PRESS DIGEST - Financial Times - Nov 17

Financial Times

GROUP AIMS TO PROMOTE FINANCIAL SECTOR

The City of London Corporation is to work with financial services industry "heavy hitters" in launching an umbrella body, to be known as TheCityUK, which will promote the British financial services industry in Brussels, Washington and elsewhere. It will coordinate lobbying by existing trade groups. The organisation will launch next spring and will be chaired by Stuart Popham, senior partner at law firm Clifford Chance. TheCityUK will be funded initially by the City of London Corporation before becoming a non-for-profit organisation supported by membership dues.

MPC MEMBER UPBEAT ON THE ECONOMY

According to comments by Andrew Sentance, a member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, Britain's economy is probably already out of recession despite official figures that showed economic growth continued to fall during the third quarter of the year. Speaking at the University of London, Sentance said the wider body of evidence -- including indicators tracked by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the CBI's industrial trends survey -- suggested that current output levels were even higher than at similar stages of previous recessions.

SCRAMBLE FOR RISK MANAGERS BOOSTS THEIR PAY

According to Interim Partners, a leading provider of financial interim managers, increased demand for interim managers from financial services companies has increased the pay of those specialising in risk and compliance by an average of 50 percent over the past two years, with many now typically earning around 1,500 pounds a day. Jane Hanson, a consultant who advises companies on interim posts, said the shift in power within banks and financial companies from sales staff and traders towards those dealing with credit control, risk and compliance had been given greater urgency following Sir David Walker's report on governance in the financial sector.

LONMIN FEARS STRONG RAND AFTER DEEP LOSS

Lonmin (LMI.L), one of the world's biggest platinum producers, said an industry recovery was being hampered by the strength of the South African rand. Shares in the miner rose nine percent to 17.40 pounds on Monday despite the announcement of a 272 million dollar pre-tax loss in the year to September 30, compared to a 779 million dollar profit the previous year. Chief executive Ian Farmer predicted the start of a "gradual improvement" in 2010 as manufacturing in the automobile and technology sectors picks up.

PERSIMMON UPBEAT AS ORDERS SWELL

Persimmon (PSN.L) said on Monday it has already met sales targets for 2009. The housebuilder also said it has secured 500 million pounds worth of forward orders for 2010, a 50 percent improvement on orders at the same stage last year. Chief executive Mike Farley said interest from first-time buyers had improved on the diminished levels seen over the last 18 months, with 18 percent of sales across the group involving first-time buyers, compared with ten percent last year. Net debt fell from 960 million pounds to 399 million pounds.

MAJESTIC WINE CHEERED BY ONLINE SPARKLE

Majestic Wine (MJW.L) saw a nine percent rise in first-half pre-tax profit to 6.1 million pounds, driven by an 8.9 percent increase in sales to private customers and a 24.6 percent rise in online sales. Majestic used a blog and notices on the Twitter website to attract online customers. Chief executive Steve Lewis said: "We've unleashed the potential of the twenty-somethings in our business, improving the blog written by staff and selling parcels of wine which are too small to send to stores as online exclusives." Shares rose nine pence to 254 pence.

ASOS EXPANDS AND PLAYS DOWN SUPERMARKET THREAT

Asos (ASOS.L) chief executive Nick Robertson has dismissed the potential threat from supermarkets to Asos's online fashion business. Tesco (TSCO.L) said last month it is aiming to become the number one retailer in the clothing market by volume. Robertson said: "My fashion-loving customers aren't going to be all over the Tesco clothing website." Asos saw international sales rise 161 percent in the seven weeks to November 15. UK growth over the same period was 23 percent, marking a slowdown from the 33 percent growth seen in the first half. Shares were steady at 413 pence.

TERRA FIRMA WIRITES DOWN EMI VALUE

Terra Firma has written off its investment in the music company EMI by 90 percent. The private equity house run by Guy Hands offered to inject more equity into EMI in exchange for Citigroup writing off one billion pounds of its 2.6 billion pound loan to EMI, a proposal that has been rejected by the American bank, resulting in negotiations between the two sides currently being at stalemate. A person close to Citigroup said: "(Mr Hands) is trying to get us to do something that is not economic."

CHI-X PROFILE RAISED IN UK WITH IG LINK

IG Group (IGG.L) has connected to the equities trading platform Chi-X Europe in a move that will allow ordinary investors access to the fast growing alternative to the London Stock Exchange (LSE.L). IG estimates that the link-up will benefit 80,000 of the spread betting group's 133,000 customers. IG is to also connect to the Turquoise trading platform and is to offer customers "smart order routing", a technology that compares and finds the best prices across various trading platforms.

INVESCO PERPETUAL LAUNCHES SPLIT CAP

Invesco Perpetual (IPU.L) has launched a new split cap investment trust in response to demand from investors for investments that are taxed as capital gains rather than investments. The new Dual Return Trust is to be structured along the same lines as the original split capital funds of the 1960s, rather than more complex versions in which many investors lost money in the early 2000s. Invesco aims to raise 75 million pounds through the fund this year, with a further 50 million pound tranche planned for early 2010.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants