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Issue 1,223 Monday 20 September 2010 www.cityam.com FREE

LONDONERS HIT AS Nick Clegg:

No merger
HOUSEPRICESFALL with Tories

▲
POLITICS
BY PHILIP WALLER
NICK CLEGG will today tell Lib Dem
PROPERTY members that his party will field can-
▲

BY JOHN DUNNE Average UK didates in all constituencies in the

THE UK HOUSING market dropped
back for the third month in a row in
September, with London prices now
also moving into the red.
Figures from Rightmove show that
average asking prices across the UK
dropped by 1.1 per cent to £229,767
compared with the previous month.
Prices have now fallen back by a
total 3.4 per cent in the last three
months, half way towards wiping out
gains made in the first six months of
the year. Asking prices are up by just
2.6 per cent over the past 12 months,
a decline in real terms.
In London, the average asking price
fell by 1.5 per cent to £390,768 this
month. Prices are up just 2.1 per cent
over the past year, a cut after adjust-
ing for consumer price inflation.
The data comes after bleak figures
which showed that retail sales unex-
pectedly dropped 0.5 per cent in
August – triggering fears that high
inflation, weak earnings growth, aus-
terity measures and a looming VAT
hike were threatening to derail a con-
sumer recovery. Most economists
believe that economic growth will be
weaker – albeit still positive – in the
third and fourth quarter of 2010.
The biggest London fall was in
Hammersmith and Fulham, where
prices dived by 8.3 per cent, while
Tower Hamlets performed best, with
House prices are down for the third month running and home owners are sitting tight
a rise of three per cent.
Rightmove director Miles Shipside
said: “The ‘double-dippers’ will be
able to point to a clear downward
trend, with new sellers dropping
their asking prices for three months
on the bounce. They can cite tough
competition amongst sellers and
agents struggling to find buyers for
their record levels of unsold stock.”
But he emphasised that the data
was not exclusively negative and that
the figures could be a blip, with a
recovery ahead. Shipside said: “Those
seeing this as a short term autumn
blip rather than the onset of a serious
double-dip, will point out tentative
signs of a reduction in new property
coming to the market.
“This has resulted in average
unsold stock per agent stabilising
after six consecutive monthly rises.”
The lack of new housing stock – the
lowest since April at 26,087 a week –
asking prices 2015 general election. He will deny
rumours of a full electoral pact or
DOWN 1.1% even merger between the two parties.
to £229,767 Speaking at his party’s annual con-
in September ference in Liverpool yesterday, Clegg
also backed calls for a review of the
coalition’s immigration cap after con-
Average UK cerns from the City that it is harming
asking prices the economy. He said he agreed with
DOWN 3.4% Vince Cable’s dissent on the policy.
The government will launch a
in past three crackdown on offshore and online tax
months dodgers and smugglers in a bid to save
£7bn a year by 2015, it was also
announced. Ministers are to earmark
London £900m to fund a new team of investi-
asking prices gators to probe offshore tax evasion.
DOWN 1.5% They will also use the cash to create
cyber tax crime teams and to better
to £390,768
in September detect alcohol and tobacco smuggling.
Tax evasion costs the UK about
£7bn a year, avoidance costs a similar
Picture: GETTY amount and attacks on the tax system
by organised criminals cost about
is likely to increase competition in £5bn. The measures are expected to
the run up to Christmas. form part of HM Revenue & Customs’
Rightmove said the reduced num- settlement in the government’s
ber of sellers, in what is traditional- spending review, which it will
ly a busy time of year, is probably announce on 20 October.
down to finances and sentiment Liberal Democrat chief secretary to
being at a low ebb. Conversely, inter- the Treasury Danny Alexander said:
est rates are low enough that home “Tax avoidance and evasion are unac-
owners at financial breaking point ceptable at the best of times but in
have been able to avoid forced sales. today’s circumstances, it is morally
NEWS: P6 indefensible.”
INVESTMENT: P29 CLEGG SPEECH: P12

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with segregated liability between sub-funds. Investors and potential investors should read the full Prospectus, and relevant Simplified Prospectus and Supplement for a full list of risk warnings prior to making a decision to invest. These can be obtained free
of charge from HSBC Global Asset Management (UK) Limited, 8 Canada Square, London, E14 5HQ, UK. UK based investors in HSBC ETFs plc are advised that they may not be afforded some of the protections conveyed by the Financial Services and
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 2 News
A changing global balance of power
EDITOR’S LETTER
ALLISTER HEATH
IT should have been cause for some
(modest) celebration – yet nobody
even noticed as another milestone on
the road to recovery was finally passed
the other day. The total industrial out-
put of the G7 – the UK, the US and five
other top nations – added to that of
the seven largest emerging economies
– including China, India and Brazil –
has now overtaken its pre-recession
peak. In other words, while the reces-
sion wasted a couple of years of Planet
Earth Inc’s economic expansion, total
global output hit a new record in July
and almost certainly another in
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Editor Allister Heath
Deputy Editor David Hellier
News Editor Ben Griffiths
Night Editor Katie Hope
Associate Editor David Crow
Business Features Editor Marc Sidwell
Lifestyle Editor Zoe Strimpel
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Pictures Alex Ridley
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Head of Distribution Nick Owen
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WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
THE SUNDAYS TODAY
CHEYNE CAPITAL SHUTS EQUITY
FUND AFTER POOR PERFORMANCE
London-based hedge fund Cheyne
Capital has closed a much-heralded
equities fund only a year after it
opened. The fund, which it is believed
was equivalent to around 1 per cent
of the approximate £5bn Cheyne has
under management, closed after a
dissapointing performance amid a
turbulent equities market.
CARR: NEW NUCLEAR ENERGY VITAL
FOR UK
Roger Carr, chairman of Centrica, has
warned that Britain must wake up to
its future reliance on nuclear energy
if it wants “to keep the lights on”.
Carr said nuclear power is a ‘practical
necessity” if the UK is to reduce its
carbon usage by 80 per cent by 2050.
Carr urged for a “fast track” planning
approach to future reactors.
August. But the devil is in the detail,
as always.
Production in these 14 countries –
which now account for the bulk of
global GDP – collapsed by 14 per cent
between February 2008 and February
2009. It took only 17 months to recap-
ture the loss, as an excellent analysis
from Henderson’s Simon Ward calcu-
lates. It was not quite a V-shaped recov-
ery but stunningly close. The reason
why all of this sounds so weird and
counter-intuitive to those of us in the
West who are still suffering from ele-
vated unemployment and falling con-
fidence is that so much of the global
recovery has come from ultra-fast
expansion in Asia. The West is grow-
ing again but its output level remains
substantially lower than at its pre-
recessionary peak. It will take a while
before this is no longer so. This is cer-
tainly the case in the UK, where GDP
still remains lower than it was just
before the bubble burst.
The E7, by contrast, has contributed
9 percentage points of the 16 per cent
BP well seal
cements leak
BP IN CRISIS
BY EMMA SADOWSKI
BP HAS finally killed the leaking
Macondo well, effectively ending the
five-month Gulf of Mexico ordeal,
which has already cost the company
$9.6bn (£6.14bn).
The oil major confirmed last night
that its efforts to plug the leak were
completed after pumping cement
into the well.
April’s explosion of the Deepwater
Horizon rig killed 11 people, spilled
more than four million barrels of oil
into the Gulf’s waters and led to the
worst environmental disaster in US
history.
“This is a significant milestone in
the response to the Deepwater
Horizon tragedy and is the final step
in a complex and unprecedented sub-
RISK CAPITAL SELLS STAKE IN
CELEBRITY FISH SUPPLIER
Entrepreneur Luke Johnson is prepar-
ing to sell a stake in Seafood
Holdings, the firm that supplies fish
to top restaurants and chefs such as
Gordon Ramsay and Heston
Blumenthal. Johnson’s private equity
firm Risk Capital Partners has hired
Cavendish Corporate Finance to find
a buyer for its 24 per cent stake in the
company.
DOORSTEP LENDER FACES ADMINIS-
TRATION
Cattles, the doorstep lender, has
begun preparing for administration
in a move that is expected to wipe out
the investments of about 160,000
small shareholders and threaten
3,000 jobs in Britain. Last ditch rescue
negotiations with creditors fell
through last week.
recovery in combined output from the
February 2009 low. E7 output is now
15 per cent above its pre-recession
peak; its rate of growth has been
entirely unaffected by the global reces-
sion. All of which confirms that the
shift in power from G7 to emerging
nations has accelerated further. It is
likely to continue to do so over the
next few months: leading indicator
surveys in the G7 point to a sharp
reduction in growth, though expan-
sion will pick up again soon. Leading
indicators in emerging nations have
also dipped but nevertheless still sug-
gest decent growth.
But the main challenge is structur-
al. Growth in the emerging world is
even coming from countries that few
realise are worth watching – especial-
ly in Africa, where a growing number
of nations have started to put in place
pro-growth measures. The successful
ones invariably rely on pro-market
changes, rather than on foreign aid.
One interesting case is that of Tunisia:
Newsweek ranked it as the best coun-
sea operation,” said outgoing chief
executive Tony Hayward.
Admiral Thad Allen, who is over-
seeing the government’s response to
the oil spill, confirmed the kill and
called the well “effectively dead”.
US President Barack Obama called
the move an “important milestone”
and said his administration was now
focusing on ensuring the Gulf coast
“recovers fully from the disaster”.
Hayward said that BP is still com-
mitted to “restoring the damage done
to the Gulf coast and the livelihoods
of the people across the region”.
Outgoing BP chief
executive Tony
Hayward said the
group is committed to
restoring the Gulf.
TESCO PLANS FOR US FOOTHOLD TOO
AMBITIOUS
Sir Terry Leahy’s original vision for
Tesco’s assault on the US was far
more ambitious than the retailer has
publicly admitted, with the chief
executive drawing up plans for a
chain of 10,000 convenience stores
across America. To date Tesco has
only opened 168 branches of its
Fresh&Easy store, three years after
Leahy’s pledge.
CAMERON EARNS LESS THAN 9,000
PUBLIC SERVANTS.
More than 9,000 people working in
the public sector earn more than the
prime minister’s £142,500 a year,
according to the most extensive
analysis to date of senior public sector
pay. Some 38,000 public sector staff
earn more than £100,000 a year.and
try in Africa, while the World Bank’s
Investing Across Borders 2010 report
argued that it stands out in the
Middle East and the Maghreb for its
looser restrictions on foreign invest-
ment and other reforms. The World
Economic Forum’s global competitive-
ness report 2010-2011 ranked Tunisia
as 32nd out of 139 countries.
Rich countries cannot compete
exclusively on unit costs. They do need
to boost their productivity, which is
being held back by poor education,
infrastructure and excessive costs.
Most importantly of all, they and their
citizens need to wake up: complacen-
cy and hubris are deep-seated diseases
eating away at the developed world’s
prosperity. The first thing one notices
when travelling to Shanghai, Mumbai
or Dubai is the extraordinary energy,
the desire to grow, conquer and suc-
ceed. Unless we rediscover some of
that raw passion, we will condemn
ourselves to years of relative decline.
The choice is ours.
allister.heath@cityam.com
Prime Minister George Papandreou is trying to repair Greece’s image
Greek stress tests delayed
WORLD ECONOMY
▲
BY JENNY FORSYTH
BANK stress tests on Greece have been
delayed while the international com-
munity gauges the success of the
country’s capital raising programme.
The International Monetary Fund
(IMF), European Commission and
European Central Bank (ECB) –
known as the “troika” – has agreed
with Greece’s central bank to post-
pone testing banks’ solvency by one
month to the end of October.
BRAZIL’S OIL FIRM PETROBRAS AIMS
FOR LARGEST SHARE ISSUE IN HISTO-
RY
Brazil’s state-controlled oil company
Petrobras is aiming to sell a record-
breaking $64bn (£41bn) worth of
shares to investors this week – the lat-
est and biggest sign of the developing
nation’s recent ascent through the
ranks of world finance. The offering is
set to become the largest issue to date,
surpassing the $36bn raised by
Japanese telecoms company NTT in
1987 and the $24bn raised by the
Royal Bank of Scotland in June 2008.
DIVIDEND BONANZA AS BUTLINES
RIDES BRITISH STAYCATION BOOM
The family owners behind the Butlins
and Haven holiday parks are happy
campers, after pocketing nearly £60m
in dividends as cost-conscious Britons
continued to holiday at home rather
than abroad.
CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010
NEWS | IN BRIEF
Emerging markets M&A high
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in
emerging markets has pushed above the
European level of deal-making for the
first time. This year, emerging market
targeted M&A volume is up by more
than two-thirds to $575.7bn (£368bn)
while the European level has increased
by just 20 per cent to $550.2bn, accord-
ing to Dealogic data. Figures show
emerging markets deal now make up 30
per cent of global M&A activity, while
European deals account for 29 per cent,
which is the lowest level in 12 years.
US TARP cases set to continue
The US Treasury's $700bn bailout fund
officially expires in two weeks, but Neil
Barofsky, the top cop for the Troubled
Asset Relief Programme, is still hard at
work. He is hiring new staff and opening
four regional branch offices to pursue
TARP-related fraud cases and monitor
remaining taxpayer investments for
years to come. Barofsky, the TARP
Special Inspector General, said his office
staff, now numbering around 140, is
expected to reach a previously stated
goal of 160 in coming months and may
go beyond that.
Picture: REUTERS
The move will allow the country’s
banks’ nine-month results to be
assessed. It will also give the National
Bank of Greece time to continue its
bid to raise €1.7bn (£1.4bn) capital –
due for completion next month.
A further test of investor confi-
dence will be tomorrow’s short-term
auction of three-month bills.
Greece borrowed more than €1bn
in the capital markets last Tuesday in
its first debt issue in two months –
paying a high yield of 4.82 per cent,
compared to 4.65 per cent in July.
BARCLAYS LOOKS TO WARD OFF GOV-
ERNMENT
Barclays is working on contingency
plans to make radical changes in an
attempt to head off more draconian
government measures. The high
street bank is looking at ways to ring-
fence its deposits and is considering
whether to put its investment bank-
ing arm Barclays Capital into a sepa-
rate legal entity. The move comes
soon after Barclays controversially
announced that Bob Diamond, the
head of its investment banking divi-
sion, would become group chief exec-
utive next March.
MAYOR WARNS OVER OLYMPIC VISI-
TOR FORECASTS
Executive Director of the European
Tour Operators Association Tom
Jenkins says that forecasts of visitor
numbers to the 2012 Olympics
“appear to be exaggerated”.
CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010 News 3

Unite to clash with

HSBC non-execu-
tive director John
Thornton, left, and
senior independent
director Sir Simon

BMI in High Court

Robertson, right,
are the two
favourites to take
over from Stephen
Green as chairman
of the bank

worth £6m.

▲
AVIATION
BY EMMA SADOWSKI
BMI, the British carrier, is to come
face to face with trade union Unite in
the High Court today over a pay
freeze dispute.
Unite, which has also launched
legal action against British Airways, is
taking the BMI to court for a “breach
of contract” over failure to increase
pay for 3,000 BMI staff. The increase is
The union is claiming that BMI
went back on a three year pay agree-
ment established in 2007, which gave
staff pay rises each year.
Unite alleges that BMI, which
agreed with the union to freeze 2009
pay due to the recession, has not
awarded staff with a 4.75 per cent pay
rise they should have received for the
period ending 31 March 2010. BMI
could not be reached for comment.

HSBC nearing
a verdict on
chairmanship
in the running for the chairmanship,
▲

BANKING
BY VICTORIA BATES
A SUCCESSOR to HSBC chairman
Stephen Green could be announced
as soon as next week, it emerged over
the weekend.
Former Goldman Sachs investment
banker John Thornton is still widely
tipped as one of the favourites to step
into Green’s shoes after he resigned
to become trade and investment min-
ister in the coalition government.
However, it is understood that
HSBC’s board is considering its alter-
natives carefully, including appoint-
ing its senior independent director
Sir Simon Robertson as chairman on
an interim basis, with a view to
appointing a permanent successor in
a few years’ time.
Robertson, who also spent time at
Goldman Sachs as chairman of its
London business, currently chairs
Rolls Royce, meaning that some jug-
gling will have to take place to afford
him time to conduct both roles.
HSBC’s board will meet in Shanghai
next week, with Green’s replacement
top of the agenda for discussion.
HSBC insiders also believe chief
executive Michael Geoghegan is still
despite talk that he would prefer to
stay in an executive position, particu-
larly given his recent relocation to
Hong Kong. A source at the bank last
week told City A.M. that a move for
Geoghegan “should not be ruled out”.
The bank said yesterday that a deci-
sion had not yet been made and that
it had only undertaken to announce a
successor before the end of the year.
Green, who has already stepped
down from his positions as chairman
of the British Bankers’ Association
and deputy president of the CBI, is
due to relinquish his role at HSBC
before the year is out to take up the
last remaining vacancy in David
Cameron’s government.
ANALYSIS l HSBC
700 p 672.70
17 Sep
680
660
640
620
600
21 Jun 9 Jul 29 Jul 18 Aug 8 Sep

Investec plans to launch £250m

securitisation to test the market
the coming three to six weeks.
▲

BANKING
SOUTH African banking group
Investec plans to test the market with
a £250m securitisation of “non-stan-
dard” mortgages, including some
subprime loans.
If it is successful, the deal would
mark the first time subprime mort-
gages have been securitised in
Europe since the financial crisis.
People familiar with Investec’s
plans said they had lined up a selec-
tion of investors for the issue and
that it expected to have to pay a
coupon of between two and three
percentage points over Libor.
The deal should be launched over
Investec, which operates in South
Africa, the UK and Australia, said last
week it expected a slight uptick in
first-half profit, as weak demand for
loans was offset by growth in its fund
business.
South Africa’s fifth-largest bank
said it expected operating profit to be
“marginally higher” in the six
months to the end of September,
without giving any figures.
Operating profit totalled £350.28m
in the same period a year earlier.
The banking group recently said
last week that it could make an
acquisition to build its asset manage-
ment business.
 4 News
Commission
prepares to
reveal agenda
▲
BANKING
BY VICTORIA BATES
SIR John Vickers, the chairman of the
government’s independent commis-
sion on banking, has privately out-
lined his desire to tone down the
“fictional and emotive” nature of the
banking debate ahead of the release
of an issues paper this week.
Vickers, the former boss of the
Office of Fair Trading, believes that
presenting a logical and clear argu-
ment is crucial to getting to the bot-
tom of the complex issues facing the
banking sector.
Much of that emotion has so far
focused on whether or not UK banks
will be forced to break up their retail
and investment banking operations –
an idea dismissed by the City as a
“wrecking ball” to the most success-
ful universal banks. However, most
banks are confident behind the
scenes that the commission will stop
short of recommending a full break-
up, an attitude symbolised by
Barclays’ decision to appoint its
investment bank boss Bob Diamond
as the group’s next chief executive.
The other primary focus to be out-
lined in the commission’s issues
paper, to be released on Friday, is the
level of competition in the UK retail
banking market. Vickers and his team
– ex-Barclays chief executive Martin
Taylor; Claire Spottiswoode, the ex-
head of gas regulator Ofgas; JP
Morgan’s former co-head of invest-
ment banking Bill Winters; and FT
columnist Martin Wolf – are likely to
acknowledge the comparatively high
level of competition in UK retail bank-
ing, sources said yesterday. But they
will also address the dominance of
larger players in the market and the
prohibitive costs of setting up smaller
rivals.
The commission has already met
with the chiefs of most of the UK’s
biggest banks and other industry
heavyweights to clarify its intentions.
Vickers and his team are also set to
grill senior banking executives on an
ongoing basis as part of their investi-
gation.
(Clockwise from bottom right): Commission members Claire Spottiswoode, Martin Wolf, Martin Taylor and Bill Winters
WHAT WILL BE THE MAIN THRUST
OF THE BANKING COMMISSION’S
ISSUES PAPER THIS WEEK?
● Universal banks
Having stirred up a storm of controversy
in the City, the key question of whether
or not universal banks should be forced
to split their retail and investment opera-
tions will be a top priority on the com-
mission’s agenda. Vickers and his team
will have to balance split-up calls from
the likes of Vince Cable, who believes
such a move would reduce the riskiness
Sir John Vickers,
right, will oversee
the commission’s
investigation into
the banking sector
of the largest banks, with the viewpoint
of the banks themselves. Fears are rife
that new rules could force some of the
UK’s most profitable banks to move their
headquarters overseas.
● Competition in retail banking
Although there is already a lot of compe-
tition in the UK retail banking sector, the
commission is widely expected to outline
concerns over high barriers to entry. The
market is currently dominated by large,
powerful players since the costs of set-
ting up smaller competitors – from the
cost of regulatory compliance to devel-
oping an infrastructure – are so high.
CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010
● Impact of Basel III
The impact of the recently-agreed Basel
III rules on bank’s capital requirements
will be high on the list of priorities.
● US Dodd Frank reforms
Vickers will also assess the UK impact of
US President Obama’s sweeping rules on
monitoring risk, supervising banks, ban-
ning proprietary trading and so on.
● Ways of mitigating risk
More generally, ways of reducing risk in
the banking sector – minimising the
impact and likelihood of bank failure – is
a key issue for the commission.
CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010 News 5

Amazon set to make £200m

buyout tender for LoveFilm
around £200m. to assess LoveFilm’s strategic options,

LoveFilm boss Simon Calver is assessing the company’s options
▲
ENTERTAINMENT
BY EMMA SADOWSKI
AMAZON has moved one step closer
to muscling in on the UK’s home
entertainment industry after putting
in an offer to buy out online movie
rental service, LoveFilm.
It is understood that Amazon,
which is currently expanding its busi-
ness rapidly, has made an approach
Picture: ALICE HEPPLE for LoveFilm, valuing the company at
In 2008, Amazon combined its
European rental operations with
LoveFilm before taking up a 42 per
cent stake in the online rental service
after buying out one of the compa-
ny’s venture capital backers.
LoveFilm, which is currently pri-
vately owned, is understood to be con-
sidering a stock-market flotation.
In 2009, chief executive Simon
Calver hired investment bank Jeffries
including launching an initial public
offering. The group has yet to make
that move.
The company has more than 1.4m
members and a catalogue of over
67,000 films and games.
A spokesperson for LoveFilm would
not comment on a possible takeover
or potential flotation, while Amazon
was not available and did not return
calls.

Default risks
keep cost of
lending high
Silvia Pezzini and Neil Rossiter think it
▲

ECONOMY
BY JESSICA MEAD
AN INCREASE in financial institu-
tions’ perceived riskiness and their
need to shore up balance sheets in the
wake of the credit crisis has kept the
cost of borrowing high despite the
Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)
slashing headline interest rates to his-
toric lows, the Bank of England will
say today in its latest quarterly bul-
letin.
Despite improvements in their cap-
ital and liquidity positions, lenders are
struggling to raise funds in the long-
term wholesale debt market at pre-cri-
sis rates because market participants
are still demanding significantly
greater compensation for the credit
risk associated with long-term expo-
sures to lenders, the report said.
The end result is that interest rates
charged on mortgages have fallen
much less than cuts in the Bank’s key
policy rate to 0.5 per cent.
The recession and associated
increase in unemployment has also
caused an increase in the number of
borrowers missing interest payments,
requiring banks to raise their esti-
mates of the number of defaults and
hike their lending rates accordingly.
The Bank’s analysts Richard Button,
likely that lenders have increased
their mark-up to improve the prof-
itability of extending loans and
increase institutions’ capital. Such an
increase could improve lenders’ prof-
itability and – if those profits were
retained – enable them to increase
capital, they said.
They argued that an increase in cap-
ital is desirable providing “it does not
unduly constrain the supply of credit
to households and businesses”. Both
households and small and medium
enterprises have found access to credit
extremely difficult since the onset of
the financial crisis.
However, an improvement in
lenders’ capital positions should even-
tually reduce the price of lending:
“Building up higher levels of capital in
the banking sector reduces the likeli-
hood that lenders will default. This
should lower market participants' per-
ceived riskiness of the lenders and cor-
responding lenders’ marginal funding
costs, enabling them to reduce the
price of new lending to households,”
they added.
Elsewhere, the Bank said the recent
recovery in world trade suggests the
financial crisis has not inflicted per-
manent damage on the links connect-
ing the global marketplace.

London Stock Exchange looks to

provide a clearing service to City
it will compete with European rivals
▲

FINANCIAL MARKETS
THE London Stock Exchange (LSE) has
entered into discussions with a raft of
European and Wall Street banks
about funding and building a clearing
house in London, it is understood.
LSE chief executive Xavier Rolet,
who took over from Clara Fuse in May
last year, is thought to be at the fore-
front of the discussions. A clearing
house ensures that trades between a
buyer and seller are completed, even if
one party fails to pay.
If the LSE goes ahead with the plans
Eurex, which is owned by Germany’s
Deutsche Borse, and NYSE Liffe, which
is the former London International
Financial Futures Exchange.
The news comes amid reports that
the LSE is on the hunt for a successor
for its chairman, Chris Gibson-Smith
But a City insider told City A.M.: “If you
are asking if there is a hunt for a new
chairman, the answer is no. The situa-
tion is in about two years time it is
possible that Chris may decide to step
down but that’s two years away. It’s
pure speculation.”
 6 Economic News CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010

CBI warns of
House price drops

CEBR: Growth have fuelled new

fears over the eco-
nomic recovery.
Picture: Micha
Theiner/ CITY A.M spending threat
slows but no to the economy

new recession
ECONOMICS

▲
BUSINESS leaders yesterday backed
ANALYST VIEWS: IS THE HOUSING MARKET the government’s cost-cutting drive,
although they urged it to protect
SLIDE SUGGESTING THAT THE ECONOMY IS areas vital to economic growth.
The Confederation of British
HEADING BACK INTO RECESSION? Interviews by John Dunne Industry (CBI) lobby group said it
▲

WORLD ECONOMY after destocking, said CEBR, which agreed with plans to slash spending
BY MARION DAKERS also pointed to firms’ reluctance to to avoid major tax rises.
hire or invest as a drag on the rate of The group called for increased use
THE GLOBAL economy will not face a growth. HOWARD ARCHER | of means-testing for some universal

double-dip recession, according to
research by the Centre for Economic
and Business Research (CEBR) out
today, though the slowdown in US
The IMF echoed this sentiment
last week, when it said at a confer-
ence that the world’s richest coun-
tries need to stimulate job growth to
“
GLOBAL INSIGHT welfare benefits and greater involve-
ment of private firms and voluntary
The more worried that consumers are, the more reluctant they will be groups in providing welfare support.
to commit to buying a house. It is notable that surveys have recently been show- It also urged ministers to cut the

growth has caused the body to lower
its forecasts.
CEBR now predicts a 3.4 per cent
rise in global GDP next year, down
from the 4.1 per cent growth project-
avoid a crisis of confidence.
The US Federal Reserve’s research
earlier this month also showed a
“widespread slowing” in the coun-
try’s economic improvement.
”
ing reduced buyer interest. Given this backdrop, we suspect that house prices transport concessionary fares budget
could fall by around 10 per cent between now and the end of 2011. and Highways Agency contracts and
to make schemes more cost-efficient.
LUCIAN COOK | The CBI said, however, that minis-
ters should maintain spending on

ed in July. Annual growth will
remain below four per cent until
2015, said CEBR’s quarterly research
paper.
The Fed’s Beige Book survey of
businesses found that seven out of
12 regions were experiencing mod-
est growth, compared to ten regions
“
SAVILLS areas vital to economic growth such
as the London Underground and the
It’s not a time to panic but there is a softening on the market and we capital’s Crossrail project.
expect a drop in price of around five per cent on the next six months. There is It said public sector capital invest-

“I would be prepared to bet one of
my better shirts on there being no
global double-dip,” said CEBR chief
executive Douglas McWilliams.
“Although their growth will be
during May and June.
“In the longer term, whether we
can have reasonably decent growth
in the West as well as in the East will
depend on whether enough is invest-
”
more stock available and uncertainty over the economy makes this a crucial peri- ment should be returned to 2.25 per
od. The prime market will perform better because there is more equity. cent of GDP as soon as possible.
CBI chief economic adviser Ian
TOM GIDLEY-KITCHIN | McCafferty said government efficien-
cy should be improved across the

affected by slower growth in the
West, the emerging economies are
too resilient for global growth to go
negative again in the short term.”
ed to ensure reasonable supplies of
energy, minerals and food,” said
McWilliams.
“We need immediately to reform a
“
CHARLES STANLEY board, but planned cuts to net public
sector investment were a concern.
The housing market is in a difficult place with the number of mort- “Cuts will necessarily affect GDP
gages being awarded so low. We see a slowing down of the market (transac- growth in the short term, but smart

”
The slowdown in US recovery is Common Agricultural Policy... to tions) of around five to 10 per cent. Housebuilders will probably improve their choices will give the economy the
mainly due to the end of a bounce cope with a world of food shortages.” margins as they have bought land at a lower rate in the downturn. ability to grow,” he said.

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 8 News
City asked to
help taxman
during strike
▲
TAX
BY PHILIP WALLER
THE government plans to call in City
tax experts to help break a possible
strike by tax collectors over spending
cuts, it emerged yesterday.
Ministers are understood to have
asked officials to set up a unit of spe-
cialists to move in if taxmen take
industrial action over cuts planned in
the October spending review.
Chancellor George Osborne is
thought to be demanding 10 per cent
savings from HM Revenue & Customs
(HMRC) on top of more than 30,000
job losses imposed since the depart-
ment was created in 2005.
Ministers are thought to be keen to
get tough with HMRC following chaos
over miscalculation of tax owed by
some 5.7m taxpayers.
The fiasco has left an estimated
1.4m people facing bills potentially
running into thousands of pounds.
But the main trade union repre-
senting staff at HMRC, the Public &
Commercial Services (PCS) union, has
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warned of possible action if the cuts
go ahead.
A PCS spokesman said the govern-
ment should be talking to the union
about taking on staff rather than pro-
posing more reductions.
He said the union was concerned
about consultants being brought in
to handle private tax data.
“We have seen from the PAYE fiasco
what happens when you don’t have
enough staff to do the job,” he said.
“We would be concerned if very
sensitive information that requires
experienced staff to handle it was to
be farmed out willy-nilly. If they come
for even more jobs, we would need to
consider an industrial response.”
The government said all depart-
ments had contingency plans to deal
with any disruption caused by strikes.
The Treasury yesterday said it had
not taken any final decisions on
measures to be included in the spend-
ing review, although a spokesman
warned HMRC would have to make
savings like any other government
departments.
CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010
General Electric
wades into row
over immigrants
POLITICS
▲
ENGINEERING giant General Electric
has hit out at the government over
alleged recruitment problems caused
by its immigration policy.
General Electric, which makes jet
engines, gas turbines and other heavy
industrial equipment, said it had
been unable to hire a stem cell
research executive from India and
turbine engineers from outside the
European Union because of the gov-
ernment cap.
Ministers introduced the tempo-
rary cap on non-EU immigration after
the general election with a view to
agreeing a permanent limit later this
year.
But the move has faced criticism
from business leaders who have
branded it a blunt instrument, while
others said the cap is too tight
because it was based on immigration
during the economic downturn,
when demand for overseas workers
was lower.
GE’s national executive for north
Europe, Mark Elborne, told a Sunday
newspaper that the group had only
been given a small quota of people it
could recruit from outside the EU.
Elborne said the move could dam-
age Britain’s competitiveness and
make it a less attractive place in
HMRC, headed by Lesley Strathie (inset), is facing industrial action Picture: REX which to invest.
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CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010 Banking News 9

Lloyds set to drag its feet on

Eric Daniels is
keen to return to
a policy of paying
dividends.

returning cash to investors

ing in advance of the finalisation of would likely be over a year before

▲
BANKING
BY VICTORIA BATES
LLOYDS yesterday insisted that its
focus remains fixed on cementing its
strong capital position and that any
plans to hand back cash to investors
are still just a speck on the horizon.
The bank said that reports it was
mulling an imminent buyback of
shares held by the government were
pure speculation, particularly com-
the new Basel III capital requirements
agreed last weekend.
City banking analysts had suggest-
ed Lloyds may end up over-capitalised
if the regulations are finalised in
their current form, with UBS main-
taining that the bank has up to £9bn
of surplus capital on its books.
However, sources close to the bank
dismissed the idea that it is about to
launch a buyback, adding that it
such proposals are considered.
Eric Daniels, Lloyds’ chief execu-
tive, has already stated his intention
to return to a dividend-paying policy,
though the European Commission
has forbidden the bank to distribute
any cash to investors until at least
2012, in the wake of its bailout dur-
ing the financial crisis. It is not clear
whether a buyback would violate that
agreement.

Santander’s Fu tu re s ‡ Commodities ‡ Options

Sto ck s ‡ Forex ‡ Bonds ‡ Funds

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▲

BANKING
BY MATTHEW WEST
SPANISH banking giant Santander
could delay a planned £20bn flota-
tion of its UK business on the stock
market until the Spring due to uncer-
tainty over the economy.
The bank’s six acquisitions in the
last four months and new capital
rules have fuelled speculation the
bank will spin off its UK arm his
Autumn but a fragile stock market is
thought to have made the bank nerv-
ous about such a move.
The bank has been working on
flotation plans with advisers from
Deutsche Bank, Bank of America
Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse, with
another three banks, including
Nomura, pitching for business.
Santander has spun off businesses
before, such as its Brazilian banking
operation, which raised $8bn (£5.1bn)
last year. It has also made several
acquisitions recently, including buy-
ing 318 bank branches from Royal
Bank of Scotland (RBS) and two US car
loan books from HSBC and Citigroup.
Meanwhile, last week, Santander
agreed to buy a majority stake in
$4.2bn.
Santander is also understood to
want to buy 96 of the 265 Halifax
branches axed in the summer by
Lloyds Banking Group.
City observers view the flotation as
the only way Santander can fund its
continuing growth plans.The per-
ceived wisdom is the bank will float
about 20 per cent of its UK business
for a value of around £20bn. The
bank, which bought Alliance &
Leicester and Bradford & Bingley in
the wake of the financial crisis in
2007, currently has 1.8m shareholders
Santander was unavailable for
comment.
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BANKING
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 The Capitalist
10
JCB CHAIR
TAKES THE
HONOURS AT
GOODWOOD
TO SUSSEX yesterday for the final day of
the Goodwood Revival classic car festival,
where a raft of senior figures from the
City were slogging it out against each
other on the track in the most prestigious
race of the weekend – the Royal
Automobile Club TT race.
The race – a one-hour, two-driver chal-
lenge in which the cars, entirely closed
cockpit GT cars from the early 1960s, are
collectively worth over £100m – was even-
tually won by a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO,
owned by JCB chairman Sir Anthony
Bamford.
Bamford, like a sensible chap, had left
the driving to French racing driver Jean-
Marc Gounon and English driver Peter
Hardman, switching over half way
through the race. He also had another
1962 Ferrari 250 GTO entered in the race,
driven by son Joe and former racer and
presenter Alain de Cadenet, which
came middle of the 30-car field in 16th
place.
Orange chief executive Tom
Alexander put in a respectable perform-
ance in his 1960 Aston Martin DB4 GT,
coming in 19th position, though the
bragging rights for the business world
go to BGC Partners boss Shaun Lynn,
who notched up an impressive sixth
place in his 1961 Jaguar E-type light-
weight.
BACK TO THE CITI
A high-profile jump back to the
City for Eddie Charlton, the jovial
former director of HSBC Private
Bank, who is joining Citi as a sen-
ior adviser.
Charlton, a qualified lawyer,
left HSBC earlier this year and has
been enjoying the good life ever
since, popping up at a few charity
sporting events and the like over
the summer.
Along with any number of presti-
gious financial roles, Charlton has
also repeatedly been linked with foot-
balling body roles – first in 2007, when
he was beaten to the Football
Association chairman’s post by Lord
Triesman, and again earlier this year, to
succeed the outgoing Lord Mawhinney as
chair of the Football League.
WRONG SIDE OF LAW
Never ones to shy away from using a
high-profile event for publicity
stunts, bookie Paddy Power made the
Pope’s visit to Blighty something of a
focus for its efforts over the weekend.
Not that it won them any favours with the
police, mind – first the firm’s replica
“Popemobile” was clamped in
Edinburgh, then officers pulled it over
in London for loitering in front of
Buckingham Palace…
BODY AND SOUL
Something of an unusual extra-cur-
ricular activity from Numis
Securities mining
analyst Cailey
Barker, who
wants to spread
his martial arts
wisdom to fellow finan-
cial sector workers to
help them protect them-
selves in the capital.
Bushin Martial Spirit, Barker’s venture,
is based upon a mixed martial arts style
which he developed himself, incorporat-
ing the usual self-defence focused combat
techniques with meditation, massage and
“internal energy” exercises to develop
mind, body and spirit as a whole.
“People think martial arts are
akin to Alex Reid-style cage fight-
CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010
EDITED BY
VICTORIA BATES
GOT A STORY? EMAIL
thecapitalist@cityam.com
“The winning
car belonged
to JCB’s Sir
Anthony
Bamford,
while BGC’s
Shaun Lynn Bamford, centre, with his two drivers
was the top
City driver”
Above: Sir Anthony ing but they’re not – all of them have
Bamford’s Ferrari 250 their roots in self defence, which is so
GTO came first in the important in London,” says Barker.
prestigious Royal Apparently, the classes have been popu-
Automobile Club TT lar among City workers keen for a break
race yesterday at the from the usual gym routine – though
Goodwood Revival given the continuing vilification of the
festival industry and disturbing threats like the
Real IRA’s warning to bankers last week,
Barker’s timing could hardly be more
propitious.
BILL OF THE WEEK
IT WAS quite the night for celebrating on Thursday, when these six
guests turned up to watch the aerial performers and fire-eating bal-
let dancers at Circus in the West End.
Our diners started with cocktails, including two of the bar’s new
£700 luxury punches – the “Millionaire” and the “VIPP”, each filled
with a bottle of Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque champagne and a bottle
of Santa Teresa 1796 rum and Wyborowa Exquisite vodka respec-
tively. Along with their food – a feast of hearty American fare such
as fillet steak and beef empanadas – they also knocked back several
bottles of fine wine, including a magnum of Batard-Montrachet
Chateau de la Maltroye 2002 and a bottle of Clos de la Roche
Domaine Lignier 2004, taking the final cheque to £3,279.94.
 12 Politics

Nick Clegg will preside over a tense party conference this week Picture: REUTERS

Clegg to party:
keep your cool
▲
POLITICS
BY HARRY BANKS
LIBERAL Democrat leader Nick Clegg
urged party members yesterday not to
panic about a slide in poll ratings after
he led them into Britain’s first coali-
tion government since World War Two.
Clegg’s Lib Dems have seen their sup-
port slump since they became junior
partners in the Conservative-led coali-
tion following the general election in
May. The government will next month
announce spending cuts of up to 25 per
cent in many departments as it seeks to
erase a budget deficit running at 11 per
cent of national output.
Those measures are likely to prove
deeply unpopular and some critics say
the fresh-faced Clegg, 43, who has now
been deputy prime minister for over
four months, risks leading the Lib
Dems into oblivion.
“This is a marathon, not a sprint. We
are condemned to take as a govern-
ment some very, very difficult deci-
sions on sorting out the public
finances,” Clegg told BBC television in
an interview at the start of his party’s
annual conference in Liverpool.
“You have to hold your nerve and
play it long and see the benefits of
what we’re doing over a period of
time,” he added.
No one expects the Liberal
Democrats to quit the coalition imme-
diately, but the partnership could be
jeopardised if they fail to secure cher-
ished electoral reform in a referendum
next year or perform poorly in local
elections.
The left-leaning Lib Dems and the
centre-right Conservatives were not
regarded as natural partners before the
general election in May which ended
13 years of Labour rule.
However, they reached a coalition
agreement within five days after the
Lib Dems signed up to swift spending
cuts, in part because of the financial
crisis in the neighbouring Eurozone.
Tension remains. The Lib Dems
argued for alternatives to a planned
multi-billion-pound renewal of the
Trident nuclear deterrent, and are also
uneasy with planned school reforms
and the construction of new nuclear
power plants.

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CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010
Stewardship
Code to face
a final hurdle
▲
REGULATION
BY MARION DAKERS
THE GOVERNMENT’S new best prac-
tice rules for shareholders face a cru-
cial period this week, as the last batch
of institutional investors declare their
support for the guidelines.
The Financial Services Authority
(FSA) is also due to report on its two-
month consultation into the
Stewardship Code, which aims to
help institutional shareholders keep
a closer eye on company leadership.
The Financial Reporting Council
(FRC) published the code in July, and
has given institutions until the end of
the month to publicly endorse the
rules.
No-one at the FRC could comment
yesterday on the level of support
received so far from fund managers
and other institutional shareholders.
Peter Montagnon, senior invest-
ment adviser to the FRC, urged
investors to endorse the code last
week. He said collective support for
the rules would put the UK “in a
strong position to push back on more
radical alternatives” currently being
mulled over by the European
Commission.
EU rules “would almost certainly
involve more direct regulation of
companies and also of the markets,”
Montagnon warned at a conference.
The FSA set a 6 September deadline
for asset managers to voice concerns
about the “comply or explain” rule in
the code, which encourages investors
to declare they will follow the rules,
or explain why they will not.
A spokesperson for the FSA could
not confirm yesterday when the
results will be published.
FAST FACTS | STEWARDSHIP CODE
● The Financial Reporting Council published
the code in July, in response to the Walker
Report on corporate governance
● The code encourages institutional investors
to monitor companies more closely
MAYOR GETS A FLAVOUR OF SHANGHAI
LORD MAYOR Nick Anstee was in China this weekend to visit the Shanghai Expo as the
UK pavilion passed the 6m visitor mark. The mayor led a City business delegation and
discussed opportunities for closer partnership with key Chinese industry figures and reg-
ulators including the Banking Regulatory Commission, China Insurance Regulatory
Commission and China Securities Regulatory Committee.
News 13
Japan boat row
tensions flare as
China halts talks
WORLD TRADE
▲
CHINA yesterday suspended high-level
exchanges with Japan and promised
tough countermeasures after a
Japanese court extended the detention
of a Chinese captain whose trawler col-
lided with two Japanese coastguard
ships.
The spat between Asia’s two largest
economies has flared since Japan
arrested the captain, accusing him of
deliberately striking a patrol ship and
obstructing public officers near unin-
habited islets in the East China Sea
claimed by both sides.
“China demands that Japan imme-
diately release the captain without any
pre-conditions,” a foreign ministry
spokesman said.
China has suspended ministerial
and provincial-level bilateral
exchanges with Japan, halted talks on
increasing flights between the two
countries and postponed a meeting
about coal with Japan, the report said.
The latest feud over the uninhabited
isles – called the Diaoyu islands in
China and the Senkaku islands in
Japan – has stirred mutual distrust
over sovereignty and control of poten-
tially valuable oil and gas reserves.
The Nikkei business daily reported
that Japan may start drilling near a gas
field in disputed waters of the East
CITY COMMENT: PAGE 24 China Sea if China does the same.
 14 News
William Hill eyes Tote sale and
dismisses competition rules
▲
LEISURE
BY HARRY BANKS
BRITAIN’S biggest bookmaker
William Hill yesterday said it would
consider buying state-owned betting
firm the Tote, dismissing current UK
competition rules which could rule it
out as a buyer as “archaic”.
“We would be very interested in
looking at any opportunity to expand
our UK retail footprint through acqui-
sition, including the sale of the Tote,”
the company said in a statement
emailed yesterday.
William Hill added that current
competition rules governing book-
makers in Britain did not take
account of the global nature of the
betting market and called on the UK’s
regulator to rethink its approach.
“We believe that the Office of Fair
Trading needs to revisit the archaic
competition tests which have looked
at the market in terms of betting
shops - the true market is a global one
that includes online and betting
exchanges.”
The government said
Wednesday that the sale of the Tote
would be launched in late autumn, as
part of a wider sale of government
assets, and that the sale would be “an
open market process” inviting pro-
posals from “all interested parties”.
Paddy Power and Ladbrokes, both
rivals of William Hill, have previously
said they could be interested in buy-
ing the Tote.
on
Gartmore chief executive Jeff Meyer
Gartmore to
woo advisers
▲
BANKING
BY MATTHEW WEST
ASSET manager Gartmore is to
launch a national roadshow aimed at
persuading independent financial
advisers the group is recovering from
the traumatic departure of one of its
star fund managers, Guillaume
Rambourg, and the net withdrawal
this year of £1.9bn in funds.
The firm will meet more than
2,700 advisers before the end of the
year with the aim of convincing them
its retail investment funds are still a
safe bet for their clients.
The roadshow will be supported by
an advertising campaign focusing on
the investment firm’s growth expert-
ise in absolute return and fixed
income funds. It will also be adding
to its US equity fixed income and spe-
cial events driven teams.
Gartmore manages around £20bn
in assets but has had a tough year
with confidence in the firm rocked
by an investigation by the Financial
Services Authority (FSA) into trades
conducted by Rambourg, who had
been part of the group’s pan-
Workers struggle before each
monthly payday, research finds
▲
PERSONAL FINANCE
MORE than four in 10 adults in Britain
struggle each month to make it to pay-
day, according to research for insolven-
cy trade body R3, which shows that for
the average person this struggle begins
on the 20th day after payday.
The main causes for this struggle,
cited by around 50 per cent of respon-
dents, are credit card payments, loan
repayments and mortgage payments,
CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010
Picture: REX
European equities team headed by
Roger Guy.
Rambourg was initially suspended
in March but reinstated as an analyst
before leaving the company in July to
assist the FSA investigation.
Gartmore has seen 40 per cent
wiped off its value since listing on the
stock market in December 2009, los-
ing a third of its share price as a
result of the investigation into
Rambourg’s trades.
Gartmore chief executive, Jeff
Meyer told a Sunday newspaper: “We
want to show it is business as usual.
We want to demonstrate a positive
energy about Gartmore.”
ANALYSIS l Gartmore Group
125
p 112.50
17 Sep
120
115
110
105
21 Jun 9 Jul 29 Jul 18 Aug 8 Sep
while 25 per cent of those who strug-
gle put it down to spending on going
out or non-essentials.
The results of R3’s research come as
the UK faces record levels of personal
insolvency. R3’s president Steven Law
says the country is still “addicted to
credit”.
“It is very worrying that over 40 per
cent of the British population are find-
ing it a struggle financially to get
through the month,” he added.
 16 News
Indian group eyes
$2bn bid for MGM
▲
MEDIA
INDIAN conglomerate Sahara India
Pariwar is thought to be in discussions
about buying the debt of struggling
film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for
$1.5bn to $2bn (£960m to £1.28bn).
MGM, which has about $4bn in
debt, could not be reached for com-
ment. A spokesman for Sahara India
Pariwar, which owns businesses in
media, entertainment, real estate and
Former GSK chair-
man Sir Richard
Sykes faces calls to
be “blackballed”
over his role in a
disputed African
mining deal
Picture: REX
insurance, said: “On mutual interest,
discussions are on but it’s too early to
comment on the issue.”
Earlier this month, MGM said that it
won extra breathing room to make its
debt payments, with its lenders agree-
ing not to seek remedies for nonpay-
ment of debt until 29 October.
MGM has a film library that
includes the James Bond and Pink
Panther franchises, but it has been
struggling to create new hits.
Investor fury
over Syke’s
mining role
▲
BANKING
BY MATTHEW WEST
THE former chairman of Glaxo Smith
Kline, Sir Richard Sykes, faces the pos-
sibility of being “blackballed” by the
City in a row over a disputed African
mining deal.
Several investors are believed to be
angry with Sykes over his role as sen-
ior independent director of Eurasian
Natural Resources (ENRC). One City
insider said there were a lot of ques-
tions over the deal and they were not
happy with the answers they were
getting. “Sykes will never do anything
in the City again if he keeps this up.
He will be blackballed,” a source told
a Sunday newspaper.
Shareholders are angry at ENRC’s
decision to buy the mine in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, which
is at the heart of an international
legal dispute. The Kolwezi mine was
repossessed last year by the Congolese
government from London-listed min-
ing company, First Quantum. The
seizure is currently the subject of an
investigation by the International
Chamber of Commerce (ICC) based in
Paris.
Last month, the ICC forbade the
South Korean banking governor
criticises Japan’s currency sale
▲
WORLD ECONOMY
SOUTH Korea’s central bank chief has
poured scorn on Japan’s currency
intervention, saying he was sceptical
that Japan will succeed in stemming
the yen’s strength without the help of
other major currency issuers.
“When it comes to Japan, there’s
no doubt it can’t be achieved through
a single country’s effort,” Bank of
Korea governor Kim Choong-soo told
reporters, asking for his comments to
be reported during the weekend.
Japan sold an estimated 1.8 trillion
yen (£13.4bn) on Wednesday in the
country’s first currency market inter-
vention in six years in an attempt to
CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010
Congolese government from selling
the mine until the matter was
resolved. However, the following day
ENRC announced it had acquired the
exploration rights to the mine for
$175m along with several other con-
cessions from a third party, which
itself had bought the mine at a
knockdown price.
Last week, one of Britain’s largest
fund managers ordered its traders to
dump ENRC positions after a tempes-
tuous meeting with Sykes. A number
of other big investors are believed to
be unhappy with the deal and have
apparently written to the board of
ENRC demanding an explanation.
Meanwhile, First Quantum has
filed a lawsuit seeking billions of dol-
lars in damages from ENRC and its
subsidiaries over the deal. First
Quantum spent $700m (£448m)
developing the Kolwezi mine before it
was repossessed by the government.
ENRC will release a shareholder
statement this morning clarifying its
position on the deal. In the letter
ENRC will say the grounds for First
Quantum’s law suit are “groundless”
and that “it is regrettable” the firm
has issued proceedings rather than
enter into dialogue.
stem the yen’s strength.
However the unilateral move has
drawn criticism from around the
world.
The country’s prime minister
Naoto Kan remained defiant last
week, talking up the possibility that
the government could step into the
currency market again.
“Policy coordination is necessary
between countries, such as between
China and Japan,” said Kim.
South Korean finance minister
Yoon Jeung-hyun also said on
Wednesday that Japan had not con-
tacted his ministry about possible
coordination on Tokyo’s currency
intervention.
CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010 News 17

City hiring market

gets summer surge
UK ECONOMY either capital markets or corporate employer.”
▲

BY MATTHEW WEST
CITY recruitment underwent a lae-
summer surge in August, according
to research from financial services
recruitment firm Astbury Martin
The company said the number of
new City job vacancies created in
August jumped 5,031, up seven per
cent from July’s 4,713.
The figure was also up 21 per
cent on the number of new City
jobs created in August of 2009, at
the start of the recent boom in City
hiring. Significantly, fund man-
agers, which usually start to recruit
later in a market recovery than
finance teams, were also now
beginning to create new positions,
suggesting they had more confi-
dence in the global economic recov-
ery than previously.
Mark Cameron, chief operating
officer at Astbury Marsden, said
investment banks had taken a mid-
summer pause to reshape some of
their teams but were now hiring
again.
He said: “Institutions have to
fight a lot harder to get the staff
they want compared to a year ago
and employees are fairly certain to
get at least a 15 per cent pay rise in
exchange for the risk of moving
“Whilst the IPO pipeline has
been much weaker than many
institutions had hoped, the debt
markets have remained very active
right from sovereign bonds
through to high yield debt.”
Stephan Williams, director of
City recruitment firm Empiric
Solutions backed up the findings,
saying: “There has definitely been
an increase in confidence and in
the speed with which candidates
are being snapped up. September,
October and November tend to be
strong months anyway but there
has also definitely been an upturn
in the volume of jobs on offer.”

Fashion Week’s
going mad for
1950s Mad Men
▲

Jasper Conran saluted Mad Men yesterday
RETAIL
LONDON Fashion Week (17–22
September) got underway this weekend
with more than a nod to 1950s Mad
Men style.
Channelling the popular pro-
gramme’s signature look, Jasper
Conran yesterday revealed models with
the nipped in waists and prim cardi-
gans beloved of the show’s Betty Draper.
Another era – the 1970s – was also in
evidence, with flared trousers and
handkerchief hems on the catwalk.
Sienna Miller and her sister Savanah
made their debut on Saturday with
label Twenty8Twelve, appearing to turn
to Joni Mitchell for inspiration, with
dresses puffed out with colourful petti-
coats, bib cut denim tops and all-in-one
playsuits that had a world traveller feel.
Meanwhile Henry Holland’s line
seemed to find inspiration from 1970s
New York and the Topshop Unique line
had all the hallmarks of ’70s folk style
Picture: Micha Theiner/City A.M. but with a coating of glam rock.
CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010
Visa pushes new mobile phone payment systems
People could soon be using their mobiles like Oyster
cards, Steve Dinneen discovers at the Spanish trial
VISA will roll out a network that will
allow its customers to pay for goods
using their mobile phones in time for
the 2012 Olympics. The world’s biggest
payment processing firm hopes the
new technology will allow it to corner
the small transactions market, which
is still dominated by cash purchases.
The firm believes the technology
has the potential to provide a lucrative
new revenue stream by attracting mil-
lions of new customers. Visa has 1.7bn
users worldwide but this is dwarfed by
the 4.7bn people who use mobile
phones. By 2015, 3.5bn people will be
regular mobile internet users.
Visa is expected to have a fully devel-
oped network available by 2015, but it
says it will use the London Olympics as
a showcase for the new technology.
Firms including Caffe Nero, Pret A
Manger and Burger King,which rely
heavily on small payments of £5 and
under, have confirmed they will take
part, with payment points already vis-
ible in some stores. However, the firm
acknowledges that getting major
supermarkets on board will be vital for
Vodafone on track
for Verizon dividend
TELECOMS
▲
BY MARION DAKERS
MOBILE phone operator Vodafone
came a step closer to persuading
Verizon to pay a dividend last week
after bosses from the two firms
held secret meetings in New York,
reports said yesterday.
Vittorio Colao of Vodafone and
Ivan Seidenberg of Verizon met to
discuss Vodafone’s 45 per cent
stake in Verizon Wireless, accord-
ing to the Observer. The US arm of
Verizon has not paid a dividend
since 2005, causing many Vodafone
shareholders to demand for the
firm to dispose of its stake.
However, Vodafone faces a £10bn
bill for capital gains tax if it sells its
stake, thought to be worth around
Boris in advanced talks with mobile
firms over getting signal on the Tube
▲
TELECOMS
MAYOR of London Boris Johnson is
nearing an agreement with the
UK’s biggest mobile phone opera-
tors to provide a network signal on
the entire Tube network by the
time the Olympics come to London
in 2012, it emerged at the weekend.
Johnson is still in discussions
with the companies over the final
details of funding for the project,
which City Hall reiterated yester-
day would need to be borne entire-
ly through mobile operators with
no cost to fare or taxpayers.
the long-term success of the scheme.
The technology allows users to link up
to six accounts – including banks, oys-
ter cards and loyalty schemes – to their
mobile phone. This can then be used
at point of sale, allowing users to
bypass their cards altogether.
It can also facilitate bank transfers,
peer-to-peer transfers, mobile web pay-
ments and let users keep track of their
account balance and expenditure. This
places the technology firmly in compe-
tition with online payment firms such
as PayPal and Google Checkout and
could open up a fierce battle for con-
trol of the mobile payment market.
Users can also opt to use the service
pay-as-you-go, in much the same way
as a mobile phone, topping up and
spending a fixed amount. Payments of
under £15 can be swiped through in
the same way as an Oyster card with-
out the need for a pin, meaning trans-
actions take seconds to process.
Anything more requires a pin which
is typed into the phone. It is powered
by a special chip, embedded inside the
phone, with a built-in antenna to
£33bn.
A spokesperson for Vodafone
declined to comment yesterday on
whether the pair had met. Verizon
also refused to comment.
Verizon has previously said it
expects to pay dividends by 2012,
once it has paid down debts linked
to its acquisition of rival Alltel last
year. Chief financial officer John
Killian said in June there was a
“reasonable chance” of issuing a
dividend in two years, but stressed
that Verizon alone had the power
to resume payments.
Verizon, which owns the remain-
ing 55 per cent stake in Verizon
Wireless, has also voiced a wish to
acquire the entire business once its
debts are resolved.
Meanwhile, Vodafone has been
However, the preferred option is
thought to be an agreement where-
by the UK’s five largest mobile
operators – Vodafone, Orange, O2,
T-Mobile and 3 – would share the
cost of installing the project.
While technically possible to
install network equipment in the
Mayor of London
Boris Johnson wants
the Tube networks to
have mobile service
by the 2012 Olympics
News 19
transmit data to merchants. As well as
adding security – the chip and the
phone are linked, meaning it cannot
be removed by fraudsters – this means
payments can be made even when the
phone is out of battery or reception.
This is not the first time this type of
payment scheme has been mooted –
Visa failed to attract much interest sev-
eral years ago – but Mary Carol Harris,
head of mobile at Visa Europe, believes
the market has developed sufficiently
to make it viable. She said: “The roll
out of 3G and 4G networks will create
the reliability this needs. There has
been a rapid shift in demand for
mobile payments. People are not going
to just throw away plastic but this adds To pay for goods
an option for them.” and services,
users simply
Sandra Alzetta, head of Innovation
swipe their phone
at Visa Europe, added: “You’re not
over the paypoint
going to wake up tomorrow morning
and find millions of mobile phones
supporting this – but it will happen. their bank accounts. The firm claims BlackBerry user to get excited about.
This is a great opportunity to grow the to have had an approval rating of 77 I used the pay-as-you-go service, with
Visa business.” per cent. Crucially, during the test- €50 pre-loaded onto the phone. Using
Visa has almost completed a trial of scheme around a third of the pay- the service was remarkably easy. The
the contactless payment scheme in ments were less than £5 – the key retailer keyed in the amount and, after
the Spanish town of Sitges. City A.M. bracket for Visa. briefly placing the mobile on the read-
was invited over to see what all the The first thing I noticed was the er and tapping in my pin (as the trans-
fuss was about. Visa has supplied 500 handset itself. It is a mid-range action was over €20), we were finished.
retailers with payment readers and let Samsung, technically a smartphone If I can get it inside my BlackBerry, I’ll
1,500 locals loose with it, linking it to but certainly nothing for an iPhone or be joining the ranks too
reviewing its various minority
holdings, raking in £4.3bn from its
sale of its three per cent stake in
China Mobile last month.
The Gow’s Oyster Festival
Chairman Sir John Bond sur-
vived calls for his resignation over
his acquisition track record at a 6th September to 1st October 2010
shareholder meeting in July.
ANALYSIS l Vodafone To celebrate the oyster season, the City’s favourite
p 160.30
17 Sep Oyster Bar & Seafood Restaurant invites you
160
to taste the sea.
150
£5 for 6 Colc hester Rocks
140
Hot Oyster Platter – Thermidorr, Mornay & Tempura
21 Jun 9 Jul 29 Jul 18 Aug 8 Sep
Oysters from around the British Isles
Complimentary oysters with Veuv
e e Cliquot
Champagne, a great atmosphere and
a fabulous way to celebrate.
deep-level underground tunnels
and stations, project costs have so
far proved prohibitively high.
The Greater London Authority
said yesterday that finding a solu-
tion “remains dependent on the
market providing a credible pro-
posal that satisfies both technical
and commercial considerations”.
Johnson’s predecessor Ken
Livingstone also held talks with
phone operators over installing a
Tube network, but the plans never
came to fruition. At the time, he
said the winning operator would
have to pay TfL for the privilege.
 20 News CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010

World’s 500 biggest firms

guilty of carbon footprints
Roughly 65 per cent of these com- Siemens, Phillips, Royal Bank of
▲

ENERGY
BY EMMA SADOWSKI
THE WORLD’S 500 largest companies
are responsible for more than 10 per
cent of global emissions, new
research by PricewaterhouseCoopers
(PwC) has found.
Figures contained within PwC’s
Carbon Disclosure Project show that
the world’s largest businesses con-
tribute 11 per cent of global emis-
sions.
panies have implemented carbon
emission reduction targets but a mea-
gre 19 per cent have made significant
reductions.
PwC’s report said that nine out of
ten commercial companies cite cli-
mate change initiatives as presenting
future opportunities for business.
Meanwhile, almost half of the
world’s largest businesses have insert-
ed climate change schemes into their
business strategies.
Scotland and Bayer were amongst the
top performers in the report for mov-
ing the closest to achieving carbon
reduction targets. They also disclosed
the largest amount of information
regarding carbon reduction plans.
Other large companies to con-
tribute to the report, included Tesco,
BT, BSkyB and Shell.
PwC’s annual carbon report is
funded by over 500 banks and institu-
tional investors.

M&B chief executive Adam Fowle says sales proceeds will go towards food-based business

I am
Ruby
I am
Ben M&B pub sale
Wax Griffiths
brings profit
rather than pubs.
▲

LEISURE
BY MARION DAKERS
PUB and restaurant group Mitchells &
Butlers (M&B) will release its fourth
quarter results on Thursday, a week
after the firm started spending the
fruits of its £500m asset sale.
Execution Noble analyst Alistair
Macdonald repeated his “buy” recom-
mendation on Friday. “Once the
estate sale deal goes through and the
prelims are announced, clarity
around the company structure
should bring back some confidence

I am I am M&B, which owns Harvester and

All Bar One, is expected to post a prof-
it after more than a year of volatile
in the story,” he said. “A good per-
formance may be the jump start
needed to M&B getting interesting
Jane Jon results.
The firm announced it had bought
again.”

ANALYSIS l Michells & Butlers

English Snow the Ha Ha Bar and Grill chain for
£19.5m on Friday, and will take over
all of its 22 restaurants in October.
330
p

294.40
The purchase is the first since M&B 320 17 Sep
raised more than £400m last month 310
by selling 333 of its pubs to Stonegate
Pub Company and offloading 300
Hollywood Bowl to rival AMF. 290
M&B chief executive Adam Fowle
said the proceeds of recent sales 280
would be spent on redirecting the
group towards food-based businesses 21 Jun 9 Jul 29 Jul 18 Aug 8 Sep
Search
Kid
s
I am Accountancy firms could face hit
’P
eac

Helen I am
from mass exodus of audit staff
e of Mind

Mirren Richard
Branson ing for a new job. That number,
▲

ACCOUNTANCY
A RAFT of disillusioned accountants
are currently seeking new employ-
ment, citing a lack of effort made by
senior management to help nurture
career development, new research
will reveal today.
Accountancy firms could be faced
with a mass exodus of employees if
management don’t make greater
efforts to retain staff, research by
recruiters, CareersinAudit.com,
found.
The results show that half of the
606 accountants surveyed are look-
according to the recruiter, is set to
rise dramatically over the next six to
12 months to three quarters.
Nearly 60 per cent of the respon-
dents to the survey said they were
currently networking at least twice
a week and 46 per cent said the
main reason was to get a new job.
The problem, according to
CareersinAudit.com, lies within
upper management as 77 per cent of
said their company could be doing
more to aide career development.
And 38 per cent are not hopeful
that change is around the corner.
 22 News
Tempting M&A deals can risk wrecking value
CNBC COMMENT
STEVE SEDGWICK
T
HE return of global M&A in 2010
has been cited as unambiguous
evidence corporations are feeling
more confident about themselves.
The wealth of mega-deals on both sides
of the Atlantic is surely a sign we are on
the path to the broader macro-econom-
ic recovery we all crave. However, the
tragedy is that a large amount of this
merger activity will turn out to have
been a complete waste of money.
There is strong evidence to suggest
that, for every penny of money spent on
good acquisitions, there is at least
another wasted on deals which, even at
the time – let alone with hindsight –
are examples of boardroom folly and
ego. In terms of ultimate shareholder
returns, using free cashflow to increase
dividends has historically wiped the
floor, compared with the alternative of
using that cash for acquisitions.
From Vodafone to RBS, from Marconi
to GlaxoSmithKline, the waste has been
dramatic. To use just one example, take
a look at the value of GlaxoSmithKline
back in January 2000, at the time of the
merger that was supposed to create a
pharmaceutical titan that would be a
catalyst for stunning growth. In
January 2000, GSK was valued on the
market at £114bn. And today? The mar-
ket cap as of Friday was around £66bn.
A decade and a fall in value of £50bn.
Companies still don’t appear to be
learning the lessons. Take a look at
Hewlett Packard’s frenzied bidding for
data storage group 3Par. Was the near
$2bn (£1.28bn) price tag a fair deal for a
company that has not made money for
five years? Or was it all about beating
Dell? Unfortunately, this deal has not
been, nor will it be, the only example of
the wasting of shareholder funds as
companies pile on the cash.
Bob Parker, senior advisor at Credit
Suisse, draws my attention to the cash
mountain being stashed up by corpo-
rates everywhere. US non-financial
cash-asset ratios are at 25 year highs.
“Last year there was sensational
value and opportunities in distressed
companies but, while it is impossible to
generalise, more and more companies
are going to be overpaying and regret-
ting it later,” says Parker.
Sweden sees
a newly hung
parliament
▲
WORLD POLITICS
BY HARRY BANKS
SWEDEN’S centre-right government
has won re-election but lost its overall
majority in parliament after an anti-
immigrant party earned its first ever
seats in yesterday’s election, prelimi-
nary results showed last night.
Official preliminary results showed
the centre-right coalition govern-
ment won 173 seats in the 349-seat
parliament and the Social Democrat-
led centre-left won 156 seats.
Reinfeldt, who has benefited from
one of Europe’s strongest economic
recoveries and sound public finances,
would be the first sitting centre-right
leader ever to win re-election in
Sweden. The Social Democrats, archi-
tects of Sweden’s welfare model,
ruled for much of the last century.
Analysts had said before the vote
that a hung parliament, with Prime
Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt having no
overall majority, would unsettle
investors, but the Swedish crown
firmed slightly after the results.
Reinfeldt has said he is prepared to
lead a minority government but
could also approach the opposition
Ireland slams IMF speculation
as tension looms over its budget
▲
WORLD ECONOMY
IRELAND’S finance ministry and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
have sought to calm markets after a
report on the possibility of an IMF
bailout spooked investors.
The cost of insuring Irish sovereign
debt against default hit a record high
and the Irish/German spread reached
a euro lifetime peak after the Irish
Independent newspaper said Ireland
was “perilously close” to calling in the
IMF and the EU.
The IMF said it did not foresee that
its financial assistance would be need-
ed for Ireland and praised Dublin’s
efforts at propping up its banking sys-
CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010
It isn’t only the companies them-
selves who are to blame. One FTSE 100
boss told me that he won’t even talk to
City dealmakers anymore, adding: “I
am fed up to the teeth with 30-year- old
investment bankers, who have absolute-
ly no experience in my industry, telling
me about the industrial logic for this
disposal or that bolt on acquisition.
What do these people know?”
Not all CEOs have the iron will to
resist the City and Wall Street’s snake
oil salesmen. The sorry reality is that
hard fought financial stability can be
lost in one moment of M&A madness.
Steve Sedgwick is a presenter on Squawk
Box Europe each weekday morning on CNBC.
Green Party for support.
However, the big news of the night
for a country which has long prided
itself as being one of the most toler-
ant in Europe was that the anti-immi-
grant Sweden Democrats looked set
to win 20 seats.
“If this outcome stands we will
have a scenario that most Swedish
voters wanted to avoid, that is that we
have a xenophobic party holding the
balance of power,” said Ulf Bjereld, a
political scientist at Gothenburg
University.
The rise in support for the Sweden
Democrats has followed a move away
from the party’s skinhead roots and
matches developments in other
European countries.
The Sweden Democrats deny they
are racist but both main blocs have
ruled out cooperating with them.
“Today we have written political
history together,” said Sweden
Democrat leader Jimmie Akesson.
The centre-left opposition focused
its campaign on people who have suf-
fered welfare reforms under the
Alliance of Reinfeldt’s Moderate
Party, the Liberals, Centre and
Christian Democrats.
tem.
Ireland’s Department of Finance
slammed the Irish Independent arti-
cle. “There is absolutely no truth to a
rumour concerning external assis-
tance. It is based on a local misinter-
pretation of a research report,” a
spokesman said in a statement.
The newspaper cited a report from
Barclays Capital. Barclays said Ireland’s
liquidity position was comfortable but
if unexpected banking losses emerged
or economic conditions deteriorated
outside help may be needed.
“The report is a lot more measured
than what has been reflected in the
newspaper,” said Geraldine Concagh,
at Allied Irish Banks.
 LLET’S
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Allister Heath
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24 News CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010

Basel III will be a step in the right direction

Banking Supervision chose to release
their Basel III recommendations that
will shape the future regulation of the
global industry for years to come.
This is no coincidence; Basel III is
designed to prevent a situation like the
collapse of Lehman Brothers – and the
crisis which followed, when trust not
CITY COMMENT only in banks but between banks
STUART FRASER failed – from ever happening again. In
this sense there is no doubt Basel III
and a global agreement on bank capi-
ous recommendations, Basel III has
dealt with the issues of capital and liq-
uidity swiftly, decisively and with a
sense of urgency. We are still at an
early stage in the process and must
ensure the intentions underpinning
the recommendations hold true as the
legislative process takes its course.
This is politically sensitive: legislat-
ing to increase the amount of capital
banks are required to hold will reduce
systemic risk in the financial market-
italised, they will inevitably be cau-
tious as the new capital requirements
kick in. At a time when the govern-
ment is asking them to lend more
money to boost the UK’s recovery, it
will be interesting to see how these
two conflicting priorities are resolved.
However, the key outcome of Basel III
is that risk – an essential component
within the financial marketplace – is
managed in such a way it poses less of
a danger to the UK taxpayer.
private equity firms and other “unreg-
ulated” bodies. Even though there is
some evidence that this is already hap-
pening, it is misleading to describe
these sections of the industry as
“unregulated”. It will be more mislead-
ing in the future, with EU directives on
Additional Investment Fund Managers
and OTC Derivatives already the sub-
ject of intense discussion. More impor-
tantly, these financial vehicles pose far
less of a systemic risk to the global

L
AST week marked the second
anniversary of the collapse of
Lehman Brothers. It was also the
week the Basel Committee on
tal requirements is a positive step. place but it will also result in credit There are concerns the proprietary marketplace than banks do and will
Banks have been provided with the being harder to come by and more trading and other “risky” activities will not be bailed out if they fail.
certainty they need in order to plan expensive for the consumer. simply move away from banks and Stuart Fraser is the policy chairman at
future strategy. And unlike the previ- Whilst many UK banks are well cap- instead be taken over by hedge funds, the City of London Corporation.

CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS Edited by Victoria Bates in association with

as a new non-executive director. head of its operations in Switzerland. he worked for the past four years as a
DTZ Meakins has been at Wolseley for Ramsey was most recently chief private banker.
The property advisory group has appointed just over a year. Prior to that, he held a executive and general manager for the Prior to that, he was at NatWest and
Hugh Radford as head of UK retail – a division number of senior positions at Diageo, Swiss operations at Merrill, where he AWD Chase de Vere.
whose clients include the Crown Estate, Land Travelex and Alliance Unichem. has worked since 2002.
Securities, Hermes, Aviva and Henderson. It is Centrica chairman Roger Carr said Philippe Sednaoui, Barclays Wealth’s CB Richard Ellis
also currently leasing Westfield’s newest shop- Meakins is “an experienced chief execu- current head in Switzerland, has been The real estate services group has
ping centre development at Stratford. tive with a proven track record” who appointed as global head of Latin appointed Matthew Howard to its UK
Radford has been a director at DTZ since would add considerable experience to American markets. retail team as a senior director, tasked
2007, when the firm acquired retail property the board in managing businesses with with leading the further development
specialist Donaldsons, where he was formerly strong brands. Close Asset Management of its retail asset management offering.
an equity partner. Paul Fisher has joined the asset manag- Howard was previously at UBS,
Barclays Wealth er as an intermediary client adviser, where he was head of asset manage-
Centrica Meakins, the chief executive of FTSE The wealth management firm has hired based in the South West. ment and assistant fund manager to its
The gas giant has taken on Ian 100 building materials group Wolseley, Patrick Ramsey from Merrill Lynch as Fisher joins from Coutts & Co, where flagship UK property fund.

To appear in CITYMOVES please email your career

updates and pictures to citymoves@cityam.com SPECIALISTS IN GLOBAL PROFESSIONAL RECRUITMENT +44 (0)20 7557 7245
morganmckinley.com

To register for this event, visit:

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This adver tisement contains numerous trade marks belonging to The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc and other companies in the RBS Group. These trade marks include, but are not limited to, The Royal Bank of Scotland logo, The Royal Bank of Scotland and RBS. If you are in doubt as to
whether an item is a trade mark of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc or a member of the RBS Group, please contact us for clarification at the registered office address The Royal Bank of Scotland plc, Registered in Scotland No 90312. Registered Office: 36 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh
EH2 2YB. RBS is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Ser vices Authority
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CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010 News 25

Public called on to REMEMBERING THE FEW

PRIME MINISTER

nominate Britain’s
David Cameron,
Prince William
and dignitaries
watch a Spitfire
flyby during the

best financial boss

National
Commemorative
Service for the 70th
Anniversary of the
Battle of Britain at
Westminster Abbey
yesterday.
BANKING advisers and fund managers. There
▲

BY MATTHEW WEST are 28 award categories in all – Picture: REUTERS

MEMBERS of the public have been
urged to join financial services profes-
sionals as the search for the country’s
best financial services boss begins
today.
The 2010 OStCaR – Outstanding
Service to Compliance and
Regulation – Awards are designed to
promote best practice in the financial
services sector, reward excellence and
help reduce the likelihood of future
financial crises.
As well as “best boss” of firms regu-
lated by the Financial Services
Authority (FSA), the public can nomi-
nate the best start-up bank and the
most helpful FSA member of staff.
The awards were established in
2004 by The Compliance Register,
which represents bankers, financial
including best fraud prevention
team, best control room and best
compliance award. Nominations are
free of charge and must be submitted
online by 8 October.
Ben Goh, secretary of the
Compliance Register, said:
“Consumers are on the receiving end
of good service from the financial
services sector and sometimes of bad.
The boss who cares makes a huge dif-
ference – perhaps by establishing a
culture of excellence in a firm, per-
haps by stepping in personally to sort
out a problem. It’s this kind of leader-
ship and culture that’s being recog-
nised in these awards.”
Online nomination forms as well
as full details of this year’s award cat-
egories are available at www.compli-
ancer.com.

Brit recommends
CVC and Apollo bid
INSURANCE its books to Apollo in July after the spokesman said.
▲

BY HARRY BANKS
BRIT Insurance has recommended
shareholders accept an £850m
offer after buyout firm CVC
Capital Partners on Friday agreed
to link up with original bidder
Apollo Management.
Lloyd’s of London insurers,
which offer cover against large-
scale risks such as natural disas-
ters, have emerged as potential
takeover targets because cyclically
low insurance prices have weighed
heavily on their shares.
Brit Insurance agreed to open
US private equity company raised
its offer to £10.75 a share having
had two bids knocked back.
A Brit Insurance spokesman
told Reuters CVC came on board
during Apollo’s due diligence.
“During the course of the due
diligence that Apollo had been
undertaking it became apparent
that Apollo wouldn’t be able to
do this on their own. CVC
approached the board of Brit at
that time and the board of Brit
worked quite hard to get Apollo
and CVC in a place where they
could work together on this,” the
Brit Insurance said the offer
from the Apollo, CVC consortium
also valued the business at 10.75p
per share, but included a provi-
sion through which shareholders
would receive a further 25p per
share should Brit’s net tangible
asset value be more than £11 per
share at the end of 2010.
The offer would be adjusted on
a linear sliding scale should the
NTA be between £10.75 and £11.00
per share, it said.
Shares in Brit Insurance closed
unchanged at 989p per share,
valuing the business at £782m.

BEST OF THE BROKERS

ANALYSIS l BlueBay ANALYSIS l Wilmington Group ANALYSIS l Clapham House Group
p 345.00 p
135.00
p
17 Sep 146 80 73.50
340 17 Sep 17 Sep
75
142
70
300
138
65

260 60
134

30 Jun 29 Jul 27 Aug 30 Jun 29 Jul 27 Aug 9 Jul 29 Jul 18 Aug 8 Sep

BLUEBAY WILMINGTON GROUP CLAPHAM HOUSE GROUP

Singer Research rates the asset manag-
er a “buy” with an upgraded target price
of 400p. The broker sees a second leg of
growth available in the emerging mar-
kets, and views performance in this
region as already ahead of rivals. Overall
operating margins should improve from
36 per cent to 40 per cent this year.
Numis Securities rates the training com-
pany a “buy” with a target price of 178p.
The broker says that the firm’s training
and events division has now stabilised
following the downturn. Numis predicts
pre-tax profit to rise slightly above esti-
mates in 2011 to £13.5m, with earnings
per share of 10.6p.
Seymour Pierce has upgraded the
restaurant chain from “sell” to “hold”,
and suggests investors should accept
Nando’s cash offer at 74p. The broker
says the bid looks likely to succeed, and
that preliminary analysis suggest the
offer values the group at 7.6 times his-
toric enterprise value.

To appear in Best of the Brokers email your research to notes@cityam.com

 26 Interview
The Co-op boss who is on a mission
to rejuvenate an iconic organisation
The 60-year-old
group’s head is in the
middle of two large
integrations – and is
too busy to retire
I
T IS EASY to see why Co-operative
Group chief executive Peter Marks is
so excited about the new £180m head
office that will open on a 20-acre site
in the centre of Manchester in 2012.
The current 1960s 13-storey building
across the road seems to be made almost
entirely of linoleum and plywood. I have
never seen the HQ of Bulgaria’s Ministry
of Fisheries, but you get an uneasy feeling
that the Co-op’s current head office was
modelled on it.
But there is nothing sleepy about the
trim and talkative Marks; as we chat, he is
standing in his large 12-floor office, point-
ing to a picture of the new sleek glass and
steel head office.
“That new building is an indication to
our staff and everyone else of the way we
are refreshing this iconic brand,” he says.
The Co-op boss sees this as a fitting
home for a diverse, retailing-led business
that two years ago bought Somerfield for
£1.6bn, making it the fifth largest super-
market chain in the country, and last year
took over Britannia building society, boost-
ing its financial services business.
Marks’ staff also deserve a mention. I
met five people on the way up to meet the
chief executive, and all of them were
among the most helpful in any corporate
head office I have ever visited.
They all seemed acutely aware of the
special place the Co-op holds in British
Society.
The Co-op is the largest mutual business
in the country, with 5.5m members, who
receive a cash payment or dividend based
on the points they earn when they trade
at any of the group’s businesses.
In addition to its 3,000 supermarkets,
the group includes among its units the
country’s biggest farmer (tending 65,000
acres), the UK’s third largest pharmacist,
and Europe’s biggest funeral service
provider. If the firm, which employs
120,000 staff, were a plc, it would fit in the
FTSE 30.
The business, which began trading in
1840, still has a political wing, which
backs Labour MPs.
CV | PETER MARKS
Age: 60
Work: 1967 to 2002 – joined Yorkshire
Co-op as a management trainee in the
food division, going on to manage various
divisions; 2002-2007: chief executive of
United Co-operatives (following the merg-
er of United Norwest and Yorkshire Co-
operatives); 2007-present – chief
executive of Co-operative Group (after its
merger with United Co-operatives)
Education: St Bede’s Grammar, Bradford
Family: Married, with two daughters
Lives: Bingley, West Yorkshire
Hobbies: Plays drums once a month in a
pub rock band – Last Orders
The group’s half-year results last month
showed impressive growth, considering
most of its units are consumer facing. Its
profits before payments to members,
equivalent to a plc’s pre-tax profit, rose
from £221m to £260m, after exceptional
items such as store sales. Revenue rose
eight per cent to £6.9bn.
The underlying trading profit at its
supermarkets – which account for 60 per
cent of the group’s sales ahead of its finan-
cial services and chemists – was up 12.6
per cent at £169.7m.
Marks says food, financial services,
funerals and its pharmacy units “have all
done well” during the last six months and,
indeed throughout the recession. He says
this is because these divisions do not have
such a “volatile reaction to the business
cycle.” Even its supermarket’s premium
Truly Irresistible range is growing
“because people are staying in more, but
still want to treat themselves.”
TOUGH TIMES AHEAD FOR THE CONSUMER
But Marks is in no doubt that the UK con-
sumer is in for a tough year ahead. He
says: “We are coming out of recession. And
we expect to see very little growth in the
economy. Consumers are about to be hit
by a barrage of austerity measures as the
government starts to cut back on spend-
ing. These challenges will have a dampen-
ing effect on consumer spending.”
At the end of this year the supermarket
will complete a £2.5bn three-year integra-
tion and modernisation programme that
has unavoidably interrupted trading.
Marks says: “We have been modernising
stores at the rate of 24 a week. And that
has had an impact. You have to close stores
down for a few days and that causes dis-
ruption.”
In food stores that were modernised,
half year sales are down one per cent; in
stores that traded normally, sales rose 2.5
per cent.
Many critics say the Co-op food estate
was due for investment and was falling
WORDS BY ROGER BAIRD
Co-operative Group behind bigger players such as Tesco and
chief executive Peter Sainsbury’s.
Marks in his office on Marks agrees: “Three or four years ago,
the 12th floor of the we were not great, we were declining. The
firm’s head office in stores were tired and needed investment. I
Manchester believe that has changed. Our stores are
now as good as anyone’s, if not better.”
Co-op has also benefitted from having
Picture: the right kind of stores. Its supermarket
Micha Theiner estate is in the main made up of city cen-
/City A.M. tre convenience stores of between 2,000 sq
ft and 20,000 sq ft, rather than the 50,000
sq ft to 70,000 sq ft superstores its larger
rivals have traditionally relied on.
However, in the last few years it is the con-
venience store segment that has shown
the fastest growth. Tesco has opened 1,130
Express convenience units, while
Sainsbury’s has opened several hundred
Local stores in a bid to close the gap.
But Marks remains bullish. He says: “We
are not worried about that. We have a lot
of reach and experience in this market.”
Marks’ second large integration project
is merging Britannia – and its large mort-
gage base – with his well-regarded Co-
operative bank. He is in the first year of a
three-year programme here.
He says: “Our aim is to be the most
“Our aim is admired financial services brand in the
business. We stand for prudence and old-
to be the fashioned banking. We were one of the
few banks that didn’t have to go to the
most government cap in hand to ask for a
bailout.”
admired Marks adds: “We don’t rely on whole-
sale banking to support our lending. In
brand in the the main those funds come from our
deposits.”The Co-op boss says his bank
business. can’t be accused of not lending to small
businesses: its annual lending in this area
We stand for over the last three years has risen from
£600m to £1.2bn.
prudence and The Co-op covers a wide range of servic-
es, but that does not necessarily mean
old-fashioned Marks is constantly on the look out for
new areas to push into. He says: “We never
banking.” say ‘never’, but on the whole we are look-
ing to focus on what we do well.”
CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010
For instance he has no plans to get into
online food shopping, preferring to “con-
centrate on upgrading our bricks and
mortar.”
LEGAL SERVICES EXPANSION
However, he is interested in selling basic
legal services. He says: “We already draw
up wills, probate and handle personal
injury cases for our members. But we
think next year there will be plans to
deregulate the legal services industry so
we can sell these services to anybody.
These moves were started under the
Labour government, but we understand
the coalition plans to carry them out.”
Marks is a Co-op lifer who has worked
for the mutual for 43 years after leaving
his Bradford grammar school, St Bede’s.
He worked his way up through most divi-
sions of the business, before becoming
chief executive of United Co-operatives in
2002. He then became chief executive of
the Co-operative Group after it merged
with United Co-operatives in 2007.
However, 19 other regional Co-ops
remain outside his movement. Does he
hope they will join the fold? He says: “Do I
lay awake at night thinking about this?
Not really. We are 90 per cent of the move-
ment, and that gives us the economy of
scale we need. That battle has been won.”
Marks also has no plans to retire. He
says: “There is a lot to do here. We are on a
journey to reinvigorate this iconic brand.
In two or three years we will have the busi-
ness in the sort of shape that we want it.
But then there will be other areas we will
want to look at. “There are only two direc-
tions a business can travel – forward or
backwards. It can’t stand still.”
On that note, Marks politely indicates
he has another appointment. He is a busy
man, with a huge agenda; he is pitted
against UK Plc’s most powerful quoted
firms. If Marks pulls off his plans, he will
have proved that an oft-written off mutual
business can triumph. It will be a fascinat-
ing tale.
 Markets&Investment
27

LONDON’S TOP 250 Trade these shares from £1.50 with Interactive Investor - www.iii.co.uk
Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low
(p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p)
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A.B. Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1050.00 –2.00 1096.00 790.00 Croda Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1423.00* +8.00 1460.00 637.00 Johnson Matthey . . . . . . . . . . .1773.00 +1.00 1814.00 1302.00 Schroders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1403.00* –12.00 1450.00 1053.00
Aberdeen Asset Man . . . . . . . . . .148.40 +1.30 155.60 111.00 CSR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .352.70 +6.90 518.00 276.00 JPMorgan Emerg Mkts . . . . . . . .570.00 +2.00 576.50 437.10 Schroders N/V. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1145.00* –4.00 1187.00 864.00
Admiral. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1668.00 +14.00 1686.00 1003.00 Daily Mail ‘A’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .495.50 –4.30 539.00 381.00 Kazakhmys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1388.00* +23.00 1634.00 955.00 Scot. & Sthrn Energy. . . . . . . . . 1128.00* –24.00 1206.00 357.50
Aegis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124.00* +3.40 137.30 103.10 Dana Petroleum . . . . . . . . . . . .1790.00 +3.00 1817.00 968.50 Kesa Electricals . . . . . . . . . . . . .139.20* +1.70 162.00 98.45
Afren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106.90 +4.80 111.00 73.00 Davis Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .390.80* +0.80 442.30 356.00 .LQJÀVKHU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .224.60 +4.80 255.00 196.50 Scottish Mortgage. . . . . . . . . . . . 611.50 +2.00 623.50 475.00
African Barr Gold . . . . . . . . . . . .600.00* — 685.00 520.50 De La Rue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .685.00 –9.00 1021.00 638.00 Ladbrokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144.30* +0.90 174.29 114.60 SEGRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263.80* –5.40 403.10 244.00
Aggreko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1613.00 +63.00 1639.00 664.50 Debenhams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66.30 –0.20 90.00 51.95 Lancashire Hldgs . . . . . . . . . . . .549.00* –6.00 556.50 416.70 Serco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .613.50* –1.50 656.50 485.60
Alliance Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .328.20 –2.90 352.70 292.80 Derwent London . . . . . . . . . . . .1478.00 –30.00 1540.00 1174.00 Land Securities . . . . . . . . . . . . . .620.50* –10.50 743.50 543.00 Severn Trent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1362.00 –25.00 1404.00 939.50
AMEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .943.00 –2.50 960.50 724.50 Dexion Absolute . . . . . . . . . . . . .139.40 –2.30 148.00 127.60 Legal & General . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99.75* –1.65 105.00 69.05 Shaftesbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .426.30 –8.30 446.60 341.70
Amlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .402.30* –1.80 437.60 350.80 Diageo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1070.00* –9.00 1176.00 930.50 Lloyds Banking Gp . . . . . . . . . . . .75.34 –0.98 78.62 45.30 Shire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1468.00* –45.00 1532.00 999.00
Anglo American . . . . . . . . . . . .2515.50* –0.50 3015.50 1846.50 Dimension Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119.40 +0.10 125.50 59.30 Logica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122.50* +1.00 149.10 100.80 Smith & Nephew . . . . . . . . . . . . .559.50 –2.50 700.50 525.50
Antofagasta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1165.00* +10.00 1188.00 699.50 Dixons Retail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23.99 +0.18 39.75 23.11 London Stk Exchange . . . . . . . . .676.00 –10.00 949.50 540.50 Smith(Ds) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152.40 –3.40 156.00 93.30
Aquarius Platinum . . . . . . . . . . .314.20* –4.70 490.00 211.50 Domino’s Pizza . . . . . . . . . . . . . .473.60 +2.60 481.10 270.10 Lonmin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1659.00 +9.00 2198.00 1344.00 Smiths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1215.00 — 1244.00 814.00
ARM Holdings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .390.60* +1.20 416.40 132.70 Drax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .394.00 +0.70 496.50 321.50 Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225.20 –10.40 373.60 199.60 SOCO Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .441.50 –14.70 510.00 380.60
Ashmore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .318.80 –1.30 335.30 215.00 Dunelm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .378.40 –3.60 438.40 301.20 Marks & Spencer. . . . . . . . . . . . .374.50 –1.60 412.70 321.90 Spectris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .998.00 –7.00 1043.00 653.00
Astrazeneca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3326.50 –25.50 3389.50 2668.00 Easyjet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .381.90 +3.90 499.90 339.80 Meggitt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .294.30* +6.00 331.00 220.10
Atkins(Ws) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .738.50* +20.50 801.00 532.50 Edinburgh Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . .420.80 –5.20 436.00 338.00 Melrose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263.60* –2.60 275.10 160.00 Spirax-Sarco Eng . . . . . . . . . . .1691.00 +8.00 1736.00 1001.00
Autonomy Corp . . . . . . . . . . . .1833.00 +21.00 2012.00 1278.00 Electrocomponents . . . . . . . . . . .223.10 –16.80 246.30 142.90 Mercantile IT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .963.00 –7.00 1002.00 822.50 Spirent Comms . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137.90* –0.80 145.10 84.15
Aveva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1394.00 +5.00 1487.00 856.50 EnQuest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119.30 –0.70 125.90 87.35 Michael Page Intl. . . . . . . . . . . . .448.30* +3.80 461.50 314.40 Sports Direct Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . .125.60 –1.60 130.50 89.85
Aviva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .412.10 –3.90 474.00 290.20 Essar Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .452.30 –5.50 475.90 358.50 Micro Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .367.70* +0.70 550.00 272.20 SSL Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1157.00 — 1190.00 596.50
Babcock International . . . . . . . . .561.00 +3.50 660.50 489.00 Eurasian Nat Res . . . . . . . . . . . .901.50* +3.50 1276.00 781.00 Millen & Copthorne . . . . . . . . . . .528.00* +2.50 547.00 321.40 St James’s Place . . . . . . . . . . . . .273.10 –2.30 296.90 203.40
BAE Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .329.20 –0.60 389.90 288.10 Euromoney Inst Inv . . . . . . . . . . .585.00 –15.00 630.00 297.00 Misys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .292.40 +3.30 295.80 180.80 Stagecoach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .184.20 –0.90 204.90 137.00
Balfour Beatty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .266.70 +6.20 328.85 228.60 Experian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .663.00 –10.50 683.00 509.50 Mitchells & Butlers . . . . . . . . . . .294.40 –0.10 343.90 228.30 Standard Chartered . . . . . . . . . .1900.00* –7.50 1946.00 1366.50
Barclays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .304.65 –10.10 394.25 253.40 F&C Comm Prop . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97.50* +7.00 97.50 79.50 MITIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .198.60 +1.40 269.20 187.80 Standard Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223.40* –1.50 237.00 170.00
Barratt Development . . . . . . . . . .102.10 –1.00 184.92 89.10 Ferrexpo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .314.10* +4.60 396.20 138.00 Mondi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511.00 –3.00 519.00 300.70 SuperGrp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1277.00 +137.00 1277.00 499.00
BBA Aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .194.00* –1.30 220.00 145.90 FirstGroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .348.20 –1.70 448.80 331.20 Monks Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .318.00 –2.60 322.90 265.00 TalkTalk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136.20 –0.70 147.10 106.60
Bellway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .585.50 +19.00 927.50 510.00 Foreign & Col Inv Tst. . . . . . . . . .282.00 –0.40 297.20 240.50 Morrison Wm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .298.80 +1.30 306.30 255.00 Talvivaara Mining . . . . . . . . . . . .433.70 –11.40 501.50 341.40
Berkeley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .826.50 –10.50 959.50 735.00 Fresnillo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1168.00 –13.00 1197.00 647.00 Murray Intl Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .871.50 –23.00 907.50 719.00 Tate & Lyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .462.70 –2.30 509.00 388.00
BG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1082.50 –9.00 1248.00 966.90 G4S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250.20* –1.10 285.70 217.70 National Express. . . . . . . . . . . . .239.10 –5.90 258.60 155.86
BHP Billiton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1940.00* –23.50 2346.00 1583.50 Genesis Emerging Mkts Fd . . . . .497.20 –0.80 506.00 370.00 National Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .551.50 –5.50 607.65 474.80 Taylor Wimpey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29.30 +0.11 48.53 24.29
BlackRock Mining . . . . . . . . . . . .616.00 +10.00 654.50 474.00 GKN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161.00* +1.10 164.70 100.40 Next . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2167.00 –3.00 2360.00 1726.00 Telecity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .501.00 +1.00 542.50 311.30
BlueBay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .345.00 — 393.00 251.00 GlaxoSmithKline . . . . . . . . . . . .1274.00* +1.00 1347.00 1088.00 Northumbrian Water . . . . . . . . . .340.00 –5.40 353.00 225.20 Templeton Emrg Mkts . . . . . . . . .590.00 +4.00 598.00 444.10
Bluecrest Allblue GBP . . . . . . . . .168.40 +1.90 169.00 140.00 Great Portland Estates . . . . . . . .328.60 –3.20 334.80 236.60 Old Mutual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134.80 –2.80 140.50 94.75 Tesco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .428.65 +1.80 454.90 368.40
Booker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49.25 +0.50 49.99 37.50 Greene King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .425.60 +1.60 484.00 372.50 Partygaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .296.00 –1.90 339.70 205.80 Thomas Cook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .190.50* –2.90 277.20 172.30
BP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .403.05 –5.40 658.20 296.00 Halfords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .462.20 –12.80 562.50 327.20 Pearson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1009.00* –2.00 1069.00 749.00 Tomkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .324.50 +0.40 325.70 155.00
Brit Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .987.50 — 1017.00 709.00 Halma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311.60 +6.60 317.10 198.00 Pennon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .590.00* –11.50 616.50 440.40 Travis Perkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .820.50 –4.50 915.00 647.50
British Airways . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236.00 +1.60 255.80 172.40 Hammerson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .382.80* –7.10 460.30 332.20 Persimmon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .399.30 +2.00 523.00 335.90 TUI Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221.70* –1.80 313.90 189.20
British Amer. Tob . . . . . . . . . . .2359.00* +8.00 2396.50 1832.00 Hargreaves Lansdown . . . . . . . .461.50* +4.20 478.00 259.40 Petrofac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1395.00 +10.00 1446.00 900.00 Tullett Prebon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .390.00 –2.00 436.20 261.20
British Empire Tst . . . . . . . . . . . .448.00 –5.40 467.90 338.50 Hays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115.60 +4.80 119.00 82.50 Petropavlovsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1212.00 –16.00 1370.00 834.00 Tullow Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1261.00 –8.00 1375.00 979.50
British Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .468.80 –9.10 531.00 416.00 Henderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130.50* –2.50 157.80 112.10 Premier Farnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259.60 –7.20 272.60 140.60 UK Commercial Prop. . . . . . . . . . .80.80 +0.55 84.90 69.10
Britvic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .479.40 –5.10 518.00 340.00 Heritage Oil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .318.00 –2.20 585.00 298.20 Premier Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1668.00 –4.00 1695.00 984.00 Ultra Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . .1748.00* +9.00 1774.00 1198.00
Brown(N.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235.00 +2.00 284.30 204.80 Hikma Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . . . .766.00* –33.00 813.00 443.00 Provident Financial . . . . . . . . . . .840.00 –5.50 986.00 795.00
BSkyB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .708.00 –1.50 732.00 521.00 Hiscox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .362.20* –6.10 371.10 299.60 Prudential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .612.00* –11.50 665.00 475.70 Unilever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1750.00 –26.00 2024.00 1655.00
BT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138.90 –1.10 151.00 108.40 Hochschild Mining . . . . . . . . . . .418.00* +10.70 424.80 220.00 PZ Cussons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .344.60* +3.10 373.20 226.50 United Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . .571.00 –8.50 620.00 429.00
Bunzl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .748.00 –1.50 784.50 613.50 Home Retail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211.90 –1.50 326.30 208.50 Qinetiq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111.10 –2.30 179.10 103.50 Utd Business Media . . . . . . . . . .632.00* –2.50 656.50 408.30
Burberry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .929.50 +19.50 942.00 467.20 Homeserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .485.20 +3.70 502.00 435.40 Randgold Resources. . . . . . . . .6340.00 +45.00 6600.00 3930.00 Vedanta Resources . . . . . . . . . .2145.00 +21.00 2967.00 1795.00
Cable & Wire Comms . . . . . . . . . .61.00 +0.40 150.00 53.00 HSBC Hldgs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672.70* –2.70 766.80 595.20 Reckitt Benckiser . . . . . . . . . . .3395.00* –42.00 3667.00 2938.00 Victrex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1203.00 –36.00 1320.00 726.50
Cable & Wire Wwide . . . . . . . . . . .78.40 +0.85 94.80 60.05 Hunting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .620.50 –19.00 659.50 429.10 Reed Elsevier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .535.00 –1.50 566.00 454.60 Vodafone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160.30 +0.45 162.00 126.50
Cairn Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .428.40 –4.80 497.60 306.80 ICAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .432.70 –4.90 478.30 291.70 Regus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76.50* +1.60 125.50 64.05 Weir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1429.00 +11.00 1450.00 635.00
Caledonia Invs . . . . . . . . . . . . .1605.00 –8.00 1759.00 1496.00 IG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .489.30* –6.50 532.00 291.00 Renishaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .980.00* –4.50 1021.00 479.00 WH Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .435.40 +0.50 551.00 392.20
Capita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .766.00* +0.50 829.50 693.00 Imagination Tech Gp . . . . . . . . . .368.40 +21.50 385.00 154.00 Rentokil Initial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104.10 –0.80 140.20 91.15 Whitbread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1600.00 +15.00 1645.00 1141.00
Capital & Counties . . . . . . . . . . .129.50 +0.50 131.00 99.60 IMI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .743.00* +10.00 786.00 410.00 Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247.20* –7.20 264.80 220.10 William Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183.60 +0.40 217.80 160.50
Capital Shopping Centres . . . . . .359.90 +2.90 580.00 300.10 Imperial Tobacco. . . . . . . . . . . .1914.00 –13.00 2159.00 1728.00 Rexam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .302.60* — 348.80 253.40 Witan Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .463.20* +4.50 487.00 396.30
Carillion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .315.10* –4.20 361.90 263.90 Inchcape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289.00 +2.00 347.00 235.00 Rightmove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .734.00 +1.50 796.50 456.90
Carnival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2371.00 +12.00 2937.00 1876.00 Informa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .415.60* +0.10 439.40 263.30 Rio Tinto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3557.50 –16.00 4104.00 2435.00 Wolseley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1423.00 +11.00 1742.00 1155.00
Catlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .330.50* –2.20 394.60 303.20 Inmarsat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .705.50 –13.50 831.00 526.00 RIT Capital Partners . . . . . . . . . 1113.00 –23.00 1215.00 940.00 Wood Group (John). . . . . . . . . . .388.10* +3.10 411.70 279.60
Centamin Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . .190.80 +13.50 190.80 92.00 Intercontl Hotels . . . . . . . . . . . . 1122.00* +15.00 1244.00 762.50 Rolls Royce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .583.00 +5.00 631.50 434.50 WPP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711.50 –2.50 744.00 520.50
Centrica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .341.20 +0.20 347.00 236.30 Intermediate Capital . . . . . . . . . .286.30 +0.40 332.00 233.50 Rotork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1668.00* –8.00 1712.00 1066.00 Xstrata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1167.00* +6.50 1344.50 815.00
Charter Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .657.50 –1.00 855.50 563.50 Intertek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1788.00 –7.00 1837.00 1136.00 Royal Bank Of Scot . . . . . . . . . . . .47.84 –0.60 58.95 28.25 LONDON TOP 250 BY MARKET CAPITALISATION
Chemring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2967.00 +28.00 3711.00 2361.00 Intl Personal Fin . . . . . . . . . . . . .266.40* –3.90 283.00 135.30 Royal Dutch Shell A . . . . . . . . .1863.50 –17.00 2068.50 1621.00
Close Bros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .705.50 +1.50 806.50 657.00 Intl Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .380.00 –5.80 396.80 248.20 Royal Dutch Shell B . . . . . . . . . 1811.00 –18.00 1997.50 1550.00 * Ex-Dividend † Suspended
Cobham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236.50 +1.50 278.60 205.50 Invensys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285.80 +8.90 350.30 224.90 RSA Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128.70* –1.10 142.00 114.10
COLT Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116.50 –2.80 144.20 107.70 Investec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .487.60 –9.40 565.00 411.50 SABMiller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1974.50 –27.00 2090.00 1450.00 www.interactivedata.com

“
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www.cityindex.co.uk 1 point spreads available during our market hours only.

Spreads lowered on our rolling and daily future spread bet markets.
1 point Spreads
on these major indices: FTSE 100 | Wall St | Germany 30 | France 40 ”
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Positive open is forecast after jumpy trading

months, is back; evident from the ANALYSIS l FTSE 5,508.45
MARTIN ON GFT is quoting the FTSE 100 index
to open up 8 points from Friday’s
pick-up in volume and long positions
in the volatility index. 5,600
p
17 Sep

THEMARKETS close, at a level of 5,516. The German

DAX 40 is expected to open up 9
points at 6,218, and the French CAC
The spotlight economic event of
the week will be the Federal Reserve’s
interest rate meeting decision, due on 5,200
40 index is forecast to open up 8 Wednesday. Although rates are wide-
points at 3,730. ly expected to remain unchanged,
With the UK index having briefly there is a growing view that the Fed 4,800
breached the 5,600 barrier to post a may lean toward easing in monetary
fresh four-month high on Friday, this policy, so an absence of such a signal 21 Jun 9 Jul 29 Jul 18 Aug 8 Sep
could give bulls some encouragement could trigger a sell-off. rate.
to stage another attack on the techni- Martin Slaney is director of global dealing ANALYSIS l DAX
cally significant level, even despite operations at GFT 6,209.76
6,400 p
the sharp about-turn witnessed by 17 Sep
the markets after disappointing US
MARTIN SLANEY consumer confidence figures.
Comments from Ireland’s finance
6,200

minister, strongly rebutting rumours 6,000

A
mildly positive start is the call Ireland was on the verge of a debt cri-
for stocks this morning, but sis, should also help stabilise markets. 5,800
after Friday’s jumpy trading But there is a sense that the volatility,
session sentiment is mixed. missing from the markets over recent 21 Jun 9 Jul 29 Jul 18 Aug 7 Sep
 28 Investment | Spread Betting
China is sowing
the seeds of a
bull market in
wheat and corn
Spread betters should expect permanently
higher grain prices, says Jessica Mead
S
HARP rises in food prices over the
summer raised the ugly spectre of
riots and civil unrest across the
developing world and rampant infla-
tion in Western countries. In August a
Russian ban on wheat exports caused the
price to spike, prompting some countries
like Egypt to aim for self-sufficiency.
The surge was short-lived but the volatil-
ity and high prices have certainly not van-
ished. Although the United Nations’ Food
and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recent-
ly rejected the notion of a food crisis like
we saw in 2007-2008, it nonetheless
warned of greater volatility in food com-
modities markets in the years ahead.
On Friday US corn prices broke through
the important $5-a-bushel resistance level
for the first time since September 2008,
fuelled by reports from US farmers of dis-
appointing yields in the early stages of
their harvests. The surge in the corn price
also pushed up European wheat prices to a
two-year high of €238 a tonne and above
the previous peak set at the August spike.
US corn prices have rallied 45 per cent
since early July while European wheat is
up 66 per cent over the same period.
While spread betters may be tempted to
view such rises as unsustainable and go
short, they should perhaps think again.
Societe Generale’s perma-bear global
strategist Dylan Grice evokes the example
of a sea-change in the oil markets in 1973-
74, which resulted in permanently higher
real oil prices: “The cause was a structural
shift which saw a rapid surge in the import
needs of oil’s biggest consumer, the US, as
its oil production peaked in 1970.”
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CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010
He believes the same thing is happening
in today’s grain markets: “With 7 per cent
of the world’s land and water but 22 per
cent of the world’s mouths to feed, China’s
fight to retain grain self-sufficiency was
always going to be a losing battle unless
the economy was devoted entirely to agri-
culture.”
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY
“None of this would be a problem if China
was capable of increasing its agricultural
productivity as spectacularly as it is
increasing its living standards. But so far at
least, it isn’t coming close,” he adds. Data should be watching. Political events also China’s grain demand ers, push down domestic prices and weak-
from the US Department of Agriculture have an impact on supply and demand. is growing faster than en incentives for farmers to plant more.
(USDA) shows that Chinese land productiv- Witness the Russian export ban and it can be harvested Spread betters should be making the
ity continues to decline. Egypt’s aim for 70 per cent self-sufficiency. most of trading the grain markets, if they
While the long-term trend clearly sig- Meanwhile export quotas in the Ukraine, Picture: ALAMY can stomach the volatility that is set to con-
nals rising grain prices, the short-term fac- one of the world’s biggest wheat produc- tinue throughout the autumn.
tors also point towards a more bullish
outlook. USDA data published last week ANALYSIS l Chinese dependency on world grain markets is surging Source: Societe Generale
indicated that the coming US corn harvest 20%
would be the largest corn crop ever and Chinese net grain imports
would generate the second highest yield as a % of consumption
ever. But this was not as optimistic as the 15%
forecast it issued only a month ago.
Weekly crop quality ratings are also deteri-
orating. And despite being the largest crop 10%
ever, it appears it is not large enough to
prevent stocks from tightening further,
says Societe Generale’s Emmanuel Jayet. 5%
“It seems we have entered a period
where data is likely to tighten further the
outlook for the global grain markets. The 0%
weather, as always, will play a critical role.
It can still impact the final results of the -5%
approaching crops,” he adds.
1960/61 1970/71 1980/81 1990/91 2000/2001 2010/2011
It’s not just weather that spread betters
Get started at
gftuk.com.
CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010
Set your trades on firm foundations
Check what skews the house
price index before making your
move, writes Donata Huggins
H
OUSE asking prices fell again today,
dropping by 1.1 per cent – that is
£2,474 – over two points in the house
price spread better’s mind. But those
tempted by the news on page one should
not rush into a trade before taking a
moment to contemplate the make up of
the index. Today’s figures belong to
Rightmove. The Rightmove index operates
differently from the housing index on
which traders can spread bet.
IG index offers the Halifax UK seasonally
adjusted index covering all houses and buy-
ers. It is UK-wide and issued monthly,
although traders tend to enter for quarterly
results. One advantage to this index is that
the providers do not charge an overnight
fee. The cost of the bet is in the spread.
Unlike Rightmove’s index, Halifax is a
predictive index. It is derived from Halifax’s
mortgage data at the time of loan approval,
whereas Rightmove is reporting on asking
prices that have already occurred. Spread
betters should bear in mind the way the
Halifax index is constructed. Being season-
ally adjusted removes the artificial infla-
tion caused by the fact more people look to
buy in the spring and summer.
David Jones of IG Index says: “one of the
reasons people love the house price index is
because most people have experienced it
and have a view on it.” This is helpful but
traders should note that the index does not
include sales to existing tenants or most
council houses. Be careful to exclude any
impression you get of these house sales
when choosing your position.
The other major predictive index in the
UK is produced by Nationwide. While you
cannot bet on it, it is a very useful source of
information. Still, even similar indexes can
differ quite a bit (see chart). This can make a
real difference in a market with such limit-
ed volatility. In August for example
Nationwide saw a 0.9 per cent fall in house
prices whereas Halifax gave a 0.2 per cent
increase.
Betting on house prices can be sluggish.
Those hankering after volatility who have a
strong view on the housing market could
bet on house builders’ stocks such as
Redrow. Not only does this offer the trader
a chance to get in a greater number of
trades but the provider also pins the bet to
the underlying market so the spread is
SPREAD BET
GURU
JOSHUA
RAYMOND
MARKET
STRATEGIST
josh@cityindex.com
Q.
Dear Josh, do broker recommenda-
tions fundamentally move stock
prices?
A.
In the short term, certainly. It’s quite
common for a mainstream broker or
investment bank like Morgan Stanley
or Citigroup to revise their forecasts on cer-
tain share prices and see a knee-jerk reaction
in the markets.
Last week we witnessed a perfect example
of this with Sainsbury share prices outper-
forming its sector on the back of an upgrade
from UBS. Undoubtedly, there will be move-
ments in various share prices this week on
Investment | Spread Betting 29
Spread betters on
house prices rarely
see them fall off a cliff
Picture: REX
tighter and cheaper to enter into.
Price and volatility are not the only short. 187p was where the May/June rally
advantage in choosing housing stocks over THE TIPSTER petered out and this level has been a strong
the Halifax index. IG Index’s Jones says: line of resistance in the past. Keep the stops
“House building companies have come out
of the woods since the crash” while house
LOOK OUT FOR ANOTHER tight though just in case. Spread Co offers a
spread on William Hill of 186.56p–187.84p.
prices are still looking uncertain.
CHANCE TO SHORT CRUDE Last week’s earnings news from Desire
Petroleum might have been less than stellar
ANALYSIS l Comparing house price indexes but positive tidings from its latest drill tests
£
near the Falklands were clearly what the
Source: Goldman Sachs analysts market wanted to hear. The share price
T
200,000 HIS column tipped WTI Crude as a sell gained around 25 per cent last week. The
last Tuesday in the $77-$78 range and current IG Index price on Desire is
this proved profitable as crude slid from 125.4p–127.3p.
180,000
a high of $77.93 to a low of $74.12 by Following the earthquake in Christchurch,
Thursday. The outlook is still bearish and the the value of the New Zealand dollar plum-
160,000
100-day simple moving average around $76 is meted. The effect on sterling in the second
a good level at which to start shorting again. quarter of this year is uncertain, but the
140,000 Spread Co offers WTI Crude at $75.14–$75.20. rebuilding next year is sure to cause a
Halifax
Nationwide Since announcing its latest results on 26 bounce in production and renewed interest
120,000 August, William Hill’s shares have climbed in the kiwi dollar. Cantor Index offers daily
some 12 per cent to 187p. But this might be a rolling sterling-New Zealand dollar at
100,000 level at which to book some profits or even $2.14917-$2.14977. Juliet Samuel
Jan 04 Jan 06 Jan 08 Jan 10
the back of broker recommendations too.
There is less traction in medium- to long-term
share price moves, however, because the fun-
damentals win out over time no matter who
has recommended what.
Moreover, much depends on the nature of
the revision itself. An aggressive cut or down-
grade to a “sell” recommendation could ulti-
mately have longer-term implications on
other market opinions than a more modest
revision. But be careful if you are trying to
trade on the back of a broker recommenda-
tion as much of the knee-jerk reaction in the
market is likely to be priced in by the time
you have heard about it.
Q.
Dear Josh, can you explain why
Japan has intervened to weaken
the yen?
Recommendations this can exacerbate an already troublesome the yen to weaken there needs to be an
A.
The dollar-yen currency rate reached from brokers can situation. Devaluing the yen is one way of opposing willingness to allow the dollar to
a new 15-year low earlier this week move markets in the making Japanese exports more attractive strengthen, and this could ultimately impact
of ¥82.85. Compare this to over short term and their intervention to sell an estimated ¥1 the US’s own export desires, making
three years ago when $1 bought as much as Picture: REUTERS trillion last week was Tokyo’s step towards American goods more expensive. Given that
¥124 and you can see just how significantly reaching this goal. Japan has acted unilaterally against agree-
the yen has strengthened against the US dol- Now, the big question is whether Japan’s ments with its trading partners, I suspect
lar. This is posing a massive risk to Japan’s efforts will work and there are already that there will be much more to come on
export capabilities, which it relies on for strong opinions in the marketplace that it is this matter, both from the markets and on
growth, as essentially it makes their goods likely to fail until there is a coordinated the political front.
much more expensive to buy for its global effort from the other key central banks to To learn more about the markets and spread
partners. weaken the yen. betting you can join Josh at his free City
In the current fragile economic climate, Currencies work in pairs and therefore for Index seminars.
 Lifestyle
30 CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010

| Travel

Getting off
your rocker
on the slopes
Jenny Forsyth reports on the revolutionary
technology that’s changing how we ski

W
HEN the late daredevil skier and
base jumper Shane McConkey
strapped his bindings to water-
skis and set off down the moun-
tain, it wasn’t expected that he’d cause a
revolution in ski technology. But
McConkey realised that the curvier,
scooped camber of the waterskis gave him
greater control when haring down the
deep, soft snow drifts of uncharted moun-
tainsides.
To help his fat skis float above the pow-
der, he bent the ski the “wrong way” so
that the tail and tips turned up – and the
means you don’t have to make so much of
a balancing adjustment to your skiing
style when heading off the beaten track.
“It does what it says on the tin and rais-
es the ski earlier through the fore body,”
says Jones. “It’s normally matched up to a
traditional or flat cambered ski, so this
allows it to still feel stable at speed.”
Another variation is the tail rocker – a
lifted tail which is always paired with a
nose rocker, meaning that the front and
back are pointing upwards.
“It stops the tail from catching through
the end of the turn, makes pivoting and
MARK JONES’ TOP SKI PICKS

rocker ski (like the bottom of a rocking
chair) was born. Unlike flatter traditional
skis, which actually rise in the middle at
the bindings, the rising front or back and
central dip of rockers offers more con-
trol – particularly in off-piste condi-
tions – by having less aggressive contact
with the snow.
Nearly a decade later, McConkey’s been
proved absolutely right. In fact, the vari-
ous rocker shapes are gradually taking
over the ski market. K2 – a major ski man-
ufacturer – has this year put rocker fea-
tures on all of its skis, from powder boards
to piste planks.
Mark Jones, the Ski Club of Great
Britain’s technical expert and ski tester,
says that while there are huge variations,
the most common designs of the new
breed of skis are the nose rocker, tail rock-
er and reverse camber.
The nose rocker – which accentuates
the elevation at the front of the ski, and is
also known as the “early rise tip” – allows
skiers to be more centred on the ski, with
less risk of the tips catching in tricky con-
ditions. It’s an alternative to the fatter ski
traditionally used for off-pisteing, and
>>
steering even easier and lets you slash out
those turns in the deep stuff,” says Jones. SALOMON GEISHA
And then, for the full works, there is the
reverse camber – in which the entire ski
£450
follows the shape of a curve. At higher speeds this women’s ski has the
“Reverse camber means it is bent the stability to feel secure, but is still soft
wrong way through the whole length of enough to be playful and easy to use. It’s
the ski,” says Jones. “This shape allows you
to smear and surf above the powder and a hard ski to fault. It’s not great on the
pivot and ditch speed in an instant. In piste, but for back country it’s per-
essence it’s the ultimate hit in deep pow- fect. www.salomon.com
der, but on piste – forget it.”
Nevertheless, Jones says that rocker-
style skis that are designed for piste skiing
FISCHER WATEA 98 BC TT
>>
too are appearing in increasing numbers.
While the shape was traditionally for deep £649 inc bindings
powder, new all-mountain skis – a hybrid The new hull-shaped nose works well in the powder while
of piste skis and front-and-back rockers –
can take you anywhere. the rocker gives great flotation and a smooth off piste ride.
“We are now starting to get skis that are Feels forgiving in all conditions. www.fischersports.com
built for strong carving on the piste, with
a traditional sidecut (where a piste ski gets
thinner in the middle) but also raised
nose and tails to allow them to rip around
in the back country. These hybrid options
are possibly the future of skiing.”
Mark Jones is director/ coach for perform-
ance training group ICE – www.icesi.org

SKI SEASON TRAVEL NOTES

TIMOTHY BARBER

Scott Dunn’s superb Austrian chalet Learn to freestyle in Laax New chalet part-booking service from VIP
Scott Dunn, the travel company with a core business in luxury ski accom- Laax, the hip Swiss resort beloved of snowboarders and freestylers, has Luxury chalet group VIP SKI has launched a useful service for those
modation, is launching a spectacular new chalet. Artemis chalet in St launched Europe’s first indoor Freestyle Academy (to go with the conti- who don’t want to book out a whole chalet. The Club Chalets service
Anton sleeps 12 is high enough to guarantee good snow and is magnifi- nent’s largest half-pipe, above). You can get lessons in the safety of a can be used to reserve a room – in other words, hotel flexibility meets
cently luxurious. It includes a cinema, spa area with sauna, steam room, padded environment before taking them to the new freestyle slope. For clubby, exclusive chalet atmosphere. Think canape receptions every
pool and more, and a statue of Artemis herself (but of course). Book it for accommodation, take a groovy apartment in Rockresort – they come evening, complementary beer and wine, breakfast and cleaning every
the week of 12 December for a 10 per cent discount. From £1,480.50 per with access to the facilities of the four-star hotel next door. From £1,465 day plus priority ski guiding. VIP SKI has chalets in Val d’Isere, Meribel,
person including return BA Club Europe flights, return transfers, gourmet for a week in a two-bedroom self-catering apartment. Lessons, accom- Alpe d’Huez and Morzine. From £819 per person for a week, including
half board and Scott Dunn driver service. www.scottdunn.com modation and ski hire can be booked through www.laax.com flights, transfers and catered accommodation. www.vip-chalets.com
CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010
>>
ROSSIGNOL
S7.117
Its radical shape gives it heaps of
flotation, making it perfect for
deep conditions. You always feel
you’re in charge, with adjustability
on tap whenever you need it.
www.snowandrock.com
UK HOTEL REVIEW: THE GROVE
Joanna Elias gets
the most out of
Hertfordshire’s
famous spa retreat
I
F ASKED, I wouldn’t list Watford in
my top ten destinations for a
romantic getaway. Yet after negoti-
ating a swarm of roundabouts we
were cruising through the breathtak-
ing grounds of the Grove hotel,
flanked by 300 acres of exquisitely-
kept English gardens.
This revamped 18th century man-
sion still throws up a sense of its lavish
past, boasting a history of landed,
royal and political visitors including
Queen Victoria herself. The current
clientele ranges from the general well-
to-do seeking a bit of spa pampering to
City workers and business execs, not
to mention the odd celeb.
Welcoming staff escorted us to our
room past a never-ending line of art
installations (plastic cows in a glass
cabinet, stuffed chicks in a glass cabi-
net – you get the general idea). The
interiors are a smart mix of art deco,
gothic and minimalist contemporary.
The one oddity is the Seventies-style
carpeting throughout, which is at
odds with the place’s otherwise flaw-
less look.
Our Mansion bedroom was a mod-
ern delight, complete with gigantic
flat screen TV, a futuristic bathroom
equipped with sliding doors, and
White Company cosmetics with which
I promptly slathered myself after an
indulgent soak in the stand-alone
bathtub.
The whiter-than-white Sequoia spa
TOMPKINS 31
CANARY WHARF
TOMORROW’S
RESTAURANT REVIEW
>> K2 AMP RICTOR
TOP PERFORMANCE
£510
This is one of the new style piste K2 T: NINE FREE LUV
>>
skis that uses nose rocker. The £280
Rictor feels particularly forgiving in The Free Luv is a women’s ski that’s been redesigned with nose rocker.
softer, more chopped up conditions, It’s has loads of performance on the piste while having enough width
but still carves well on the piste. A and softness for deeper conditions. At higher speeds it has the stability
very easy skiing experience.
www.edgeandwax.co.uk
to feel secure, but it is still soft enough to be playful and easy to use in
£525 all conditions. www.lockwoods.com
Mountains of
reasons to fly with us
was dotted with robe-clad, attractive
folk sipping jasmine tea and eating
finger sandwiches. The main high-
light has to be the relaxation room – a
warm, spiritual space to snooze and
offload. I tried out a Replenishing
Facial. Using ESPA products focusing
on aromatherapy, my therapist
analysed my skin and then designed a
bespoke facial. The products were gor-
geous, an onslaught of delicious
aroma and comfort. I left feeling
relaxed, buzzing with a sense of well-
being.
Meanwhile my sports-loving other
half was experiencing the Grove’s golf
treats. He was impressed by the valet
who took his clubs, the top-notch prac-
tice facilities, and the beautifully man-
icured course, which boasts some
challenging holes and well protected
greens.
Washed and groomed, we hit the
Glasshouse restaurant for the Grove’s
answer to all you can eat. The fish and
seafood was superb (fresh lemon king
prawns a highlight), as was the
carvery, particularly the rare roast
beef. If you are a fan of tapas, grilled
Manchego, fabulous marinated
anchovies and cured sausages were
copious. The chocolate fountain and
strawberries for dessert were in keep-
ing with the Grove’s general decadent
Near the resorts of:
ambience. You come here to be
spoiled, and you are.
We shared a romantic drink in the
gardens after dinner followed by a
South Tyrol s Ischgl
stroll. Although the hotel was packed,
hosting at least two functions that
evening, the magical secret garden
atmosphere and lit fountains under a
Solden s St Anton
full moon was the recipe for a gor-
geous end to a memorable day.
Rooms from £290 B&B. A round of golf is We fly from Gatwick, Bristol and Liverpool. Price correct as at 14 September 2010. Available to book now for
£140, or £90 after 3pm. Facials and massages
travel between 31 October 2010 and 26 March 2011. Variable charges for hold baggage apply and some payment
in the spa start at £90. www.thegrove.co.uk
methods attract a handling fee. See website for details.
 32 Lifestyle | TV& Games CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010

BBC1 BBC2 ITV1 CHANNEL4 CH FIVE TV PICK

TERRESTRIAL
6pm BBC News 6pm Eggheads: Quiz show, 6pm London Tonight 6pm The Simpsons 6pm Home and Away
6.30pm BBC London News hosted by Dermot Murnaghan. 6.30pm ITV News 6.30pm Hollyoaks 6.25pm Live from Studio Five
7pm The One Show 6.30pm Climbing Great 7pm Emmerdale 7pm Channel 4 News 7pm Five News at 7
7.30pm Wild Weather; Buildings 7.30pm CHOICE Coronation 7.55pm 4thought.tv 7.30pm How Do They Do It?
BBC News 7pm The Pope’s Visit 2010: Street 8pm Dispatches: How the MoD Five News Update
8pm EastEnders Huw Edwards reflects on Pope 8pm Countrywise Wastes Our Billions 8pm The Gadget Show;
8.30pm Panorama Benedict XVI’s visit to Britain. 9pm My Family’s Crazy Gap Five News at 9
8.30pm Coronation Street
9pm CHOICE Spooks 8pm University Challenge 9pm Bouquet of Barbed Wire
Year: The Pindoria family goes 9pm Rory and Paddy’s Even
10pm BBC News 8.30pm Antiques Master on an African driving adventure. Greater British Adventure
10pm ITV News at Ten 10pm CHOICE Jamie’s
10.25pm Regional News 9pm Unequal Opportunities 10pm FILM Enter the Dragon:
10.30pm London News American Food Revolution SPOOKS
10.35pm Traffic Cops with John Humphrys Martial arts thriller, starring
10pm Have I Got Old News 10.35pm Surgery School 11pm This Is England ’86 BBC1, 9PM
11.35pm FILM The Breakfast Bruce Lee and Shih Kien. 1973.
Club: John Hughes’ drama, for You 11.35pm Stephen Tompkinson’s 12.05am FILM Mona Lisa: Lucas and his team, racing to prevent a
Australian Balloon Adventure Romantic crime thriller, 12.10am Cricket on Five
starring Emilio Estevez 1985; 10.30pm Newsnight: Weather 1.05am SuperCasino 4.05am disaster as they track a Somalian
Weatherview 11.20pm Today at Conference: 12.30am The Zone; ITV News starring Bob Hoskins and Cathy
Chinese Food in Minutes 4.30am terrorist on a ship carrying explosives,
1.15am Sign Zone: My Story 11.50pm Snooker: Headlines Tyson. 1986. House Doctor 4.55am Rough destined for Plymouth.
1.45am Penguin Island 2.15am 12.40am Snooker Extra 2.30am UEFA Champions League 1.55am FILM Luck By Chance
Guide to Adventures 5.10am The
Weekly 3am The Jeremy Kyle Show 2009. 4.35am Age of Love
Wild Wales 3.15am Benedict: Trials 2.40am BBC News 4.15am-6am New Tomorrow 5.35am-6am
5.20am-6.10am Hill Street Blues
of a Pope 4.15am-6am BBC News Close 3.50am-5.30am ITV Nightscreen Michaela’s Wild Challenge

SKY SPORTS 1 1am WWE: Vintage 2am Charmed 3.50am Girls of 2am Shameless 2.55am A 4.40am Unsolved History
SATELLITE & CABLE

12.30pm Live International
Cricket 9pm Premier League
Review 10pm Netbusters
10.30pm SPL Round-Up 11pm
Soccer AM: The Best Bits
12am International Cricket
2.30am Premier League
Review 3.30am Watersports
World 4.30am Max Power
5.30am-6am FIFA Futbol
Mundial
SKY SPORTS 2
7pm Netbusters 7.30pm Live
Speedway 10pm NASCAR
11pm FIA GT1 World
Championship 12am Boots ’n’
All 1am Poker 2am European
Tour Golf 3am Wonderful
World of Golf 4.30am PGA
Tour Classic 5.30am-6am
Trilby Tour Golf
SKY SPORTS 3
7pm WWE: Smackdown
9pm WWE: Night of
Champions 12am WWE: NXT
Collection 2am-4.15am
WWE: Late Night – Raw
BRITISH EUROSPORT
7pm Live Snooker 10pm
Champions Club 11.30pm
Eurogoals 12.15am-12.25am
WATTS
ESPN
6.30pm Talk of the Terrace
8pm French Top 14 Rugby
Union 8.30pm Premiership
Rugby Union 10.30pm Talk of
the Terrace 12am NFL: Monday
Night Countdown 1.30am Live
NFL: Monday Night Football
4.30am-6am Premiership
Rugby Union
LIVING
7pm Four Weddings US 8pm
Dating in the Dark US 9pm
Britain’s Next Top Model 10pm
Celebrity Four Weddings 11pm
Criminal Minds 12am CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation
the Playboy Mansion 4.40am
The Jerry Springer Show
5.30am-6am Home Shopping
BBC THREE
7pm Merlin 7.45pm Doctor
Who 8.30pm E20 9pm Cherry
Gets Married 10pm
EastEnders 10.30pm Him and
Her 11pm Family Guy 11.45pm
Cherry Gets Married 12.45am
Him and Her 1.15am E20
1.45am The Real Hustle:
Celebrity Scammers 2.50am
Britain’s Really Disgusting
Drinks 3.50am Greatest TV
Mistakes 4.20am-5.20am The
Real Hustle: Celebrity
Scammers
E4
7pm Hollyoaks 7.30pm Friends
9pm One Tree Hill 10pm The
Inbetweeners 10.35pm School
of Comedy 11.05pm Shameless
12.10am A Shot at Love with
Tila Tequila 1.10am Scrubs
Shot at Love with Tila Tequila 5.30am-6am How Does That
3.40am Joan of Arcadia Work?
4.25am The Hills 4.45am-6am
Switched DISCOVERY HOME &
HEALTH
HISTORY 7pm Multiple Mums 8pm Sex CORONATION STREET
7pm How the Earth Was Made Change 9pm When Surgical ITV1, 7.30PM
8pm America: The Story of the Tools Get Left Behind 10pm Natasha accepts Nick’s proposal, but
US 9pm Pawn Stars 10pm Deliver Me 11pm Life or Death: the celebrations may be short-lived as
American Pickers 11pm The Medical Mystery 12am When a concerned Gail heads for the medical
Nostradamus Effect 12am Surgical Tools Get Left Behind centre bent on discovering the truth.
America: The Story of the US 1am Deliver Me 2am Life or
1am The Lost Evidence 2am Death: Medical Mystery 3am
How the Earth Was Made 3am Sex Change 4am A Baby Story
The Cosmos: A Beginner’s Guide 5am-6am Bringing Home Baby
4am-5am The Universe
SKY1
DISCOVERY 8pm The Biggest Loser US
8pm How Do They Do It? 9.50pm Ricky Gervais/Stephen
8.30pm How It’s Made 9pm Merchant – Face 2 Face 10pm
Mythbusters 10pm Time Warp Law & Order 11pm Bones
11pm Stephen Hawking’s 12am Road Wars 1am Night JAMIE’S AMERICAN FOOD ...
Universe 12am Bear Grylls: Born Cops 1.50am UK Border Force CHANNEL4, 10PM
Survivor 1am Deadliest Catch 2.40am Oops TV 3.30am The Jamie Oliver tries to discourage
2am Chris Barrie’s Massive 4400 4.20am Crash Test local children from consuming junk
Machines 3am Top Tens Dummies 5.10am-6am Sell Me food by showing them what chicken
3.50am Clash of the Dinosaurs the Answer nuggets are made from.

COFFEE BREAK
Copyright Puzzle Press Ltd, www.puzzlepress.co.uk

QUICK CROSSWORD
   

SUDOKU KAKURO
15 36 6 17 20 12 29  
25 21
18 
27 11
Place the numbers from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so that each 14 
row, each column and each 3x3 block contains all the numbers Fill the grid so that each block 5 33
12 18
from 1 to 9 to solve this tricky Sudoku puzzle. adds up to the total in the box 4 16 19
  
above or to the left of it. 15 17
You can only use the digits 1-9 22  
 and you must not use the
17 38 10
26 14   
same digit twice in a block. 9
    The same digit may occur 35  
24 10 22
   more than once in a row or
column, but it must be in a
11
16
14
7
6

31 11
   separate block.
16 10 
13 28
      20 16


   ACROSS Down
1 Improved, mended (6)
   1 Fundamental (5)

    WORDWHEEL E E
6 Resist separation (6)
8 Depository for
2 Extreme fear (6)
3 Tatters (4)
Using only the letters in the Wordwheel, you have goods (7)
 ten minutes to find as many words as possible,
N C 4 British manufacturer of
9 Figurine (6)
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 Sport
33
“IT WAS MY BEST DAY
IN A UNITED SHIRT”
DIMITAR BERBATOV PUTS
LIVERPOOL TO THE SWORD: P35

David Strettle
celebrated his first WINNERS &
Saracens start with
a well-worked try. LOSERS
Picture: PA A WEEKEND is a long time in sport –
as this lot will attest. But while for
some it was one to remember, others
may wish they had never set foot out
of the house. Here are this weekend’s
heroes and villains.

DIMITAR BERBATOV
Much maligned since
his £30.75m move
from Tottenham in
August 2008, the
Bulgarian enjoyed his
finest hour at Old
Trafford with a stun-
ning hat-trick against
rivals Liverpool.
WINNER
IAN BELL
Followed up his crucial
ton for Warwickshire
in midweek with
another brilliant centu-
ry to help his side win
the Clydesdale 40 final
at Lord’s. His reward
was a recall to the
WINNER England one-day squad.

MARK CAVENDISH
Became the first Briton
since Malcolm Elliott in

Strettle shows class to fire

1989 to win a Grand
Tour sprinters’ title in
the Tour of Spain. Cav
now has his sights on
becoming the first
British world champion

Sarries and condemn Leeds WINNER in 45 years.

SOMERSET CCC
Ok, so the loser tag
may be harsh, but it’s
been a desperately
unlucky season for the
minutes to put Sarries in control at a about kept the hosts in the contest, Cidermen, who missed
LEEDS CARNEGIE 14 wet and windy Headingley. but Hougaard’s trusted boot and PREMIERSHIP out on all three domes-
Hooker Schalk Brits drove over for Brits’ try sealed a comfortable win TEAM PLD W D L F A PTS tic titles by the tiniest
a second try, while fly-half Derick despite a late consolation try from Northampton 3 3 0 0 78 45 13 of margins, including
SARACENS 26 Hougaard added 16 points with the
boot as Venter’s men moved up to
James Tincknell.
Meanwhile, Ryan Lamb returned London Irish 3
Bath 3
2
2
0
0
1
1
69
62
52
60
10
9
LOSER the Clydesdale 40 final.
fourth in the Aviva Premiership table. to haunt former club Gloucester as SAM ALLARDYCE
Leeds handed England hooker London Irish climb into second place Saracens 3 2 0 1 70 60 8 The Blackburn boss fol-
▲

RUGBY UNION
Steve Thompson his first start but with a 23-16 victory. Exeter 3 2 0 1 71 64 8 lowed up his bizarre
BY JON COUCH found themselves behind on three Fly-half Lamb, released by Sale 3 2 0 1 69 63 8 claims that he’s more
DAVID STRETTLE marked his first minutes when Hougaard notched the Gloucester in the summer of 2009, suited to Real Madrid
start for Saracens with a try as first of his four penalties. converted five out of five kicks for a Leicester 3 1 0 2 86 91 7
or Inter Milan by say-
Brendan Venter’s side condemned And Sarries never looked back with 13-point haul to help the Exiles to a Wasps 3 1 1 1 83 88 6
ing he was on an equal
bottom-club Leeds to a third straight Strettle latching onto Neil De Kock’s second win of the campaign. Newcastle 3 1 0 2 64 74 5 footing with Arsene
defeat. kick to touch down. Hooker James Buckland and No8 Gloucester 3 1 0 2 48 66 5
England winger Strettle touched A Christian Lewis-Platt penalty, George Stowers scored tries in each
Wenger. The trophy
Harlequins 3 0 1 2 62 70 4 cabinet would suggest
down for his second try since his
summer move from Harlequins on 26
coupled with a brace from his
replacement, Leigh Hinton, just
half, while Lesley Vainikolo touched
down for Gloucester. Leeds 3 0 0 3 51 80 1
LOSER otherwise Sam!

The show must go on amid SPORT | IN BRIEF

Monye sidelined for 12 weeks Saints opt for Giants test

spot-fix row, insists Strauss

RUGBY UNION: England winger Ugo
Monye has been ruled out of action for
up to 12 weeks after undergoing surgery
on his big toe.
The 27-year-old, who has been named
in the Saxons squad this season, suffered
the injury in Quins’ 29-29 opening day
▲
RUGBY LEAGUE: St Helens coach Mick
Potter has chosen Huddersfield Giants as
his team’s opponents for Friday’s Super
League Grand Final eliminator.
Hot favourites Saints, seeking a fifth
successive Grand Final appearance, had
the choice of Huddersfield, who beat

CRICKET
ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss
has dismissed calls to abandon the
one-day series with Pakistan, insisting
the show must go on amid allega-
tions of spot-fixing.
Renewed claims of corruption dur-
ing Friday’s third one-dayer at The
Oval are currently being investigated
by cricket chiefs, while police contin-
ue to probe allegations from the final
Test at Lord’s, which led to three
Pakistan players being suspended.
Former England captain Michael
Vaughan is one of those who believes
the final two matches of the series,
starting with the fourth ODI at Lord’s
today, should be cancelled while the
investigation takes place.
“It would be the right thing for the
game,” Vaughan said. “I know the
allegations have yet to be proved but
there are so many flying around and
it's damaging the game.”
But although Strauss admitted he
“totally understood” the standpoint,
the England skipper believes the
remaining games should go ahead.
“It’s a hard thing to stop a series
when we don’t know how credible the
evidence is,” Strauss said. “I think
we’ve got used to putting that to one
side now. I think we’ve got used to
focusing on the cricket side of things
now. Clearly if the ICC had hard evi-
dence of what was taking place then
we would change our views.”
Indeed, Strauss and England have
already moved forward in their
preparation by recalling Ian Bell to
the squad for the last two matches.
Bell broke his foot in the series
against Bangladesh in July but scored
a brilliant, match-winning 107 from
95 balls to help Warwickshire win the
Clydesdale Bank 40 trophy at Lord’s
on Saturday.
draw with Wasps and will now miss
England’s autumn internationals.
The operation was described as “suc-
cessful” by Quins.
Lara pips Lynn in Austria
GOLF: Jose Manuel Lara beat England’s
David Lynn in a play-off to win the
Austrian Open and rescue his Tour card.
The Spaniard fired a final round 64 to
join Lynn on 17-under-par before winning
at the first extra hole for a second
European Tour title.
Ryder Cup star Graeme McDowell fin-
ished in a tie for third on 14-under with
England’s David Willett.
Warrington on Saturday, or Wigan, who
defeated Hull KR on Friday.
“It’s the logical choice,” said Potter of
the lower-ranked Giants.
Cavendish wins Tour of Spain
CYCLING: Mark Cavendish became the
first Briton in 21 years to win the sprint-
ers’ title on a Grand Tour after claiming
the points jersey in the Tour of Spain.
The 25-year-old, who won three
stages for HTC-Columbia, held onto the
green jersey despite American rival Tyler
Farrar winning the final stage.
Cavendish now heads out to Australia
for the World Championships.
 34 Sport | Football CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010

Results
CRICKET
CLYDESDALE BANK 40 - FINAL (Lord’s): Somerset 199 (N R
D Compton 60, Imran Tahir 5-41) v Warwickshire 200-7 (I
R Bell 107). Warwickshire beat Somerset by 3 wickets.
Blues deserve
FOOTBALL
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Aston Villa .........................(1) 1 Bolton ..............................(1) 1
Blackburn...........................(1) 1 Fulham............................(0) 1
Everton................................(0) 0 Newcastle.....................(1) 1
Stoke.....................................(0) 1 West Ham .....................(1) 1
Sunderland.......................(0) 1 Arsenal ...........................(1) 1
more credit,
says Malouda
Tottenham.........................(0) 3 Wolverhampton.......(1) 1
West Brom........................(0) 3 Birmingham.................(1) 1
Chelsea................................(4) 4 Blackpool .....................(0) 0
Man Utd...............................(1) 3 Liverpool.......................(0) 2
Wigan...................................(0) 0 Man City ........................(1) 2
P W D L F A GD Pts
Chelsea 5 5 0 0 21 1 20 15
Arsenal 5 3 2 0 14 4 10 11
Man Utd 5 3 2 0 14 7 7 11
Man City 5 2 2 1 6 2 4 8
Tottenham 5 2 2 1 6 4 2 8 City, but man-of-the-match Malouda is
Newcastle
Fulham
Aston Villa
5 2 1 2 8 6 2 7
5 1 4 0 7 6 1 7
5 2 1 2 6 9 -3 7
CHELSEA 4 frustrated that his side’s achievements
to date are being underestimated.
Blackpool 5 2 1 2 8 12 -4 7 “We’re not focused on Manchester
West Brom
Sunderland
Birminghm
5 2 1 2 5 9 -4 7
5 1 3 1 5 5 0 6
5 1 3 1 7 8 -1 6
BLACKPOOL 0 City,” he said. “We have to play all the
teams. People are thinking about
Bolton 5 1 3 1 7 8 -1 6 Manchester City because they are not
Blackburn 5 1 2 2 5 6 -1 5 giving us credit for what we’ve done
▲

FOOTBALL
Wolves 5 1 2 2 6 8 -2 5 until now. But we have to stay focused.
Liverpool 5 1 2 2 4 7 -3 5 BY FRANK DALLERES
Stoke 5 1 1 3 5 8 -3 4 We know, as we did last year, we can
Wigan 5 1 1 3 2 13 -11 4 FLORENT MALOUDA insists ruthless achieve great performances against
Everton 5 0 2 3 4 7 -3 2 Chelsea deserve more credit for their big teams, it’s not a problem for us.”
West Ham 5 0 1 4 3 13 -10 1
100 per cent start to the season. Having hit seven or more goals on
GOLF The French winger scored twice as four occasions last season and six twice
AUSTRIAN OPEN (Vienna)—FFinal Rnd (Gbr & Irl unless the Blues blitzed Blackpool with a already this campaign, many feared for
stated, par 72):: 271 JM Lara (Spa) 66 71 70 64 (Lara won
play-off), D Lynn 68 71 64 68. 274 G McDowell 69 68 68 blistering first-half show at Stamford Blackpool here – and the Blues wasted
69, A Noren (Swe) 69 70 67 68, D Willett 69 69 65 71. Bridge yesterday. no time in asserting their superiority.
RUGBY LEAGUE It sent them four points clear at the Just 71 seconds had passed when
ENGAGE SUPER LEAGUE FINAL ELIMINATOR top of the Premier League table with Salomon Kalou opened the floodgates
Warrington....................................22 Huddersfield..........................34 maximum points and 21 goals from when tapping home unmarked from a
RUGBY UNION their opening five games. corner. Malouda made 2-0 from Didier
AVIVA PREMIERSHIP But they are yet to convince every- Drogba’s centre on 10 minutes before
Exeter...............................................22 Newcastle................................17 one of their title-winning credentials Drogba himself found the net on the
Wasps...............................................37 Leicester..................................30 having been thrown a less-than-diffi- half-hour with a deflected strike.
Leeds Carnegie.............................14 Saracens..................................26
London Irish..................................23 Gloucester...............................16 cult start against sides in the lower Malouda then bagged his second
reaches of the table. and Chelsea’s fourth, but that was it,
SPORTS EDITOR JON COUCH All that changes on Saturday when as the Seasiders produced a spirited
email sport@cityam.com Chelsea make the trip to Manchester display after the break. Malouda, right, celebrates his two-goal show with Michael Essien. Picture: GETTY
CITYA.M. 20 SEPTEMBER 2010 Sport 35

Given can leave City in January, reveals Mancini

fer window.
WIGAN ATH 0 The Republic of Ireland goalkeeper,
inset, is frustrated at being asked to
play second string to Joe Hart.
MANCHESTER CITY 2 But after guiding his side to fourth
place in the Premier League with a
hard-fought win at Wigan yesterday,
Mancini revealed the 34-year-old will
▲
ish of the transfer window,” Mancini
said. “I told him ‘Shay, you can
choose. I hope that you stay here
but I respect your decision and
if you want to leave you can’.
“He decided to stay here
and until January he must
stay here. In January, if he
ance to beat Wigan in wet and
windy conditions at the DW
Stadium yesterday.
Not for the first time, Carlos
Tevez proved the differ-
ence, putting City in front
two minutes before half-
time after latching onto
Yaya Toure to fire home his first for
the club 20 minutes from time.
Wigan created very little but came
close to halving the deficit ten min-
utes from time when Mohamed
Diame headed wide.
Hailing his new captain Tevez,
Mancini added: “I’m very happy for

PREMIER LEAGUE
BY HARRY BANKS
MANCHESTER CITY boss Roberto
Mancini has told Shay Given he can
leave Eastlands in the January trans-
be allowed to move when the window
reopens, if he so wishes – a move
which is bound to alert rivals Arsenal.
“I have a lot of respect for Shay and
I told him the situation before the fin-
decides to leave, I respect Hart’s long punt up- him because at this moment he prob-
that decision.” field and chipping over ably isn’t at 100 per cent of his form.
In the meantime, advancing keeper Ali Maybe his goal can help him and it is
Mancini was delighted Al-Habsi. fantastic he got it. His goal was very
with a battling perform- Tevez then crossed for important for us.”

Brilliant Berbatov buries Liverpool

Berbatov heads
MANCHESTER UTD 3 home his and
Manchester United’s
third goal to seal
LIVERPOOL 2 victory over
north-west rivals
Liverpool.
▲

PREMIER LEAGUE
BY JON COUCH Picture:
ACTION IMAGES
DIMITAR BERBATOV reflected last
night on his “best day” in a
Manchester United shirt after scoring
the club’s first hat-trick against
Liverpool for 64 years.
The Bulgarian striker has been
much maligned since his move from
Tottenham two years ago, but stole
the plaudits with a stunning individ-
ual display to put strike partner
Wayne Rooney in the shade.
Berbatov headed United into a
42nd minute lead before doubling
the advantage with an audacious
overhead kick off the underside of
the crossbar.
But just like they did at Everton last
week, United threw away a two-goal
lead with Reds captain Steven
Gerrard netting twice in six minutes
– first from the penalty spot, then
from a 20-yard free-kick.
But the stage was set for Berbatov
to complete his first United treble
with a towering header six minutes
from time – the perfect tonic for a
quiet night in with the family.
adding: “Someone told me it was the
first hat-trick in over 60 years, which
parting shot at Reds counterpart Roy
Hodgson, insisting defeat was “cata-
mer Fulham boss said.
“Of course if Chelsea win today we
TOP 6
TEAM PLD W D L F A PTS
“It was probably my best day in a tells you something about the strophic” for the Anfield club. will be a long way behind them early
United shirt,” Berbatov admitted. achievement. I am very pleased with Naturally, Hodgson dismissed the doors – I suppose you could use the Chelsea 5 5 0 0 21 1 15
“Obviously I am happy. I am going him. His form has been excellent. claim, but admits a challenge for the word catastrophe for that. But at this Arsenal 5 3 2 0 14 4 11
home with a smile on my face. But I “You do not see many overhead league title is unlikely – even with the early stage I can’t be making those Man Utd 5 3 2 0 14 9 11
am nothing special. I am going home kicks like that coming off. It was a season just five games old. judgements. Our aim is to get better,
to play with my kids.” fantastic strike that hit the underside “To use words like catastrophe is a to get to the Champions League, and Man City 5 2 2 1 6 2 8
Boss Sir Alex Ferguson joined in the of the bar.” bit strong unless you are talking maybe that is where I have got to have Tottenham 5 2 2 1 6 4 8
praise of his seven-goal striker, Ferguson, though, couldn’t resist a about winning the league,” the for- my focus.” Newcastle 5 2 1 2 8 6 7

Reds face more owner strife FOOTBALL | IN BRIEF

Messi stretchered off Spurs legend Smith dies at 77

as Hicks plans £282m buy-out

LIONEL MESSI could face a lengthy spell
on the sidelines after being stretchered
off during Barcelona’s victory at Atletico
Madrid last night.
The Argentina wizard was left clutch-
ing his face in pain after injuring his ankle
in a clash with Atletico defender Tomas
on 1 October. also in attendance, but there was no Ujfalusi, who was subsequently sent off.
▲
TOTTENHAM fans were in mourning yes-
terday following the death of the club’s
striking legend, Bobby Smith, at the age
of 77.
Smith scored 208 goals in 317 appear-
ances for Spurs and was a part of the
revered double-winning side of 1961.
“Bobby died at an Enfield hospital on

FOOTBALL FINANCE
BY JON COUCH
LIVERPOOL fans have been warned
they could face two more years of
boardroom turmoil as the battle for
control at Anfield rumbles on.
Unpopular American Tom Hicks is
reportedly preparing a £282m deal to
retain his current share of the debt-
ridden club and buy-out of co-owner
George Gillett.
It was revealed that Hicks is to sign
a refinancing agreement with The
Blackstone/GSO Group – one of the
world’s biggest private equity firms –
The bad news for Reds fans, howev-
er, is that the deal does not include
investment for new players or a pro-
posed new stadium.
It also ensures that Hicks has until
2012 to find a new owner.
According to the News of the
World, Hicks revealed his plans to
deal with Blackstone/GSO during a
three-hour meeting in London on
Wednesday.
Liverpool chairman Martin
Broughton, chief executive Christian
Purslow, director Ian Ayre and
finance director Phillip Nash were
sign of Gillett.
The man behind the
Blackstone/GSO Group is
Philadelphia-born chairman Stephen
Schwarzman – a close personal friend
of Hicks, worth around £3bn and
once dubbed “The King of Wall
Street”.
Hicks and Gillett announced their
intentions to sell the club in April,
but an inflated price tag of over
£300m has already scared off poten-
tial investors such as Chinese busi-
nessman Kenny Huang and Syrian
Yayha Kirdi.
Messi scored the opening goal before Saturday following a short illness,” a
Raul Garcia equalised for Atletico. Gerard Spurs statement read.
Pique struck the Barca winner to put Smith started his professional career
their title challenge back on track after at Chelsea in 1950, and also enjoyed a
last week’s shock 2-0 defeat to spell at Brighton.
Hercules. In a brief but successful interna-
Messi, inset, is due to undergo tional career, he also scored 13 goals
further tests today but is in 15 caps for England.
already a doubt for
their Champions
League trip to
Rubin Kazan
next
Wednesday.
 If you’re thinking...
‘is it time to be bold on gold?’
contact us.

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