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Green shoots under threat after S&P warns Alistair Darling that he must sort out disastrous public finances ▲

UK ECONOMY

BY KATIE HOPE

AUTOMOTIVE

BY ROB DAVIES

THE head of Ford in Europe yesterday struck out against the German government’s decision to offer a €1.5bn (£1.3bn) bridge loan to GM’s Opel division. John Fleming warned that the loan would give Ford’s US rival a competitive edge, adding that he was worried by the French states’ €6.8bn loan to PSA Peugeot Citroën and Renault.

MORE GM: P13

+24% since 3 March

BEATING

UK NATIONAL DEBT

£754bn

THE BLUES

53% of GDP

DOW ▼ 8,292.13 -129.91

ONE million more people will lose their jobs before unemployment peaks in the UK, Bank of England monetary policy committee member David Blanchflower said yesterday.

The economist forecast 100,000 jobs to go each month before the end of the year, warning of a “lost generation” unless the government moves to prevent job losses. Blanchflower is due to retire from the MPC.

Ford slams state loans

FTSE 100

FTSE 100 ▼4,345.47 -122.94

ECONOMY

BY ROB DAVIES

▲

TENTATIVE signs of a recovery in the UK economy were dramatically overshadowed yesterday when credit ratings agency S&P downgraded its outlook on UK debt and the scale of the crisis in the public finances was laid bare.

S&P lowered its outlook on the UK’s prized AAA credit rating to “negative” from “stable”, giving a one in three chance of an actual downgrade.

Such a cut would push up the cost of borrowing for the government, ultimately resulting in higher taxes and borrowing costs for the private sector.

The damaging decision came minutes ahead of the publication of public finance data for April, typically the UK’s strongest month, showing public sector net borrowing reached £8.5bn in April – the highest deficit for the month on record. Public sector net debt is now 53.2 per cent of GDP, up from 35.6 per cent two years ago – and at its highest level since 1975-6 just before the UK had to be bailed out by the IMF to the tune of £2.3bn.

Central government revenues have plunged 10.2 per cent year on year in the past three months to April, while government spending has rocketed by 5.3 per cent.

Other official data added to the gloom. Business investment fell 6.8 per cent year on year in the first quarter to £33bn – its sharpest plunge since 1992 – as private sector businesses scaled back their capital spending.

Meanwhile, Bank of England figures showed that total bank lending fell 0.2 per cent month on month in April – the first drop since data began in 1982, though the figures may have been distorted. And the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) sought to play down recent suggestions that the housing market is on the verge of recovery, revealing the amount lent by its members stood at £10.4bn, down from £11.4bn in March and 60 per cent lower than in April last year.

Amid the gloom, however, better than expected retail sales from the Office for National Statistics provided one positive note with sales up 2.6 per cent in April compared with a year ago and 0.9 per cent compared with March, prompting optimism that the worst of the recession has passed for retailers. The numbers add support to the most recent PMI survey by CIPS/Markit showing activity in the services sector, which accounts for three-quarters of Britain’s economy, shrank at its slowest pace since last August. In April, the headline activity index saw

▲

REALITY CHECK AS UK DEFICIT SOARS

A million jobs to go

Darling faces fiscal humiliation its biggest one-month rise in a decade.

But economists yesterday cautioned that any signs of economic recovery would be hampered by the increasing cost to Britain of financing its national debt, forcing the government to hike taxes and cut public spending just as the economy begins to recover.

NASDAQ ▼1,695.25 -32.59

Picture: MICHA THEINER/CITY A.M. “Whoever wins the next election, tax hikes and sharp spending cuts will be the order of the day, but today’s announcement by S&P puts that much more pressure on the next government to act quickly,” said Colin Ellis, economist at Daiwa Securities.

The FTSE 100 plunged 2.8 per cent to 4,345.47 yesterday, and the pound fell.

ALLISTER HEATH: P2

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News

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

A catastrophe made in Downing Street EDITOR’S LETTER

ALLISTER HEATH WE are moving ever closer to the day of reckoning. As if another set of dreadful public finance figures yesterday wasn’t enough, the markets were also rattled by S&P’s decision to cut the outlook for the UK’s sovereign credit rating from stable to negative.

Years of fiscal profligacy during the boom years are finally catching up with Gordon Brown; it beggars belief how anybody ever believed his claim to economic literacy and prudence.

For the time being, Britain retains

its AAA rating, unlike Spain and Ireland, which were downgraded to AA+ earlier this year. A UK downgrade is not imminent but will depend on whether the next government comes up with a credible plant to regain control of the situation; David Cameron will be under pressure the moment he enters 10 Downing Street next year.

The last time S&P placed the UK on negative credit watch was after the last recession in 1993, as Simon Ward of Henderson New Star reminds us.

The AAA rating was maintained, however, and the outlook raised to stable in August 1995 after the then government took deeply unpopular steps to slash the budget deficit.

Rating agencies discredited themselves during the boom years, failing properly to assess and measure risk, especially in the property-related derivatives market. So it would be tempting to dismiss S&P’s tentative move yesterday as irrelevant, especially given that it didn’t actually downgrade the UK. But such complacency

would be a terrible mistake: rating agencies may not have been able to grasp the complexities of a dodgy subprime mortgage in Tucson but even they understand that the UK public finances increasingly resemble that of a banana republic. The figures are truly frightening; anybody who managed their own finances in the way Brown has been would be bust by now.

Central government revenues plunged 9.5 per cent year on year.

Astonishingly, revenues in April this year were below receipts in April 2006 – in other words, the tax take has gone back more than three years, even though spending is reaching record highs. Central government spending rose 5.3 per cent year on year, with the public sector continuing to grow at the same rate as during the good years, oblivious to the fact that there simply no longer is enough economic activity to support such elevated levels of expenditure. No wonder Citigroup expects the budget deficit this year to hit a staggering £185bn-190bn, about

13.3 per cent of GDP. Yet gilts being printed to pay for this are largely being purchased by foreign investors or indirectly by the Bank of England via quantitative easing (QE).

Holdings of sterling in global reserves have risen from £49bn in late 2003 to about £203bn by the last quarter of 2008, the biggest percentage rise of any currency. And over the past 12 months, overseas investors bought a net £64bn of gilts, compared to £39bn by the UK non-bank private sector and £35bn for UK banks. If foreigners go on a buyers’ strike, or when QE ends, yields will have to shoot up, pushing up borrowing costs for everybody.

The private sector is finally doing less badly. But progress is being threatened by the catastrophic state of the public finances, which could soon trigger crippling tax hikes and inflation. Forget the looting of taxpayers by MPs via their expenses; the real scandal has been the gross economic mismanagement by this government since 1997. allister.heath@cityam.com

Q & A : WHAT DOES S&P’S DECISION MEAN FOR THE UK 2nd Floor 14-16 Dowgate Hill London EC4R 2SU Tel: 020 7015 1200 Fax: 020 7248 1729 Email: city@cityam.com www.cityam.com

Editorial Editor Deputy Editor News Editor Night Editor Features Editor Art Director Pictures

Allister Heath David Hellier Ben Griffiths Katie Hope Jeremy Hazlehurst Darren Soulsby Alice Hepple

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EXACTLY HAS STANDARD & THIS SITUATION EVER Q. WHAT Q. HAS POOR’S DONE? HAPPENED BEFORE? A. A. It has downgraded its rating on Britain’s AAA rating, to “negative” from “stable”.

IS MEANT BY AN OUTLOOK Q. WHAT DEFINITION? A.

Yes. S&P placed the UK on negative credit watch in the aftermath of the last recession in October 1993. The AAA rating was maintained, however, and the outlook raised to stable in August 1995.

An S&P rating outlook assesses the potential direction in which a rating will move over the next six months to two years. “Negative” means it may be lowered and is generally considered to be the first step towards a downgrade.

Q. A.

WHY HAS S&P DONE THIS?

It believes that government debt could reach 100 per cent of GDP by 2013 – a level it said was incompatible, if sustained, with a top rating.

Stephen Joynt, chief executive officer at Fitch, the international ratings agency with offices in more than 75 countries

S&P head Chris Dalton said the rating could be lowered if the next government’s fiscal consolidation plans don’t put the UK’s debts on a downward trajectory.

Q. A.

HOW LIKELY IS THE RATING TO ACTUALLY BE DOWNGRADED?

In the past, revised outlooks from the major credit rating agencies have led to downgrades in around 37 per cent of cases. Standard & Poor’s says that the UK has a one in three chance of an actual cut in its ratings. Even the threat of a downgrade can be damaging, however, due to the threat of the government having to pay higher interest bills if it has any chance of selling bonds to

finance its bumper debt pile.

HAPPENS IF THE UK LOSES Q. WHAT ITS “TRIPLE A” RATING? A.

Lower credit ratings result in higher borrowing costs because the borrower is deemed to carry a higher risk of default. A downgrade for the UK would mean gilt investors would want to get paid more to compensate for the risk of holding government bonds.

IMPORTANT IS A CREDIT Q. HOW RATING? A.

A lot of investments, such as corporate and government bonds, must carry a credit rating. This has resulted in credit rating agencies becoming very influential. However, their role in the sub-prime crisis, when they rated various mortgagebacked financial instruments that have since been branded “toxic”, has damaged their reputation.

NEWS | IN BRIEF Barclays weighs up bid for BGI Talks between Barclays and private equity house BC Partners over a counter-bid for exchange-traded funds unit iShares are said to have cooled, after the bank entered talks to sell its entire Barclays Global Investors (BGI) division.

Barclays was looking to attract new bids for iShares to trump the £3bn offer it received from CVC Partners.

But the bank is now understood to be focusing on a bid for BGI, worth around $10bn (£6.3bn), from investment manager BlackRock.

World’s richest in secret meet Eleven of the world’s wealthiest people met in secret this month to discuss the future of charitable donations in the light of the economic downturn. Multibillionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates were in attendance, as were New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, media magnate Ted Turner and currency speculator George Soros. The group, whose combined wealth exceeds $120bn (£76bn) met in early May to discuss how to maintain levels of charity, despite the dent to the wallets of the wealthy from the recession.

BY KATIE HOPE

?

and governments. The largest are Moody’s, Standard and Poor's and Fitch Ratings. They also provide a wide array of financial data and information on bonds, equities and mutual funds.

RIVAL AGENCIES FOLLOW Q. WILL SUIT AND CUT THEIR RATINGS? A.

It doesn’t look likely. Rival agencies Fitch and Moody’s yesterday quickly reaffirmed Britain’s “tripleA” status and said the outlook for the nation was stable.

David Buik at BGC: “This is the same ratings agency that gave triple AAA ratings to some mortgage bonds that turned out to be sub-prime.”

HAS S&P CHOSEN NOW TO Q. WHY COME OUT WITH ITS RE-RATING? A.

IS THE ROLE OF CREDIT Q. WHAT RATING AGENCIES? A.

Ratings agencies have been reviewing the UK’s status in light of the chancellor’s revelation in the Budget that national debt will reach £1.4 trillion over the next five years.

Credit rating agencies assess the risk of investing in corporations

WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING which pays out to consumers when banks fail.

CORUS CHIEF SCRAMBLES TO RESCUE FACTORY DEAL

DEVELOPER TO ACT OVER CRITICISM FROM PRINCE CHARLES

PREMIUM BARS INVESTORS FACE WIPEOUT IN REUBEN PLAN

APPLE’S ‘TABLET’ TO RIVAL AMAZON'S KINDLE

BANKUNITED SEIZED BY AMERICAN REGULATORS

Corus chief Kirby Adamsm who took over at the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker last month, faces both the worst fall in steel demand for 60 years and a battle to salvage an agreement to sell the group’s Teesside plant to Marcegaglia. It has emerged that Marcegaglia is having second thoughts about a deal to buy the factory for $480m.

The developer of a controversial residential development on the site of the former Chelsea Barracks in west London has opened the door to compromise on the scheme following criiticism from the Prince of Wales.

The billionaire Reuben brothers have put in a £40m bid for Premium Bars & Restaurants (PBR) that would cause the troubled operator of the Living Room and Prohibition chains to undergo a pre-pack administration, The Times has learnt. The Reubens, who hold a 32.5 per cent stake in the AIM-listed group, have offered to buy all but five of PBR’s 48 outlets.

Apple is believed to be working on a new product to fill the gap between the iPod Touch and its smaller laptops that will take on Amazon’s Kindle, which has taken a large share of the market for reading books and websites on the go. The product – which a leading technology analyst described as a “tablet” – is being developed and could be on sale as early as the first half of next year.

Federal regulators seized the troubled Florida thrift BankUnited on Thursday, a failure the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation estimates will cost its insurance fund $4.9bn. BankUnited is the second costliest bank failure of the recent banking crisis, trumped only by IndyMac, which officials believe will cost the FDIC close to $11bn.

COST OF CALLING MOBILES COULD FALL

BY TWO-THIRDS

Gianni Versace chief executive Giancarlo Di Risio is expected to resign, a person familiar with the matter said, after months of clashes with designer Donatella Versace over how to cut costs at the Italian fashion house amid the luxury-goods industry’s worst downturn in years. Di Risio plans to tender his resignation in coming days, the source said.

NATIONWIDE BOSS SLAMS STATE LEVY Nationwide, the UK’s biggest building society, called the amount it will have to pay under the government’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme “daylight robbery of our members”. The mutual said that its full-year results would include charges and provisions of more than £250m for the government safety net,

ELECTRICITY USE FACES FIRST FALL SINCE 1945 Global electricity consumption will fall this year for the first time since 1945, according to a dramatic portrait of the effects of the slowdown in developed and emerging economies from the International Energy Agency.

The watchdog for developed energy-consuming countries will on Sunday tell energy ministers from the leading eight economies that electricity demand will fall by 3.5 per cent in 2009.

MERGER OF SKY AND CHANNEL 4 ADVERTISING STAFF MOOTED Channel 4 and BSkyB are in talks about merging their advertising sales teams in a deal that would produce multimillion-pound savings. Channel 4 believes that an agreement could form part of an alternative package of cost-cutting measures to help to support the broadcaster if its hoped-for tie-up with the BBC fails.

Calls to mobile phones from landlines could fall dramatically in price, under a radical proposals by BT. The company, backed by a coalition of charities, lobby groups, and the mobile phone company 3, wants so-called “termination charges” to be lowered or scrapped.

VERSACE CEO EXPECTED TO RESIGN

News

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

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AIG’s Liddy steps down after bailout

Ed Liddy, who was being paid only $1 in annual salary, will not receive a severance package when he leaves AIG. Picture: REUTERS

▲

INSURANCE

BY ROB DAVIES

EDWARD Liddy, the chief executive and chairman of AIG, is to step down from the insurer as soon as a replacement is found, it emerged last night.

Liddy, who earlier this year called on AIG staff to give back at least half of their bonuses, said the company's return to financial health would “take several years”.

Bramdean bid is best option, board claims ▲

FUND MANAGEMENT

BY ROB DAVIES

THE BOARD of Bramdean Alternatives, the fund run by Nicola Horlick, yesterday urged shareholders to snub proposals from Vincent Tchenguiz’s investment vehicle Elsina to oust the board and wind down the fund.

In a statement, the fund’s board said that it was anticipating a takeover bid which would unlock

The Bramdean board said it was independent from Nicola Horlick’s Bramdean Asset Management. value for investors, adding that it would reveal the identity of the mystery bidder on or before 9 June.

The board, led by chairman Brian Larcombe, said it was entirely independent from Nicola Horlick’s Bramdean Asset Management and pointed to the fact that the board proposed by Elsina to manage the winddown was not independent.

A spokesman for the company said that Elsina’s plans amounted to a “fire sale” which would not result in the best outcome for investors.

“It’s a takeover through the back door and on the cheap,” he said.

“Shareholders should wait to see if the bid materialises because it is the quickest, best way to unlock cash.”

If Bramdean receives no offer by 31 July, the board said it would “put forward proposals which will enable shareholders seeking a realisation of cash to do so over time – including the possibility of a delisting”.

Elsina, which owns 29 per cent of Bramdean Alternatives, has said that it has the support of 50 per cent of shareholders to remove the board and install three new directors, a claim that Bramdean refutes.

Shareholders will vote on Elsina’s proposals at an extraordinary general meeting requisitioned by Elsina on 18 June.

The row began after Tchenguiz, who has invested £38m in the fund, expressed displeasure at some of Bramdean’s investments.

Elsina declined to comment on the situation last night.

NEWS | IN BRIEF New Lloyds cuts anger union Unions reacted angrily yesterday after Lloyds Banking Group said it plans to axe 210 UK-based jobs by the end of next year, as it merges the telephone and digital banking services of Lloyds TSB and HBOS. The news came just two days after the bank announced that 625 jobs would be lost as a result of its merger of its corporate and small business lending units and a month after it announced 985 cuts over the next two years from its car financing business.

talised banks - is believed to have given its blessing to the appointment. Three new executives are also due to join the bank’s board under the terms of its government bailout.

Greenspan issues bank warning

Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, warned yesterday that US banks may have to raise significant amounts of money before the economy can recover.

"There is still a very large unfunded capital requirement in the commercial Sandy Crombie joins RBS board banking system in the United States,” he Sir Sandy Crombie, the chief executive said. Greenspan, who has been blamed of Standard Life, is to join the board of by some for contributing to the credit Royal Bank of Scotland. Crombie will pile-up that spawned the global recesbecome the bank’s senior independent sion, said the US economy had director and will be responsible for liais- improved. But he also pointed out that ing between the bank and leading there were still problems in the investors. UKFI - the body which manAmerican housing market, which could ages the government’s stakes in recapi- cause a mortgage crisis.

LONDON CITY TO EDINBURGH FROM £50 ONE WAY

He added that the firm “should have a leadership team committed to a similar time horizon and prepared to carry the plan to completion”.

Liddy was parachuted in to run AIG by the Federal Reserve in September last year, after it was bailed out by the US government in a rescue package that cost more than $150bn (£94.7bn) Liddy also recommended that the chairman and chief executive roles be split in future.

4

News

NEWS | IN BRIEF

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

GEITHNER MULLS NEW CONSUMER AGENCY

London is a seller’s market Estate agency Cluttons yesterday said that the drastic shortage of property for sale in Central London has created a seller's market, with fierce competition among buyers and an increase in sealed bids for properties that are for sale. The agency said that, at the end of last year, buyers were rare but now buyers have returned to the market in the last couple of months, only to find there is a very limited choice of property.

Boeing says 787 is on track

▲

ECONOMY

BY ROB DAVIES

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing said yesterday that its Dreamliner 787 was still on track for its first flight later this quarter, and said it is on the lookout to buy defence firms. The American company stood by a previous full-year forecast, but said that deliveries of new planes, including the 787, set to begin next year would hurt margins even as they produce growth longer-term.

Tata on track for refinancing Tata Motors, which owns British marques through its Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) unit, moved closer to fully refinancing the $3bn (£1.8bn) bridge loan it used to buy JLR, after it raised 426bn rupees (£26.4m) through a rupee bond yeterday. Together with earlier prepayments of $1.11bn, the bond means India’s largest automaker now has $1.05bn outstanding on the refinancing.

No green shoots but recovery is on the way, says Bean

US TREASURY secretary Timothy Geithner yesterday told a congressional hearing that the Obama administration is mulling a new agency to better protect consumers who buy financial products or take out mortgages from practices like those that led to the current financial crisis.

Picture: REUTERS

BRITISH firms can expect continued difficulty in obtaining funding, but should be optimistic about the prospects for economic recovery, the Bank of England’s deputy governor Charles Bean said last night.

In a speech to steel industry figures in Sheffield, Bean said there were encouraging signs that business confidence was returning but said he would “hesitate to identify them as ‘green shoots’”.

He warned that it would take time for the banking system to recover, predicting that “the supply of credit will remain impaired for some while”. But despite the note of caution, Bean laid out reasons why companies should be upbeat about the likely strength of economic recovery.

He pointed to the depreciation in the value of sterling, which he said would “encourage buyers to switch to goods and services made in this country and make it more profitable to produce them”.

Bean said the Bank of England’s repeated rate cuts – with interest rates at a 315-year low of 0.5 per cent – would also help, coupled with the Bank’s programme to purchase a total of £125bn in public and private financial assets.

He lamented the “unlovely” phraseology of the term “quantitative easing”, but said the ultimate effect of the programme would be to drive up equity and bond prices.

The Bank would also have to manage its exit strategy from stimulus programmes carefully, he added, but said the central bank would not “nip a recovery in the bud prematurely”.

City police swoop in £50m fraud probe ▲

FINANCIAL SERVICES

BY ROB DAVIES TWO men have been arrested in connection with an alleged £50m fraud affecting up to 600 investors, after City of London Police raided addresses in London and Surrey yesterday.

The investigation relates to three financial consultancies, Business Consulting International (BCI), John Anderson Consulting and Kenneth Peacock Consulting, all of which had their activities suspended by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in 2008.

The sting began when seven City of London police officers raided addresses in London and Surrey, arresting one 40-year-old man on

suspicion of money laundering, conspiracy to defraud and fraud by misrepresentation.

A 43-year-old man later turned himself in at a City of London Police station and was arrested on the same charges.

The first man was released on bail, the second is still in custody and a third will be interviewed by police later this week.

The FSA has also launched proceedings against three people linked to the financial consultancies for allegedly receiving unlawful deposits and running an unauthorised collective investment scheme.

BCI’s website describes the firm as a specialist in “providing Marketing and Sales Consultancy

as well as Strategies for growth across International borders” and lists investments with companies such as Look4aproperty.com and Apex Motorsports.

Calls to the company were not answered last night, with the telephone line apparently having been disconnected, while the other two firms have no website.

Detective Inspector David Manley of the City of London Police said: “At this early stage we would like to speak to as many of the investors as possible to maximise the opportunities for gathering evidence.”

City of London Police are urging anyone with experience of the three firms to call them on 0207 601 6844.

International accounting rule setter speeds up reform of fair value system ▲

ACCOUNTANCY

A TOP international accounting standards setter yesterday agreed to speed up the revision of a rule criticised by European Union (EU) finance ministers for amplifying fallout from the credit crunch.

The International Accounting Standards Board ( IASB ), which sets financial reporting rules used in more than 100 countries around the globe, including the EU took the decision at a board meeting that ended on Thursday.

“It’s true we are trying to be

responsive to them to get something urgent, but what we are focussing on is the G20 request to reduce complexity by year-end,” IASB board member John Smith said.

He added the July draft would look at the classification and measurement of assets.

A second document would follow later in the year on impairment and provisioning, with the final document thereafter on hedging.

The IASB had planned to publish a draft overhaul of its IAS39 rule that deals with fair value and

mark-to-market in October.

This timetable is too slow for the EU’s executive European Commission which wants changes in place in time for when banks compile their 2009 annual reports.

The existing rule forces banks to value complex assets at current depressed market prices, resulting in huge write-downs that have unnerved investors.

Earlier this week the IASB appointed two leading investment analysts – Patrick Finnegan and Patricia McConnell – to replace two retiring members.

News

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

HOW TO TRADE FROM THE NEWS:

5

NEWS | IN BRIEF

Learn how News Moves Markets

Barnes & Noble losses narrow US bookstore Barnes & Noble reported a narrower-than-expected £2.7m quarterly loss and raised its full-year outlook yesterday, boosted by cost-cutting and sales that fell less than planned in a weak book retail market. The company said shoppers have been paring back on non-essential items, including books, in the recession.

At this FREE seminar, ShareCast Journalist John Harrington will explain how to spot the most important news stories and potentially profit from them.

• FREE copy of “The Investor’s Guide to Spread Betting” for all attendees.

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Sugar seeks junior apprentice

Rio Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese has faced criticism over a deal with Chinalco.

Rio hit again as investors snub Chinalco ▲

MINING

BY LORA COVENTRY

MINING giant Rio Tinto came under fire again yesterday over its controversial proposed tie-up with Chinalco.

In the latest in a series of criticisms from shareholders and the Australian government, investors in Sydney called for changes to the proposed $19.5bn (£13.6bn) tie-up with the Chinese state-owned aluminium company.

Shareholders object to the stake which Chinalco could take in some of Rio’s key assets. They are also concerned that the company would gain convertible notes, which would double its equity stake to 18 per cent.

Chinalco has been firm in its offer, saying the money it intends to pay, which will help Rio pay off its debt mountain, comes as part of a package, and is not flexible.

But rumours abounded yesterday that Chinalco was considering altering its package.

Neither company was available for comment.

Newly appointed Rio chairman Jan du Plessis is touring the UK and Australia, talking to shareholders of

the dual-listed company, and assessing investor enthusiasm.

Several of Rio’s big UK shareholders have also voiced opposition, saying the convertible note issue favours Chinalco at their expense.

They have pushed alternative plans, including a rights issue and a tie-up with bigger mining rival BHP Billiton.

Before shareholders can vote on whether to go ahead with the tie-up with Chinalco, it must pass through Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB).

A decision from the government is due around 15 June. The board then needs a 50 per cent approval from investors to go ahead.

ANALYSIS l Rio Tinto p

3200

3000

2,657.00 21 May

2800 2600 2400 2200 2000 1800 1600 4 Mar

24 Mar

15 Apr

6 May

ABI chairman BarCap hiring extends tenure spree continues THE Association of British Insurers (ABI), whose members hold investments equivalent to 20 per cent of the London stock market, has extended the tenture of chairman Archie Kane until 2010.

The ABI said the move would enable Kane to continue leading the association in shaping its response to the financial crisis and help UK financial services pull through the recession.

Kane, who had been due to step down this summer, is working on a number of reviews on the future of regulation and is on the Chancellor’s insurance industry working group.

▲

▲

ASSET MANAGEMENT

BANKING

BARCLAYS Capital (BarCap) continued its hiring spree yesterday, raiding its rivals for a pair of star M&A bankers.

Matthew Ponsonby of Citigroup and Mark Warham will join the division as co-heads of mergers and acquisitions in Europe.

The appointments continue the unit’s strategy of building European equities and M&A teams to match BarCap’s US operations.

The pair will be based in London and will report to Paul Parker, the New York-based global head of M&A, and John Winter, the London-based head of investment banking (EMEA).

A group of 10 teenagers will feel the sharp edge of Sir Alan Sugar’s tongue, with one becoming the tycoon’s “Junior Apprentice”, in a spin-off of the BBC’s hit business reality show. Candidates will compete in tasks, designed to test their entrepreneurial skills, to win a careerbased prize worth up to £25,000.

Digital Look Find out more and register FREE GO TO: www.digitallook.com/cityam OR CALL: 020 7743 0042

may2609-city-am.indd 1

07/05/2009 16:11:08

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News

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

Qataris make preferred bid for Panmure ▲

FINANCIAL SERVICES

BY VICTORIA BATES

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF QINVEST

QInvest is Qatar’s largest investment bank with $1bn of authorised capital and investments in the Middle East, the UK, continental Europe and the United States.

The Shariah-compliant bank is led

by Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al Thani, the son of the Qatari Prime Minister and minister of foreign affairs.

Chief executive Shahzad Shahbaz, pictured above, is a UK national with almost three decades of banking experience, including a long stint at Bank of America, where he was first head of the emerging markets business and then head of investment banking for the EMEA region. He also previously spent two years as chief executive of Emirates NBD Investment Bank, building up the regional banking, asset management and private equity business.

Outside the Middle East, QInvest, which counts among its major shareholders Qatar Islamic Bank and Gulf Finance House, is keen to snap up deals in the financial services and property sectors in the US and Europe, where valuations have hit rock-bottom amid the current economic crisis.

Its most high-profile investment in the UK is an 80 per cent stake in the Shard of Glass, the London Bridge skyscraper project currently under construction.

Investec expects impairment to slow this year.

Picture: Micha Theiner/CITY A.M.

Investec hopeful despite slump in full-year profits BANKING

BY ROB DAVIES

▲

PANMURE Gordon, the 133-year-old City stockbroker, said yesterday it had conditionally raised £23m via a share placing with QInvest, Qatar’s largest investment bank.

The firm’s decision to accept QInvest’s proposal came after lengthy deliberations over the merits of two further stakebuilding offers from private equity firm BlueGem and hedge fund SPQR Capital.

Under the terms of the deal, QInvest will take a 44 per cent equity stake in Panmure at a price of 34p a share, a considerable premium to the 24p a share originally offered by BlueGem in mid-April.

Four representatives from the Qatari bank, including chief executive Shahzad Shahbaz and co-head of principal investment Rommie Bhutani, are to join Panmure’s board as non-executive directors.

Panmure chief executive Tim

Linacre said he had chosen QInvest’s proposal because of the strong financial resources behind the firm, the deal price and the opportunity to grow the business going forward.

“No other firm of our size has broken into the Gulf, which is an area of huge capital resources and a very Western outlook,” he said. “I am all in favour of differentiating Panmure.”

But Linacre played down the possibility of the firm following many of its rivals into acquisition territory.

“I’d never say never, but I think there are great opportunities to grow the business without making acquisitions,” he said. “I’m keen to hire new talent, develop new business streams and explore ways to improve our current offering.”

Panmure, which sold a 10 per cent stake to another Middle Eastern investment bank, EFG-Hermes, in August last year, added its thanks to BlueGem and SPQR for their “conduct and adherence to the spirit of the process”.

SHAHZAD SHAHBAZ, 49

SOUTH African specialist bank Investec saw 2009 full-year net profit fall by a quarter to £292m, it said yesterday, but added that it expects impairment to level out.

The group, led by chief executive Stephen Koseff, saw impairment losses jump from £114m to £256m in 2009, but managing director Bernard Kantor said he expected bad debts to

decline as the South African and UK economies recover.

“The financial system is going to survive and we are beginning to see things stabilise,” he said.

Private banking saw a 46 per cent profit decline to £104.6m, while investment banking fared even worse, with profits down 61 per cent to £28.2m. Kantor conceded that the two units had endured a “tough year” but pointed to the group’s 4.8 per cent increase in operating profit.

8

News

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

CITY VIEWS: IS THE WORST NOW OVER FOR THE BRITISH HOUSING MARKET? Interviews by Lora Coventry

▲

PROPERTY

BY EMMA KEENS SHARES in British Land took a battering yesterday after the company wrote down £3.2bn on the value of its property portfolio, reviving fears that banks will suffer huge losses from commercial mortgage lending.

Announcing its annual results, the commercial property group said its net asset value tumbled 64 per cent to 398p a share, well below the average analyst forecast of 423.6p. The shares closed down 8 per cent at 380p.

The company, which owns most of the City’s Broadgate office complex, said that its portfolio is now valued at £8.63bn, 28 per cent down on the valuation at end-March 2008. Excluding the revaluation losses, British Land reported underlying pre-tax profits of £268m, broadly in line with last year.

“Against a backdrop of difficult market conditions, British Land’s operational performance has shown resilience,” said chairman Chris Gibson-Smith.

DAVID THOMSON | CHARTERED INSURANCE INSTITUTE “Small shifts in mortgage and house price data is just a blip. The housing market won’t return in terms of volume for several months. Consumers need to feel that there’s an upturn, and buyers need to know they can return to the market with confidence.”

GRAHAM RIVERS | WIN PLC

“We have the capacity and intention to take on the new challenges that will arise and seize opportunities where we see value,” added chief executive Chris Grigg.

But the figures will be uncomfortable reading for property lenders, who have been sitting on billions of euros worth of vulnerable commercial property mortgages since the property bull market expired in 2007.

The banks are uncertain when values will bottom out or how long borrowers can maintain interest payments as tenant insolvencies rise.

“Easter always brings an up-tick in house sales, but the data we’re seeing at the moment isn’t indicative of a recovery. The employment market will have to improve massively before people have the confidence to buy.

Pricing is just rubbing along the bottom.”

GERARD AMURA | COMMERZBANK

ANALYSIS l British Land p

500

380.00 21 May

450

“All data is historical and doesn’t reflect what’s going on at the present time. I do think we’ve got further to go until the housing market recovers, and I’m certainly not looking at moving at the moment. But the industry is cyclical, we will see an improvement.”

400 350 300 4 Mar

24 Mar

15 Apr

6 May

▲

British Land shares suffer as values cut

Ryanair pursues pay cuts for Aer Lingus directors TRANSPORT

IRISH budget airline Ryanair kept up the pressure on arch rival Aer Lingus on Thursday with a campaign to extract large pay cuts from its chairman and non-executive directors.

Ryanair, Aer Lingus’ biggest shareholder with a near 30 per cent stake, is proposing the former state carrier’s chairman Colin Barrington receive €35,000 (£30,648) in pay this year compared with the €175,000 he received in 2008.

Ryanair also wants the remuneration of non-executive directors to be cut from €45,000 to the 2006 level of €17,500, it said in two resolutions detailed in an Aer Lingus statement.

“It’s all the same bloody characters who are sitting here lecturing the rest of the world on the need for cost cuts and efficiency when they have their snouts firmly in the directors’ fees trough,” said Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary. “These people have presided over a collapse in Aer Lingus’ share price and a collapse in Aer Lingus’ profits.”

The airline added in a statement that a third resolution seeking that resignation bonuses require shareholder approval was rejected by Aer Lingus while the other resolutions may be put to the group’s annual meeting on 5 June.

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visit your local Orange shop Subject to status and availability. £120 credit when you connect to a talk plan of £29.36 and above on a 24 month contract, or £34.26 and above on an 18 month contract. Available on selected handsets only, ask in-store for details. Credit is paid in monthly instalments for the length of your minimum term contract.

Unlimited texts and 600 minutes when you connect to Dolphin 30 on a 24 month contract which is normally charged at £29.36 per month with VAT at the current rate of 15%. Price subject to payment by Direct Debit and non-itemised billing. Any network anytime minutes can be used to call UK networks and standard UK landlines (those beginning with 01/02/03) and your Orange Answer Phone. Calls to freephone numbers (0800, 0808 and 0500) and non geographic numbers (0845 and 0870) are not included in bundle and will be charged at 15p* and 20p* per minute respectively. Calls to 07 call forwarding services, 070 and 08 and 09 numbers are not included in bundle and will be charged up to a maximum of 20p/min,* 55p/min,* 55p/min* and 1.70p/min* or per call for 09 numbers. See price guide for details orange.co.uk/paymonthlyguide Out of bundle calls are subject to a minimum call charge of 5p* and will be charged at 12p* per minute for calls to standard UK landlines (those beginning with 01/02/03), Orange mobiles and Answer Phone. Out of bundle calls to other UK mobile networks will be charged at 35p* per minute. Unlimited texts are for standard person to person texts sent within the UK and are subject to a fair usage policy. Unused minutes and texts will not rollover. *Call prices quoted are at the old 17.5% rate. By the time you get your bill, the amount of VAT you pay will be reduced to the new 15% rate. If you want to know more about the lower VAT rate and how our prices have come down, see shop.orange.co.uk/shop/show/offer/15pc-VAT or ‘what’s new’ magazine in-store. Free Broadband: Mobile and Broadband Offer available to all Orange Pay Monthly customers (except business customers, Virgin OVP and SIM Only) and all Orange Broadband customers (except those customers already on an existing Mobile and Broadband Offer) who connect or upgrade to a minimum term 12 month mobile pay monthly tariff. Offer ends 31 May 2009. BT line required, line rental payable. Subject to availability. 10GB monthly usage allowance. Fastest download speed up to 8 Meg. Speeds vary dependent on line quality and distance from exchange. Wireless requires an enabled computer or adapter. Price assumes payment by Direct Debit. Subject to 18 month minimum term home broadband contract. Visit orange.co.uk/broadband to check if you live in an Orange network area. Other terms apply see orange.co.uk/terms

News

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

M&B boss out on hedge loss ▲

LEISURE

BY KATIE HOPE

THE BOSS of Britian’s biggest pub chain Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) resigned yesterday after the company revealed it would lose a further £69m in a disastrous bet on interest rates and revealed a 48 per cent fall in pretax profits to £44m for the six months to 11 April.

Chief executive Tim Clarke, stepped down “as a matter of principle,” chairman Drummond Hall said, adding that he felt his position was “untenable” and left by “mutual consent”.

The role will be filled by Adam Fowle, the chief operating officer, on a temporary basis while a full time replacement is sought. While Fowle is seen as the likeliest candidate for the permanent job, Carl Leaver, the former head of M&S’s overseas operations, who resigned from the role this

week, is also being tipped by analysts as a potential candidate.

The company has already written off £274m due to the huge bets on long term interest rates and inflation.

The controversial hedging arrangements were put in place in 2007 in a bid to secure the best terms for a planned £4.5bn property sale and leaseback – a move led by real estate entrepreneur Robert Tchenguiz who at that stage had a 25 per cent stake in the business. The financial crisis meant the project was cancelled leaving M&B with huge losses.

M&B had been rumoured to be considering a rights issue to bolster its balance sheet. However, it is thought to have ruled out such a move for now.

The group yesterday said it had seen an improving trend in recent trading with like-for-like sales up by 1.5 per cent in the 16 weeks to 16 May and market share gains.

ALL CHANGE AT MITCHELLS & BUTLERS

ADAM FOWLE: Chief operating officer; acting as temporary chief executive

TIM CLARKE: Chief executive; stepping down

CARL LEAVER: Ex-head of overseas ops at M&S; tipped as potential M&B chief

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WHAT DOES TIM CLARKE’S DEPARTURE MEAN FOR MITCHELLS & BUTLERS? Interviews by Katie Hope JOHN BEAUMONT| SINGERS

“

The resignation of Tim Clarke may be a bit of a shock to the market initially. He has been very good at guiding the strategy of the company since its demerger. But this does not change our thoughts that the company is well positioned to continue taking market share and is undervalued. We remain buyers with a target price of 314p.

”

MATTHEW GERARD | INVESTEC

“

Given the operational progress M&B has made since the demerger, this may initially be viewed as a disappointment but Adam Fowle, an M&B veteran, is a very capable replacement, even if it is just on a temporary basis.

Now we have visibility on cash flows post the swap closure, we think a rights issue is a realistic possibility.

JAMES AINLEY | PANMURE GORDON

“

”

Tim Clarke has resigned. Adam Fowle is to take over on an interim basis but we think may ultimately take the role full time. Given the strong cash generation and increased banking facilities the group appears to be edging away from the need for an equity issue to repair the balance sheet.

” wins Nick Leslau’s Max Property

early success as floats at £200m ▲

PROPERTY

AIM-quoted Max Property Group, the vehicle set up by tycoon Nick Leslau to take advantage of rock bottom property prices, saw its shares trading 30 per cent above their IPO price as they debuted yesterday, after the firm raised £200m in its share offer.

The offer price was set at 100p, but the shares were changing hands at 130p by midday yesterday.

Max Property’s shares will be fully admitted to AIM and the Channel Islands Stock Exchange on 27 May. Max Property’s IPO is the first listing since the £600m IPO of Resolution on the London Stock Exchange’s main market in December. Management contributed £25m in cash to help kickstart the company’s investment programme, while affiliates of hedge fund group Och-Ziff committed to invest £35m.

9

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10

The Capitalist

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

EDITED BY VICTORIA BATES GOT A STORY? EMAIL thecapitalist@cityam.com

AN ABUNDANCE OF GLITTER FOR THE ASIAN WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT LONDON’s most successful Asian ladies were out in force on Wednesday night for perhaps the sparkliest evening of the year, the Asian Women of Achievement Awards, in association with Lloyds TSB. The star-studded guest list included Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, as well as BBC Dragon James Caan, MP Tessa Jowell, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg and Cherie Blair,

who turned up fashionably late, blaming a birthday party for her nine-yearold son Leo. Business woman of the year was presented to Veera Johnson, the chief executive of electronic procurement solutions firm Procserve, while media professional of the year went to the BBC’s Riz Lateef. Kiss FM DJ Neev Ranu and barrister Rehana Azib were joint winners of the young achiever of the

year award, and the entrepreneur of the year award was scooped by Christina Vaughan of Image Source.

Predictably, the evening was a distinctly cheery affair despite the economic doom and gloom – though actress Meera Syal, another of the guests of honour, had one idea why the ladies in the room had reason to be celebrating.

“Asian women aren’t affected by

Charles and Camilla, Cherie Blair and James Caan were all on the glittering guest list the credit crunch because they like to buy in bulk,” she joked. “Our mothers always seem to keep a stock of toilet rolls in the garage…”

A tip to bear in mind, perhaps?

CITY TWITTERATI The mildly irritating Twitter phenomenon inches ever closer to global domination.

Make of this what you will, but the latest to follow in the footsteps of hairy lothario Russell Brand, business tycoon Sir Richard Branson and tousled London mayor Boris Johnson is none other than the British Bankers’ Association, which yesterday announced it would be “tweeting” daily updates on its three-month sterling Libor rate.

“Only 18 months ago Libor was virtually unknown to the public: only economists followed its daily moves,” John Ewan, the BBA’s Libor director, tells me in great earnest. “Today it is as well-known – and as keenly watched – as the Bank of England’s base rate.” Words, for once, fail me.

EARLY BIRD The Capitalist has to admit being as fond of the festive season as your average small child, but isn’t the middle of May just a smidge early for sending out Christmas emails? An invitation to a Christmas preview pops into my inbox from luxury store Fortnum & Mason, which is “already planning the festivities”.

Just the small matter of 217 days early, then.

RACE DAY Work and play seem to have become pleasantly mired together for the lucky folk working for broker Hargreave Hale.

Hargreave took a load of its staff down to the Worcester racecourse on Wednesday evening for the Hunters’ Steeple Chase, which it had sponsored.

But there was a happy surprise in store when the firm found out the event organisers were hosting a second competition on the side: to find the 2009 win-

ner of the Miss Worcester beauty pageant. (Cue plenty of jokey photo opportunities with tiara-clad blonde bombshell Leanne Groutage, and even more red faces in the office the next day.)

Can’t be bad, can it?

PARTY TRICK The Queen’s technological education has been well documented ever since she started using email to keep up to speed with her globe-trotting grandchildren’s escapades and then marched into Google’s London headquarters last year to keep the geek squad on their toes.

Still, The Capitalist can’t help feeling publisher THQ, which said yesterday it had sent Her Majesty a gold-plated Nintendo Wii as a present, was being a bit optimistic – after all, even the most sprightly of octogenarians would get a bit out of puff jumping around the living room swatting at thin air with an imaginary tennis racquet. At least the flash console might come in handy to keep BNP leader Nick Griffin out of trouble at the forthcoming Royal garden party.

OFFICE TOTTY I hear former England rugby hunk

Josh Lewsey has been spotted lurking in and around the headquarters of his employer to be, PricewaterhouseCoopers, as he prepares to join the firm as a performance improvement consultant.

Evidently the presence of such a fine specimen of manhood has been getting PwC’s female staff somewhat hot under the collar, and The Capitalist is pleased to reveal there’s further good news to come.

You see, rather than getting all starry on his new employers and demanding a glass-walled office of his own, Lewsey has decided he’ll be perfectly happy sitting out on the work floor, just like everyone else at the Josh Lewsey in firm. his rugby-playSomething tells ing days me the nearest water cooler will Picture: ACTION start getting IMAGES popular...

News

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

Scottish eyes EDF’s UK power stations in its growth plans ▲

UTILITIES

BY LORA COVENTRY SCOTTISH AND SOUTHERN, the energy group, announced its intention to expand yesterday, as it rounded up its debt refinancing project, and reported annual pre-tax profits of £1.25bn, up 2 per cent from £1.22bn last year.

The UK’s second-biggest energy producer plans to seek European funding for a wind farm project in the Shetland Islands, which could power 500,000 homes. The bid was made with its partner Viking Energy.

Scottish also announced its intention to build two 435-megawatt combined-cycle gas turbines at Abernedd in Wales, as well as a pumped storage facility in Scotland.

It said it was eying up EDF’s UK power station network, and may buy

it if the group were to sell it, as EDF seeks to raise funds. The French group may sell off its assets to get cash so it can invest in new nuclear power stations.

The company said it wouldn’t raise prices over the next 18 months, but made no fresh promises on price cuts.

“2008/09 was a tough year, dominated in the first half by very high wholesale prices for electricity and gas,” chairman Lord Smith said.

Energy companies have been hit in the downturn as demand from construction companies falls off.

The group said its underlying profits went up 4.2 per cent to £913.2m, excluding around £800m of one-off payments. The payments were mainly the result of derivative valuations.

Scottish also said it had put up its dividend by 9.1 per cent to 66p for the year.

Shanks seeks £71m in funds ▲

SUPPORT SERVICES

BY LORA COVENTRY

SHANKS, the waste management group, launched a massively discounted £71m cash call yesterday, saying it needed to cut its debt, and said its pretax profit was down 18 per cent to £33.9m.

It will issue 158.7m new shares, giving two new shares for every three existing ones, at 45 pence each, around half the company’s current stock price.

Chief executive Tom Drury said that the main reason for the rights issue is to pay down debt, “but what we’re not going to do is to take the money and re-gear the business by

immediately investing it quickly”.

Shanks has around £290m of net debt.

The rights issue comes a month after the company agreed a £250m bank refinancing to give it additional headroom and allow it to invest further in recycling, organic processing and the British private finance initiative (PFI) market.

Revenues at the company rose 24 per cent to £697m from the previous year, but Shanks axed its final dividend.

Shanks is the latest in a series of companies which has turned to its shareholders as they seek funding.

Miner Lonmin, launched a 2-for-9 rights issue earlier this month.

DEFENCE JOBS SLASHED

NEWS | IN BRIEF Mandelson warns of GM ‘pain’ Business Secretary Lord Mandelson warned yesterday there will be “painful change” after the takeover of GM Europe. He said whichever bidder wins GM’s British arm, Vauxhall, will be forced to cut costs and consolidate. He added he was working hard to secure the future of Vauxhall’s plants. Italian carmaker Fiat and Canadian parts maker Magna have both expressed their interest in buying Vauxhall parent Opel.

Microsoft pulls hearing request Microsoft has withdrawn its request for an oral hearing into EU charges that it sought to thwart rivals by tying its Web browser to its Windows operating system. “We will now consider Microsoft’s reply to the statement of objections without a hearing,” the European Commission said. The Commission is tasked with ensuring that companies do not abuse their market dominance in the 27-country European Union.

Xerox announces new boss

WEAPONS tester QinetiQ said yesterday it was slashing 400 jobs, despite a 22 per cent hike in its full-year profits. It said it needed to axe the positions as it restructured its UK division. QinetiQ, like other defence companies, is suffering as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) cuts its orders in the downturn. The MoD remains the biggest customer for most defence companies.

Picture: REX

ADVISERS JAMES LUPTON GREENHILL

SOLELY advising Shanks in its rights issue is Greenhill’s James Lupton.

This is the third fund raising which Greenhill has advised on in the past two weeks, but the first to be made public. The other two companies it has helped raise money for remain unnamed.

“The responsibility of the sponsor is high when selling shares onto the market,” Lupton said yesterday.

Lupton founded Greenhill in London with colleague Simon Borrows 11 years ago. Both previously worked at Barings Bank until its collapse in 1995. It has been advising Shanks for the past 18 months, Lupton added.

Underwriting the deal is RBS Hoare Govett, lead by Neil Collingridge.

Also on his team are John MacGowan and Hugo Fisher.

@ @

@

JJB Sports looks forward to future after disastrous year ▲

RETAIL

BY DAVID HELLIER

JJB Sports yesterday revealed the full horror of the past year, posting a fullyear loss of £189.2m.

Executive chairman David Jones, the man who formerly led the clothes retailer Next in markedly better times, admitted that under its previous management the group came dangerously close to insolvency.

And even at the moment nervousness over the group’s financial standing is affecting custom and suppliers’ willingness to deal with the group.

Sales in the period until the middle of May are down 23 per cent on a like for like basis.

Jones is nevertheless optimistic, saying that since becoming executive chairman in January he has restored the group’s financial stability and put it on a growth path.

Jones is busy refocusing JJB as a mid market sports retailer, having sold off its health clubs business and a number of its poorly performing stores.

But he still has much to do to restore the group’s financial footing and analysts at Investec, for example, expect a rights issue to secure the

11

company’s longer-term future.

Analysts at Citi think the company’s future is still uncertain.

ANALYSIS l JJB p

30

30.00 21 May

25 20 15

MORE NEWS ONLINE

10

www.cityam.com 4 Mar

24 Mar

15 Apr

6 May

Xerox said yesterday that Anne Mulcahy, who has been credited with revitalising the world’s top supplier of digital printers and document management services, will retire as chief executive in July and be replaced by Ursula Burns. Burns will be one of the few women chief executives in America’s Fortune 500 group of companies.

12

News

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

Tough times not over yet, warns Close ▲

FINANCIAL SERVICES

BY VICTORIA BATES MERCHANT bank Close Brothers yesterday warned market conditions remain challenging as it published a third-quarter trading update, the first since Preben Prebensen started his tenure as chief executive at the beginning of April.

Close said its asset management

Preben Prebensen joined Close Brothers seven weeks ago from property and casualty reinsurer Catlin Group

ANALYSIS l De La Rue p

1100

ANALYSIS l Yell Group p

900.00 21 May

1050

50

39.75 21 May

45

ANALYSIS l ITV

40

p

30.00 21 May

35

40 35

1000

30

30 950

25

25 20

900

20

15 4 Mar

24 Mar

15 Apr

6 May

4 Mar

24 Mar

15 Apr

6 May

4 Mar

24 Mar

15 Apr

6 May

DE LA RUE

YELL GROUP

ITV

A softening order book prompted UBS to downgrade De La Rue to “sell”. The broker said that the state of the order book is key to the firm, and that it believes that 2011 could shape up to be a tough year. Given limited catalysts and a likely slowing in earnings momentum, UBS expects the stock to underperform.

Citigroup analysts said that Yell is “still going, but still concerned”, following a directors’ warning about the company’s status as a going concern. Citi rates the stock as a “hold” with a target price of 70p, saying that the absence of quick fixes on the capital structure side makes a sustained rerating difficult to justify.

JP Morgan said that ITV’s current share price is pricing in a negative scenario on advertising, but not the positive impact of additional cost reductions of £40m from 2010. The broker has an “overweight” recommendation on the stock and a target price of 49p, saying the company is still too pessimistic on 2010.

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

Higher oil prices push TNK-BP into black ▲

division had been hit by reduced management fees and lower margins on asset income in the low interest rate environment.

In the banking division, the firm said its loan book remained flat at £2.32bn as it continues to apply “prudent and consistent criteria” to its lending decisions. Bad debt provisions

also rose, reflecting the effect of the crisis on the company’s borrowers.

The firm sounded a positive note on its Winterflood Securities subsidiary, which performed very strongly due to continued high retail volumes. Its other securities units reported less than stellar results, with Mako “slowing relative to an exceptional first half” and performance at Seydler remaining “muted”.

“We continue to face difficult conditions in the asset management and banking divisions but are confident that overall, we will continue to deliver a satisfactory performance in the current markets,” Close Brothers said in a statement.

The £67m sale of its corporate finance division to Daiwa SMBC Europe, which was announced earlier this week, will generate an £8m gain on disposal, the firm added.

Prebensen joined the company as chief executive on 1 April, having previously been chief investment officer at property and casualty insurance group Catlin.

BEST OF THE BROKERS

OIL & GAS

TNK-BP returned to profit in the first quarter, it said yesterday, while analysts predicted other Russian oil majors would follow as higher oil prices and a drop in export taxes reversed losses sustained last year.

TNK-BP, half-owned by BP, posted a first-quarter net profit of $747m

(£471m), down 58 per cent year-onyear, as lower crude prices offset an increase in production from new fields.

Russia’s third-largest oil producer was reporting quarterly results for the first time, but the profit contrasted with the $682m loss that BP booked in the fourth quarter from its 50 per cent share in the company.

Oil producers in Russia, the world’s second-largest exporter, suffered when crude prices slumped from record highs struck in July 2008. The lag in export duties, which were still pegged to higher prices, led producers to make losses. State-controlled Rosneft and the country’s largest independent producer, Lukoil, are expected to book first-quarter profits.

News

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

13

Charging for online news will not save the media MEDIA FILE

DAVID CROW

R

UPERT Murdoch is a demigod in the media industry.

Everything he says is treated as sacrosanct. That’s why his public ruminations on the free online newspaper, which he dubbed a “mal-

functioning business” model, has whipped the media into a frenzy, and caused countless commentators and analysts to predict a new dawn, where consumers pay subscriptions for online news content.

Part of this hype is understandable.

Even The Guardian, which launched its website back in 1999, now admits that online advertising revenues will not plug the chasm left by declining print sales. For most news publishers, online ads barely count for 12 per cent of total revenues.

And the online ad industry has started to shrink; if you add up the first quarter revenues of the four ad bellwethers – Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL – they come to $7.9bn (£4.9bn), a 2 per cent year on

year drop and a 7 per cent quarterly fall. Although online advertising was supposed to reach the sky, it has barely cleared the trees.

But the record industry shows us why throwing up a pay wall is no panacea. For years, the record labels have attempted to get consumers to stump up, with virtually no success.

Estimates put the proportion of downloaded music that is illegal as high as 95 per cent. Privately, record execs talk of Armageddon.

If newspaper websites follow a similar path, it will be hard to stop users from sharing the content among themselves. And bloggers are sure to subscribe and paraphrase or replicate the material on their own sites. The newspaper that takes the plunge first

will be acting like a kamikaze pilot.

Even if publishers decide to act in tandem – a highly unlikely scenario – the BBC’s free-to-access news website will be the main beneficiary.

The subscription model has worked for some. The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal run profitable websites – but they provide specialist content that customers need to earn a living. One option would be for others to start charging for their own unique content, perhaps using a micro payments system, charging 10p an article. Where would teachers read about the curriculum if The Guardian stopped offering its education pages for free?

One firm hoping to make inroads in this area is Journalism Online, an

C&W execs defend £32m bonus plans ▲

TELECOMS

BY EMMA KEENS

MANAGEMENT at Cable & Wireless (C&W) yesterday defended its remuneration plans, which will see top management take a share of a £32m bonus pot later this month.

“Ours is a bonus for performance, not under-performance,” C&W group finance director Tim Pennington told CityA.M., referring to Shell’s bonus scheme, which its shareholders have opposed due to the company’s failure to meet performance targets.

“In terms of total shareholder return, C&W is the fifth best performer on the FTSE 100. Our shareholders deserve to be paid, and so do we,” he added.

C&W’s remuneration package is subject to shareholder approval at its annual general meeting in July. But in a climate where shareholders are questioning executive pay packages, nothing should be taken for granted.

The telcoms giant said yesterday that its full-year profits had fallen by 13 per cent to £233m, knocked down by £189m of exceptional losses relat-

ing to the costs of a revamp and the acquisition of Glasgow-based operator Thus.

But a strong performance at Thus and the strengthening of the dollar against the pound saw revenue rise 16 per cent to £3.65bn. Earnings leapt by 36 per cent to £822m.

Worldwide, the division formerly known as Europe, Asia and US, showed earnings growth of 49 per cent on last year and CWI, which covers markets in the Caribbean, Panama and others, rose by 11 per cent. Worldwide’s executive chairman John Pluthero is expected to receive a bonus of over £8m this year.

C&W upped its full-year dividend by 13 per cent to 8.5p and was upbeat about its growth prospects, forecasting group core earnings of around £1bn for the coming year.

But its shares were down 10 per cent at 142p, after news that company directors were selling shares pressure on the stock. Two directors sold some newly vested shares to cover related taxes, one sold all of the vested shares, for personal tax reasons.

outfit headed by Gordon Crovitz, the former WSJ publisher who pioneered the title’s online strategy. He is developing a system that would let customers pay a monthly subscription and provide them with a pass to certain news sites. In time, the service will offer deals providing access to social networks, premium internet TV, newspaper sites and even other goods and services – a book a month from Amazon, perhaps.

But this kind of service will take years to catch on. Until then, the answer to the perilous state of the media industry remains unclear. One thing is certain: throwing up a pay wall in the middle of a recession is not the answer. Surely Murdoch knows that. david.crow@cityam.com

NEWS | IN BRIEF Press Association falls into red The Press Association yesterday said turnover for 2008 was up 8 per cent – but that it fell to a pre-tax loss of £8m.

Privately-owned parent firm PA Group said profit before exceptionals was up 11 per cent, but that it had been forced to write down £8.8m of assets at its sport business. PA Group chairman Tim Bowdler said: “Although 2009 will be another difficult year, we are trading ahead of the same period last year.”

PartyMarkets in loyalty scheme

C&W Worldwide’s executive chairman could bag an £8.3m bonus

Picture: REX

C&W REVENUES BY DIVISION

WORLDWIDE

+17% +16%

OTHER

Total:

+22%

PartyMarkets.com, a subsidiary of PartyGaming, is launching a cash loyalty programme for the financial spread betting market today. Called TradeBack, the loyalty programme gives a rebate to the customer based on the number of trades executed, regardless of whether they have made a profit or loss.

Western & Oriental in profit

£2,268m

(£237m from THUS)

£1,392m

($2.5bn)

£14m

+16% £3,646m

Shares in Western & Oriental gained 3.6 per cent yesterday, as the specialist luxury travel group reported a swing to pre-tax profit for the six months ended 31 March 2009. The company posted first-half pre-tax profit of £100,000 against a £2m loss in the year previous, while gross profit margins came in significantly ahead of expectations, increasing 90 basis point to 16.8 percent.

Re-think for Tesco’s US venture Tesco is making major changes in its US Fresh & Easy stores as analysts worry that the one-and-a-half year old chain is still searching for a successful niche. In what it calls an “evolution,” Tesco is putting more focus on value and adding about 1,000 items to its small-format Fresh & Easy stores’ current 3,500-product assortment.

General Motors thrashes out deal with MF Global shares fall on workers’ union over healthcare debts bigger quarterly loss GENERAL Motors (GM) and the United Auto Workers (UAW) yesterday reached an agreement on contract changes and restructuring $20bn (£12.6bn) in debt owed to a trust fund for retiree healthcare.

The tentative agreement, which was reached after a round of intensive talks involving representatives of the US Treasury, will now go to a ratification vote by UAW-represented workers.

Details of the agreement were being withheld until GM workers are briefed on the proposed new contract, the UAW said.

A deal between GM and the UAW was one of the key obstacles for the carmaker to clear before a 1 June deadline for the company to restructure its debt as part of a process widely expected to include a bankruptcy filing.

By winning a new labor deal with the consent of its major union and the Obama administration, GM is in a position take a plan for creditor con-

cessions into a bankruptcy filing even if it fails to win support from bondholders, analysts said.

“I’m convinced that they have no choice but to file bankruptcy. To the extent that you have constituencies with whom you’ve made an agreement prior to filing, it makes the outcome that much easier to achieve,” said Scott Peltz, managing director at accounting and consulting firm RSM McGladrey.

GM has offered bondholders with $27bn in its debt a 10 per cent stake in the reorganised company.

▲

▲

AUTOMOTIVE

BY HARRY BANKS

FINANCIAL SERVICES

FUTURES and options broker MF Global posted a wider quarterly loss yesterday, hurt by a 37 per cent drop in revenue, and claimed $30m (£18.9m) as due from its former parent company, sending its shares down 12 per cent.

The company’s commodities businesses, including metals, energy, and agriculture, saw lower volumes and tighter spreads, chief financial officer Randy Macdonald said, adding that its fixed income business also experienced a similar trend.

The company’s market share in the US, however, rose to 5.1 per cent at the end of March from 4.7 per cent in December.

“We continue to view MF shares as a restructuring story making of operational progress, even if earnings haven’t turned around yet,” said FoxPitt Kelton analyst Edward Ditmire, who said the results were “disappointing”.

Among its various businesses, foreign exchange, particularly in Asia, performed well in the quarter, the company said.

14

News

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

Eurozone data brings cheer ▲

EUROPEAN ECONOMY

BY HARRY BANKS

▲

MEDIA

BY EMMA KEENS

DAILY Mail and General Trust (DMGT) said yesterday that had fallen into the red, posting a pre-tax loss of £239m for the six months to 29 March – forcing it to cut more jobs.

The owner of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday said that it had been hit by a £188m non-cash impairment charge, mostly relating to oneoff restructuring charges and a write-down of £179m against assets acquired in recent years.

Excluding exceptionals, DMGT made pre-tax profits of £77m in the six months to 29 March, down from £144m last year, prompting the company to step-up its cost-cutting programme from £100m to £150m.

DMGT had previously announced plans to cut 1,000 jobs, but said yesterday that the number will be 1,500 – though the “vast majority” of the losses have already taken place.

The publisher said it had seen growth in its business to business operations but its consumer media division had been hit by the “unprecedented advertising conditions”. But it said it had seen an improvement during the months of April and May.

FAST FACTS | EUROZONE ● The eurozone economy shrank a record 2.5

per cent quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of the year. ● Economists believe the worst has passed and see the economy growing in the final quarter.

TECHNOLOGY

ADVANCED Computer Software, the healthcare IT services provider, said yesterday it had conditionally raised £43.75m in a share placing to provide funding for future acquisitions.

The placing of 145.25m shares at a price of 30p a share was handled by Seymour Pierce and Mirabaud Securities.

ACS said it now has over £55m in the bank to “pursue its goal of becoming the leading consolidator in the

NOT SO HAPPY BIRTHDAYS

“The decisive action taken to defend profitability, along with the continued management of our cost base, will help to offset the effect of continued weak trading conditions in the second half,” said DMGT chief executive Martin Morgan.

DMGT’s first-half sales fell seven per cent, driven by a slump in ad revenues, especially from the small firms that make up the bulk of classified ads in the regional press.

Associated Newspapers, the company’s national newspaper arm, saw a 59 per cent drop in operating profit to £18m, with revenue down 10 per cent to £455m. But the company gave a confident outlook, and said full year results would meet consensus.

ANALYSIS l Daily Mail and General Trust p 301.00 21 May

380 360 340 320

300 280 260 240 220 4 Mar

24 Mar

15 Apr

6 May

primary care IT market”.

“There are numerous opportunities to consolidate the fragmented and undeveloped IT infrastructure within the NHS and these additional funds give us the capability to implement our strategy more quickly,” said chief executive Vin Murria.

The firm bought rival Adastra in August 2008 and has continued on the acquisition trail this year. Earlier this month, it announced its intention to make an offer for Business Systems Group at £15.5m.

Sony halves suppliers on cost-cutting ▲

More jobs go as DMGT falls into the red

index rose to just 41.9 from 40.2, showing order levels are still declining, albeit at a slower pace.

“They are going in the right direction. The rebound is rather more than we anticipated, certainly if you look at the French and German numbers,” said Peter Dixon at Commerzbank.

▲

THE eurozone’s services and manufacturing sectors contracted less than expected in May as firms saw the pace of decline in new orders ease, hinting the worst of a deep recession may be over, surveys showed yesterday.

Markit’s Eurozone Flash Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 44.7 in May from 43.8 last month, beating the consensus estimate of 44.5. It marks the third month in a row it has picked up and took it to its highest level since October.

The survey, covering everything

from banks to hotels, showed activity was still considerably below the 50 mark that divides growth from contraction, and comes on the heels of other improving sentiment data from across Europe.

The Flash Manufacturing PMI rose to a seven-month high of 40.5 from 36.8 in April, far outstripping the consensus of 38.4. The combined rises took the Composite index to an eight month high of 43.9 from 41.1 in April and beating the median forecast of 42.3.

Business expectations in the euro zone’s service sector rose to a 13month high while the new business

ACS raises £43.75m to fund further acquisitions

GREETING cards retailer Clinton Cards placed its Birthdays chain of 332 stores into administration, putting over 2,000 jobs at risk, after the unit was hit by the economic downturn and dire trading. The company, which also operates 692 Clinton Cards stores, said Zolfo Cooper, the turnaround specialist, has been appointed as administrator to the Birthdays chain.

Picture: Alice Hepple/CITY A.M

TECHNOLOGY

SONY will halve the number of its suppliers in the next two years and aims to slash procurement costs by 20 per cent this year, the consumer electronics giant said yesterday, stepping up restructuring efforts amid mounting losses.

Analysts saw the move as positive.

It comes on top of a plan to cut fixed costs by more than 300 billion yen (£2bn). But Sony shares fell more than one per cent along with those of other exporters, hurt by a firmer yen.

Sony, which competes with Samsung Electronics in flat TVs and Canon in digital cameras, has been overhauling operations as it expects a second straight year of losses due to weak global demand for consumer electronics goods.

The yen’s strength is dealing an additional blow to Japanese companies because it cuts into profits earned overseas.

A Sony spokeswoman said the company plans to cut its suppliers to about 1,200 from the current 2,500 by March 2011. It will cut costs by increasing the volume of parts and materials purchased from each supplier. Its procurement costs currently total about 2.5 trillion yen.

The consolidation of suppliers will include video game subsidiary Sony Computer Entertainment, which has enjoyed considerable freedom in purchasing supplies.

CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS He is also currently a non-executive director at publisher Reed Elsevier.

Altium The investment banking group has appointed a number of new hires to its London team.

Steve Medlicott, pictured, a top-rated capital goods analyst, joins from Singer Capital Markets, while Andrew Burdis joins the institutional sales team from Numis. Ian Williams joins the economics and strategy team from Blue Oar Securities, Clare Banham joins the equity sales desk from Teathers and Jonathan Shearman arrives from Gartmore as a strategic consultant.

QinetiQ The defence group has hired Mark Elliott as a non-executive director.

Elliott is due to assume the role of chairman when Sir John Chisholm

Edited by Victoria Bates

retires in 2010. He previously spent nearly 40 years working for computer giant IBM, including a spell as general manager for the firm’s businesses in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

PricewaterhouseCoopers The business advisory firm has taken on Diane Hay, formerly a senior official with HM Revenue and Customs, as an international tax special advisor.

Hay will be working primarily with the tax transfer pricing and international structuring teams and will be responsible for assisting clients settle an ever-increasing tally of cross-border tax disputes.

Terrace Hill The property developer and investor has appointed Andrew Pinto as group

To appear in CITYMOVES please email your career updates and pictures to citymoves@cityam.com

treasurer.

Pinto, 40, joins from fund manager Goodman International, where he has been assistant treasurer since January 2007. Prior to that, he held roles as group treasurer at Travelodge Hotels, interim treasurer at Chelsfield and Trinity Mirror and deputy treasurer at the Daily Mail and General Trust group.

EuroCCP Andrew Simpson has joined the clearing house’s London team as head of product management, focusing on product strategy and business planning.

Simpson joins from stock exchange SWX Europe, where he spent the past year as chief operating officer.

MM & K The remuneration consultancy has appointed Damien Knight to its London office. Knight joins from Watson Wyatt, where he was a senior consultant.

P-Solve Asset Solutions The investment consultancy has appointed Callum Webb, Geoffroy Sauvé and Mikhail Tikilyaynen to its risk management solutions team.

Webb joins as a business lawyer from Shearman and Sterling, Sauvé joins as an investment director from Dresdner Kleinwort and Tikilyaynen joins as an associate investment director, having previously worked at Lehman Brothers.

Markets&Investment

15

LONDON’S TOP 250 Company Name

3i Group A.B. Foods Aberdeen Asset.Man. Aberforth Smll.Co. Admiral Group Aegis Group Aggreko Alliance Trust Amec Amlin Anglo American Antofagasta Aquarius Platinum ARM Holdings Arriva Ashmore Group AstraZeneca Atkins (WS) Autonomy Aveva Group Aviva Babcock International BAE Systems Balfour Beatty Barclays Barratt Development BBA Aviation Beazley Group Bellway Berkeley Grp Hldgs BG Group BHP Billiton BlackRock Mining BlueBay Bovis Homes BP Brit Insurance British Airways British Amer.Tob British Empire Tst British Land Britvic Brown (N.) Group BSkyB BT Group BTG Bunzl Burberry Group Cable & Wireless Cadbury Cairn Energy Caledonia Inv. Capita Group Carillion Carnival Carpetright Carphone Warehse Centrica Chemring Group Chloride Group City of London Close Brothers Cobham Colt Telecom

Closing Price Price Change (p) (p)

399.5 753.5 130.5 466.5 894.5 81.5 596.5 282.25 629 343 1580 576 270 112 451.25 218.25 2646 540 1473 603 320.75 489 364.75 356 284.5 163.5 120 102 681.5 883.5 1080 1397 389.5 203.5 423.25 498 198 162.75 1667 387.5 380 293.25 240.5 450.75 86.25 150.75 525 372.75 142 549.5 2374 1429 706 276.25 1641 619 163.5 244 2098 154.5 206.5 627.5 183.5 114.75

52wk high (p)

52wk low (p)

956.5 861.5 150 600 1090 126.25 734.5 342 951 394 3543 732 830 121.75 803.5 274 2947 1078 1501 1618 630.5 647.5 487 455.5 389 224 152.25 135.25 780 1036 1347 2110 782 336 519.5 646.5 241 282.5 1940 483.5 683.25 334.75 246.5 546.5 228.5 241 724 509 179 704.5 3538 2048 769.5 359.75 2108 795 243 295.5 2545 283.25 273.25 700 236 174.5

176.25 611.5 80 313 706.5 47.25 349.5 218 377.5 242.25 914 274 83.5 80.5 365.75 100.75 2075 423.25 730 465 163.25 348.5 302.5 224.25 51.25 39 60 79.75 377.75 613 664 752.5 178.5 63.5 270.75 376.25 147.5 110 1450 298 301.25 165.5 173.25 329 71.5 110.5 481.75 160 116.25 453.25 1179 1087 590.5 178.5 1075 342 85 207.5 1570 111.75 175 387 160.75 51.5

-0.5 -5 -2.5 -12 -8 -3.5 -10.5 -7.25 -11 -20.25 -44 -44 -2.5 -6.5 -10.75 -6.75 11 -7.5 -27 -12.5 -19.5 1 -11.5 -10.5 -9 1.25 0 -6.25 -10.5 -6.5 -22 -94 -13.5 -11 -13 -15 -8 -6 -4 -8.5 -34 -9.75 0.5 -15 -1.75 -3 -11.5 -9.5 -15 -5 -58 -21 -4 -0.5 -107 -11 -5.75 -4.5 -17 -11 -7.25 -12.5 -7.5 -10

Company Name

Compass Group Connaught Cookson Group Croda International CSR Daily Mail & Gen Dairy Crest Dana Petroleum Davis Service De La Rue Debenhams Derwent London Dexion Abs Diageo Dimension Data Drax Group DSG International easyJet Edin.Inv.Tst. Electrocomponents Enterprise Inns Eurasian Nat Res F&C Asset Man. Ferrexpo Fidelity European Fidessa FirstGroup For.&Col.Inv.Tst Forth Ports Fresnillo Friends Provident G4S Game Group GKN GlaxoSmithKline Go-ahead Group Great Portland Est. Greene King Halfords Group Halma Hammerson Hargreaves Lansdown Hays HIikma HMV Group Home Retail Group Homeserve HSBC Holdings Hunting ICAP IG Group IMI Imperial Tobacco Inchcape Informa Inmarsat InterContinental Htl Intermediate Cap.Grp International Power Intertek Group Invensys Investec ITV Jardine Lloyd

Closing Price Price Change (p) (p)

362.75 339 221.25 541 340 301 288 1254 314.75 900 92.25 846 108.75 854.5 54 489 23.75 305 312 154.75 149 558 81.25 157.75 950 1150 362 237.75 1010 640 71.75 218 169.75 125.75 1063.5 1276 315 415 312.75 177.25 283.75 207 82 422.25 122 236 1280 540.5 455 367.25 229 325 1615 18.75 238.5 505.5 639 461.5 275.75 1060 237 313 30 427

-7.25 -2.75 -11.5 -18.5 -15.25 -10.5 -11.75 -46 -12.75 -8.5 -2.75 -30.5 -3.25 -12.5 -4.25 -8 -1.25 -8 -12.25 -2.25 -9.75 -57 -1.25 -8.25 -10 -10 -9 -10 -54 -10.5 -1.25 -2 -20.25 -5.25 5 -5 -10 -22.75 -6.25 -2.75 -20.75 1.25 -3.25 -9.75 -6.75 -5 2 -21 -19.75 -36.75 -3 -0.5 -4 -1.25 -14.75 -8.5 -22.5 -15.25 -8 -34 -3.75 -18.5 -1 -17.5

52wk high (p)

52wk low (p)

393.75 427.5 1127.5 694.5 360.25 417.5 486.5 1964 501 1074 98.5 1242 161.5 1065 58.25 821 51 396 435.25 182.25 470 1514 162.5 455.5 1397 1175 634.5 308.75 2092 650.5 121.75 234.25 297 294.75 1327 2026 427 530.5 338.5 213.5 692.25 227 105 518 150.5 283 1865 808.5 927 632.5 396 527.5 2129 73.5 395.5 585 832 1610 449.25 1143 330.25 420.75 60.5 518

237.5 296.25 112.5 379.5 150.25 210.75 167.5 641.5 182.75 802.5 22.5 459.75 72.75 733 24.25 468.5 7 220.25 284.5 117.5 31.75 191.5 31 21.5 755.5 450 198 185.75 700 99 50.75 157 105 56.75 987 864.5 172.5 236.5 205.25 143.25 211 132 55.25 250 86.25 163.5 840.5 304.25 329.25 206.5 166 220 1430 6 120.5 330.25 446 197.75 182 635 122 168.75 17.5 368.5

Company Name

Closing Price Price Change (p) (p)

John Wood Group Johnson Matthey JPM Flem.Emerg Mkt. Kazakhmys Keller Group Kesa Electricals Kier Group Kingfisher Ladbrokes Land Securities Legal & General Liberty International Lloyds Banking Grp Logica London Stock Ex. Lonmin Man Group Marks & Spencer Marston's Meggitt Melrose Mercantile Inv Tst Michael Page Micro Focus Millennium & Cop. Misys Mitchells & Butlers Mitie Group Mondi Monks Inv.tst.

Morrison (Wm) Mothercare Murray Int.Tst National Express National Grid Next Northumbrian Water Old Mutual Pace Pearson Pennon Group Perpetual In.&Gwth Persimmon Peter Hambro Mining Petrofac Premier Farnell Premier Foods Premier Oil Provident Financial Prudential PZ Cussons QinetiQ Group Randgold Res Reckitt Benckiser Reed Elsevier Rentokil Initial Rexam Rightmove Rio Tinto RIT Capital Partners Rolls-Royce Group Rotork Royal Bank of Scot RPS Group

260.25 1205 382.5 643.5 611 112.5 1024 182.25 203.25 488 62.25 358.5 66.75 74.25 686 1279 222.5 285.75 159.75 158.5 110.75 774 252.25 398 234.5 155 237.75 217.5 189.5 238.5 238.25 423 635 279 588 1456 249.5 67.5 187 671 479 191 372.25 628 636 145.25 35.25 1014 815.5 436.5 173 144 4156 2748 503 82.5 297.75 322.5 2657 895 330.25 880 40 180

-8 -8 -17 -68 -14 -3 -55 -3.75 -9.5 -30 -2.25 -25.25 -3.75 -3.5 -12 12 -9.5 -8.25 -8.75 -9.5 -1.25 -19.5 -7.25 -18.75 -8 -6 -23.5 -0.75 -8.25 -6 -8.25 0 -22 -8 -16.5 -56 4.75 -3.5 0 -34 -12.25 -4.5 -5.75 -6 -11 -5.75 -1.5 -24 -13 -19 -4.25 0.25 -62 -38 -22 -0.25 -6.5 -7.5 -207 -40 -14.75 -11 -2.5 -9

52wk high (p)

52wk low (p)

494.5 2039 490 1777 810 203 1205 190.25 313.75 1318.25 119.75 1008 294.5 144.25 1049 3356 626 396.5 222.25 258.75 171.75 975 373.5 423 385 176.75 338 240 391.75 369.25 292.75 423 738 1077 749.5 1686 338.75 118 187 733 658.5 228.75 526 1404 738.5 203.5 128.25 1498 934 670.5 199 228.25 4218 2974 642 108.5 444.5 375 6669 1217 414 1212 252.75 344.75

155.75 668.5 235 173.75 402 60 661.5 91.75 139 341 23 281.25 30 59 370 526.75 152.5 200 84 113 58.25 517 165.5 191.25 163.5 84.75 128 158.25 120.75 185.5 220 259 499 151.75 515 837.5 208 30.75 34.5 519.5 380.75 164.5 183.75 169 289.25 113.75 16.25 465 702 207 100 125 1557 2314 451 31.5 223.75 159.25 1049 753.5 244 615 10.25 103.25

Company Name

Closing Price Price Change (p) (p)

RSA Insurance Grp Ryl Dutch Shell 'A' Ryl Dutch Shell 'B' SABMiller Sage Group Sainsbury (J) Schroders Schroders NV Scot.& Sth. Energy Scottish Inv.Tst Scottish Mortgage SEGRO Serco Group Severn Trent Shaftesbury Smith & Nephew Smiths Group Soco International Spectris Spirax-Sarco Spirent Sports Direct SSL International St James's Place Stagecoach Group Standard Chartered Standard Life SVG Capital Talvivaara Mining Tate & Lyle Telecity Group Templeton Emrg.

Tesco Thomas Cook Group Thomson Reuters Tomkins Travis Perkins TUI Travel Tullett Prebon Tullow Oil Ultra Electronics Unilever United Utilities Vedanta Venture Prod.

Victrex Vodafone Group VT Group Weir Group Wellstream Holdings Wetherspoon (JD) WH Smith Whitbread William Hill Witan Inv Comp Wolseley Xchanging Xstrata

129.75 1623 1627 1252 185.75 316.25 845.5 751 1148 380.75 424.25 25 386 1118 375.75 452.75 745.5 1246 499.5 858 67.25 73.75 507 160 129.25 1206 196.5 124.75 279 296.25 275.75 368 348.25 233.5 1703 159 716 258 284 980 1134 1484 534.5 1493 805 522.5 113.75 481.5 484.75 466.5 406.25 434 849.5 210 353 1230 176.75 638

-3 -37 -29 -28 -8.5 -13 -27.5 -15 -7 -10 -11.75 -1.75 -16.25 -5 -24.25 -1.25 -20.5 -70 -0.5 -17 -2.75 3.75 -3 -3 0.5 -53 -4 -6 -11 -6 -5.25 -8.75 -7.75 -5.5 -61 -6.25 -31 0 -17.75 34 -21 -9 -11.5 -46 -10 -2.5 -5 -12 -15 -23.5 -19 -7 -34 -11.5 -10.5 -48 1.75 -33.5

52wk high (p)

52wk low (p)

165.75 2196 2169 1324 227 374 1089 962 1541 513 691 81.25 484.75 1478 514.5 668 1156 2045 830.5 1190 82.75 107.25 512.5 260.5 327.5 1642 287 735 428 474 290 454 422 297.5 1856 188.75 860 279.25 476.5 985 1384 1681 761.75 2648 927 829 163.5 685 969 1468 464.75 446.5 1299 267.5 460.25 2322.5 272 2423.5

116.25 1294 1235 799.5 148.5 240 635.5 540 1039 323 258.25 14.75 326.25 953.5 239.75 412.5 662 934.5 382.5 742.5 33 32 391.75 148 103.75 587 131.75 73.5 97.5 229.5 132.25 207.5 286 127.5 952 93.5 223 169.5 113 419 990 1230 463.25 387.75 289.25 371.5 103 421.25 271.5 300.25 174.75 312 690 109 283.5 585.5 175 298.25

LONDON TOP 250 BY MARKET CAPITALISATION POWERED BY www.digitallook.com

Week of gains set back by Investors fear US S&P UK outlook downgrade echoing UK woes THELONDON REPORT

EMMA KEENS CUT in the UK's ratings outlook from agency Standard & Poor's weighed on the FTSE 100 yesterday, with weakness in heavyweight oils, miners and banks contributing to a 2.8 per cent slide by close of play.

The index ended 122.94 points lower at 4,345.47, its biggest daily fall since 27 March, having closed 13.84 points lower on Wednesday.

“The potential downgrade (from S&P) has given an excuse for investors to sell after the recent sharp gains,” said Grahame Exton,

A

fund manager at Tilney Investment Management. “Investors are realising it won’t be the V-shaped recovery that they were pricing in.”

The extent of the economic gloom for the UK’s finances was reinforced by data showing public borrowing hit a record high for an April since records began in 1984.

Banks weighed heaviest, with HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Standard Chartered and Lloyds Banking Group shedding 3.1 to 5.9 per cent.

Oil majors fell back as crude weakened, with Royal Dutch Shell, BP, BG Group and Cairn Energy down between 1.8 and 2.9 per cent.

Miners retreated with lower metal prices, led by Kazakhmys and Eurasian Natural Resources down 6.6 and 7.4 per cent respectively, while BHP Billiton, Xstrata and Rio Tinto fell 5 to 9.6 per cent.

Property group British Land slid 6.4 per cent after it saw its full-year net asset value tumble 64 per cent to 398p a share, below the average forecast of 423.6p Other real estate stocks suffered as Land Securities, well, with Hammerson Liberty and International losing 6.6 to 8.2 per cent.

ICAP shed 9.1 per cent, extending

the previous session’s sell-off following confirmation after the market close on Wednesday that the firm’s founder and chief executive, Michael Spencer, had sold a chunk of shares in the inter-dealer broker.

Mobile telephone giant Vodafone slid 4.3 per cent after Nomura cut the stock to “reduce” from “buy”, UBS removed it from its “most preferred” list and Deutsche Bank cut its price target on the stock.

There were just five blue chip risCapita, Unilever, ers with Glaxosmithkline, Astrazeneca, Tullow and Lonmin up between 0.4 and 3.6 per cent.

Investors will watch the second release of first quarter GDP data today for more insight on the ferocity of the headwinds facing the UK economy.

ANALYSIS l FTSE 100 4,345.47 21 May

4,600

4,400

4,200 4,000 3,800 3,600 23 Feb

13 Mar

2 Apr

24 Apr

15 May

NEW YORK REPORT

U

S stocks slid in a broad sell-off yesterday as investors, concerned about the US fiscal condition, exited dollar denominated assets across the board.

Markets came under severe selling pressure as a result of an outlook downgrade for the UK’s triple-A credit rating heightened fears that the United States, with its increasing budget deficit and weakened economy, could face a similar fate.

The activity was unusual in that the sell-off in US stocks did not produce a flight to assets typically considered havens in a storm -- notably the US dollar and the US government bond market. Instead, those markets also weakened for similar reasons.

Bill Gross, the co-chief investment officer of the huge bond firm, Pacific Investment Management, said fears that the United States is at risk of losing its AAA credit rating were hurting all US assets. Gross said that investors fear the US is “going the way of the UK – losing AAA rating,

which affects all financial assets and the dollar” as governments around the world spend billions to revive growth.

Shares of big manufacturers dropped, with United Technologies falling 1.9 per cent to $50.76, while Boeing shed 2.9 per cent to $43.29.

The big US aircraft maker left its fullyear forecast unchanged on Thursday.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 129.91 points, or 1.54 per cent, to 8,292.13. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 15.14 points, or 1.68 per cent, to 888.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 32.59 points, or 1.89 per cent, to 1,695.25.

US Treasuries plunged after the government said it would sell a massive amount of new debt next week, while earlier in the day, the US dollar fell to its lowest level this year against a basket of currencies.

Investors also beat up technology shares. Apple was the Nasdaq’s top drag, down 1.3 per cent at $124.18.

Tech companies’ fortunes are closely linked to a growing economy.

US government data showed ongoing claims rose to a fresh record as the recession battered employment, but the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits declined 12,000 last week.

Living

16

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

| Second Homes

The untarnished beauty of the Suffolk coastline Old-fashioned seaside towns make the area a second-home paradise, writes Timothy Barber

T

HE recent episode of The Apprentice in which the contestants struggled to devise an attractive marketing campaign for the Kent seaside town of Margate, was a good demonstration of the jaded reputation many of Britain’s coastal resorts have earned. But had they been applying their efforts to the towns lining the Suffolk coast, chief among them Aldeburgh and Southwold, the apprentices might have had an easier job.

Of all seaside areas in easy reach of London, Suffolk’s historical coastal towns can justifiably lay claim to being the least tarnished.

For anyone seeking a second home in easy reach of their London base, Suffolk, occupying the southern section of East Anglia as it bulges into the North Sea, is a winner. The attractive market towns and soft, rolling landscapes that account for much of the county make up some of the most calmly beautiful rural areas in the South East – and with Ipswich and Bury St Edmonds being the only two major inland towns, there’s ample room to roam the countryside in peace.

WEEKEND ESCAPES But it’s in its coastal zones that Suffolk really hits its stride. It’s just over a couple of hours to London by car or by train, putting the area happily outside the commuter zone, but within easy distance for weekend escapes.

Facing onto the North Sea, the evocative landscape – much of which is protected as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty– is dominated by flat wetlands that stretch

up to The Broads in the north of the county – it’s bird-watching paradise. The port towns of Felixtowe and Lowestoft, on the county’s southern and northern tips respectively, are not without their charms, but Aldeburgh and Southwold are the real places to be.

Attractive and well-to-do places that were favoured and improved by holidaymaking Victorians, they managed to resist the temptations of candyfloss, arcades, donkey trekking and unsightly developments that blighted similar towns in the Fifties and Sixties. Thank goodness – these are seaside towns with real class, and there aren’t many of those around.

ALDEBURGH FESTIVAL Aldeburgh is perhaps most famous for its annual festival of classical music, founded by composer Benjamin Britten in 1948 and due to take place again next month, while it’s also a favoured location for those who enjoy their sailing and golf.

Southwold, meanwhile, sits in the shadow of its famous lighthouse, with a restored pier, attractive small harbour for yachts and pleasure boats, and stretching sandy beach.

For places with such solidly smart and aspirational credentials, the property market in coastal Suffolk has been much less badly affected than most areas of the country, meaning that buying a home there remains a particularly strong investment and worthwhile store of wealth. And as a place to sit back and enjoy the tranquillity of old-fashioned coastal England, Suffolk is a sure thing.

Road Croydon CRO 9YB Fusion London

ALDEBURGH

£675,000 Four bedroom house in the heart of Aldeburgh’s conservation area, looking straight onto the sea.

Call Flick & Son on 01728 452469

SOUTHWOLD

£1m Substantial Victorian house with six bedrooms, a roof terrace and sea views.

Call Savills on 01473 234800

ALDEBURGH

£795,000 A few minutes walk from both the beach and the highstreet, this six bedroom country house has beautiful interiors and substantial pretty gardens.

Call Bedfords on 01728 454 505

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Living | The Knowledge

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

CURRENT MORTGAGE DEALS BY JESSICA MEAD LENDER

The Co-operative Bank Purchase First Direct Offset Woolwich Core Range HSBC Bank Purchase Alliance & Leicester Direct Market Harborough BS First Direct Offset Britannia BS HSBC Bank Purchase Abbey Direct

Source: MoneySupermarket.com

FIXED/FLEXIBLE

RATE (PER CENT)

UNTIL

Flexible Flexible Flexible Flexible Flexible Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed

2.79 2.89 2.94 2.95 2.95 2.89 2.99 3.94 4.39 4.99

To Apr 2014 Term Term Term 2 years 2 years 2 years 3 years To Jul 2014 To Aug 2019

Q&A: SALES

STANDARD RATE APR MAXIMUM LOAN (PER CENT) (PER CENT) TO VALUE (PER CENT) 4.24 3.69 4.99 3.94 4.99 5.49 3.69 4.49 3.94 4.24

3.9 3.6 3.1 4.2 4.8 5.2 3.7 4.5 4.3 5.0

FOCUS ON: IPSWICH, SUFFOLK

60 75 60 75 75 75 75 75 75 75

BY JESSICA MEAD

GREEN FARM, NEAR STOWMARKET, IP14 3RE

Price: Offers in excess of £975,000 If you’re looking for the property that has everything then this is it. Believed to date from the 16th century, this listed barn conversion comes complete with swimming pool, tennis courts, and even a carp lake/boating pond. Inside, the house has recently been modernised but has kept its original exposed beams. Many of the seven bedrooms come with en suite and the sitting room has a large open fireplace with brick hearth. The nearest station is Stowmarket, which is 80 minutes from Liverpool Street.

Contact Bidwells on 01473 617727, www.bidwells.co.uk

KIRTON MANOR, KIRTON, IP10 0PD

Price: £895,000 Lying near the Suffolk coast just outside Ipswich – 65 minutes from Liverpool Street – this Grade II-listed house has recently been restored to provide an attractive family five-bedroom home. The two reception rooms have high ceilings and period features such as an inglenook fireplace, while the kitchen comes with an Aga. The property also has a separate two-floor coach house which has a work shop area, garage and store rooms. The extensive grounds include gardens and meadowland.

Contact: Strutt & Parker Ipswich on 01473 214841, www.struttandparker.co.uk

17

?

Russell Hunt

MANAGING DIRECTOR OF PROPERTY HUNT

Dear Russell, I’ve put an offer in on a property that I really like but so has another party. The vendor has said that he wants to do a contract race in order to decide. What does that mean?

Q.

A.

A contract race is very much firstpast-the-post – basically the first party to have read the contract, done the paperwork, got the necessary funds in place and exchange contracts gets the property.

While contract races don’t happen very often, they do occur and you need to be well prepared. When a vendor asks for one you have to be able to move quickly – I have seen an exchange happen in as little as half a day. The speed at which an exchange can occur means you need to be very well organised and have agreed funding such as your mortgage beforehand.

Vendors will tend to go down the contract race route if they have two equally good buyers with similar offers and want to speed up the process. While you can express a desire not to enter a contract race, it is very much up to the seller and you could find yourself losing the property.

To succeed in a contract race you need to have that 10 per cent deposit to send over at a moment’s notice and you will also need to get a survey done – this can occasionally be avoided if the property is in a block.

Most importantly you must have very good solicitors who will clear their schedule for you at the last minute.

But bear in mind that the solicitors’ cost will be a lot more because of the time pressure involved. Furthermore, you may incur legal costs but there’s still no guarantee that you’ll be the first there. It’s a risk that you and your wallet have to be prepared to take when doing a contract race.

Dear Russell, I’ve heard that the property market tends to slow down over the summer and few new properties are coming onto the market at the moment. I’m currently looking to buy, but is it worth looking over the next three months or should I put my search on hold?

Q.

A.

9 WARRINGTON ROAD, IP1 3QU

Price: £745,000 If you’re after an elegant townhouse with a large garden then this is the property for you. With high ceilings and large windows the house appears even more spacious than it is. It has five bedrooms, one with en suite shower, kitchen with Aga and a breakfast room which looks out onto the back garden. The double garage in the coach house provides ample parking space and storage and the back garden has plenty of shrubs and flower beds.

Contact Strutt & Parker Ipswich on 01473 214841, www.struttandparker.co.uk

COLNE HOUSE, HENLEY ROAD, IP1 3SJ

Price: £895,000 This is an imposing Grade II-listed property in the heart of Ipswich. Arranged over three floors, the first floor has six bedrooms, one with en suite, while the top floor is a self-contained two-bedroom flat. Downstairs, the period features have been retained. In the drawing room there is a grand piano – included in the sale – which was made especially for the property.

The back garden has a summerhouse and is surrounded by a high wall to provide privacy.

Contact Jackson-Stops & Staff Ipswich on 01473 218218, www.jackson-stops.co.uk

I think that the summer is actually quite a good time to look because although not many properties tend to come onto the market, there are also a lot fewer people focusing on hunting for a property, which reduces the level of competition that you will face.

I estimate that about one in five prospective buyers are either away or not focused on looking over the summer, whether because they are thinking about their holiday, occupying their children who aren’t at school, for example.

Looking in the summer can put you at a strategic advantage compared to the competition. I’ve known clients who have managed to get a property simply because the other interested party was away on holiday, so it can make a difference.

What’s more, the quieter summer season usually means there are fewer viewings. If vendors want to sell they might be more inclined to take an offer just because they want to get on with the process or because they would lose a property that they are interested in.

Arranging viewings is also easier over the summer. Most estate agents will have keys to the property and if the current owners are away on holiday then you can view the property at a time that suits you.

Russell Hunt is managing director of Property Hunt, a search agent for London and the Home Counties www.property-hunt.co.uk

18

Living | Overseas Property

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

Cyprus is a place in the sun and a lot more besides

THREE BED VILLA, PAPHOS, PRICE ON APPLICATION

Ultra contemporary, with a private pool and terrace. Close to golf, spa and the beach. Unique Living, tel: 020 8416 0230, www.uniqueliving.com

Better value than Greece, there’s sun, golf and history in spades here, says Zoe Strimpel lot, but try the Greek islands for comparison – a plot of land without a house just went for â‚Ź10m on Mykonos. “Northern Cyprus is more for straight investment than south; you can get a very nice property for â‚Ź500,000, though buyers know it’s not as glam as the south,â€? says Russell. Developers have caught onto the potential of golf and a number of new courses are planned. “Cyprus used to be for people who wanted the expat lifestyle, and would look to spend â‚Ź200,000-â‚Ź300,000 on apartments.

But now, good hotels, golf and other entertainment has brought a more upmarket clientele. “For all that, Cyprus is not St Tropez, and it’s very much a British market at the moment. There’s a way to go before it realises its value, so now’s a good time to buy.�

VILLA ARTEMIS, PAPHOS, ¤2,499,500

Four bedroom, 2,700 sq m mansion on this stylish 600 acre resort. Aphrodite Hills, tel: 020 7398 3300, www.aphroditehills.com

CAP ST GEORGE, WESTERN CYPRUS, ¤3-¤9.5M

Sleek seafront villa club on the west coast. Next to Akamas Peninsula national park. Savills Int, tel: 020 7016 3740, www.savills.co.uk/abroad

Amazing lifestyle.

Appreciating property values.

Attractive mortgage deals.

There’s only one place to invest right now.

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OR Britons, Cyprus has turned into something of an upmarket Marbella, without the crowds. With unrealised investment potential and a load more untarnished space in which to enjoy golf, watersports, beautiful landscape and good weather for most of the year, it’s no wonder savvy investors are looking to the island to buy property. What with good infrastructure and three major airports – Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos in the south and Ecran in Turkish-governed north – it’s a convenient place to buy as well.

Lucy Russell, managing director of Quintessentially Estates, says southern Cyprus has become a hotspot for people after contemporary, sleek luxury – Quintessentially recently sold an ubermodern villa near Polemi, which Russell describes as a “very contemporary bachelor party padâ€?, for â‚Ź11m. It sounds like a

#ALL WWW THE GALLERIES NET

20

Lifestyle

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

| Reviews

Museum of

fun

Ben Stiller’s comedy sequel will keep the kids entertained this summer, says Timothy Barber NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2 Cert: PG ★★★✩✩ THIS Bank Holiday’s slice of family-centric fodder pulls off that rare cinematic trick – it’s a sequel that’s better than the original. However, given that the original Night at the Museum was a dog’s dinner of a film, the bigger surprise is that it was ever a big enough hit to justify a follow-up. This being a far more serviceable piece of holiday flam, part three is no doubt in the works.

A thankful improvement is the substantial reduction in Ricky Gervais’s hapless museum manager role, now down to a cringe-inducing cameo.

Would that the same could have been

done with the film’s star, Ben Stiller, an actor whose charms utterly elude me. In the original film, Stiller’s character Larry Levy was a security guard at New York’s Natural History Museum, who got into adventures when the museum’s exhibits came to life at night. This time round, after the contents of the museum get moved to Washington’s Smithsonian Museum, Levy – now a small-time businessman – sets out on a rescue mission.

The Smithsonian being the world’s biggest museum, there are a whole lot more exhibits to get reanimated now.

Joining Owen Wilson’s cowboy, Steve Coogan’s Roman legionary, Robin Williams’s General Custer and others from the first movie are Amy Adams as aviator Amelia Earhart and Hank Azaria as a dastardly ancient Egyptian ruler who enlists Al Capone and Napoleon as his sidekicks.

Kids will love the film’s CGI-fuelled action sequences and there are a few more funny lines than in the first film, while the most fun by far is to be had with Azaria’s deliciously hammy turn as the lisping pharaoh. Don’t expect it to be much cop as far as historical insight is concerned, but as a way of keeping children entertained over halfterm, this outdoes its predecessor by a distance.

Night at the Museum II’s CGI effects are stunning.

Picture: REX

AWAYDAYS Cert: 18 ★★✩✩✩ AWAYDAYS might be yet another film about football hooliganism, but it’s much more interested in conjuring up the feel and fashions of the late Seventies postpunk era. Adapted by writer Kevin Sampson from his own book of the same name, it’s set in Liverpool in 1979. Carty, a young, middle-class art-rock fan, is bored of his job as an office junior and looking for excitement, finding it in the form of The Pack, a gang of hoolies

from the local council estate. The Pack are a more stylish breed of footie casual than the bovver boys they do battle with on the urban wastelands of northern England, all Fred Perries, Adidas sneakers, mod cagoules and foppish wedge haircuts.

They’re a pretty weedy-looking bunch of bruisers, to be honest, but nastier and wilier than their rivals, and not afraid to wield the odd Stanley knife.

The period recreation, from the soundtrack to the record shops, the smoky Intercity trains to the gigs that gave birth to the indie scene, is terrific – a romantic, evocative view of a very specific time and place. It’s a shame that the story tacked onto it is complete nonsense. Carty’s entry to The Pack is made via their one eccentric member, Elvis, a space-cadet with dreams of Berlin, New York and Bowie, who takes a liking to artschool drop out Carty, eventually developing an obsession.

There’s an awful lot of very ropey dialogue of the “how far are you going to push it, la” variety, and some pretty dodgy acting to go with it. Carty, played by Nicky Bell, is a massively uninteresting character, and his fixation with The Pack is never satisfactorily explained. Elvis is a bag of teenage cliches, and the whole thing is much too po-faced to ever achieve lift off.

OUT THIS WEEKEND | PREVIEWS TIMOTHY BARBER

FILM

DVD

MUSIC

GAMES

TORMENTED Britain’s answer to the current vogue for teen slasher flicks.

THE READER Kate Winslet on Oscar-winning form as a former Nazi prison guard.

GRIZZLY BEAR The highly-praised US indie band’s new album is called Veckatimest. But of course.

UFC 2009 UNDISPUTED (X360, PS3) Martial arts game based on the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

EVERLASTING MOMENTS Acclaimed Swedish peri-

SEVEN POUNDS Apallingly mawkish melodrama with Will Smith.

SIMPLE MINDS The Scots pop legends are back with their 15th album, Graffiti Soul.

DAMNATION (X360, PS3, PC) Sci-fi action game

od drama about a female photographer.

THE GIRL CUT IN TWO The latest quirky film from French auteur director Claude Chabrol.

THE SPIRIT Lame comic-book adaptation, with

PHOENIX Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is the sparky French band’s latest offering.

PUNCH-OUT!!! (WII) Back after 15 years,

Samuel L Jackson.

set in a post-industrial future.

Nintendo’s boxing game gets the Wii treatment.

21

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

Strong acting fails to bring revised Ibsen classic to life Theatre A DOLL’S HOUSE Donmar Warehouse ★★★✩✩ Ibsen’s story of a woman who walks away from her empty marriage was too much for upright Victorian audiences at its first London staging in 1889. With such compelling source-material, it’s a shame Zinnie Harris’s reworked version – which relocates things from 1880s Norway to London in 1909 – is curiously bloodless, despite some fortuitous topicality.

Gillian Anderson stars as well-to-do housewife Nora, in Harris’s version married to a rising politician rather than a bank manager, Thomas Vaughan (Toby Stephens). His promotion to the Cabinet has come at the expense of a fellow politician beset by fraud allegations, Christopher Ecclestone’s Neil Kelman. But things unravel for Nora when an old debt she secretly owes to Kelman becomes his bargaining tool to win back his job.

When Thomas says “As politicians, our staple is trust,” the audience roars with laughter. Timely the show’s political element may be, but it isn’t a lot more than that. Harris somehow never really justifies her tinkering with Ibsen’s play, with plot inconsistencies and cumbersome dialogue hardly helping.

The cast is impressive, though, with Stephens in particular delivering a muscular performance as the blinkered, egotistical Thomas. Anderson, on stage for all but one scene, is willowy and vulnerable, and handles Nora’s final transition deftly.

Ecclestone is full of clumsy attitude, while Tara Fitzgerald and Anton Lesser, as Christine and Dr Rank, perform admirably in awkwardly written roles.

Timothy Barber

THE OBSERVER Cottesloe, National Theatre ★★★★✩ JUST over a year on from Zimbabwe’s strifefilled elections, this taut and intelligent play about the ethics of foreign diplomacy in politically unstable Africa is certainly not lacking in punch. Set during a similarly unbalanced attempt at democratic process in an unnamed West African former colony, The Observer is a cautionary tale centred around the deputy chief of an international electoral observation team, Fiona Russell (Anna Chancellor).

A seasoned observer, Fiona is an efficient, competent official well-versed in the protocols of impartial monitoring. But by the end of the first act, she begins to crack under the weight of her conscience. When the first results suggest the country’s despot, who is unpopular both at home and abroad, may lose, she resolves to step in and “see this little country take a huge step forward” – a turn of phrase that hints perfectly at the unavoidable condescension of her situation.

But Anna’s moral ambiguity is much more benign than the sinister Mr Saunders (James Fleet), a pantomime baddie of a Foreign Office civil servant who intercepts her emails and bugs her phone.

His monologues between scenes provide a perfect balance of calm menace against Chancellor’s highly-strung energy, as she goes through a shift from methodical administrator to passionate campaigner.

The Observer is a return for the National’s former artistic director Richard Eyre and former writer-in-residence Matt Charman. The play won Charman the Catherine Johnson award for Best Play last year, and with good reason.

Catrin Rogers

Above, Toby Stephens and Gillian Anderson in A Doll’s House.

Picture: Johan Persson

NOW SHOWING | SIX OF THE BEST THEATRE: BURST Festival Battersea Arts Centre’s annual festival of new theatre, with 51 different events set to take place. The subtitle is 51 Reasons for Living, inspired by President Obama’s inauguration address.

FILM: Synecdoche, New York Charlie Kaufman’s magnum opus is a lingering, poetic and funny meditation on life, love and the whole damn thing.

ART: Talk Show The ICA’s monthlong season of artworks, performances, live discussions and workshops addressing the act of speech.

OUT OF OFFICE | BY TIMOTHY BARBER NOUVELLE VAGUE AT THE BFI

Jean Paul Belmondo in Pierrot Le Fou

The movement that changed cinema forever, the French New Wave remains the benchmark for stylish, low-budget, coolas-you-like filmmaking. Auteur directors like Jean Luc Goddard, Francoise Truffaut and Claude Chabrol tore up the rule book to make films that oozed edgy cool and chic style – and the BFI Southbank is providing a rare opportunity to see their work on the big screen. Leading the way is Goddard’s playful Pierrot Le Fou, with Jean Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina as lovers on the run, while others showing include The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and Black Orpheus. Until 4 June, BFI Southbank, SE1 8XT. Tickets from www.bfi.org.uk

DANCE: Pictures from an Exhibition The collaboration between the Young Vic and Sadler’s Wells brings to life Mussorgsky’s famous piano conerto of the same name. The final show is tomorrow.

THEATRE: Romeo & Juliette The opening production (left) for this summer’s season of shows at Shakespeare’s Globe, directed

by Dominic Droomgoole.

ART: Roni Horn The American sculptor and photographer’s Tate modern exhibition closes this Monday.

LEGAL AND PUBLIC NOTICES NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM GOES TO THE ARCTIC IN NEW EXHIBITION Greenwich’s museum of all things seaborn launches a new exhibition tomorrow, looking at the historic race to open up the North West Passage, the route connecting the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans. As well as examining the efforts of British polar explorers in the 19th century, the exhibition also explores the lives of the Inuit who have inhabited the area for thousands of years, while raising the issue of why the region is in the news again, as climate change wreaks havoc on the polar ice cap. May 23-Jan 10 2010, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. For more info visit www.nmm.ac.uk

SKYLINE MANAGED SERVICES LIMITED

(In Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation) In accordance with Rule 4.106 of the Insolvency Act 1986 Peter Kubik of UHY Hacker Young LLP, Quadrant House 17 Thomas More Street Thomas More Square London E1W 1YW and Ladislav Hornan of UHY Hacker Young LLP, Quadrant House 17 Thomas More Street Thomas More Square London E1W 1YW, give notice that we were appointed joint liquidators of the above named company on 08/05/2009 by way of an exit route agreed by creditors on 18/07/2008 in accordance with the administrators proposal. Notice is hereby given that the creditors of the above named company, which is being voluntarily wound up, are required, on or before 18/06/2009 to prove their debts by sending to the undersigned Peter Kubik of UHY Hacker Young LLP, Quadrant House 17 Thomas More Street Thomas More Square London E1W 1YW the Joint Liquidator of the company, written statements of the amounts they claim to be due to them from the company and, if so requested, to provide such further details or produce such documentary evidence as may appear to the liquidator to be necessary. A creditor who has not proved this debt before the declaration of any dividend is not entitled to disturb, by reason that he has not participated in it, the distribution of that dividend or any other dividend declared before his debt was proved. Dated: 18/05/2009 T258957 PETER KUBIK, Joint Liquidator

SKYLINE SUPPORT SERVICES LIMITED

(In Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation) In accordance with Rule 4.106 of the Insolvency Act 1986 Ladislav Hornan of UHY Hacker Young LLP, Quadrant House 17 Thomas More Street Thomas More Square London E1W 1YW and Peter Kubik of UHY Hacker Young LLP, Quadrant House 17 Thomas More Street Thomas More Square London E1W 1YW, give notice that we were appointed joint liquidators of the above named company on 08/05/2009 by way of an exit route agreed by creditors on 18/07/2008 in accordance with the administrators proposal. Notice is hereby given that the creditors of the above named company, which is being voluntarily wound up, are required, on or before 18/06/2009 to prove their debts by sending to the undersigned Ladislav Hornan of UHY Hacker Young LLP, Quadrant House 17 Thomas More Street Thomas More Square London E1W 1YW the Joint Liquidator of the company, written statements of the amounts they claim to be due to them from the company and, if so requested, to provide such further details or produce such documentary evidence as may appear to the liquidator to be necessary. A creditor who has not proved this debt before the declaration of any dividend is not entitled to disturb, by reason that he has not participated in it, the distribution of that dividend or any other dividend declared before his debt was proved. Dated: 18/05/2009 LADISLAV HORNAN, Joint Liquidator T258955

Lifestyle | TV& Games

TERRESTRIAL

22

BBC1

BBC2

ITV1

CHANNEL4

FIVE

6pm BBC News 6.30pm BBC London News 7pm The One Show 7.30pm Chelsea Flower Show 2009: BBC News 8pm EastEnders 8.30pm Total Wipeout Fast Forward 9pm CHOICE Have I Got News for You 9.30pm Reggie Perrin 10pm BBC News 10.25pm Regional News 10.35pm Friday Night with Jonathan Ross

6pm Eggheads: Quiz show, hosted by Dermot Murnaghan.

6.30pm Great British Menu 7pm Britain’s Best Drives 7.30pm Mastermind 8pm Chelsea Flower Show 2009: Celebrating the range of different Chelsea exhibitors.

9pm Off by Heart: Children compete in poetry recitation.

10.30pm Newsnight 11pm Newsnight Review: Weather 11.45pm Golf: The PGA Championship 12.45am Medium

6pm London Tonight 6.30pm ITV Evening News 7pm Emmerdale 7.30pm Coronation Street 8pm Mediterranean Nightmares: Tonight 8.30pm Coronation Street 9pm Boy Meets Girl 10pm News at Ten 10.25pm London News 10.35pm FILM Unforgiven: Oscar-winning Western, starring Clint Eastwood. 1992.

1am Nightwatch with Steve Scott: Mystery; ITV News Headlines 1.50am FILM Aces

6pm The Simpsons 6.30pm CHOICE Hollyoaks 7pm Channel 4 News 7.55pm 3 Minute Wonder: Watch This Space 8pm A Place in the Sun: Home or Away 9pm Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA 10pm FILM Shaft 2000.

6pm Home and Away 6.30pm Animal Rescue Squad 6.55pm Party Election Broadcast 7pm Five News at 7 7.25pm Party Election Broadcast for the European Parliament 7.30pm Top Trumps: Super Yachts: Five News Update 8pm Police Interceptors: Five News at 9 9pm NCIS 10pm Law & Order: Criminal Intent

1.30am The Wire 2.25am The Wire 3.20am The Wire 4.15am6am Close

High: World War One drama, starring Malcolm McDowell. 1976.

3.45am-5.30am ITV Nightscreen

2am Off The Bar 2.30am Rugby Union 4.30am-6am European Rugby Union

Scene Investigation 1am Charmed 2am Criminal Minds 3am Men in Trees 3.55am Make Me a Supermodel 4.40am The Jerry Springer Show 5.30am6am Home Shopping

11.35pm EuroMillions Draw 11.40pm FILM Just Friends 2005 1.15am Sign Zone: Horizon 2.15am Real Rescues 3am-6am BBC News

SATELLITE & CABLE

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

SKY SPORTS 1 7pm Premier League Preview 7.30pm Live Super League 10pm Live Friday Fight Night 12am European Rugby Union 1.30am The Lions 1974 – Invincibles 2.30am Friday Fight Night 4.30am Premier League Preview 5am Off The Bar 5.30am-6am Ocean Race

SKY SPORTS 2 5.30pm Rugby Union 7.30pm Live European Rugby Union 10pm The Lions 1974 – Invincibles 11pm NFL: Total Access 12am Premier League Preview 12.30am Off The Bar 1am Super League 3am NFL: Total Access 4am-6am Super League

SKY SPORTS 3 6pm Live Golf Night 8pm Golf Night 10.30pm WWE: Late Night – Smackdown 12.30am WWE: Late Night – Bottom Line 1.30am Premier League Preview

BRITISH EUROSPORT 6.30pm Live Women’s Football 8.30pm Cycling 9pm Poker 10pm World Rally Championship 10.30pm Cycling 11pm12.30am UEFA Cup Football

ESPN 7pm Test Match Legends 7.35pm Rugby Union 9.05pm Test Match Legends 9.40pm The Legends Speak 10.15pm Formula 1 10.50pm The Dead Good Match 11.25pm The Season 12.30am Decade of Great Matches 1.05am Rugby World Cup 2.10am Premier League Football 4.20am-5am Sporting Greats

LIVING 7pm Nothing to Declare 8pm Paul McKenna: I Can Make You Thin 9pm Criminal Minds 10pm CSI: Miami 11pm CSI: Crime

12am 4Music: Album Chart Show Special: The Enemy Special 12.30am 4Music: JD Set Presents: General Fiasco 12.45am No Angels 1.45am What About Brian 2.30am Veronique 2.35am Empires of Stone 3.35am Time Team 4.25am Countdown 5.10am World Superbike Championship 5.40am-5.50am Cubeez

DISCOVERY HOME & HEALTH

7pm Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire 8pm Secret Luftwaffe of World War Two 9pm Stealth: Flying Invisible 10pm The Battle of the River Plate 11pm Hitler’s War 12am Stealth: Flying Invisible 1am Battle Stations 2am Dogfights 3am Battlefield Detectives 4am-5am Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire

DISCOVERY 7pm How Do They Do It? 7.30pm How It’s Made 8pm Mythbusters 9pm Treasure Quest 10pm Special Forces Heroes 11pm Crime Scene Australia 12am North Mission Road 12.30am Suburban Secrets 1am A Haunting 2am Couples Who Kill 3am Treasure Quest 3.50am World’s Smallest Kids: Shocking Story

E4 7pm Hollyoaks 7.30pm My Name Is Earl 8pm Friends 9pm Gok’s Fashion Fix 10pm Wife Swap 11.05pm Alan Carr’s Celebrity Ding Dong 11.55pm Scrubs 12.55am My Name Is Earl 1.25am Gok’s Fashion Fix

7pm Emergency 7.30pm Medics of the Glen 8pm Little People, Big World 8.30pm Jon and Kate Plus 8 9pm I’d Kill for a Baby 10pm Trauma: Life and Death in the ER 11pm Dr G: Medical Examiner 12am I’d Kill for a Baby 1am Trauma: Life and Death in the ER 2am Dr G: Medical Examiner 3am Little People, Big World 3.30am Jon and Kate Plus 8 4am Bringing Home Baby 5am-6am A Baby Story

8 6 9 8 4 2 7 8 7 6 3 1

7

2

9 7 1 5 1 9 4 2 7 6 5 9

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS QUICK CROSSWORD CA S T OR H R I URB I NO R M COS V E H C A B OW L E T R E ANN E M R E I E DDA A

B R A D A U

S P I EG G NO T T B R V E DR

I T U E R K N O OR K I N E E Y

KAKURO 1 5 5 3 3 1 2 1 2 1 3 5 4 2 1 3 1 3 7 9 7 9 8 7 5 9 4 6 9 8 4 3 1 6 9 2 7 1 7 3 9

4 6 1 2 3 9 8

7 1 5 8 5 9 9 7 3 1 1 2 5 3 2 1 1 5 3 2 1 4 2 3 1

1

7

6

34

4

15

22

KAKURO

6

8

14

3

15 37

17 33

Fill the grid so that each block adds up to the total in the box above or to the left of it.

You can only use the digits 1-9 and you must not use the same digit twice in a block.

The same digit may occur more than once in a row or column, but it must be in a separate block.

12

WORDWHEEL The nine-letter word was TRANSLATE

FIVE, 11.00PM An investigation into a series of burglaries goes wrong when Don is seriously injured by one of the perpetrators. Rob Morrow stars.

2

3

4

10 6

7

8

10 23

23

11

12

24

17

7

13 23 25

32 12

14

28

22

17 23

6

9

12

7

5

24

25

15

16

17

3 8

30

7

18

19

20

21

10 17

14

20

6

16

24

4

in

Using only the letters in the Wordwheel, you have ten minutes to find as many words as possible, none of which may be plurals, foreign words or proper nouns. Each word must be of three letters or more, all must contain the central letter and letters can only be used once in every word. There is at least one nine-letter word in the wheel.

SUDOKU

NUMB3RS

QUICK CROSSWORD

WORDWHEEL

3

BBC1, 9.00PM Guest host Alexander Armstrong and panellists Reginald D Hunter and Stuart Maconie join Paul Merton and Ian Hislop for another round of the quiz.

7pm The Simpsons 8pm Guinness World Records Smashed! 9pm Road Wars 10pm FILM Predator 1987.

12.05am Prison Break 2.05am Road Wars 3.55am Stargate SG-1 5.35am-6am Cruise with Stelios: Caribbean

Copyright Puzzler Media Ltd, www.puzzler.co.uk

Place the numbers from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so that each row, each column and each 3x3 block contains all the numbers from 1 to 9 to solve this tricky Sudoku puzzle.

HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU

SKY1

COFFEE BREAK SUDOKU

CHANNEL4, 6.30PM A detention leads to reconciliation for Anita and Lauren, while Michaela breaks up with Zak after she learns about his and Zoe’s kiss.

4.40am Extreme Engineering 5.30am-6am How It’s Made

HISTORY

7pm Top Gear 8pm Doctor Who 9pm Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps 10pm EastEnders 10.35pm Pulling Special 11.35pm Family Guy 12.20am Coming of Age 12.50am Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps 1.50am Ideal 2.20am Pulling Special 3.20am Bizarre ER 3.50am Coming of Age 4.20am Ideal 4.50am5.20am Snog, Marry, Avoid?

HOLLYOAKS

11pm CHOICE Numb3rs 12am Quiz Call 4am The Gadget Show 4.45am Wildlife SOS 5.10am Neighbours 5.35am-6am Home and Away

2.25am Alan Carr’s Celebrity Ding Dong 3.05am Style Her Famous 3.50am Hollyoaks 4.15am-5am Switched

BBC THREE

TV PICK

7 1 4 3 2 5 6 8 9

3 9 8 1 4 6 2 5 7

6 5 2 8 7 9 1 3 4

5 3 6 4 1 7 8 9 2

E P

U

I

G

V Y 9 2 1 5 3 8 4 7 6

8 4 7 6 9 2 3 1 5

4 6 3 9 5 1 7 2 8

1 7 5 2 8 4 9 6 3

2 8 9 7 6 3 5 4 1

R N

ACROSS

DOWN

1 Person who makes barrels (6) 4 ___ Corner, Bend Me, Shape Me group (4) 7 ___ the ante, increasing the stakes (6) 8 Ancient Egyptian nature goddess (4) 10 Sir ___ Ramsey, leg endary England boss (3) 12 ___ Campbell, The Gadget Show presenter (6) 14 Marc ___, Tainted Love singer with Soft Cell (6) 15 Cliff Richard’s record label in the 1980s (inits)(3) 18 Paul Darrow’s character in Blake’s 7 (4) 19 Leakproof joint (6) 20 Rents out (4) 21 One trying to lose weight (6)

1 2 3 5 6

Mountain lion (6) ___ Spencer, TV presenter (4) Piece of unwanted cloth (3) Error (7) Beau ___, 18thcentury dandy (4)

9 Delighted (4) 11 Aftermath of a nuclear bomb (7)

12 Lozenge, pastille (4) 13 Lots of offspring born at one time (6)

16 ___ Kennedy, Neighbours doctor (4)

17 Arthur ___, former Wimbledon champion (4)

19 ___ about, gallivant (3)

Punter

23

| Racing

RACING TRADER | BILL ESDAILE, OUR RACING EXPERT, HAS IDENTIFIED A NUMBER OF HORSES TO BACK THIS WEEKEND

Mastercraftsman looks set to give his master trainer another classic D

ELEGATOR is as short as 7/4 to land tomorrow’s Boylesports Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh after his gallant display on rock hard ground at Newmarket. Brian Meehan’s colt proved all his doubters wrong that day by travelling smoothly throughout and only finding Sea The Stars too good. The son of Dansili proved that his Craven performance was no fluke and is a worthy favourite for this one mile contest.

However, the big worry is the ground which is rumoured to be completely bottomless (even by Irish standards). Now, his connections have always said he prefers some juice underfoot and he certainly looks to have a ‘soft ground action’, yet the ground he will encounter tomorrow will be unlike anything he has seen before. My major concern is that the elements will blunt his electric turn of foot and that when Jamie Spencer presses the button, he’ll be unable to pick up. If he handles the treacherous conditions, he’ll win. Sadly, that is too big an ‘if’ for

me and I prefer the chances of the Aidan O’Brien trained MASTERCRAFTSMAN at around 5/2.

Our selection was under three lengths behind Delegator at Newmarket, but was running on really well at the death and didn’t have the smoothest of passages. In fact, he looks like he needs more than a mile, so the testing conditions play to his strengths. He won the Group One National Stakes at the track on heavy ground as a two-year-old and seems to have everything stacked in his favour.

John Oxx saddles the unexposed Rayeni who looks interesting, but has to step up dramatically on what he has achieved so far, while Soul City and Recharge don’t look quite good enough.

The fillies get a chance to strut their stuff 24 hours later on Sunday in the Boylesports Irish 1000 Guineas and I like the chances of David Wachman’s AGAIN at 3/1 and Mick Channon’s LAHALEEB each-way at 10/1. The former won the Group One Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh as a two-year-old and has by far the best

form on offer here. I fancied Lahaleeb to run well in the English Guineas but the ground turned against her and she was all at sea and out the back. You can ignore that run and I expect her to be in the mix at a double figure price.

The Temple Stakes is the feature race on Haydock’s card tomorrow and sadly Hungarian superstar Overdose is not making the journey over. Henry Candy’s Amour Propre established himself as a potential star when bolting up at Newmarket last time, but he is not a guaranteed runner if the ground remains soft. BORDERLESCOTT has no ground worries and is a confident selection to go one better than 12 months ago.

POINTERS...

BORDERLESCOTT (3.10pm Haydock, tomorrow) MASTERCRAFTSMAN (3.45pm, Curragh, tomorrow) AGAIN (3.40pm, Curragh, Sunday) LAHALEEB e/w (3.40pm, Curragh, Sunday)

the

I

at Nottingham two weeks ago. Tom Dascombe, the trainer of Max One Two Three, also has a two-year-old called BARZAN running this afternoon at Brighton. He’s unlikely to be a fancy price but this expensive son of Danehill Dancer should get the weekend off to a good start in the Maiden Stakes at 2.00pm.

At Newmarket this afternoon, a horse I noted at Newbury last year and once again at Doncaster in March is due for a spin. LONDON BRIDGE may also start at quite prohibitive odds but I think that this son of Beat Hollow should take a lot of beating on his third outing in the

GOING: HEAVY LIVE ON Channel 4 & ATR [B] blinkers [H] 1st-time.

Jockey bookings not announced until today

3.45 BOYLESPORTS.COM IRISH 2,000 GUINEAS (GROUP 1) 1

[1]

3YO 1m €228,500

215-12 DELEGATOR (21) (D)(BF)

2 5542-23 DRUMBEAT (15) (BF) [9]

3 9-0

A P O’Brien Derrick Smith

3 32-1223 FERGUS MCIVER [B] (13) (C) [2]

3 9-0

J Bolger Martin W Lightbody

4 156-444 HAIL CAESAR (13) [8]

3 9-0

A P O’Brien Mrs John Magnier

5 11114-5 MASTERCRAFTSMAN (21) (C) [6] 6 [4] 7 [7]

3 9-0

A P O’Brien Derrick Smith 11- RAYENI (208)

3 9-0

J Oxx H H Aga Khan 14-1 RECHARGE (55) (D)

3 9-0

K Prendergast Lady O’Reilly

8 141110- SOUL CITY (217) (C) [5] 9 [3]

3 9-0

B Meehan (GB) Mrs P Good

3 9-0

R Hannon (GB) Patrick J Fahey 35-2 VICEROY OF INDIA (20)

3 9-0

A P O’Brien Michael Tabor

S.P. F’CAST: 7-4 Delegator, 5-2 Mastercraftsman, 4 Rayeni, 8 Recharge, Soul City, 20 Drumbeat, 25 Fergus McIver, 33 Hail Caesar, 100 Viceroy Of India.

INSIDER

’M SUFFERING with a cold which may pack me off to bed for the Bank Holiday weekend.

I just hope I’m fighting fit to watch the football next week and also make my annual pilgrimage to Beverley for the Hilary Needler Trophy, always a good pointer for a Royal Ascot filly.

Thinking of fillies, I’m rather sweet on the chances of MAX ONE TWO THREE in the Betfredcasino Cecil Frail Stakes at Haydock on Saturday. This filly has been running well without troubling the judge, but if the going remains ‘soft’, I think she will have a right chance to reverse placings with Lesson In Humility – her conqueror

Tomorrow’s big race at the Curragh

three-year-old Maiden Stakes at Newmarket (3.30pm).

My wife always says you’ve got to find a horse with a good name. FOUNDATION ROOM might not be in that category but I think I see where the owners were coming from. Out of a mare called Bellagio Princess the connection is Las Vegas and of course the Foundation Room is the nightclub at the top of the Mandalay Bay, with fantastic views of the strip. Let’s hope that this progressive three-year-old can give the other runners a good view of its rear in the Betfred Silver Bowl at Haydock on Saturday.

MURP YS

L W

DELEGATOR (9-0) 3-1 fav held up towards rear on outer, headway over 2f out, ridden and quickened to lead over 1f out, soon hung left under pressure, headed just inside final furlong, no extra and beaten final 50yds, btn 11/2l by Sea The Stars (9-0) (15 ran) MASTERCRAFTSMAN (9-0) 7-1 in touch, ridden and unable to quicken when slightly short of room well over 1f out, soon outpaced, plugged on again inside final furlong, 5th (btn 4 1/2l) (Newmarket 1m (1) £241,840 good to firm).

DRUMBEAT (8-12) 11-10 fav held up towards rear, effort and headway when carried head high 1f out, ran on under pressure towards finish, 3rd of 7 (btn 0.4) to South Easter (8-12) (Chester 1m21/2f (1) £39,739 good to firm).

FERGUS MCIVER (9-1) 16-1 raced in 3rd, 2nd from halfway, led under pressure 2f out, headed and kept on same pace from over 1f out, 3rd of 6 (btn 51/2l) to Fame And Glory (9-4) HAIL CAESAR (9-1) 33-1 well off pace in rear, moderate 5th over 3f out, kept on same pace under pressure straight, 4th (btn 8l) (Leopardstown 1m2f 78,000 good).

RAYENI (9-1) 7-2 mid-division, 6th halfway, headway in 5th 11/2f out, improved to challenge 1f out, led inside final 150yds, pushed out, comfortably, bt Vitruvian Man (9-1) 11/2l (8 ran) (Leopardstown 7f 45,570 yielding to soft).

RECHARGE (9-0) 9-4 tracked leaders in 3rd, 4th halfway, not clear run early straight, switched to outer over 1f out, ran on strongly to lead 100yds from finish, comfortably, bt Intense Focus (9-3) 1l HAIL CAESAR (9-0) 5-1 held up in rear, ridden and one pace straight, 4th (btn 5 1/4l) (Leopardstown 1m 42,315 good to firm).

DELEGATOR (9-1) 15-2 held up, headway and hung right over 1f out, stayed on, 5th of 13 (btn 13/4l) to Intense Focus (9-1) SOUL CITY (9-1) 11-1 led to halfway, ridden and weakened over 1f out, 10th (btn 9 1/4l) (Newmarket 7f (1) £163,356 good).

VICEROY OF INDIA (9-5) 100-30 chased leader in 2nd, ridden to challenge 2f out, no extra in 2nd over 1f out, kept on same pace, btn 21/2l by Handsome Batchelor (9-5) (14 ran) (Gowran Park 1m 7,601 heavy).

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HEINEKEN CUP FINAL

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24

The Punter | Football

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

FOOTBALL TRADER | BEN CLEMINSON HAS TEAMED UP WITH BETTORLOGIC TO BRING YOU THE CITY AM FOOTBALL TRADER

Young striker Federico Macheda is likely to feature for Manchester United as they plot Hull’s downfall.

...the home of form

Picture: ACTION IMAGES

Tigers are no match for United’s champion cubs HULL CITY MANCHESTER UNITED SUNDAY 4.00PM, SKY SPORTS 3 JFK, Roswell, Princess Diana. Could Hull City v Man United become the next conspiracy theory on Sunday? Sir Alex Ferguson seems certain to field a ‘weakened’ side and any of Middlesbrough, Newcastle or Sunderland could be relegated if the champions are beaten by Hull.

The only problem for the Tigers is that whatever team United put out, it will probably still be stronger than their own first XI, whilst those pushing for a spot on the Reds’ subs bench in Rome will be playing for their lives. Of course this

ASTON VILLA NEW CASTLE UNIT ED

NEWCASTLE UNITED

SUNDAY 4.00PM, SKY SPORTS 1 SUNDAY is judgment day for Alan Shearer.

Newcastle are as short as 4/9 to be playing Championship football next season and they know that a win at Villa Park may not even save them.

Villa’s long season has started to catch up with them in recent weeks and one win

SUNDERLAND CHELSEA SUNDAY 4.00PM, SKY SPORTS INTERACTIVE NIALL Quinn will be hugely disappointed that his club is in this position having spent

LONGSHOT

game isn’t a priority for Sir Alex, but he never likes losing and I’d be very surprised if his inexperienced side isn’t up for this.

Before we even think about an unlikely, emotional win for Hull, we must consider the facts – and they are fairly damning. The Tigers have lost all three at the KC Stadium against the Big Four this season, all by at least two goals, and have gone W0-D3-L7 in their last 10 home league games. Man United have been involved in a number of these types of fixtures before and have usually come out on top. Since the Premier League began, they have played 10 away games on the final day, winning eight and losing just one. Perhaps more importantly though, they had nothing to play for in seven of those and won six of them.

If those facts don’t get your juices flowing, then perhaps this will. United from 12 games certainly isn’t the form you’d expect of a side capable of finishing fifth. However, there is one clear stat that points to Martin O’Neill’s side ending the season on a high and the Toon ending theirs in abject misery. Since 2002, the Magpies have made 41 trips to top-six finishers and tasted defeat 31 times. They have also only managed two victories, the last of which was 12 matches and 29 months ago.

Villa have had a tremendous season, regardless of the last few weeks, and under O’Neill they have won 13 and lost only twice in 17 games against bottom-six finishers and those currently in the bottom-six. It’s also worth remembering that so much money. Their performances have been poor in recent weeks and if Newcastle or Middlesbrough had been any better these would be even more desperate times.

Put simply, Sunderland are terrible at home against the top sides – never mind a Chelsea side bidding farewell to Guus Hiddink. They have played top-six finishers on 11 occasions at the Stadium of Light since 2007/08 and have only managed to pick up two points. The Blues are unbeaten

have won 15 of their last 17 away matches at bottom-six sides and are W8-D1-L1 in their last 10 league games on the road.

It’s fair to say that Hull haven’t been on fire since the turn of the year and they have conceded exactly three goals at home against all other members of the Big Four. In fact, total goals in all seven of their games against the Big Four this season average 3.6 per game and that’s including their goalless draw at Stamford Bridge in February.

United have so much strength in depth that I think the home fans will spend most of this game listening to their radios and praying than watching the action.

POINTERS...

Man United to win at 7/5 on Betdaq Buy total match goals at 2.9 with Sporting Index Villa hosted Sheffield United, who could have stayed up with a win, in the final game of the 2006/07 season and beat them 3-0. Similarly, last season they hosted 18thplaced bitter local rivals Birmingham City in their penultimate home game and crushed them 5-1. Spread bettors should look to buy total goals with Sporting Index – there have been 16 scored in the last four meetings between these two at Villa Park.

POINTERS...

Aston Villa to win at 7/5 on Betdaq Buy total match goals at 2.9 with Sporting Index in 35 games at bottom-six finishers since Roman Abramovich took over the club (W32-D3-L0) and won 22 of those matches to nil, including all five against other members of the bottom-six this season.

POINTERS...

Chelsea to win at EVS with Boyleports Chelsea to win with a clean sheet at 12/5 with Boylesports

MAN UNITED, CHELSEA, ASTON VILLA AND WEST HAM ALL TO WIN AT 23/1 WITH BOYLESPORTS

Sport

25

“THEY’RE LIKE CHEWING GUM ON THE SOLES OF YOUR SHOES” WILL GREENWOOD ASSESSES LEICESTER’S CHANCES OF HEINEKEN CUP SUCCESS TOMORROW: P27

Results

Rain dampens Strauss plans

CRICKET THE NATWEST SERIES: England v West Indies (Headingley Carnegie): Match abandoned due to rain.

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE: Bangalore Royal Challengers v Deccan Chargers (Centurion Park): Bangalore Royal Challengers 170-4 (M Pandey 114no) v Deccan Chargers 158-6 (H H Gibbs 60). Bangalore Royal Challengers beat Deccan Chargers by 12 runs. Mumbai Indians v Delhi Daredevils (Centurion Park): Mumbai Indians 165-8 (A M Rahane 56) v Delhi Daredevils 166-6 (V Sehwag 50, H Singh 4-17). Delhi Daredevils beat Mumbai Indians by 4 wickets.

GOLF ▲

CRICKET

BY JON COUCH ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss spoke of his frustration after Headingley’s new £600,000 drainage system failed its first major test in causing the abandonment of the first one-day international with the West Indies.

The Leeds ground underwent a vast resurfacing, drainage and irrigation overhaul in the winter, but failed to withstand heavy overnight and morning rain which flooded the outfield.

Umpires Steve Davis and Nigel Llong were forced to abandon play amid glorious sunshine around 2pm, much to the frustration of a sizeable crowd anticipating play.

The abandonment now reduces the series to two matches with the first taking place at Bristol on Sunday, but England captain Andrew Strauss had no complaints with the decision.

He said: “They [the conditions] were very, very poor. They looked to get a bit better but you still wouldn’t say it was fit to play international

cricket on. The umpires have to safeguard the safety of the players and they made that decision on their own, the captains weren’t involved in that, but I think it was the right one.

“We always enjoy coming up here and playing. There’s always a good atmosphere and we’ve missed out on that, so that’s frustrating. It’s now a two-match series and we need to win two to win it.”

Strauss refused to comment, however, on speculation that his Middlesex team-mate Eoin Morgan was set for an international debut in place of the injured Kevin Pietersen.

The Irish-born batsman has switched allegiance from his native country after playing in 23 ODIs. Morgan was listed on the matchday scorecard as No4 batsman ahead of Ian Bell, while wicketkeeper Matt Prior was down as No3.

“You’ll have to wait and see,” Strauss said with a wry smile. “It’s not information we want to give away, it provides the opposition with information on your team, so we’ll wait for the toss on Sunday.”

EUROPEAN TOUR BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP (Wentworth GC, Surrey)—11st Rnd (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):: 67 Anthony Wall, David Horsey, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa). 68 Ross Fisher, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Niclas Fasth (Swe), Barry Lane. 69 Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Colin Montgomerie, Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Scott Drummond, Ben Curtis (USA), Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Paul Casey, Anthony Kang (USA), Alexander Noren (Swe). 70 Peter Lawrie, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Gary Lockerbie, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Lee Slattery, Jamie Donaldson, Markus Brier (Aut), Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Alastair Forsyth, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Thomas Levet (Fra).

TENNIS WTA WARSAW OPEN (Poland)—QQuarter-finals: Anne Keothavong (GB) bt Ioana Raluca Olaru (Rom) 6-0 6-1, Alexandra Dulgheru (Rom) bt Galina Voskoboeva (Kaz) 6-1 75, (8) Alona Bondarenko (Ukr) bt Maria Sharapova (Rus) 6-2 6-2, (6) Daniela Hantuchova (Svk) bt Klara Zakopalova (Cze) 6-3 4-6 6-4.

TODAY’S DIARY RUGBY LEAGUE engage Super League (8pm):: Hull K R v Castleford, Salford v Bradford, St Helens v Harlequins RL, Warrington v Wigan.

RUGBY UNION European Challenge Cup—Final (7.45):: Northampton v Bourgoin.

Fans were forced to take cover in the Headingley downpour.

22-29 NOVEMBER 2009 TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

THE DECIDER

EXPERIENCE THE DRAMA AS ONLY THE TOP EIGHT PLAYERS IN THE WORLD BATTLE TO BECOME THE 2009 ATP WORLD TOUR CHAMPION

Picture: GETTY

SPORTS EDITOR JON COUCH email sport@cityam.com

The O2 LONDON

For tickets call: 0844 847 2495 Or visit: www.BarclaysATPWorldTourFinals.com

THIS EVENT IN ASSOCIATION WITH

The players shown are for illustrative purposes only. Only the World’s top 8 players will earn their right to compete at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals by battling all year at the world’s top tournaments. Qualification and participation subject to ATP rules. FOR CORPORATE HOSPITALITY, PLEASE CONTACT IMG ON 020 8233 5878 OR ATPTennis@imgworld.com

26

Sport

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

Under-strength team controversy fans flames before relegation D-Day League forced to intervene to defuse row over Hull’s day of destiny, writes Frank Dalleres

I

T IS worth at least £30m to clubs, is the difference between heartbreak and sweet relief for fans, and will probably decide the fate of at least two managers. With so much riding on the Premier League survival scrap, it is little wonder that emotions are getting heated ahead of Sunday’s showdown.

Debate has centred on whether Hull City – one of four teams in danger of following West Brom out of the top flight – could be handed a favour

by Manchester United in their allimportant final fixture. With the title already sewn up and focus firmly on Wednesday’s Champions League final, United seem certain to field a reserve XI for a match that, for them, is of little consequence.

For Hull, victory will guarantee survival, leading to rumours of survival rivals Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough plotting legal action if United deliberately field a weakened line-up. Those reports were swiftly denied, but Premier League chiefs yesterday sought to divert a row by endorsing United’s right to rest the likes of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. “You have to be realistic,” said chief executive Richard Scudamore. “They’ve got a squad, and therefore you can’t argue that they deploy the benefit of that squad in a game on Sunday.”

Sunderland manager Ricky Sbragia

BOTTOM 5 TEAM Sunderland Hull City Newcastle Utd Middlesbrough West Brom (R)

PLD 37 37 37 37 37

W 9 8 7 7 8

D 9 11 13 11 7

L 19 19 17 19 22

GD PTS -19 36 -24 35 -18 34 -28 32 -31 31

BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL: Who will beat the drop?

RICKY SBRAGIA Sunderland (v Chelsea, home)

NEW CASTLE UNIT ED

ALAN SHEARER Newcastle United (v Aston Villa, away)

– who needs a win to ensure safety and improve his chances of keeping the job – will get no such favours from second-placed Chelsea, with opposite number Guus Hiddink promising to exercise first-teamers for next weekend’s FA Cup final. “If I rest too many people then I don’t think it’s good preparation for Wembley,” the Dutchman said.

Newcastle and temporary manager Alan Shearer – for whom a draw

could be enough but will depend on other results – have also been warned to expect a tussle at Aston Villa, whose goalkeeper Brad Friedel said: “We’re still fighting for fifth and that might not bode well for Newcastle.”

Middlesbrough, in 19th place, are all but condemned, needing a win and the defeat of at least two rivals to stand any chance of survival. That unlikely scenario has been made even less plausible by an injury to star man

Ronaldo hints at United stay and shuns ‘incredible’ Real ▲

FOOTBALL

BY FRANK DALLERES

MANCHESTER UNITED winger Cristiano Ronaldo yesterday appeared to snub a world record summer transfer to Real Madrid, indicating he intends to stay at Old Trafford next season.

However the Fifa World Player of the Year hinted at another protracted summer of mixed messages by admitting his interest in Real’s summer rebuilding, which is likely to be led by president-elect Florentino Perez.

“At the moment I’m only thinking about the [Champions League] final, independently of what will happen to

PHIL BROWN Hull City (v Manchester United, home)

me or my team-mates next season,” the Portuguese said.

“I’m sure Perez would create an incredible team at Madrid but at the moment I’m at United and I don’t care about what happens there. I only care about what will happen next season at Manchester United.”

Real reportedly have top-secret precontract agreements with Ronaldo and United to buy the 24-year-old at the end of this season for £71.5m – a price that would smash the current world record of £46m.

However, Perez – the favourite to win the Spanish club’s upcoming presidential election – is said to be reluctant to pay so much for Ronaldo,

with Real also weighing up huge bids for AC Milan’s Kaka and Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery.

Real made Ronaldo their primary target last summer, following an outstanding season in which he scored a staggering 42 goals. In return the former Sporting Lisbon player made no secret of his interest in a move to the iconic club, publicly admitting that he wanted to play for Real.

He was persuaded to stay for at least another season by United boss Sir Alex Ferguson but, despite his manager’s insistence that he “wouldn’t sell Real a virus”, looks set to be the subject of fervent speculation in the coming months.

GARETH SOUTHGATE Middlesbrough (v West Ham away) Stewart Downing that will keep the winger out of England’s World Cup qualifiers next month.

Hull manager Phil Brown, meanwhile, had his own typically eccentric take on the debate over resting players. At the last minute he cancelled yesterday’s planned media day, gave his players the day off and invited them to put the simmering controversy to one side and join him for a round of golf.

SURVIVAL SUNDAY | TV DETAILS ASTON VILLA v NEWCASTLE Sky Sports 1, ko 4pm HULL v MAN UTD Sky Sports 3, ko 4pm SUNDERLAND v CHELSEA Sky Sports Interactive, ko 4pm WEST HAM v MIDDLESBROUGH Setanta Sports 1, ko 4pm

SPORT | IN BRIEF Mayweather urges Hatton to quit O’Brien undecided on Yeats BOXING: Floyd Mayweather Jnr has lashed out at “gun-shot” Ricky Hatton and urged him to quit following his tworound demolition by Manny Pacquiao.

Mayweather subjected Hatton to a first defeat in December 2007 and said: “Ricky's career was over in 2007 when he met me.”

He added: “Gaining weight and drinking - you can’t have that sort of lifestyle in boxing. You have to take your job seriously. I don't think Ricky should fight again.

“I wouldn't fight him again, even at Wembley. It would be like picking on a guy that we call ‘gun-shot, gun-shot’.”

RACING: Trainer Aidan O’Brien admits he is still undecided whether to unleash Yeats on a fourth Gold Cup attempt at Royal Ascot.

The eight-year-old was beaten into sixth on his return in the Vintage Crop Stakes at Navan last month, but O’Brien insists there’s more to come.

He said: “We’ll just have to wait and see what will happen and when we try and crank him up, we’ll have to see if he does respond.”

Lowry turns professional

GOLF: Ireland’s Shane Lowry has announced he is to turn professional after his Irish Open triumph last week.

Gloucs eye Aussie Clark The 22-year-old, who missed out on a CRICKET: Gloucestershire are hoping to £500,000 first prize at Baltray last sign Australian paceman Stuart Clark week, is set to make his pro debut in the before the start of the Ashes series.

European Open at the London GC, on 28 The 33-year-old is being seen as short- May. term cover for New Zealand all-rounder He said: “This [decision] will give me James Franklin, who is on World the greatest chance of becoming the best Twenty20 duty in June. player I can be.”

Sport

CITYA.M. 22 MAY 2009

Ecclestone shows signs of cracking in budget cap row

Clay success for Anne is Britain’s first in 26 years ▲

▲

FORMULA ONE

BY FRANK DALLERES

F1 CHIEF Bernie Ecclestone has admitted to serious concerns for the future of the sport ahead of today’s showdown with rebel teams over the controversial budget cap plans.

Governing body the FIA and teams’ association FOTA will meet in Monaco, ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix, for last-ditch talks aimed at resolving the row that threatens to tear F1 apart.

Just seven days before the deadline for teams to commit to next season neither side is showing signs of relenting, with the FIA intent on introducing a voluntary £40m cap and a swathe of teams, led by Ferrari, firmly opposed.

Ecclestone, the sport’s commercial rights holder, has been consistently bullish that a compromise will be reached, but yesterday conceded to fears that heavyweights such as Ferrari would see through their threats to withdraw.

“Well, I am concerned – I don’t want them leaving. I don’t think anybody does,” he said.

“We’ve had more than 70 teams in and out since F1 started. The only people who have been consistent are Ferrari, because they have been there from day one. So we don’t want to lose Ferrari.”

Seven teams have threatened to quit, and of next week’s deadline Ecclestone added: “We will have to wait and see. Probably, the majority won’t put an entry in.”

TENNIS

LONDONER Anne Keothavong became the first British woman to reach a WTA Tour clay-court semifinal in 26 years with a crushing victory in Warsaw.

The 25-year-old thrashed Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-0, 6-1 to match the feat of Jo Durie in 1983.

Despite two previous WTA semifinals this year, Keothavong is bidding for a first-ever final appearance when she takes on Maria Sharapova’s conqueror, Alona Bondarenko, in the last four today.

▲

▲

FORMER England legend Will Greenwood believes the Leicester Tigers will start as underdogs for tomorrow’s Heineken Cup showdown with Leinster.

Despite the Tigers being known for their big game experience, Greenwood expects Leinster to have the drive to topple the Premiership champions at Murrayfield, and keep the title on Irish shores.

“It’s going to be an absolutely fascinating final, but Leinster must start as slight favourites,” the former Tigers centre predicted. “Leicester are tremendous in the set-piece, tough in the back division and are a bit like a piece of chewing gum on your shoe, you just can’t get rid of them. But I expect Leinster to have the drive, com-

mitment and physical intensity to come out on top.

“Despite having giants such as Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy and Shane Horgan in the ranks, Leinster have had to bear the tag of second best team in Ireland, behind Munster, for too long, and will be on the crest of a wave after beating their rivals in the semi-final. Now, they will be desperate to finish the job and match Munster’s achievement of last year and prove they are worthy of taking a stranglehold of Europe.”

Greenwood won three Premiership titles in his four years at Welford Road but had rejoined Harlequins by the time the Tigers claimed back-to-back European titles under the captaincy of Martin Johnson and management of current Quins chief Dean Richards.

Now, after missing out to Wasps in the 2007 final, the Tigers are gunning

She said: “I think I can be really proud that I’ve reached the semis on clay, which is my least favourite surface. I’m finding my form and I’m getting used to competing at this level. It would mean an awful lot to get to a first final.”

Keothavong took just 70 minutes to destroy the Romanian qualifier, who beat Jelena Dokic in the first round.

She won the first 11 games, only for Olaru to avoid the double bagel.

Regardless of the result today, Keothavong will now rise into the top 50 in the world rankings – Britain’s highest since Durie in 1984.

Horsey battles tragedy to lead at Wentworth

Long shot for Tigers, says Greenwood RUGBY UNION EXCLUSIVE

BY JON COUCH

27

Leinster’s Brian O’Driscoll is the dangerman for Leicester. for a third European crown, but Greenwood believes that Richard Cockerill’s men have it all to do.

“Richard will be well aware that if his side perform the way they did against Irish in the Premiership final last weekend, then they will come unstuck against Leinster, who are technically good enough to play at 60 per cent against a team like Irish. At 100

Picture: ACTION IMAGES

per cent, they would take some beating from any club team in the world.

“Leicester’s win at Twickenham will give them confidence, momentum and belief, but this is a whole new ball game.”

Will Greenwood is a Heineken ambassador.

Heineken, the premium continental beer, have been proud sponsor of the Heineken Cup since its inception in 1995.

GOLF

ENGLAND rookie David Horsey battled against his emotions to enjoy a dream debut in the PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Horsey, winner of last season’s Challenge Tour, is suffering personal turmoil with his mother battling breast cancer. But the 24-year-old from Cheshire still managed to make the most of the calmer early morning conditions to shoot a five-under-par 67 to take a joint overnight lead ahead of today’s second round.

Horsey’s show of strength came just hours after world No2 Phil Mickelson announced he was suspending his career because his wife has the same disease, and Horsey wore a pink bracelet to raise awareness.

He said: “I think my golf has been a tonic for my mum, although she never really talks about it that way. It’s been tough and it’s always been in the back of my mind, but I do try hard not to think about it when I play.”

Horsey leads the way alongside Londoner Anthony Wall and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, of Spain, while reigning champion Miguel Angel Jimenez lies a further shot back.

Mariella Frostrup presents exclusive daily coverage of the Guardian Hay Festival, including interviews with some of the biggest names from the world of books, music and comedy.

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