PRESS DIGEST - Financial Times - Dec 4
BA GIVEN ULTIMATUM BY IBERIA
The Spanish airline Iberia (IBLA.MC) has informed British Airways (BAY.L) that it must make a straight choice between itself or Qantas (QAN.AX) as its future merger partner, as it would be "too complex" to explore both options. The chief executive of Iberia, Fernando Conde, stated that he was unaware of BA's covert discussions with Qantas until around an hour before BA's public announcement on Tuesday. Mr Conde also announced that he is to meet the chief executive of BA, Willie Walsh, at an unspecified date in the near future "to clarify what we are talking about".
INVESTORS REJECT RESTRUCTURING AT CENTAURUS FUND
An attempted restructuring of the Centaurus Alpha hedge fund by its owners Centaurus Capital has been cancelled, after it was rejected by the fund's investors. The 814 million pound fund is to be run down and the majority of investors repaid, with only a small number of investors remaining. Centaurus wishes to downsize the fund whilst avoiding a fire sale of its position, to which end it has imposed a 10 percent limit on monthly payouts.
TERRA FIRMA LOSES TRIO OF EXECUTIVES SECONDED TO EMI
Three executives at the Terra Firma [TERA.UL] private equity house -- Chris Roling, Riaz Punja and Ashley Unwin - have been seconded by Guy Hands to EMI, the music group which Terra Firma acquired for four billion pounds in 2007. This is seen by some as a stratagem by Mr. Hands for getting rid of the executives, as EMI is unlikely to turn a profit for a long time; the resulting lack of bonuses or carried interest may make the executives look for jobs elsewhere. "It is not a happy ship, there are some real issues there", said an insider of Terra Firma.
SAGE CAUTIONS AS TURNOVER GROWTH SLOWS
The technology group Sage (SGE.L) has announced to the market that its sales will not increase next year, and that it has no plans for any acquisitions until 2010 at the earliest. Weak software revenues have been offset by a growth in support and maintenance turnover, reported chief executive Paul Walker, and whilst the company's U.S. operations fell 2.9 percent to 501 million pounds, the total revenue of European operations rose by 15 percent to 457.3 million pounds. Sage's prudent stance met with approval from the market, and its share price closed up 10 pence at 167.8 pence.
BUILDING TO HALVE IN KEY HOUSING AREAS
Housebuilding in England's eleven "Pathfinder" areas looks set to halve over each of the next two years. The government has set aside 2.2 billion pounds between 2002 and 2011 for development in these areas but national declines in mortgage availability and property sales are expected to reduce drastically the expected build rate of 10,000 new homes per year for 2009-10. Keepmoat, the largest pathfinder builder, expects to build only 600 of its projected 1,200 homes in 2009-10.
