The Evening Standard (London, England) articles from August 2002

The Evening Standard (London, England) archives from August 2002

Limp Growth in US Hobbles Asian Stocks.
August 1, 2002... Byline: Ray Heath Aug. 1--Asian markets were adrift today after limp economic growth in the US rocked faith in an export-led recovery in the region. Japanese stocks were also under pressure from heavy foreign selling as US investment...

Bad-Debts Surge Knocks British Banking Giant Down to UKpound 1.75 Billion.
August 1, 2002... Byline: Nick Goodway Aug. 1--Bad-debt provisions at High Street banking giant Barclays have soared by a massive 43 percent to UKpound 713 million over the past six months. The figure includes a UKpound 104 million provision against the...

US Analysts Struggle to Get Back in Good Books.
August 1, 2002... Byline: Lauren Chambliss Aug. 1--Wall Street's major players have instituted major reforms but are struggling to regain credibility after a year-long barrage of charges of tainted research advice similar to those levelled at the City's...

British Insurer Beats Blues Despite Hit of UKpound 525 Million.
August 1, 2002... Aug. 1--Aviva set the depressed insurance sector alight today with the release of figures showing it had not been as badly damaged by falling stock markets as some investors had feared. Shares in the insurance giant, previously called CGNU,...

Bank of England Freezes Interest Rates Again amid Market Turmoil.
August 1, 2002... Byline: Jane Padgham Aug. 1--The Bank of England today froze interest rates for the ninth successive month as recent stock market turmoil cast a shadow over economic prospects at home and abroad. Its monetary policy committee, chaired...

Evening Standard, London, Market Report Column.
August 1, 2002... Aug. 1--The underwriters of Kingfisher's UKpound 2 billion rights issue will have slept better during the past few days as the retailer's share price continues to make up lost ground. Today it rallied a further 8 1/2 pence to 202 pence as...

Evening Standard, London, Fiona Walsh Column.
August 1, 2002... Byline: Fiona Walsh Aug. 1--JOBS AND PROFITS KEY POINTERS FOR AMERICAN BEARS: The economic news from America was bleak yesterday, so why didn't Wall Street take another dive? Government statistics showed growth was just 1.1 percent in...

British Building-Materials Firm Has Eyes Out for Acquisitions.
August 1, 2002... Aug. 1--International building products group Hanson plans to return to the acquisition trail, having improved margins and squeezed costs to concentrate on organic growth last year. But although it expects to spend 10 times as much on...

Thriving British Civil-Engineering Firm Swells Its Order Book.
August 1, 2002... Byline: Sarah Marks Aug. 1--Alfred McAlpine's chairman and chief executive Oliver Whitehead today shrugged off the gloom in global financial markets and declared the current environment for his company the best he could remember for years....

Broadband Demand Gives UK's No. 2 Cable Group a Welcome Boost.
August 1, 2002... Byline: Paul Armstrong Aug. 1--Telewest Communications, the debt-laden cable group that yesterday parted company with chief Adam Singer, has trimmed its half-year pre-tax loss to UKpound 239 million from UKpound 413 million after posting...

Computer Fault Takes Bite Out of British-Based Chemical Giant's Earnings.
August 1, 2002... Aug. 1--A computer serving four ICI factories in Holland failed to live up to expectations, sending production of its specialist flavours division plummeting. Customers were unable to receive products that are essential ingredients for their...

Germany's Deutsche Bank Sets Aside Twice Last Year's Funds for Bad Loans.
August 1, 2002... Aug. 1--Deutsche Bank has more than doubled provisions for bad loans, setting aside euro588 million (UKpound 368 million), up from euro221 million a year ago. The bank, Germany's largest, also reported a 76 percent slump in second-quarter...

EasyJet Lavishes Praise on Newly-Acquired Rival Go.
August 1, 2002... Aug. 1--The head of easyJet, the low cost carrier hit by a passenger sit-in last weekend, has admitted that its newly-acquired rival Go often provides a better service. EasyJet chief executive Ray Webster said: "There are certain things...

British Pharmaceutical Firm Profits from Sales of Once-Daily Adderall.
August 1, 2002... Aug. 1--Sales of Adderall XR, Shire Pharmaceuticals' once-a-day pill for hyperactive children, have soared in the second quarter as the biotech group fights off copycat rivals with its new formula. The original treatment, Adderall, was...

Shell Still Lags behind BP as Profits Slide 38 Percent.
August 1, 2002... Byline: Paul Armstrong Aug. 1--Shell cemented its reputation as BP's poor relation today with disappointing profit figures and production volumes for the second quarter. Shares in the Anglo-Dutch combine lost 18 pence to 418 pence...

Brazil Woes Cloud Steel Merger.
August 1, 2002... Byline: Malcolm Withers Aug. 1--The UKpound 3 billion merger between Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus and Brazilian steel group Companhia Siderurgica Nacional could be threatened by the growing financial crisis in Latin America's biggest...

UK-Based Marconi Plans to Sell Strategic Communications Business.
August 1, 2002... Byline: Paul Tyrrell Aug. 1--Marconi, the stricken UK telecoms giant, is to sell its Strategic Communications business for euro610 million (UKpound 381 million), writes. The disposal comprises about 85 percent in terms of both revenue...

New Evidence Shows London Stock Analysts Tip Shares with Poor Prospects.
August 2, 2002... Aug. 2--Fresh evidence that City analysts are indiscriminately tipping shares to clients is provided today in research seen by Business Day. Shares in the FTSE 350 index that brokers have picked as a strong buy have performed even worse...

Evening Standard, London, Asian Markets Column.
August 2, 2002... Byline: Ray Heath Aug. 2--Shares in Asian exporters trembled today on further evidence that the US economy will not be coming to the rescue of their bottom lines this year. Figures showing that US manufacturing output was growing at a...

British Bank Posts Disappointing UKpound 1.6 Billion in First-Half Profits.
August 2, 2002... Byline: Nick Goodway Aug. 2--Lloyds TSB chief executive Peter Ellwood today said that events such as the collapse of US giants WorldCom and Enron and their repercussions on the world's stock and bond markets had had "a dire effect" on the...

British Airways Issues Warning for 2002 Annual Profits.
August 2, 2002... Aug. 2--British Airways today beat City forecasts on first-quarter profits but warned that revenues for the full 12 months would be lower than last year's 11 September-hit figure. Revising downwards previous expectations of flat...

French Champagne Doyenne Makes Most of Financial Deal.
August 2, 2002... Byline: Ross Tieman Aug. 2--Anne-Claire Taittinger-Bonnemaison is the kind of Frenchwoman most of us find utterly terrifying -- and with good reason. She has seen off American corporate raider Asher Edelman and his compatriot Guy...

Evening Standard, London, Fiona Walsh Column.
August 2, 2002... Byline: Fiona Walsh Aug. 2--So Sir Geoff has pulled it off. Barring an 11th-hour banana skin, Kingfisher's chief executive Sir Geoff Mulcahy should soon be able to announce the group has succeeded in getting away one of Britain's...

Executive of British Business Information Company Sees Turnaround Ahead.
August 2, 2002... Aug. 2--Lord Hollick, head of United Business Media, the business information group hit by the advertising recession, was today forced to report another drop in profits in the first half of the year but insisted: "We are past the low point."...

Venture Capitalist Group Wins Bidding War for British Bookmaker.
August 2, 2002... Aug. 2--Rank, owner of the Hard Rock Cafe and Mecca casino chains, has been outbid by a venture capitalist group in the race to acquire Coral Eurobet, Britain's third-largest chain of bookmakers. Charterhouse Development Capital claimed...

Evening Standard, London, Economy Column.
August 2, 2002... Byline: Jane Padgham Aug. 2--The number of firms going bust surged during the second quarter as economic stagnation over the winter triggered a wave of business failures. Company insolvencies in England and Wales shot up 7.6 percent to...

British Media Company Plans to Sell Subsidiary to Reduce Debt.
August 2, 2002... Byline: Paul Tyrrell Aug. 2--Avesco, maker of the hit TV show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, today declared its intention to sell off a subsidiary to help reduce debt after the "difficult trading conditions of the last year". In the...

Evening Standard, London, Market Report Column.
August 3, 2002... Aug. 3--Banks dominated the blue-chip sliders today after another set of disappointing figures, this time from Lloyds TSB, depressed the sector and pushed its shares down 271/2 pence to 5581/2 pence. Barclays, which did its bit to put the banks...

British Business Information Group Reports Profit Drop.
August 3, 2002... Aug. 3--Lord Hollick, head of United Business Media, the business information group hit by the advertising recession, reported another drop in profits today but insisted: "We are past the low point." The group, which includes a portfolio...

Morgan Stanley Expected to Cut Thousands of Jobs Worldwide.
August 3, 2002... Byline: Paul Armstrong Aug. 3--The prospect of more heavy job losses was hanging over the City today with speculation that investment bank Morgan Stanley is set to axe thousands of staff worldwide. Some of the cuts are expected in...

Evening Standard, London, Business Briefs Column.
August 5, 2002... Aug. 5--SHARES BATTERED AGAIN: London shares suffered another dog day as investors responded to Friday's Wall Street sell-off. The FTSE 100 index ditched 67.7 points to 4007.8 as little corporate news inspired buyers into the market. "There's a...

London Mayor: If Car Tax Doesn't Work, I'll Scrap It - or Raise It.
August 5, 2002... Byline: Patrick Sawer Aug. 5--Ken Livingstone will give his controversial congestion charging scheme just two months to work, he said today. The Mayor said if the daily UKpound 5 charge for motorists to enter central London does not...

Evening Standard, London, Hugo Dixon Column.
August 5, 2002... Byline: Hugo Dixon Aug. 5--ALLIED'S WINE THIRST MAY BRING HEADACHE: Allied Domecq is falling further behind Diageo. In the past two weeks, the world's leading spirits company has sped ahead of Allied, selling Burger King for UKpound 1.5...

British Factories Face Worst Slump in 22 Years.
August 5, 2002... Aug. 5--Britain's battered manufacturing sector has suffered its worst slump since the devastating Winter of Discontent that forced the last Labour government from office. Official figures today showed factory output collapsed by a...

British Housing Boom Still in Full Swing, Says Halifax.
August 5, 2002... Byline: Jane Padgham Aug. 5--Fresh evidence that Britain's housing boom is still going strong emerged today from Britain's biggest mortgage lender. Halifax said the average price of a home rocketed by 1.9 percent to UKpound 111,823 in...

HSBC Chairman Shows Old Ways Work Best.
August 5, 2002... Aug. 5--Sir John Bond, chairman of HSBC, is that most endangered of modern corporate beasts -- the dyed-in-the-wool company man, writes Jonathan Prynn. He has worked at HSBC for more than 40 years since joining at the tender age of 19. For...

HSBC Signals Accounting Change on Share Option Costs.
August 5, 2002... Aug. 5--HSBC today signalled a pioneering accounting change which, if adopted by other UK blue-chips, would wipe billions of pounds from corporate profits in Britain. The banking giant said it was "giving consideration" to a more...

London Exchange Firms' Pension Deficit "Hits UKpound 25 Billion".
August 5, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Prynn Aug. 5--The combined deficit of FTSE 100 pension schemes has ballooned to a record UKpound 25 billion as the market slide continues to wreak havoc on the value of retirement funds, according to a report today. ...

Development Agency Steps In to Finance Erie, Pa., Public Schools.
August 5, 2002... Byline: Chet Bridger Aug. 5--The city's aging public school system will be rebuilt with proceeds from at least $671 million in bonds bought by private investors through the Erie County Industrial Development Agency. The ECIDA has...

Taiwan Stocks Drop 6 Percent after Call for Referendum on China.
August 5, 2002... Byline: Ray Heath Aug. 5--Taiwanese shares crashed today after a breast-beating speech by the country's president calling for a referendum on independence from China. As other Asian markets sank on last week's economic data from the...

Ratings at British Broadcaster ITV Spoils Celebration at Carlton, Granada.
August 5, 2002... Aug. 5--Celebrations at Carlton Communications and Granada following last week's court victory over the Football League have been cut short by speculation about poor viewing figures at ITV. Granada, down 5 1/4 pence at 80 pence, and...

Evening Standard, London, Fiona Walsh Column.
August 5, 2002... Byline: Fiona Walsh Aug. 5--TWO SIDES TO THE JOBS STORY FOR THE CITY'S BIG-HITTERS: A new wave of bloodletting is sweeping through the City's investment banks as customers shun the depressed equity markets, and merger and acquisition...

U.S. Military Spending Lifts Britain's Ultra Electronics.
August 5, 2002... Aug. 5--Ultra Electronics' sales grew by 9.3 percent to UKpound 125.6 million in the six months to 30 June against the same period the previous year on the back of a defence spending spree in the US, writes Paul Tyrrell. The group's...

New York-Based Brokertec Sold to Rival Dealer for UKpound 153 Million.
August 5, 2002... Aug. 5--Interdealer broker ICAP is to buy New York fixed interest interdealer broker BrokerTec for up to $240 million (UKpound 153 million). BrokerTec, which is owned by a consortium of 14 investment banks, runs its own electronic trading...

Britain's Forecast-Beating Car Dealer Inchcape Ready for Rule Change.
August 5, 2002... Byline: Nick Goodway Aug. 5--Britain's biggest car dealer, Inchcape, beat City forecasts in the first half of the year as its UK dealerships raised profits by 20 percent. Profits before goodwill amortisation at the group, which also...

Drought-Struck Nebraska Counties Seek to Expand Declared Disaster Areas.
August 5, 2002... Aug. 5--Gov. Mike Johanns requested Friday that the federal government declare 56 more of the state's counties as drought disaster areas. All 93 Nebraska counties now have been recommended for disaster declarations, meaning that there has...

Dynegy Attacks Former Executive over Accounting Claims.
August 5, 2002... Aug. 5--Crisis-torn energy trading firm Dynegy has hit back at a whistle-blowing former executive, denying his allegations and accusing him of disingenuously exploiting its problems for financial gain. The US company said it reserved the...

Edinburgh Investment Trust Shifts Fund Bias Away from Top London Stocks.
August 5, 2002... Aug. 5--Edinburgh Investment Trust, the UKpound 1.1 billion fund that recently walked away from Edinburgh Fund Managers in favour of Fidelity, is to shift its bias away from the leading FTSE 100 stocks, writes Nick Goodway. Peter Yarrow,...

Britain's Smiths Group to Sell Fragrance Firm.
August 5, 2002... Aug. 5--Vent-Axia, the disperser of smells from toilets, kitchens and bathrooms, has been put up for sale by aerospace and engineering giant Smiths Group with an expected price tag of about UKpound 70 million, writes Jim Armitage. The...

Britons Fear for Recovery as Services Sector Slows.
August 5, 2002... Aug. 5--Stock market turmoil is hampering growth in Britain's dominant services sector, heightening fears the economic recovery is fizzling out, writes Jane Padgham. A closely watched barometer of the sector, which accounts for 70 percent...

Britain's Cookson Given Grilling over UKpound 277 Million Rights Issue.
August 5, 2002... Aug. 5--Debt-laden Cookson today faced a barrage of questions from disgruntled small shareholders over the handling of the company's UKpound 277 million rights issue. Shareholders who watched the stock slip from 50 pence before the...

British Software Firm Baltimore Technologies Says Shakeup Bearing Fruit.
August 5, 2002... Aug. 5--Former FTSE 100 high-flyer Baltimore Technologies sought to win back some investor support today by assuring the market that its restructuring programme was starting to bear fruit, writes Paul Armstrong. It said in a trading...

IMF Set to Follow as U.S. Lends $1.5 Billion to Uruguay.
August 5, 2002... Aug. 5--The US has offered a lifeline to financially troubled Uruguay by agreeing a $1.5 billion (UKpound 995 million) emergency loan. Uruguay has suffered from the economic collapse of neighbouring Argentina and from worries over South...

Ryanair's Profits Soar by 59 Percent in First Quarter but Warns of Slowdown.
August 6, 2002... Byline: Nick Goodway Aug. 6--No-frills airline Ryanair grew profits by a massive 59 percent in the first quarter of its financial year but warned that such growth was exceptional and that it would revert to a more modest rate of...

Evening Standard, London, Asian Markets Column.
August 6, 2002... Byline: Ray Heath Aug. 6--Dealers' screens ran blood red in Asia today after US shares crumbled overnight on further grim economic data. A slowdown in the US services sector in July stoked fears of a double-dip recession, and sent...

British Telecom Gets Back into Directories.
August 6, 2002... Aug. 6--British Telecom plans to create at least UKpound 100 million of extra revenues from a new and bigger directory enquiries service it unveiled today. Its return to directories has been cleared by regulator Oftel and is spurred by its...

Cost-Cutting Keeps British Industrial Gases Firm on Target.
August 6, 2002... Byline: Paul Armstring Aug. 6--BOC Group today claimed more success in its battle to turn around profits, although the industrial gases company admitted it had lower costs rather than higher sales to thank for the latest progress. ...

Evening Standard, London, Andrew Smithers Column.
August 6, 2002... Byline: Andrew Smithers Aug. 6--Life insurance companies on both sides of the Channel have too little equity capital for the risks they run. If markets don't bounce back, they face a tough choice. They must raise more equity or reduce...

Legal Boost Puts the Spark Into Tobacco Industry.
August 6, 2002... Aug. 6--Tobacco companies burned bright today following a court ruling in the US that effectively protects them from civil lawsuits brought by cancer sufferers. The Supreme Court of California ruled overnight that no evidence from either...

AOL to Appoint New Chief Executive of Its Internet Service Provider.
August 6, 2002... Aug. 6--Troubled US media giant AOL Time Warner is expected to appoint Jonathan Miller as chief executive of its America Online internet service provider, according to the Wall Street Journal. Miller, 45, who was number two to Barry Diller...

French Beauty Products Group Issues Shocking Profits Warning.
August 6, 2002... Aug. 6--Clarins, one of France's biggest beauty products groups, today shocked the market with a profits warning that suggested the luxury goods market is far from the road to recovery, writes Sarah Marks. Clarins, which produces upmarket...

Rival's Purchase in London's Cafes Chain Stirs Bid Buzz.
August 6, 2002... Byline: Jim Armitage Aug. 6--Bid rumours swirled around troubled cafes chain Coffee Republic today after arch-rival Caffe Nero bought up a 4.3 percent slice of the company, writes Jim Armitage. Shares in London-focused Coffee Republic,...

IMF Plans Downward Revision on US Economic Growth.
August 6, 2002... Aug. 6--The International Monetary Fund warned last night that economic growth in the United States was likely to be lower than it had previously anticipated and said it would probably cut its forecasts next month, writes Sarah Marks. The...

British Education Group Delivers Lesson in Lifting Pre-Tax Profits.
August 6, 2002... Byline: Paul Tyrell Aug. 6--Education group BPP saw pre-tax profits rise by 17 percent to UKpound 9 million in the six months to 30 June, compared with the same period last year, thanks to continued strength in its professional education...

Drop in Flower Demand Hits Profits for British Mail-Order Group.
August 6, 2002... Aug. 6--Poor demand for Mother's Day flowers and the cost of a boardroom clearout dented profits at mail-order group Flying Brands. First-half profits before tax slipped 6 percent to UKpound 2.7 million for the Jersey-based company,...

Merger Takes Place for Private List Managers in Britain.
August 6, 2002... Aug. 6--Two private-client fund management firms which look after the savings of 10,000 of the country's richest people are merging in a UKpound 170 million deal which ultimately could lead to a float. Smith & Williamson is teaming up with...

African Miner's Gold Price Gains Cut by Restructuring Charges.
August 6, 2002... Aug. 6--Restructuring charges have more than offset the benefits of a higher gold price for Ashanti Goldfields, cutting interim pre-tax profit by 34 percent to UKpound 16.7 million. Operating profit rose to UKpound 40.2 million in the six...

Homes Site Sale Raises UKpound 16.7 Million for British Airport Owner.
August 6, 2002... Byline: Sarah Marks Aug. 6--Debt-ridden Wiggins, owner of cargo airport London Manston in Kent and would-be racecourse developer, has sold the majority of its 69-acre Fairfield site in Bedfordshire to a housebuilding consortium. The...

Nestle to Buy Chef America for $2.6 Billion.
August 6, 2002... Byline: Jim Armitage Aug. 6--Swiss foods giant Nestle today struck a $2.6 billion (UKpound 1.66 billion) deal to buy Chef America, a producer of frozen pancakes and sandwiches. Nestle said it was still interested in launching a bid for...

Shares Hit Rocky Session as IMF Plans US Growth Downgrade.
August 6, 2002... Aug. 6--Shares endured another rocky session today after the International Monetary Fund signalled plans to downgrade its forecasts for US economic growth, writes Jim Armitage. The FTSE 100 index was more than 2 percent weaker at one stage,...

British Stockbroker 'Heir' Leaves after Top-Level Dispute.
August 6, 2002... Aug. 6--A row at the top of powerful and ultra-discreet stockbroker Cazenove today led to the abrupt departure of joint deputy chairman David Verey, who was widely seen as the heir apparent to chairman David Mayhew, write Patrick Hosking and...

British Testing, Recruitment Advertising Group Issues Second Profits Warning.
August 6, 2002... Aug. 6--PsycHometric testing and recruitment advertising group SHL today issued its second profits warning in less than three months and said it would spend up to UKpound 5 million in attempt to cut costs by about UKpound 2.25 million a year....

German Travel Firm Denies Manipulation of Financial Statements.
August 6, 2002... Byline: Allan Hall Aug. 6--The owner of UK holiday operator Thomson today denied allegations from a former senior management figure that it had manipulated its financial statements, writes Allan Hall from Berlin. Hans-Joachim Selenz, a...

Negative Economic Data Helps Push US Stock Market to Triple-Digit Loss.
August 6, 2002... Byline: Fiona Walsh Aug. 6--America was recently described by US Treasury Under-Secretary Peter Fisher as "a collection of the most optimistic people from around the world". But finally, in the face of almost overwhelming evidence,...

London Wine Bars Operator Gets New Owner.
August 6, 2002... Aug. 6--Hartford Group, owner of the Damien Hirst-designed Pharmacy bar and restaurant in Notting Hill, has bought City wine bars operator Jamies for UKpound 4.6 million. The deal will be funded in Hartford shares, while the buyer will...

British Businessman May Find Ailing Woolworths Tempting Again.
August 6, 2002... Byline: Fiona Walsh Aug. 6--The City's under-employed merger and acquisition specialists, increasingly inventive in their attempts to drum up business, will no doubt disagree but it is now generally accepted that the overwhelming majority...

Royal Bank of Scotland Eyes another US Buy after Profits Jump by 15 Percent.
August 7, 2002... Aug. 7--Royal Bank of Scotland is gearing up for another acquisition in the US after integrating its last big American purchase much faster than expected. "We will be turning the radar on to "active' sooner than people think," said chief...

Royal Bank of Scotland Weathers U.S. Corporate Storms.
August 7, 2002... Byline: Patrick Hoskings Aug. 7--Royal Bank of Scotland today reported that it had comfortably weathered the rash of corporate collapses in the US, reporting no significant deterioration in its loan book. Pre-tax profits rose 15...

Big Business in Britain to Chase Late Payers for Interest.
August 7, 2002... Byline: Paul Armstrong Aug. 7--More than 3.7 million British businesses will from today be able to claim interest and compensation from customers who have failed to pay their bills on time. The charges are the result of new legislation...

Evening Standard, London, Business Briefs Column.
August 7, 2002... Aug. 7--QUINTAIN BUYS AT WEMBLEY : Quintain Estates, the Millennium Dome development company, has added another troubled brownfield London site to its portfolio with the UKpound 48 million acquisition of 44 acres of land and buildings around...

Bank of England Flags Long-Term Interest Rates Standstill.
August 7, 2002... Aug. 7--The Bank of England today signalled that interest rates are set to remain on hold at 4 percent for the foreseeable future even though plunging stock markets could hinder economic recovery. It warned that recent stock market turmoil...

Evening Standard, London, Market Report Column.
August 7, 2002... Byline: Michal Clark Aug. 7--Music group EMI has begun hitting the right notes with City investors after the shares struck a new low of 191 3/4 pence last week. Today EMI was one of the best performers among the top 100 companies with...

US Rate Hopes Halt Five-Day Losing Streak.
August 7, 2002... Byline: Ray Heath Aug. 7--A sense of deja vu spread across Asian markets today, bringing to a halt a week of heavy losses as hopes of lower interest rates offset concerns about the slowing economy. The last round of axe-wielding by the...

Tyco Acts as Claims against Former Chief Executive Grow.
August 7, 2002... Aug. 7--Rarely can a stable door have been slammed so crashingly shut on such an empty corporate stable. Yesterday Tyco, the scandal-hit US conglomerate, announced the appointment of a new "ethics czar", Eric M Pillmore, whose official title is...