table plans are crude and take no account of an institution's customer profile, size or main lines of business.

HSBC AND STANCHART GIVEN GREEN LIGHT TO EXPAND IN VIETNAM

HSBC (HSBA.L) and Standard Chartered (STAN.L) have secured approval to be the first overseas banks to incorporate local operations in Vietnam's fast-growing economy. The banks have each been awarded a licence to apply to open wholly owned units in Vietnam and the move honours a pledge by the country to open the sector when it joined the World Trade Organisation last year. Both banks boast long histories in Vietnam. HSBC opened its first branch in the country in 1870 and Standard Chartered followed in 1904.

BRITVIC LOSES FIZZ IN IRISH SLUMP

Britvic (BVIC.L) has said the Irish economy is taking a heavy toll on soft drink sales and that its full-year Irish profits would miss expectations. Britvic released an unexpected trading report on Tuesday ahead of a meeting with investors in Dublin. The owner of the J2O brand said strong sales in its British and international business would counter the deterioration in Ireland and group earnings would be in line with expectations. The decline in Irish sales comes as economists forecast that the country will slide into its first recession since the early 1980s.

BG GROUP ADMITS DEFEAT IN ORIGIN ENERGY TAKEOVER BATTLE

Oil and gas company BG Group (BG.L) has said it will not increase its 13.8 billion Australian dollar offer for Origin Energy (ORG.AX). The move in effect concedes defeat in a takeover battle after Origin struck a 9.6 billion Australian dollar gas development deal with ConocoPhillips (COP.N) on Monday. BG's hostile offer and ConocoPhillips' joint venture with Origin underline the level of interest in Australia's energy reserves and in particular cleaner fuels such as liquefied natural gas.

VEDANTA IN 9.8 BILLION DOLLAR EXPANSION PLAN

Vedanta Resources (VED.L) on Tuesday detailed a 9.8 billion dollar plan to make it a leading producer of aluminium. The FTSE 100 miner also revealed a simplified corporate structure to iron out cross-holdings and conflicts of interest created by acquisitions. Vedanta hopes to benefit from demand for aluminium, forecast to grow at 5.7 percent a year until 2020. Projects in the expansion include a 5.6 billion dollar, 1.25 million-tonne smelter in Jharsuguda in India, and a 325,000-tonne smelter in Korba costing two billion dollars. Vedanta also revealed on Monday it had received approval for a bauxite mining project at Lanjigarh in Orissa.

ECONOMY BLOCKS RECOVERY AT JSG

The chief executive of Johnson Service Group (JSG.L) has said the company's long-awaited recovery is being hampered by the weak economic climate. The dry cleaning, textile rental and facilities management group cut net debt from 169 million pounds to about 80 million pounds at the end of 2007. Pre-tax losses of 7.5 million pounds were partly caused by higher dry cleaning input costs as well as lower demand following the smoking ban. Fears over debt levels caused the company's shares to fall over 90 percent at the end of 2007.

DEMAND BOOST REVENUE AT IG

IG Group (IGG.L) said on Tuesday it had seen further strong growth in the number of accounts opened in the first quarter of its financial year. The spread-betting group revealed revenue for the three months to the end of August was up 26 percent to 53 million pounds. During the quarter IG signed up 45 percent more customers for its spread betting and contracts for difference accounts than it had during the same period in 2007. Shares closed at 345 pence, up 12.5 pence

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants