BA on strike:
12 DAYS OF
MISERY AT
XMAS p2
Issue 1,037 Tuesday 15 December 2009
LLOYDS POISED TO PAY
£100M IN BONUS TAX
l Bank is preparing to pay bonuses to all its
staff as planned despite 50 per cent super-tax
l Many other City firms – apart from RBS –
also leaning towards paying out bonuses in full
l Government hoping for early Lloyds share sale
at a profit after successful £13.5bn rights issue
▲
EXCLUSIVE
BY ALLISTER HEATH AND DAVID HELLIER
LLOYDS Banking Group, which yester-
day successfully completed a record-
breaking £13.5bn rights issue, is
preparing to pay out its bonus pool in
full. The move, which follows mount-
ing anger in the City over the govern-
ment’s super-tax, will see the firm
having to hand over an estimated
£100m in payments to the Treasury as
part of the 50 per cent levy.
The payment of the bonuses, the
bulk of which will be for amounts
between £20,000 and £40,000, will
surprise government ministers who
expected most banks to rethink com-
pensation policies in the light of the
imposition of the bank bonus super-
tax in last week’s pre-Budget Report.
Lloyds’ bonus pool is expected to
reach between a quarter and a third
of that of Royal Bank of Scotland
(RBS). Only a very small number of its
staff are in line for very large, £1m-
plus payouts.
But City A.M. has learnt that Lloyds,
which is still 43 per cent owned by
the government, is determined to
bite the bullet and pay bonuses it
feels its staff deserve even if that
means taking a substantial hit.
Just as remarkably, most other
banks in the City are now preparing
to follow suit, according to sources
FIRST TULLETT – NOW US BANKS MULL EXIT
▲
EXCLUSIVE
BY ALLISTER HEATH AND VICTORIA BATES
WALL STREETS banks are seriously
considering relocating many of their
European bankers out of London fol-
lowing the bonus super-tax, sources
have told City A.M.
The industry has been working
closely with its US-based lobby group,
the Securities Industry and Financial
Markets Association (SIFMA), to decide
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that have been involved in discus-
sions between the different institu-
tions. This is especially likely to be
the case at many US firms, which feel
they cannot allow massive pay differ-
ences to arise between London and
New York.
One of the main exceptions is likely
to be RBS, which could reduce the
amount it pays out as a result of the
tax, partly because the government’s
stake in the firm is much higher than
Alistair Darling is set
to raise far more than
expected from his
50 per cent super-tax
on bank bonuses
it is in Lloyds.
The government, which expected
to raise around £550m in total from
the tax, is now likely to make far
more than that, sources said yester-
day. PricewaterhouseCoopers has
already raised its estimate for the tax
take to £2.5bn.
But the news that it is set to cash in
will be bittersweet to the Treasury,
which has repeatedly said it wants
financial institutions to pay staff less
and retain more capital.
Lloyds’ decision will be interpreted
in the City as the latest sign that the
bank is returning to rude health, hav-
whether to relocate some Europe,
Middle East and Africa (EMEA) teams.
Early soundings suggests the US
banks derive just 20 per cent of their
EMEA revenues from the UK itself –
even though their regional headquar-
ters and most staff are in London.
There is a growing feeling that while
some bankers will have to remain in
the UK to deal with domestic busi-
ness, it makes no sense for those who
work primarily on European or other
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Eric Daniels has seen his reputation recover in recent weeks
ing been brought low by its disastrous
acquisition of HBOS.
Chief executive Eric Daniels, whose
reputation in the City was at a low
ebb last year, is increasingly being
seen as one of the surprise winners
from the credit crunch.
Many of those close to Lloyds now
expect UKFI, the institution which
holds the Lloyds shares on behalf of
the government, to offload a signifi-
cant portion of its shareholding in
the first few months of 2010. The
exact timing will depend on market
conditions.
They argue that the government
will be keen to show it has made a
return on its investment before the
election and consider a profitable
exit price to be anything over 64p a
share, compared to yesterday’s clos-
ing price of 55p. Some banking ana-
lysts have a target price of 100p for
the Lloyds share price, which, if cor-
deals to remain in London given the
uncertain tax regime.
Yesterday Tullett Prebon, the inter-
dealer broking firm headed by City
veteran Terry Smith, said all of its 700-
odd brokers would be eligible to trans-
fer to its offices in Switzerland,
Singapore or Bahrain if they wish to
do so. Tullett said it had long been
receiving queries over the
unfavourable tax policies in the UK,
but that the stampede of concerns
rect, could see the government sell-
ing shares at a healthy profit.
Lloyds’ estimates of the level at
which a reprivatisation would be
profitable is drastically different to
what was being discussed just a few
months ago.
In June this year, UKFI calculated
that its break-even exit price was
122.6p per Lloyds share. But following
implementation of Project Seaview –
the nickname given by Lloyds insid-
ers to yesterday’s fundraising and exit
from the asset protection scheme –
and UKFI’s take up of its rights, the
government’s break-even exit price
will be reduced to 73.5p, Lloyds
believes. This falls to 64p once all
other payments are included.
The bank calculates the govern-
ment has so far spent £20.3bn on it.
From that it subtracts the £144m fees
paid to the government for the under-
writing of the rights issue, as well as
raised by the pre-Budget Report last
week had caused its management to
rethink their position.
“The key for us is to defend our rev-
enue streams, and that means retain-
ing our broking staff,” a Tullett
spokesman said. One employee
described the news of the tax, which
will see City banks pay a 50 per cent
one-off levy on all bonuses over
£25,000, as a “head of steam which
blew the lid off a boiling kettle”.
Dubai bailout:
ABU DHABI
STUNS THE
MARKET p5
FREE
Picture: Micha Theiner/ CITY A.M.
the £2.5bn break fee from the asset
protection scheme, leaving a net out-
lay by the Treasury of £17.6bn. This
sum would be recouped if the govern-
ment sells all of its shares at just 64p.
Banking sources believe that the
government may use an unusual
method to reprivatise all or part of
Lloyds – largely because the market
would be unable to cope with huge
numbers of shares put on sale all at
once.
One option would be to access the
convertible market through an equi-
ty-linked security with a debt compo-
nent (either government debt or
Lloyds debt) and a call option or war-
rant over UKFI’s ordinary shares.
Alistair Darling was said last night
to be adamant that he will not soften
the 50 per cent tax on bonuses, even
as a growing number of banks and
brokers threaten to move offshore.
LLOYDS RIGHTS ISSUE: P6
Tullett is also understood to have
considered the option of moving its
own headquarters to another domi-
cile, following a threat to do so from
arch-rival ICAP, headed by Michael
Spencer.
Mayor Boris Johnson said Tullett’s
announcement “should serve as a
reminder that the threat to our com-
petitiveness is very real and the capi-
tal’s hard earned competitive lead is
being damaged.”
Certified Distribution
02/11/09 – 29/11/09 is 102,194
 2 News
Selfish strikes to cripple British Airways
EDITOR’S LETTER
ALLISTER HEATH
WHAT a tragic outcome at British
Airways. The airline’s management is
hardly perfect but it is almost unbe-
lievable that BA’s staff have chosen to
walk out like this. The strike – sup-
ported by an astonishing 92 per cent
of those voting – will last for 12 hellish
days from 22 December to 2 January,
ruining the holidays of at least 1m
travelers and angering all of its cus-
tomers. BA is hemorrhaging cash, its
pension deficit is gigantic and could
destroy its merger with Iberia – its last
chance – and it needs to slash costs, as
Willie Walsh, its combative boss,
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 Allister Heath
Deputy Editor David Hellier
News Editor Ben Griffiths
Acting Night Editor David Crow
Features Editor Jeremy Hazlehurst
Art Director Darren Soulsby
Pictures Alice Hepple
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Deputy Sales Director Harry Owen
Head of Distribution Nick Owen
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WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
COUNCILS THREATEN ICELAND BANK
ACTION
Council leaders have threatened to
launch legal proceedings against a
failed Icelandic bank which they fear
will not repay £150m in deposits
made by local authorities before the
credit crunch. British councils had
£900m of deposits in Iceland when a
trio of its banks collapsed. So far bare-
ly £100m has been returned,
although further repayments are
expected in the spring.
“RADICAL” WELFARE SHAKE-UP TO BE
UNVEILED
More powers for jobcentre staff, a
review of employmentschemes for
the sick and new curbs on London
housing claims will be unveiledtoday
by ministers in the latest shake-up of
the welfare system. The “back to
work” white paper will boost support
for youth unemployment and estab-
knows all too well. It is a tragedy that
many of the staff don’t seem to under-
stand this. If anything, the cuts they
object to may actually turn out to be
too timid to avoid disaster. The stark
truth is that time is running out for
BA; we must all hope that this strike
doesn’t turn out to be the beginning
of the end for a once great airline.
BLAME THE EURO
Many different factors helped to fuel
the bubble but they all had one thing
in common: an excessively low cost of
borrowing. But one of the main driv-
ers of the folly has until now been
completely ignored: the European
Union’s economic and monetary
union, which drove down yields on
government bonds across the
Eurozone, even though the underly-
ing economies – Greece, Italy and
Ireland – hadn’t really changed. Lower
interest rates, needless to say, helped
promote unsustainable house price
and commercial property booms.
A fascinating piece of analysis
BA in winter of discontent
AVIATION
▲
BY LORA COVENTRY AND JULIA KOLLEWE
BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) is facing hun-
dreds of thousands of pounds of loss-
es after its cabin crew voted
overwhelmingly in favour of a 12-day
strike, threatening to paralyse the
airline over the peak Christmas and
New Year period.
A bitter row over jobs, pay and
working conditions escalated yester-
day, when more than 12,000 BA
members of the Unite union voted
nine to one for the walk-out, which
will start on 22 December and will
run until 2 January. Eighty per cent
of members turned out to vote.
Chief executive Willie Walsh
slammed the strikes, which are esti-
mated to cost the airline around
£50m a day, or as much as £300m for
the full 12 days.
Walsh called the move “senseless”,
and added that the union “must
understand that there can be no
return to the old, inefficient ways if
[BA] wants to ensure long-term sur-
vival in the interests of our cus-
lish reviews into a range of areas –
from flexible working to employment
programmes– while broadly endors-
ing the thrust of existing welfare and
employment policy.
FINANCE DIRECTORS JUMP SHIP AMID
STORMY SEAS
Turnover among finance directors in
the UK’s biggest listed companies has
increased sharply amid the turbu-
lence of the past year, research has
revealed. The number of FTSE 100
finance directors who stayed in their
job for the entire 2008-09 financial
year dropped by 16 per cent, accord-
ing to research by the Reward
Technology Forum.
INSURERS FACE REFORM OF RULES OF
DISCLOSURE
Millions of consumers could benefit
from proposed laws that would pre-
vent insurers from rejecting claims
because a policyholder did not dis-
close information they were never
asked for.
reaches me from Monima O’Connor, a
former JP Morgan banker and head-
hunter. In 1990, Italy’s short-term
rates were approximately 18 per cent,
France’s 10 per cent, Spain’s 15 per
cent, Germany’s 6 per cent and the
UK’s 10 per cent. By 1996, as the align-
ment process with Germany moved
ahead, rates in Italy and Spain were
down to 9 per cent, France and
Germany were at 4 per cent and the
UK was at 6 per cent. Final conver-
gence took place when the euro was
introduced and the prevailing interest
rates on 2 January 1999 was 3.25 per
cent for the 3-month Euribor.
Obviously, some differences remained
and some of the reduction was due to
improved inflationary and fiscal per-
formance – but a lot of it was also due
to political strong-arming, pressure
being brought to bear on analysts and
some cooking of the books.
Within nine years, O’Connor calcu-
lates, rates had fallen by approximate-
ly 50 per cent in nominal terms for
Italy, 60 per cent for France, 40 per
British Airways customers face misery over Christmas
tomers, shareholders and all our
staff”.
The union is up in arms over BA’s
move to slash the number of cabin
crew on both longhaul and short-
haul flights, as part of a massive
restructuring aimed at saving more
than £100m. Unite has also attacked
the airline’s plans to freeze pay for
GOVERNMENT AIMS TO ENSURE
ROTHSCHILD CAUGHT BY BONUS TAX
The Government is expected to
extend the scope of its controversial
banker bonus tax to ensure that the
City house of N M Rothschild and
other banks with non-standard year-
ends do not slip through the net, The
Times has learnt. Rothschild had
been set to avoid the tax because,
unusually among UK investment
banks, it pays its annual bonuses in
June, two months after the tempo-
rary tax is due to end on April 5 next
year.
OLD SPITALFIELDS WORKSHOP SELLS
FOR £3.75M
A former sweatshop in Spitalfields
has been sold for 25 per cent above its
£3m asking price after being on the
market for only one month. The
Grade II-listed property on Fournier
Street went to sealed bids.
cent for Spain, and 33 per cent for
Germany. One result of this phoney
low interest rate environment and
declining real rates of return was that
investment managers, investment
banks and particularly pension funds
trustees sought out higher rates of
return in alternative asset classes.
Structured products became more
attractive and there was a boom in
real estate. Artificially low costs of bor-
rowing triggered artificially high
amounts of credit creation.
This specifically European dimen-
sion to the bubble has been largely for-
gotten. It is also clear that the pressure
on the euro is intensifying. Greece’s
debt burden is soaring out of control:
it is denominated in euros, which
Athens cannot print (only the
European Central Banks can do that)
and it cannot devalue either. Greece
must either introduce swingeing cut-
backs, be bailed out by Germany,
default on its debt or quit the single
currency. What a euro-mess.
allister.heath@cityam.com
current staff and hire future staff at
a lower rate of pay.
Len McCluskey, assistant general
secretary of Unite, said: “We have
taken this decision to disrupt passen-
gers and customers over the
Christmas period with a heavy
heart.”
BA reported record losses of £401m
CITI RECRUITS LAWYERS FOR EMI
BATTLE
Citigroup has hired two of the most
powerful lawyers in the US from legal
firm Paul Weiss to fight its corner in
the bitter multi-billion pound legal
battle launched by entrepreneur Guy
Hands. Paul Weiss chairman Brad
Karp will be handling the case along
with Ted Wells, who has represented
former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer.
AUTOMOTIVE ASSISTANCE
PROGRAMME UNDER ATTACK
MPS have called for the Government
to take urgent action over its ailing
flagship support package for automo-
tive manufacturers, labelling it a
“wasted opportunity”. The Business
Innovation and Skills Committee said
the performance of Lord Mandelson’s
£2.3bn Automotive Assistance
Programme (AAP) was “deeply con-
cerning”.
CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009
NEWS | IN BRIEF
Google to pair phone with T-Mobile
Google plans to sell two versions of its
own-branded mobile phone: one with a
service contract with T-Mobile USA and
another that is unlocked, a source famil-
iar with the matter said last night. The
phone, manufactured by HTC, has a
number of code names such as HTC
Passion, Dream or Nexus One and could
be available directly though the Google
website as early as 5 January, according
to the source. Google said on its official
blog that it was testing the phone. Its
decision to sell an unlocked version of
the touchscreen phone, allowing con-
sumers to pick a carrier of their choice
to provide wireless service, is a radical
departure from industry thinking.
DIARY
CITY A.M. AND
INTERACTIVE
INVESTOR LAUNCH
JOINT VENTURE P10
Pictures: PA
last year, and has indicated it will
lose at least as much again this year.
News of the strike came just hours
after BA announced that its pension
fund deficit had ballooned to £3.7bn.
BA also announced head of invest-
ments and alliances Roger Maynard
would step down as chairman of the
pension trustees. MORE: P12
WAL-MART USES ITS STORES TO GET
AN EDGE ONLINE
For almost a decade, Wal-Mart Stores
Inc. has been boasting that it will
dominate Internet retailing the way
it dominates strip malls, toppling
Amazon as the world’s largest online
merchant. And every year, those
boasts have proved hollow. But this
holiday shopping season, Wal-Mart
has started aiming at what it sees as
Amazon’s Achilles’ heel: the costs and
delays of shipping online purchases
to buyers.
APPLE FACES DELAY ON IMAC
SHIPMENTS
Consumer electronics giant Apple
said Monday it is “working hard” to
fill orders for one of its newest desk-
top computers even as reports mount
that the machine’s screens are mal-
functioning. Apple said it was run-
ning roughly two weeks behind.
CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009 News 3

Obama criticises
Citigroup chief
Vikram Pandit
says the bank owes
taxpayers a debt of
gratitude

Picture:
REUTERS
banks over lending
ment” to help rebuild the economy.

▲
BANKING
BY JULIA KOLLEWE
PRESIDENT Barack Obama took top
US bankers to task yesterday, telling
them to lend more money to small
businesses and to embrace financial
reforms.
A day after calling bankers “fat
cats,” Obama said since they had ben-
efited from taxpayer bailouts they
owed “an extraordinary commit-
“Given the exceptional assistance
banks received to get them through a
difficult time, we expect them to
explore every responsible way to help
get our economy moving again,” the
president told executives of a dozen
major banks at a meeting that lasted
one and a half hours.
Bank of America pledged to increase
loans to small firms by at least $5bn
(£3bn) over the next year. DIARY: P10

Citi and Wells

Fargo to pay
back bailouts
Wells Fargo will sell $10.4bn in
▲

BANKING
BY JULIA KOLLEWE
CITIGROUP and Wells Fargo yesterday
became the last two major US banks
to repay the bailout money they
received from the US government.
This means they will escape the
restrictions on cash bonuses imposed
under the Troubled Asset Relief
Program (Tarp).
Citigroup said it would repay
$20bn (£12bn) while Wells Fargo will
pay back $25bn.
The announcements came a day
after President Barack Obama
accused Wall Street firms of rushing
to pay back Tarp money to escape gov-
ernment curbs on big bonus payouts.
The US Treasury pumped $45bn
into Citigroup to save it from col-
lapse last year, but $25bn was con-
verted into a 34 per cent stake. The
government intends to sell the
shares in an “orderly fashion” in up
to a year.
Citi plans to issue $20.5bn of capi-
tal and debt to raise the money to exit
Tarp, comprised of $17bn of common
stock, $2.8bn of prepaid common
stock purchase contracts, and $700m
of subordinated notes.
stock to raise funds for its repayment.
Citi also struck a deal to pay bonus-
es in shares rather than cash next
month. It will issue $1.7bn in stock to
employees instead of cash they would
have otherwise received as part of
their compensation.
By the end of the year, taxpayers
will have reaped $3.1bn of dividends
and interest payments from Citi.
Analysts said the announcements
“represent a positive step for Citi”.
Citi said the repayment would
result in a pretax loss of $8.1bn and it
will take another $2.1bn pretax hit
from the cancellation of a loss-shar-
ing agreement with the government.
“We owe the American taxpayers a
debt of gratitude and recognise our
obligation to support the economic
recovery through lending and assis-
tance to homeowners and other bor-
rowers in need,” said chief executive
Vikram Pandit.
“Citi is raising a lot of capital and
the government will still own a
chunk of stock for six to 12 months,
but net-net the announcements rep-
resent a big positive step for Citi in its
turnaround,” said analysts at
Deutsche Bank.

Sarkozy unveils BNYM man will

€35bn state aid not run BofA
▲

WORLD
FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy
yesterday unveiled a €35bn (£31bn)
“grand loan” the government will
take out to fund universities, renew-
able energy and the digital economy.
Of the total, €22bn will be raised
through government borrowing,
with the rest coming from bailout
money repaid by banks to the French
government.
France’s universities are the main
beneficiary of the money, with €11bn
going towards the construction of up
to ten world-class campuses. Research
institutes will get €8bn while €5bn
will be spent on renewable energy.
BANKING
BANK of New York Mellon chief execu-
tive Bob Kelly said in a memo to
employees yesterday that he was not
leaving the bank, quashing specula-
tion he was in new talks to become
Bank of America’s next chief execu-
tive for the second time in two
months.
“Given some of the press reports we
have seen in recent weeks, I wanted
you to know and to hear from me
directly that I’m not leaving BNY
Mellon,” Kelly said in a memo that
was distributed to all Bank of New
York Mellon employees yesterday
evening.
 4 News CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009

Royal Bank of Scotland wins

ANALYSIS l Cadbury’s sweetened targets

EU support for restructuring

bank, one of Europe’s largest finan- Competition Commissioner Neelie
▲

BANKING
BY HARRY BANKS
THE EUROPEAN Commission
approved a restructuring and
impaired asset relief scheme for
Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland yes-
terday, saying the measures fell with-
in state aid rules.
The Commission, the executive
arm of the European Union, said
RBS’s restructuring proposals should
cial services groups, which faced a
severe liquidity crisis in late 2008.
Among the measures the bank is
taking is a commitment to divest
from all non-core and riskier business
lines, including its insurance, trans-
action management and commodity
trading operations, moves that will
free resources for core banking.
“The Royal Bank of Scotland will
take a number of significant steps to
Kroes said in a statement.
“RBS will itself pay a sufficient
share of the restructuring costs and
distortions of competition will be lim-
ited by substantial divestments,” she
said.
However, she warned that if RBS
did not deliver on its targets for
reducing its balance sheet by 2013,
the Commission reserved the right to
intervene again and request more

Cadbury says
create a sustainable future for the return to long term viability,” EU divestments from the bank.

Kraft is trying
to steal firm
▲
CONSUMER GOODS
BY RACHEL STEVENSON
CADBURY came out guns blazing
against the hostile takeover from
Kraft yesterday, warning the US giant
that its £10bn bid would be “fiercely
resisted” and telling shareholders
they must not let Kraft “steal” their
company on the cheap.
The company’s defence document
against the 727p cash-and-shares
offer contained a unequivocal mes-
sage for shareholders – that the bid
was “contemptuous” and must be
rejected by shareholders.
Chief executive Todd Stitzer quoted
one of the founding fathers of the
United States, Thomas Paine, to bring
home his point. “What we obtain too
cheap, we esteem too lightly.”
Cadbury chairman Roger Carr said
the board was not “wrapping itself in
a Union Jack” by turning down the
American bid. “This is about value
and only value,” Carr said.
“While Kraft needs Cadbury,
Cadbury does not need Kraft,” said
Carr, saying there was no operational,
financial or strategic benefit for
Cadbury in combining with Kraft.
The company yesterday confirmed
that two other parties are mulling
rival offers for Cadbury. US rival
Hershey and Italian chocolatier
Ferrero have stated their interest but
Cadbury yesterday said it had not yet
received proposals from them.
“We have told them what the rules
of the game are. Until they come for-
ward with something that meets our
criteria for value, there is no point
getting in to conversations with
them,” Carr said.
Cadbury yesterday laid out a num-
ber of targets to help put sharehold-
ers off the Kraft offer, including
better organic growth, improved mar-
gins, higher returns on capital and
double-digit growth in dividends.

IS CADBURY DOING THE RIGHT THING BY

REFUSING KRAFT’S OFFER?
JEREMY BATSTONE-CARR | CHARLES STANLEY

“ We will be raising our estimates for Cadbury in the wake of

this robust defence.  We have consistently argued that Kraft will have to
raise its offer aggressively, probably to 850p per share or more if it

”
wishes to acquire the business.  We are unconvinced regarding
Kraft’s ability to go to that level.

GRAHAM JONES | PANMURE GORDON

“ Cadbury’s defence document contains few surprises and, in our

view, sets out credible objectives through to 2013. Our price model
points to an implied target price of 1064p, and the question we see is

”
how much of a discount would Cadbury’s shareholders accept to
eliminate the execution risk.

ALEX MOLLOY | CREDIT SUISSE

“ It seems to us that with these organic opportunities Cadbury

is making a robust case for its continued independence. Kraft, we contin-
ue to believe, will have to pay a 30 per cent premium to the underlying

”
value of the business, so something like 850p+ to win the day. Its
current offer is worth only 727p. It has a long way to go.
CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009 Focus on Dubai 5

Everybody needs
good neighbours:
Abu Dhabi’s $10bn
bailout is a relief
for debt-laden
Dubai
Neighbourly handout
Picture:
REUTERS helps global markets
on the news as investors’ worries over

▲
MARKETS
BY JULIA KOLLEWE
MARKETS breathed a sigh of relief
yesterday after news of Abu Dhabi’s
$10bn (£6bn) lifeline to Dubai. The
Dubai stock exchange closed more
than 10 per cent higher while the
Abu Dhabi market climbed nearly
eight per cent.
European and US stock markets
also rose. UK banking shares rallied
their exposure to Dubai receded, and
the FTSE 100 index closed up one per
cent at 5315.3.
The London Stock Exchange, which
is 21 per cent owned by Borse Dubai, a
state-owned company, was the biggest
riser in London yesterday as fears over
a fire sale of the stake receded.
The LSE was up 69p at 763.5p, while
shares in Standard Chartered, HSBC
and Barclays climbed. MARKETS: P18

Abu Dhabi
gives Dubai a
$10bn bailout
can negotiate a standstill agreement
▲

WORLD ECONOMY
BY JULIA KOLLEWE
ABU DHABI’S surprise $10bn (£6bn)
bailout of neighbouring Dubai has
given the debt-laden emirate some
breathing space to restructure its
troubled Dubai World conglomerate.
Yesterday’s move prevented an
embarrassing debt default by
Nakheel, the property arm of Dubai
World, and went some way towards
reassuring investors.
Abu Dhabi’s intervention, which
investors had been waiting for since
the Dubai crisis began three weeks
ago, was welcomed by credit ratings
agencies as a step forward, but they
said it would not alter the ratings of
any Dubai state-owned companies.
Standard & Poor’s said it viewed
the move as an “indication that Abu
Dhabi stands ready to safeguard the
stability of the UAE economy and
financial system”.
Of the $10bn lifeline provided by
oil-rich Abu Dhabi, $4.1bn was used
to repay Nakheel’s Islamic bond, or
“sukuk”, due yesterday. The rest will
cover Dubai World’s interest pay-
ments and provide working capital
until the end of April, assuming it
with creditors on $26bn of its debt,
almost half the $59bn it owes.
But doubts remain over whether
Dubai World can restructure its debt,
as well as the ability of other state-
owned companies to repay their
debts.
S&P and Fitch welcomed Dubai’s
announcement of a “comprehensive
reorganisation law” based on inter-
nationally accepted standards for
transparency and creditor protec-
tion.
“This law will be available should
Dubai World and its subsidiaries be
unable to achieve an acceptable
restructuring of its remaining obliga-
tions,” said Sheikh Ahmad Bin Saeed
Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai’s
Supreme Fiscal Committee.
Fitch said the law would make it
“simpler for future corporate debt
obligations to be addressed through
court-based restructurings, rather
than through a sovereign bail-out,
reducing the pressure on Dubai to
continue offering financial support
to corporate entities, and on Abu
Dhabi to accede to further financial
pressures in the neighbouring
emirate.” CFDs: P16-17

AIDAN BIRKETT get on with the restructuring.

DELOITTE
Deloitte’s task of restructuring Dubai’s
debt headache was eased yesterday
after oil rich emirate neighbour Abu
Dhabi injected a much-needed $10bn.
Restructuring expert Aidan Birkett
was sent in by the accountancy giant
to clean up the mess from govern-
ment-owned Dubai World’s repayment
standstill on 25 November.
Deloitte’s team in Dubai have wel-
comed the move by Abu Dhabi and
can now plough on full speed with the
job at hand, said a source close to the
situation.
“Aidan is still on board and the feeling
within the team is that they can now
“They now enter with much greater
clarity, not as much chance of default
and they can get on with renegotia-
tion of debts, which can be long and
difficult. It’s a very sensitive process,”
the source said.
The cost of insuring Dubai’s sovereign
debt also eased, leaving credit mar-
kets buoyant.
According to figures from CMA
DataVision, five-year credit default
swap spreads tightened by 1.45 per
cent, to 3.96 per cent as the news of
the bailout unfolded.
Insuring a hypothetical $10m would
therefore cost $396,000 compared to
$540,000 on Friday.
“Longer-term concerns over the
investment environment in Dubai, and
the broader region, will nevertheless
remain,” said Timothy Ash, an emerg-
ing market analyst at Royal Bank of
Scotland.
by Chris Kay
 6 News CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009

NEWS | IN BRIEF
Barclays cheers Lehman assets
Unilever to appoint
ex-Bristol Myers
Barclays boss Bob Diamond claimed yes-
terday that the assets the bank gained
from Lehman Brothers are healthier
than originally anticipated. Diamond
made the comments at a speech to the

man as next CFO

Council on Foreign Relations in New
York, over a year after Barclays bought
up the US operations of Lehman
Brothers, which fell apart last
September.   He also railed against
breaking up larger banks deemed too
big to fail, saying that making banks
smaller would not help. “The debate of CONSUMER GOODS in March last year, Huet served as

too big to fail has to step back.
Assuming big is bad is wrong,” he said.
Iraq oil contracts lift production
Iraq’s oil deals have given it a strong
hand in its future output negotiations
with OPEC. The country, still battling the
spectre of war and security issues, has
awarded contracts with energy firms
that will quadruple its production capac-
ity. The contracts are expected to lift the
country’s capacity to 12m barrels per
day within the next six to seven years,
an increase of 9.5m. This potential total
would only be beaten by OPEC’s biggest
and most powerful member, Saudi
Arabia.  Iraq, one of OPEC's founding
members, had shrugged off talk of out-
put curbs as it put some of its giant oil-
fields on the block during two bid
rounds. But Iraq wants to maximise rev-
enues rather than pump flat out.
▲
BY JULIA KOLLEWE
UNILEVER, the company behind
Marmite, Magnum ice creams and
Dove soap, is poised to appoint Jean-
Marc Huet as its next chief financial
officer, City A.M. can confirm.
Sources said Unilever will
announce the appointment either
today or tomorrow.
Huet resigned as finance chief of
Bristol-Myers Squibb yesterday. The
pharmaceutical company said he
would leave at the end of the year as
he wants to return to Europe.
At Unilever, Huet will replace Jim
Lawrence, who became the latest
executive to leave the consumer
goods giant last week, after losing out
to Paul Polman in the race for the top
job a year ago.
Bristol-Myers Squibb said Jean-Marc Huet had left the firm to move back to Europe Before joining Bristol-Myers Squibb
finance chief of Royal Numico, the
Dutch baby food company acquired
by Danone. From 1993 to 2003, he
worked as an executive director of
investment banking services at
Goldman Sachs in London. He holds a
BA from Dartmouth College and an
MBA from Insead, the French busi-
ness school.
More than 40 of the top 100 execu-
tives at Unilever have left since
Polman took over as chief executive.
But the company has played down
talk of a boardroom bust-up, saying
Lawrence was getting no payoff, and
that he was not selling any of his $8-
$9m (£4.9-£5.5m) worth of shares.
Lawrence said last Thursday he
would be available to hand over to his
successor.
Unilever declined to comment on
the appointment of Huet.

Shareholders back
Lloyds in cash call
BANKING The average private shareholder port” and said the bank would sup-
▲

BY JOHN DUNNE
LLOYDS Banking Group has hailed
its £13.5bn rights issue as a success
after shareholders took up more
than 95 per cent of the shares on
offer.
The move came after a rights
issue in June last year saw 13 per
cent of shares on offer ignored by
investors.
The latest issue was part of a
£22.5bn plan to strengthen the
bank’s balance sheet. Analysts had
predicted a 90 per cent take up of
the shares at Lloyds, which is 43 per
cent taxpayer-owned.
Lloyds offered shareholders the
chance to buy 1.34 new shares for
each existing share at 37p.
holds 740 shares and was asked to port the economy by lending.
pay £336.67 to maintain their stake. The issue was announced along-
Mike Trippitt, an analyst at Oriel side an offer to exchange some
Securities, said: “This has drawn a debts for a contingent convertible
line under the capital issue. They or “CoCo” bond which will convert
have a solid capital position, a to shares if the bank’s capital levels
strong balance sheet. The spotlight become depleted.
now will be on the operating per-
formance”. ANALYSIS l Lloyds Banking Group
Co-ordinators of the deal Bank of p
75
America Merrill Lynch, UBS and
Citigroup will now seek to offload
the remaining shares.
70 55.16
14 Dec
The rights issue is part of Lloyds’ 65
plan to raise £22.5bn to help it avoid
further participation in the govern- 60
ment’s asset protection scheme.
Chief executive Eric Daniels said: 55
“I would like to thank our share-
holders for their considerable sup- 2 Oct 22 Oct 11 Nov 1 Dec

Shipping industry fears Copenhagen

summit will agree on new green tax
▲

SHIPPING Maritime Council and the finalise a comprehensive package

THERE were growing fears within
the shipping industry last night
that government ministers gath-
ered at the Copenhagen climate
change summit would impose a
green tax on shipping.
There was thought to be growing
support at the talks for a global tax
or an emissions trading scheme for
shipping and aviation.
The British government favours
emissions trading over taxes on the
two sectors.
But the Baltic and International
International Chamber of Shipping
set out how they would cut green-
house gas emissions from the ship-
ping industry at a side event in
Copenhagen last Friday.
Representatives of major ship
owners explained efforts were
already under way to improve fuel
efficiency and reduce CO2 emis-
sions from ships by using new tech-
nology and operational measures.
The shipping industry urged the
Copenhagen Conference to give
the International Maritime
Organisation (IMO) a mandate to
of technical and economic meas-
ures, which are already developed.
The industry believes the IMO is
best placed to apply these to all
ships in international trade. The
IMO recently agreed to reduce
ships’ sulphur emissions and
nitrous oxides on a global basis.
Airlines are due to join the
European emissions trading
scheme in 2012, but shipping has
so far been excluded. A tax on
bunker fuel used in shipping met
with the most support among
western nations.
 8 News
Gartmore in
disappointing
share debut
FUND MANAGEMENT
▲
BY OLIVER SHAH
GARTMORE’s shares made a disap-
pointing debut yesterday, falling by as
much as 10p in morning trading after
the firm was forced to cut the value
of its initial public offering.
The stock closed 1.4 per cent down
at 217p in its first day of listing, giving
Gartmore a market capitalisation of
£666.8m.
The fund manager floated at 220p
per share, a fifth lower than the mid-
range of 275p it had hoped for three
weeks ago, after experiencing weak
institutional appetite.
A source close to the deal played
down the significance of the dip in
the share price, saying: “It happens
with lots of IPOs before the shares
find their true value.”
Narrowing Conservative lead Glaxo thought to have paid
$1bn on lawsuits over Paxil
fuels talk of earlier election
▲
POLITICS
THE CONSERVATIVES’ lead over
Labour has narrowed to single fig-
ures, a Guardian/ICM poll showed yes-
terday, upping the pressure on
Gordon Brown to call an early elec-
tion.
This is the first ICM poll since the
end of 2008 that gives the Tories less
than a double-digit lead, raising hope
in the Labour camp that they can still
win.
It showed the Conservatives on 40
per cent, down two points, Labour on
31 per cent, up two, and the Liberal
However, market observers suggest-
ed the pricing cut had a knock-on
effect and disappointed investors.
One said: “People were surprised that
the appetite was so low in terms of
price expectations. There is some neg-
ative sentiment attached to that.”
In the past the firm has also been
criticised for relying too heavily on
star European manager Roger Guy.
The fall in Gartmore’s shares fol-
lowing its heavily discounted IPO sent
a shudder through the City and will
alarm other firms thinking of listing
in 2010, such as New Look and Merlin.
Advisers to Gartmore pointed out
recent crises in Dubai and Greece
made the IPO’s timing difficult.
Around £270m raised from pri-
mary issuance will go towards paying
off £315m of the group’s borrowings,
leaving net debt of £85m.
Democrats on 18 per cent. The find-
ings are likely to lead to increased
calls for Brown to hold an election on
25 March, rather than the widely-
expected 6 May polling day.
Tory leader David Cameron wel-
comed the prospect of a snap election
yesterday. “I have been saying inter-
nally that I think March 25 is quite a
likely date if the Prime Minister
wants any freedom of manoeuvre. I
have said to all my team to be ready in
the New Year for an early election. All
systems are go, we are clearing mani-
festos,” he said.
Gartmore has leaned heavily on star manager Roger Guy
FLOTATION TEAM At the start of the process a £1bn
price tag was bandied around.
BOFA ML, MORGAN STANLEY AND UBS Friday’s cut-price offer of 220p per
share valued the company at just
The investment banks hired as £676m, disappointing some insiders.
bookrunners for Gartmore’s offering But one dealmaker involved in the
have had a torrid time. Rupert Hume- process defended the offering, saying:
Kendall at BofA Merrill Lynch, Dominic “It’s the only major IPO in London
Fry at Morgan Stanley and Sam this year, so the achievement is get-
Kendall at UBS have worked behind ting a £345m deal done. The only rea-
the scenes with their teams to drum son it was a bit rocky was the IPO
up interest from institutional buyers. market hasn’t really been open.”
▲
PHARMACEUTICALS
DRUGMAKER GlaxoSmithKline is
Two months ago there was a 17 understood to have paid out around
point gap between the two main par- $1bn (£698m) to resolve lawsuits over
ties. Labour’s share of the vote has the antidepressant Paxil after it intro-
been edging up for the last four duced the drug in 1993.
months. The numbers would still Around $390m is thought to have
result in an outright Conservative been paid out on cases related to sui-
win, but by a narrow margin. cides and attempted suicides, $200m
The breakdown suggests there are to settle addiction claims and birth
growing doubts over the economic defects resulting from the drug, and a
competence of Cameron and his further $400m to close off antitrust,
shadow chancellor, George Osborne. fraud and design claims.
Two months ago, 49 per cent of voters Glaxo, the biggest drug maker in
thought they would do better than the UK, hasn’t disclosed the amount
Brown and Alistair Darling, but that it has paid out to settle in company
figure has fallen to 38 per cent. filings, but at the end of 2008 its pro-
CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009
NEWS | IN BRIEF
Galleon boss asks for lower bail
Lawyers for Raj Rajaratnam, the Galleon
hedge-fund founder accused in a coast-
to-coast insider trading probe, yesterday
asked a New York judge to reduce his
bail from $100m to $20m, taking aim at
the government's reliance on a cooper-
ating witness. His lawyers took issue
with the government's reliance for prov-
ing its case on former trader and Intel
employee Roomy Khan, who pleaded
guilty in October and is cooperating with
the investigation.
Oshkosh falls on watchdog news
Shares of specialist truckmaker Oshkosh
tumbled as much as 18 per cent yester-
day after a US watchdog upheld a com-
plaint against the company's contract
win to build trucks for the US Army.
Shares of rivals Navistar International
Corp and BAE Systems, meanwhile, ral-
lied after the US Accountability Office
said the challenge they mounted to
Oshkosh's summer win was valid.
US oil demand lower until 2035
US oil demand is not expected to return
to the peak levels that were reached
before fuel consumption fell sharply
until 2035, according to the US govern-
ment’s energy forecasting agency. US
oil demand reached a high of 20.8m
barrels per day in 2005, and oil con-
sumption is forecast to remain "near"
its current level of about 19m bpd until
2035, the Energy Information
Administration said.
vision for legal and non-tax disputes
was £1.9bn, with £112m to be “reim-
bursed by third-party issuers”.
But analysts were sceptical at the
disclosed amount, saying $1bn would
be much more than people expected,
and it was outside of their expecta-
tions.
The company has also cut down its
insurance coverage to contain costs,
“accepting a greater degree of unin-
sured exposure,” according to its lat-
est annual report.
“Recent insurance loss experience
has increased the cost of insurance
for pharmaceutical companies gener-
ally,” it said.
CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009 News 9

NEW VIRGIN MEDIA EXEC

Property prices increasing as
rising demand outstrips supply
November housing survey, with 50 to though the general state of the econo-

▲
PROPERTY
BY CHRIS KAY
HUGE demand for housing is out-
stripping any modest rise in available
property, with prices continuing to
rise in the UK’s weak economic cli-
mate, a housing survey said yesterday.
London and the South East are
experiencing rising enquiries from
new buyers, said the Royal Institute of
Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS)
60 per cent of surveyors reporting ris-
ing prices in and around the capital.
Across the UK, 28 per cent of survey-
ors reported an increase in enquiries
from potential purchasers, while 35
per cent agreed prices were rising, a
percentage point up from October
and highest since November 2006.
A RICS spokesman said: “For the
fourth month in a row, the survey
points towards prices rising, even
my would suggest that the housing
market should not be faring as well as
it is.
“Despite modest increases in the
number of properties coming on to
the market, it is clear that this is not
significant enough to keep pace with
the levels of demand.
“Buyer enquiries are continuing to
grow... the new year could see a fur-
ther wave of interest in the market.”

VIRGIN Media yesterday appointed Andrew Barron as its new chief operating officer.
He will take up the position on 4 January. Barron has been with Virgin Media since
March 2008, leading its strategy development and overseeing a comprehensive reorgani-
sation of the group’s customer operations and network teams.

Sales jump at
Whitbread
▲

LEISURE next year. Shares ended yesterday up

BY PHILIP WALLER
PUB and hotel group Whitbread yes-
terday posted higher sales thanks to
price-cutting, but forecast a “long
slow haul” out of the slump.
The owner of Costa Coffee,
Beefeater and Brewer’s Fayre pub
restaurants and Premier Inn budget
hotels boosted like-for-like sales 0.3
per cent in the third quarter to
November 26, with total sales up 6.7
per cent.
Whitbread said there was a “flight
to value” as cash-strapped consumers
and firms tried to get the best deals.
The group has introduced cut-price
meals in its pubs and has cashed in
on firms using Premier Inns for busi-
ness trips instead of dearer hotels.
Chief executive Alan Parker said
annual results would probably top
City hopes, although trading was
tough and was likely to remain so
50p or 3.75 per cent at 1380p.
“I think we’re looking at a long,
slow haul out of recession,” he said.
Parker said Costa Coffee was the
star performer in an overall “encour-
aging” third quarter and year to date.
Costa lifted like-for-like sales by 6.7
per cent in the quarter, more than
double the first half rise.
Last week, Whitbread confirmed it
was talking to central European cof-
fee chain Coffeeheaven International
about a possible 24p a share bid.
Parker declined to comment on the
talks, but added: “We have always
been interested in any bolt-on acquisi-
tion opportunities.”
Quarterly like-for-like sales at
Whitbread’s Premier Inn chain fell
3.1 per cent, but this was more than
half the fall in the previous quarter
after Premier launched new pricing
and targeted more weekend leisure
business.

Treasury Select Committee set

to grill chancellor over deficit
lic borrowing by 2014, will be scruti-
▲

UK ECONOMY
GOVERNMENT debt and the tax on
bankers’ bonuses will be the hot top-
ics when Alistair Darling is grilled by
the Treasury Select Committee
tomorrow.
The chancellor will be questioned
over his pre-Budget Report, which
includes a 50 per cent one-off super
tax rate on bankers’ bonuses.
Darling, who pledged to halve pub-
nised over the deficit, which is expect-
ed to rise to £178bn in the next fiscal
year.
John McFall, the committee chair-
man, said yesterday: “We will be ask-
ing the Chancellor about the deficit,
and his plans to reduce it. In terms of
bankers’ bonuses, we would have
liked a change to long-term remuner-
ation packages, rather than just a
one-off tax.”
 The Capitalist
10
(Below) Phillip Bungey from UBS with Jo Clark from Plus Markets and Julian
Palfreyman from Winterflood Securities
(Right) Tomas Carruthers, chief executive of Interactive Investor, with Kate
O'Neill, director in private banking at Credit Suisse
CITY A.M. TOASTS A NEW
ERA IN ALLIANCE WITH
INTERACTIVE INVESTOR
IT WAS off to the iconic Gherkin building
last night for one of the most exciting
developments in the history of City A.M. –
our newly-announced alliance with online
financial services provider Interactive
Investor.
Guests at the party sipped champagne
Luxury for less
Apex Waterloo Place Hotel, Edinburgh
£90 per room
per night
Enjoy a luxurious break for less - Stay at the Apex Waterloo Place Hotel
in Edinburgh between now and 31 January 2010 for just £90 per room,
per night. Available Monday-Friday.
Book online for the best available rates
and receive a £5 voucher towards food and drink
www.apexhotels.co.uk
T 0844 875 5113
   "
 ' " % #!    % !
'  !#" "  "  $"' $ "% % 
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(Below) Vanessa Clifford of Mindshare with Lawson Muncaster of City A.M.,
and Stephen Mistretta and Renaat Vissers of Minona
as they admired the view over the City,
chatting about the partnership, under
which we will share our news and data
resources in print and on the web.
What’s more, we’re set to get the City
buzzing again next year with the launch
of our very own awards ceremony, the
✓
No card charges
CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009
EDITED BY
VICTORIA BATES
GOT A STORY? EMAIL
thecapitalist@cityam.com
(Above) Albert Maasland, chief executive of Saxo Bank, with Harry Owen
and Jens Torpe of City A.M.
Pictures: Alice Hepple/ CITY A.M.
City Awards 2010, sponsored by Saxo Bank bank bosses yesterday missed a meeting at
– where gongs will be awarded for the the White House with President Barack
overall business personality of the year, as Obama.
well as the best trader, hedge fund manag- The official line was that Goldman’s
er, rising star, fundraiser, dealmaker, ana-
lyst, accountancy firm, law firm,
insurance company and so on.
Lloyd Blankfein, Morgan Stanley’s John
Mack and Citi’s Dick Parsons were all kept
earth-bound when their flight to
“If one thing has become clear in these
difficult times, it is that companies
require passion and leadership,” said City
A.M. managing director Lawson
Washington was delayed by fog, and
would take part by phone instead.
Though of course, efforts probably
weren’t helped by the impeccably-timed
Muncaster. “We expect 2010 to be the year comment, made just an hour earlier by
of recovery, and it is these qualities that Obama, that he “did not run for office to
will prove the driving force behind the be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers
City’s most successful companies.” on Wall Street”…
Watch this space for more details, com-
ing in the New Year!
DANGLING A BAUBLE
In pops a reminder email from the
TAX BREAK Institute of Chartered Accountants in
It seems that the government’s punishing England and Wales (ICEAW), informing
taxes on the wealthy aren’t just pushing businesses that generous old HM Revenue
bankers to seek to feather their nests
abroad, if recent reports from Guernsey are
anything to go by.
Formula One world champion Jenson
Button was spotted in the tax haven last
& Customs is happy to give them a tax
break on Christmas parties.
The annual tax-free amount per
employee is up to £150, for those not in
the know – which the boffins at ICAEW
week on a whirlwind trip with model girl- say is vitally important to take advantage
friend Jessica Michibata, and if hot goss in of to give recession-beaten employees a bit
the local community is to be believed, the of a boost this festive season.
loved-up pair are looking to buy a house “Businesses should not just resort to
there. putting up some cheap tinsel in the office
Time for Button to start saving some of and offering plates of pretzels and soft
those millions instead of paying them drinks,” says tax expert Anita Monteith.
into the Treasury’s coffers, perhaps? “It has been a tough time for many busi-
nesses and staff are
probably in need of
ANIMAL having their spir-
its raised…”
HOSPITAL Perhaps Royal
Everyone loves an
anecdote to warm the
Bank of Scotland,
which is so con-
cockles of the heart at cerned about keep-
this time of year, so
here goes for what is
officially the most fes-
tive story to come out of
the business world so far
ing up frugal
appearances that
it’s earmarked
just a measly tenner per
employee, should take
this Christmas. Shares in heed?
Surgical Innovations, which is
listed on London’s Aim market,
TIGHT MONEY
jumped by 7.7 per cent yesterday after
news that its surgical devices had been Here’s a novel idea to wring a bit of cash
successfully used in the first ever laparo- from the City’s rich list. Ex-soldier James
scopic procedure to be performed on an Barham, chief executive of asset manager
animal – namely, on a reindeer resident at River and Mercantile, is planning a
Edinburgh Zoo. marathon bike ride next year in aid of the
All early reports indicate the cuddly Help for Heroes army appeal, along with
creature is recovering well after its chum Andrew Stuart-Mills from Sterling.
ordeal. All together, now: ahhh... Ahead of the bumpy ride, the intrepid
pair are working on sending letters to
all the chief executives in the FTSE 100,
EXCUSES, EXCUSES asking for a relatively paltry £500 in
This one is bound to go down in the sponsorship – in return for their logos
Apex Hotels (  (
#  ( # annals of the-dog-ate-my-homework being featured on their Lycra cycling
excuses, but it was a show of bravery shirts. Here’s hoping said bosses get into
indeed when three of America’s top the spirit with gusto...
 12 News
Enterprise boss earns £811k
▲
LEISURE
BY JOHN DUNNE
CHIEF executive of pub group
Enterprise Inns Ted Tuppen was
handed a total remuneration package
of £811,000 last year – even as the pub
group’s profits dipped by more than a
fifth.
Pre-tax profits at Enterprise
dropped from £263m to £208m in the
year to September but Tuppen’s pay
package was still raised.
Tuppen will effectively receive
£16,000 more in pay and perks than
in the previous year.
The company is saddled with
BA pensions
boss quits as
deficit grows
▲
AVIATION
BY OLIVER SHAH
THE chairman of British Airways’
pension schemes yesterday bowed to
pressure and resigned over a per-
ceived conflict of interests.
As revealed by City A.M., Roger
Maynard faced calls to quit in
November because he was a key fig-
ure in the merger between BA and
Iberia, sitting on the boards of both
airlines as well as representing the
interests of BA’s pensioners.
Maynard had previously been
backed by the pension trustees and
BA chief executive Willie Walsh, who
described him as “one of the most
honourable people I’ve met”.
However yesterday BA said it had
asked him to step aside.
The move was welcomed by the
Occupational Pensioners’ Alliance,
which supports BA pensioners. A
spokesman said he was “delighted”
that BA had “done the right thing”.
The news of Maynard’s resignation
came as BA revealed a mammoth
£3.7bn shortfall in its Airways
Pension Scheme and New Airways
Pension Scheme. The figure contrasts
with the last triennial review in 2006,
when the total gap was around £2bn.
Greek prime minister details radical
plan to stop country drowning in debt
▲
WORLD ECONOMY
BY RACHEL STEVENSON
THE GREEK Prime Minister George
Papandreou yesterday said the coun-
try was in danger of drowning in debt
and pledged to take radical action to
tackle its fiscal situation.
“We need to move immediately to a
new social deal,” Papandreou said in
an economic policy speech aiming to
reassure markets and EU partners.
“We must change or sink,” he said.
Greece’s government has come
£3.5bn of debt and has axed its final
dividend to investors. However,
Tuppen received a £147,000 perform-
ance-related bonus on top of his
£640,000 salary and pension. There
were also £24,000 in other benefits.
Tuppen’s pay and perks deal was
revealed as Enterprise’s landlords
struggle to keep afloat with 11 pubs
closing in London every week.
He said in the report: “The coming
year is expected to be equally chal-
lenging and given the current eco-
nomic climate and the planned
reduction in the size of our pub
estate, we are likely to see some fur-
ther decline in trading profit in the
BA currently pumps £330m a year
into its retirement funds. It has until
30 June to agree a fresh recovery plan
with its trustees.
BA said any new deal would have to
be signed off by the Pensions
Regulator. The airline added: “The
regulator’s provisional view is that
the technical provisions may be mate-
rially below a level it feels to be appro-
priate.”
Iberia appeared to have been kept
informed throughout the valuation
process. A spokesman for the Spanish
firm said the deficit figure came as
no surprise to senior management.
Douglas McNeil, analyst at Astaire
Securities, said: “£330m is already a
substantial sum to be putting aside
every year. But BA is in good econom-
ic health at the moment.”
Greek Prime Minister
George Papandreou said
the country needed to
“move immediately to a
new social deal”
under pressure from its EU partners
and rating agencies to take drastic
measures to cut a deficit that has
reached nearly 13 per cent of GDP
this year.
Public debt is expected to reach 121
short term.
“Nevertheless, we remain focused
on stabilising performance across the
estate, as well as steadily reducing the
level of bank debt.”
Enterprise Inns has 7,399 pubs val-
ued at £5.4bn.
The company sold the freeholds of
seven London pubs at an auction held
by Cushman & Wakefield yesterday,
raising £11,887,000.
A total of 368 others were
offloaded for £133m in the past year,
with at least as many again ear-
marked to go next year.
Tuppen said last month that there
were too many pubs in the UK.
"Roger is a fantastic
guy who is one of the
most honourable people
I’ve met. He is one of
the people that I would
without hesitation say
is capable of separating
out his responsibilities
better than anybody
else I know.”
Willie Walsh,
chief executive of BA,
22 November
Willie Walsh pledged to stand by Roger Maynard (below) who City A.M. (below left) said was being urged to quit
BA’S BALLOONING PENSION DEFICIT
2000 2003
£883m £2.08bn
£599m
SURPLUS DEFICIT
2009
£3.7bn
DEFICIT
per cent of GDP in 2010. Fitch last
week downgraded Greece to a BBB+
rating for the first time in a decade
amid mounting concern the country
would default on its debt, and
Standard & Poor’s warned of a possi-
ble downgrade.
Papandreou said the new govern-
ment would have to make tough deci-
sions that would be painful for the
country. He pledged to introduce
structural reforms that would get the
deficit down to within European lim-
its by 2013.  nance contract fell into “chaos,” the RMT will now be cheaper for consumers.
ITV cheers as 19m tune
in to X-Factor grand final
▲
MEDIA
MORE than 19m viewers tuned in to
watch Joe McElderry win the X-Factor
on Sunday night, the biggest ever
audience for ITV 1’s flagship talent
show.
In a rare piece of good news for
the struggling commercial broad-
caster, overnight figures yesterday
showed that the two-hour show aver-
aged 15.5m viewers, giving it a 53
per cent share of the audience.
And a staggering 19.1m viewers, or
2006
DEFICIT
NEWS | IN BRIEF
London Array in £2bn cash boost
Germany’s E.ON, Denmark’s state-owned
group DONG Energy and Masdar said
yesterday they had signed contracts
worth nearly €2bn (£1.3bn) for work on
London Array’s offshore wind project.
Masdar is an Abu Dhabi green energy
investment firm. The companies said
work for first phase of the project would The European Union (EU) reached agree-
start early in 2011 and complete by the
end of 2012. The project for the 1,000
megawatt wind farm in the Thames
Estuary near London had been threat-
ened by falling power prices, the weaken- resolves the world's longest-running
ing pound and rising costs for credit.
Tube works face delay, says union regions challenging the EU’s preferential
London underground could be hit by
massive delays after a private mainte-
CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009
some 62 per cent of the total audi-
ence, tuned in for the final five min-
utes to see 18-year old McElderry
from South Shields crowned as the
show’s winner.
This was the best set of viewing
figures in the show’s history, with
last year’s final pulling in an average
of 13.2m viewers and peaking at
14m.
Media buyers say this weekend’s
shows have netted ITV some £18m,
with advertising slots costing as
much as £250,000 for 30-seconds.
Pictures: REUTERS
union said yesterday. The union called for
Tube Lines, the private company that
maintains the Jubilee, Northern and
Piccadilly lines, to be stripped of its con-
tract, after long delays to work on the
Jubilee line were announced.
EU ends long-running banana war
ment yesterday on putting an end to a
decades-long trade dispute with Latin
American and other smaller producers
over tariffs on banana imports. The deal
trade dispute, which involves banana
exporters in Latin America and other
treatment of producers in the Africa,
Caribbean and Pacific region. Bananas
CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009
London ranking under threat
▲
FINANCIAL SERVICES
BY CHRIS KAY
LONDON’S ranking as a global finan-
cial hub could be overtaken by
Shanghai in 10 years time, according
to a survey published yesterday.
Over 600 executives in London,
New York, Shanghai, Mumbai and
Dubai were questioned about busi-
ness confidence in the “Boom or
Gloom?” report by law firm
Eversheds.
New York will remain top dog in 10
years time, but London could be
edged out of second place by up and
coming Shanghai, respondents said.
China buys
part of Saab’s
technology
▲
AUTOMOTIVE
BY LORA COVENTRY
RECOVERING US car giant General
Motors (GM) sold part of the technolo-
gy behind its Swedish Saab marque to
China’s Beijing Automotive Industry
Holding Corp (BAIC) yesterday.
The move, which allows the Beijing
group to build Chinese cars based on
the Saab platform, should now make
it easier for GM to sell off the rest of
the Swedish brand to another buyer.
BAIC is buying the intellectual
property behind Saab’s 9-5 and 9-3
models for an undisclosed sum, and
will use it to develop its gearbox and
engine technology.
“The deal is an important mile-
stone in BAIC’s cooperation with
Saab. It has laid a fairly good founda-
tion for the two sides to further
explore win-win co-operation,” it said.
Saab said the companies had built
up a “a good relationship,” and that
the deal was “excellent for both par-
ties”.
Saab also has partnerships with
Daimler and Hyundai, but only
makes vehicles under its own brand
name.
The news comes after GM said it
would close the Saab arm if it did not
CITY VIEWS: ARE BRITISH AIRWAYS’ STAFF RIGHT TO STRIKE?
BOB AYERS |
BULLIVANT & PARTNERS
“The timing to strike over the Christmas
period could not be more cruel. I really
can’t understand why the staff have
decided to strike bearing
in mind BA’s dismal per-
formance. It will damage
the company, no doubt,
and striking staff
are unlikely to
achieve much.”
Only 17 per cent gave London a top
ranking in financial significance in
the medium term, compared to 22
per cent for Shanghai. Only one in
five were confident about the UK’s
position to grow.
However, critics argued the survey
questioned over 300 executives in the
middle and far east, compared to
fewer than 200 in London and New
York. It also took place just before
Dubai’s debt crisis arose.
Evershed’s publication follows
threats from many City firms to leave
London after the government’s
announcement of a 50 per cent super
tax on bankers’ bonuses last week.
come up with a new buyer by the end
of the year.
The comments followed the col-
lapse of a deal to sell off the troubled
Swedish company to the luxury
Swedish car maker Koenigsegg.
Meanwhile, the shake up of GM’s
board continued yesterday, as chief
financial officer Ray Young, who
helped steer the group through its
bankruptcy over the summer in
record time, was appointed vice pres-
ident of international operations.
Ray Young will leave
his position as chief
financial officer at GM
and take on a newly
created role
His appointment follows Michael
Richards’ swift departure last week
from GM’s Buick GMC arm, having
been in the job just nine days.
Richards was appointed on the same
day that GM’s new chairman and
chief executive Ed Whitacre made the
shock announcement that chief exec-
utive Fritz Henderson had left GM.
GM is on a massive drive to restruc-
ture after slumping car sales devastat-
ed the business.
STUART PHILLIMORE |
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA
“BA staff should not strike because
everyone will be trying to get away for
the winter. Travelling is
already a pain in the neck
and the walk out will not
add much sympathy to
their cause.
You would think they
would be happy
to have jobs.”
News 13
Moore Capital goes on
Shanghai had the highest propor-
hiring spree in Europe
tion of respondents saying there was
too much regulation at 29 per cent,
but another third said businesses the top prize in a world poker tourna-
▲
HEDGE FUNDS
need more regulation for protection. ment in Las Vegas and who joins the
Only three per cent of London exec- HEDGE fund Moore Capital group as a macro portfolio manager.
utives said there was not enough reg- Management is understood to have Moore Europe is planning to
ulation in the UK. hired a clutch of new staff as part of expand amid successful performanc-
With economies recovering at dif- an expansion drive. es by a number of its funds.
ferent speeds after the financial cri- The London office of Moore Europe It has 59 FSA-registered staff but
sis, London and Shanghai are likely to Capital Management, the European the firm’s most high-profile appoint-
draw knifes over second place, said arm of New York-based Moore, is ment was made about a year ago
Eversheds chairman, Alan Jenkins. thought to have recruited six staff in when it recruited former GLG
“The level of confidence in the east, portfolio management, investor rela- Partners emerging markets manager
particularly in Mumbai, is in stark tions and marketing. Greg Coffey.
contrast to the traditional power- The recruits are said to include The group is said to have a net
houses of New York and London.” James Vogl, a trader who once won worth of around $1.7bn (£1bn).
BAH, HUMBUG
Despite reports of
strong trading on
the high street, a
leading stockbro-
ker has predicted
that spending on
Christmas presents
this year is likely to
take a significant
knock thanks to the
muted economic
environment.
Responses to
Execution’s
November “spend
trend” survey sug-
gest that con-
sumers expect to
spend an average
of £373 on
Christmas presents
this year, compared
with £392 last year.
ArcelorMittal set to slash 10,000 jobs
as global demand for steel levels off
“Company representatives dis- It has put money into India and
▲
COMMODITIES
cussed the possibility that the busi- Zimbabwe over the past few months,
ARCELORMITTAL, the world’s biggest ness could expect some global and is looking to take advantage of
steelmaker, is getting set to slash workforce reductions next year due the iron-ore supply in the regions.
around 10,000 jobs worldwide, it mainly to natural attrition and opti- The group has said it wants to up
emerged yesterday, as demand for misation of production,” the compa- its steel production next year to hit
steel wanes in the recession. ny said 70 per cent capacity utilisation by
The bulk of the job cuts are The news came despite the fourth quarter 2010.
thought to be in Europe and the US, ArcelorMittal’s expansion and invest- It cut half of its crude steel produc-
where potential for growth is ment in emerging markets, as well as tion at the beginning of 2009 as the
restricted. further job cuts earlier this year. slump hit demand.
Interviews by Chris Kay
ANTONY VAN DER BOSCH | CHRISTOPHER JOHNSTON |
KUWAIT INVESTMENT GROUP LLOYDS TSB
“I’m torn over their right to strike and “The move will hurt BA’s reputation and
what it will do to the airline. It will dam- future bookings, but I can understand
age both the company and the why staff are striking. The way Willie
union’s reputation. It’s not Walsh manages the airline,
like the fire fighter strike, he comes across as too
BA staff get to travel the much of a brute, but in the
world and stay in lavish current economic climate
hotels. The strikers BA staff have it eas-
have a fairly tar- ier than other
nished image.” airline staff.”
 14 News
The government should learn from entrepreneurs
the people I deal with have signifi-
cantly improved their lives through
sharp focus, incredible hard work,
and the application of their intelli-
gence, energy, personal charm and
character.
They don’t rely on family position,
inherited wealth or advanced educa-
DRAGON’S VIEW tional qualifications. These are typi-
JULIE MEYER cal citizens in what I call
Entrepreneur Country, the kind of
place that the UK is rapidly becoming
R
EGARDLESS of their social class, as more people take advantage of the
the thing that unites most of lower cost of entrepreneurship, the
the people that I work with is ability to get businesses off the
the aspiration to use their lives ground with very low up-front costs
to build something amazing. Many of and minimal on-going fixed costs.
Exxon moves
into gas with
£25bn deal
have,” John Olson, a fund manager at
▲
OIL & GAS
Houston Energy Partners, said.
BY RACHEL STEVENSON
Analysts hope the deal will spark
EXXON Mobil, the world’s largest oil further consolidation in the energy
group, expanded in to the natural gas sector as cash-rich companies like
market yesterday, buying XTO Energy Exxon move to snap up smaller play-
in an all-stock deal valued at about ers with attractive assets. Shares
$41bn (£25bn). across the sector rose yesterday in
The purchase gives Exxon a major anticipation of a rush of takeovers.
foothold in the US natural gas mar- Under the terms of the transaction,
ket, which is seen as an environmen- XTO shareholders will get 0.7098
tally cleaner fuel than coal. “Natural Exxon shares for each XTO share. The
gas is expected to be the fastest grow- offer values the shares at 25 per cent
ing of the major energy sources; it's premium to Friday’s closing price of
going to grow at a substantially faster $41.49. The total deal is worth $41bn,
rate than oil or coal,” Rex Tillerson, including about $10bn in XTO debt.
Exxon’s chief executive, said yester- The buyout is the sixth largest cor-
day. porate deal of 2009 worldwide and is
XTO, based in Texas, is a specialist Exxon’s largest move since the merg-
in extracting gas from areas known er of Exxon and Mobil in 1999.
in the industry as “unconventional”,
such as shale or sand, which require ANALYSIS l XTO Energy
advanced drilling techniques. $ PartyGaming is said to have been in
46
Exxon, like other major oil compa- 47.86
nies, has struggled to increase its oil 14 Dec
44
and gas reserves in recent years.
Tillerson said XTO, which owns
resources equivalent to 45,000m 42
cubic feet of gas and has operations
across the US, would increase Exxon’s 40
resource base about 10 per cent.
“This deal provides Exxon with
some domestic momentum it didn’t 2 Oct 22 Oct 11 Nov 1 Dec
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS
Edison Investment Research
Céline Saikali has joined the research firm as an
account director, tasked with re-launching its
investor access offering and focusing on
European opportunities.
Saikali previously worked at financial PR
agency Redleaf Communications as an account
director and head of the transaction team.
Prior to that, she was at Dresdner Kleinwort,
covering emerging markets in the fixed income
client team.
Heron International Goldstein, 43, joined the firm as joint
The property group, led by tycoon managing director with responsibility
Gerald Ronson, has appointed Jonathan for corporate and financing activities in
Goldstein as its new deputy chief exec- May 2007. Prior to that, he spent nine
utive. years as chief executive of law firm
To appear in CITYMOVES please email your career updates and pictures to citymoves@cityam.com
But these are also the people that
will be the most hurt by the increase
in National Insurance that was
announced last week. A banker might
not notice, but if you are setting up
your own business, or managing a
small shop, or on a salary less than
£50,000, you certainly will.
Faced with an unprecedented
financial crisis, the government
chose to step in and support the
banks. Public spending does stimu-
late the economy, but only temporari-
ly. If you want to create real jobs and
real wealth, you need to allow people
to have disposable incomes that are
big enough to build businesses that
BEST OF THE BROKERS
680
ANALYSIS l Bunzl
p
653.50
11 Dec
660
640
620
600
2 Oct 22 Oct 11 Nov 1 Dec
BUNZL
Accendo Markets said that international
distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl
still deserved a “buy” rating, and set a
short-term target of 680p a share. It said
Bunzl’s 11 per cent revenue growth com-
pared to last year was in line with expecta-
tions and its pre-close statement provided
assurance that progress is still on track.
Austrian gaming operator Bwin plays
down PartyGaming merger discussions
▲
LEISURE
AUSTRIAN online gaming firm Bwin
Interactive Entertainment has
quashed talk of a £2bn tie-up with
rival PartyGaming, but said prospects
for industry mergers were rising.
Bwin said it was not in advanced
merger talks with the UK firm or any
other, although it did not rule out
involvement in future deals.
Olswang, where he drove annual
turnover from £12m to £85m.
In addition, Peter Ferrari will become
managing director of property at
Heron, focusing on delivery of its major
development portfolio, including Heron
Tower in the City.
IlliquidX
The financial services boutique has
hired Dimitris Athanassopoulos, Taro
Goto and Attila Cetin to its distressed
asset team.
Athanassopoulos advises and execu-
tives on distressed debt in fixed income,
specialising in cash and synthetic CDOs.
He joins from the structured credit desk
at Citi and has also worked in equity
can lead to sustainable growth.
Personal freedom and the ability to
be the author of one’s destiny are two
of the things that unite citizens of
Entrepreneur Country.
They don’t want a modern feudal
environment where they must give
up their economic freedom. Politics is
ultimately always about economics.
If you give up your economic free-
dom, all the rest of your freedoms fol-
low eventually.
Despite the craze of personal bor-
rowing over the past years, most peo-
ple understand that they should live
within their means. And – as the
polls have shown – they expect gov-
ANALYSIS l Carpetright
p 923.00
11 Dec
920
880
840
800
2 Oct 22 Oct 11 Nov 1 Dec
CARPETRIGHT
Singer Capital Markets kept its “buy” rat-
ing on Carpetright ahead of its interim
results due today. With sales at the end of
October up by 8.9 per cent across 25
weeks it said it was bullish about the car-
pet seller’s prospects. It put a target price
of 1,100p a share on the group, claiming
that sales growth is set to continue.
To appear in Best of the Brokers email your research to notes@cityam.com
“on-off” talks with the Vienna-based
firm since the summer about a possi-
ble “merger of equals”.
A Bwin spokesman said it was
“always talking to everyone” because
it foresaw more consolidation.
But he added: "We are not in any
advanced talks, including with
PartyGaming.”
Shares in PartyGaming closed
derivatives at Société Générale.
Goto, who has experience at Morgan
Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland and
Merrill Lynch, specialises in stressed
and distressed situations in the fixed
income markets. Cetin, who sources
stressed and distressed assets and
NPLs with a particular focus on
German speaking countries, also joins
from Morgan Stanley.
Towergate
The group, which is Europe's largest
independently owned insurance inter-
mediary, has appointed Amanda Blanc
as its new deputy group chief executive,
effective from 1 January.
Blanc is currently chief executive of
CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009
ernments to do so too.
The party that wins the next gener-
al election should set about transfer-
ring economic power to the
individual, not claiming that a gov-
ernment that is living beyond its
means can solve all of the country’s
problems. Revenue has to cover costs,
whether you’re talking about a com-
pany’s balance sheet or a country’s
public purse. It’s time to move to a
leaner model, built along the same
lines as Entrepreneur country.
Julie Meyer is the founder of Entrepreneur
Country, the chief executive of Ariadne
Capital, and a Dragon on the BBC’s Online
Dragon’s Den.
12
ANALYSIS l API
p
8.25
11 11 Dec
10
9
8
7
6
14 Sep 2 Oct 22 Oct 11 Nov 1 Dec
API
Numis issued a “buy” rating on packaging
manufacturer API yesterday, after its first
half pre-tax loss of £2.64m narrowed from
the £3.2m loss in the previous half. Numis
set a target price of 19p per share, citing
cost savings, volume stability and the low
cost of raw materials, and said API was an
attractive medium term stock.
0.25p up at 256.75p last night.
Analysts said the news of possible
talks was unsurprising because
online companies often talked to
each other informally, although con-
solidation would gain momentum in
2010.
Broker Daniel Stewart said: “We
would regard the rumoured
Bwin/PartyGaming merger as excep-
tionally strategically compelling.”
Edited by Victoria Bates
the group’s retail division, having joined
in 2006. Her insurance career began at
Commercial Union in 1989 and she has
also held senior posts at Axa UK and
Groupama UK.
Mercer
The consulting firm has hired Terry
Henrickson as a strategy consultant
and technical modeller and Catherine
Reddin as an operations specialist in its
dynamic de-risking solutions team.
Henrickson formerly worked at
Milliman Financial Risk Management,
while Reddin was at Integrated
Alternative Investments and, before
that, headed a team of fund account-
ants at Schroders.
CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009 News 15

Austria’s Hypo Bank is saved Minerva seals deal for

ment. unavoidable”.
law firm’s London base
▲

BANKING
BayernLB chief executive Michael European Central Bank President
BY CHRIS KAY Kemmer resigned over the matter yes- Jean-Claude Trichet personally inter-
AUSTRIA will nationalise its sixth terday. He will be temporarily vened over the weekend to stop the amount of space now let by Minerva

biggest bank, it announced yesterday,
the second time the country has
taken over a bank since the begin-
ning of the financial crisis.
Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank
International will be injected with as
much as €450m (£404m) of state
funds, while majority shareholder,
German state owned bank Bayerische
Landesbank, will sell its 67 per cent
stake for the symbolic price of one
euro and also pour €825m into the
company, writing off its €2.3bn invest-
replaced by the firm’s chief financial
officer Stefan Ermisch.
Straining under up to €1.7bn of
write downs and loan losses, Hypo
Group announced in November it
would make an annual loss of greater
than €1bn.
As part of its bailout last year,
BayernLB gained €10bn in capital and
€4.8bn in guarantees from the
Bavarian state.
Bavarian premier Horst Seehofer
described the affair as “painful, but
Austrian bank collapsing.
“It’s a disaster for BayernLB, but in
my experience it can be expected that
losses at Hypo Alpe-Adria will be even
higher in one year’s time, so it’s good
that BayernLB was able to draw a
final line,” said Wolfgang Gerke, pres-
ident of the Bavarian Center of
Finance in Munich.
The nationalisation comes after
Austria’s rescue of Kommunalkredit,
the municipality lender, in November
2008.
▲
PROPERTY
DEVELOPER Minerva has secured a
deal for a 20-year lease on one of its
City projects with international law
firm Clyde & Co.
The move comes as Minerva fights a
£84.5m takeover bid form South
African shareholder Nathan Kirsh.
Clyde & Co will base its new head-
quarters at the building in the 14-
storey St Botolphs complex.
It will take 145,00 square feet of
office space – bringing the total
to 45 per cent of the total site.
Clyde & Co will occupy levels ten to
thirteen of the building, in Aldgate, at
a rent of £48 per square foot – but will
be given the first three years free.
St Botolphs, designed by architects
Grimshaw, is due to be completed in
2010. The 1.25-acre site will include
shops as well as office space.
Salmaan Hasan, chief executive of
Minerva, said: “This is a clear indica-
tion of an improved outlook for the
City office market.”

WAS MOUCHEL RIGHT TO SNUB VT GROUP’S

Hermes and
VT is spurned APPROACH? Interviews by Lora Coventry

ED WOOLFITT | GALVAN RESEARCH AND TRADING Sourcecap

by Mouchel in “ We expect Mouchel’s rebuttal to be the start
of a somewhat protracted battle with VT. In the
meantime, we suggest that clients who bought the
join forces
takeover bid shares at 160p last week should sit tight, as the

▲
FINANCIAL SERVICES
final valuation, should a deal be agreed, could well HERMES, the asset manager entirely
be in excess of 275p. VT was trying to snap up owned by the BT Pension Scheme, has

”
bought a controlling stake in
Mouchel at a bargain price. European equity specialist Sourcecap
highly desirable Mouchel. for an undisclosed sum.
▲

SUPPORT SERVICES
Mouchel provides services includ- The new business will be called
BY LORA COVENTRY
ing waste disposal, detecting water ANDY BROWN | PANMURE GORDON Hermes Sourcecap and will give

MOUCHEL, the highways and govern-
ment services company, yesterday
confirmed it had rejected two
takeover approaches from its larger
rival VT Group, but said the larger
group was still interested in making a
deal.
Mouchel said the offers, which
were understood to have been at
around 250p per share, were “wholly
inadequate”, undervalued the compa-
leaks and building roads, and is also
due to start helping out with running
the capital’s congestion charge
scheme.
Mouchel closed up 25 per cent at
239p yesterday, following confirma-
tion of the bid. It had closed at 190p
on Friday, up 19 per cent from the
previous day, after it said in a trading
update it was on track to deliver a per-
formance in line with expectations
“
Hermes a core European equities
team months after it poached a glob-
This is one of the more interesting bids we’ve al equities operation from Fortis.
Sourcecap bosses Andrew Parry
seen in a while. VT is certainly interested, but it and James Rutherford will stay in
place as chief executive and chief
might want to sit on its hands for a while and see investment officer respectively.
how the share price reacts. Mouchel was right to The BT Pension Scheme will inject
£200m into a new European equities
turn down the bid and take time to talk to share- vehicle, the firm said, bringing
Hermes Sourcecap’s assets under

ny, and had been unanimously reject-
ed by the board.
VT Group, the shipbuilding-turned-
defence company, has made it very
clear it is seeking to move into sup-
for the year to 31 July.
It has traded as high as 384p in the
past year.
VT has a market cap of just under
£1bn, while Mouchel is valued at
”
holders. It will also give it the chance to see what management to more than £670m.
other bidding interest is around. Hermes chief executive Rupert
Clarke said: “Sourcecap is a growing
business and it’s a business we think
JONATHAN JACKSON | KILLIK & CO we can help to grow.”

port services since divesting of its his-
toric shipbuilding arm earlier this
year. It is seeking to align itself more
with support services giants Serco or
Capita, and will switch its FTSE listed
sector from aerospace and defence to
support services next week.
Analysts say the move would add
value to VT, increasing its footprint in
highways and local authorities, and
would be a sensible move for a compa-
“
around £273m. Clarke remarked that the disrup-
tion in markets since late 2007 had
ANALYSIS l Mouchel made for a fertile recruiting ground.
260 p A purchase of Mouchel would provide the He said: “It’s thrown up investment
239.00 combined group with a significant potential order teams who otherwise would have
240
14 Dec remained in place. We’ve managed to
220 book, increased economies of scale and efficiency attract teams and individuals of a
quality we would not have thought
200 benefits and make a logical strategic fit. A deal possible two years ago.”
180 would be beneficial for shareholders of both groups. Hermes is expected to focus on
growing its third party assets in the
VT has £300m for acquisitions and has the firepow-

”
ny with a £400m war chest. 160 medium term. It currently runs £5bn
Serco and Capita have also been 140 of third party money, a sum it wants
suggested as possible bidders for the 14 Sep 2 Oct 22 Oct 11 Nov 1 Dec er to make an increased bid. to increase “significantly”.

Russian oil explorer Exillon Energy to City dwellers lead the

raise £62m in rare London flotation move to online shopping
The Dubai-based group intends to Godman at ING and Peter Krens at Glasgow topped the list of web
▲

OIL & GAS

▲

BY PHILIP WALLER
OIL explorer Exillon Energy is to raise
about £62m in the first London stock
market flotation by a Russian compa-
ny since the financial crisis began.
Exillon, which has operations in
the Western Siberia and Komi regions
of northern Russia, plans to place
40.5 million shares at 153p each. The
IPO represents just under a third of
Exillon’s share capital and values the
group at £186m.
use the cash to repay debt and devel-
op drilling projects up to 2011.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch is
sponsoring the flotation and also co-
ordinating and underwriting the list-
ing along with Dutch investment
bank ING. The two banks and
Mirabaud Securities are also acting as
joint book-runners.
Among the advisers working on
the IPO are BoA Merrill Lynch corpo-
rate broker Andrew Osborne, Jeroen
van de Crommenacker and Chris
Mirabaud, Exillon said.
Russian companies have recently
announced several secondary share
placements and bond issues, but
Exillon will be the first to successfully
launch a listing outside local mar-
kets.
The IPO represents just under a
third of Exillon’s share capital and
values the group at £186m.
Exillon bought its Western Siberia
and Timan-Pechora fields in January
and April this year respectively.
RETAIL
LONDONERS are increasingly turning
to online shopping even though they
have major shops on their doorsteps,
a survey by PayPal has revealed.
A total of 45 per cent of shoppers
from the capital said they had
increased their web shopping in the
last year.
And across Britain City dwellers are
more likely to surf for bargains than
other groups, the research from the e-
commerce pay system showed.
shopping cities with 59 per cent of
those asked saying they had gone
online for goods this year more than
they had done in the past.
The figure for Manchester was 50
per cent, while Bristol was 45 per
cent.
Managing director at Paypal Carl
Scheible said: “Almost half of adults
living in busy centres now shop
online more than a year ago. We love
the convenience of having our shop-
ping brought to our door.”
 Investment
16 CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009

| Contracts for Difference

RISING YIELDS
TO UPSET THE Despite Dubai’s
RECOVERY
DAVID MORRISON
rescue, traders’
concerns over
CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT

J
UST OVER a week ago we had a non-farm pay-
roll number which blew away all analysts’
expectations. The reaction in the financial mar-

debt persist
kets was sharp, with the dollar, bond yields and
equities all shooting higher. While this was a rational
response to good numbers, it wasn’t the reaction we
have come to expect over the past nine months.
Better data has resulted in a weakening dollar, with
both equities and bonds heading higher.
The payrolls were such a surprise that a few days
later Fed chairman Ben Bernanke underplayed their
significance when he spoke to the Economic Club of
A lifeline from Abu Dhabi is not the end of
Washington. But despite Bernanke again pledging
to hold rates at an ultra low level for an extended
the emirate’s problems, says Jessica Mead
period, there is a strong feeling that the non-farms
were a game-changer – they may have finally put a

floor under the dollar.
Friday’s retail sales saw a similar reaction, and
this time the dollar effect was even more pro-
nounced. The euro fell back through support at
$1.4630 – last seen at the beginning of November.
We’re now seeing bond yields continue to push
higher, which means that the market is anticipat-
ing higher rates further along the curve even as
central bankers remain wedded to low overnight
rates. But the big question remains how healthy
this actually is.
Rising yields may well be an indication that glob-
al recovery is under way. After all, the economic
data has been showing an improvement, although
much of this is in the “second derivative” – that is,
things are getting worse but at a slower rate.
Higher yields help keep a lid on inflation as econom-
ic growth picks up speed.
But yields also rise when investors are nervous,
and with worries over sovereign debt currently in
focus, there is plenty to be nervous about. One thing
that can’t be forgotten is the link between yields on
30-year US Treasury bonds and mortgage rates.
If bond yields continue to rise, the pressure on
US homeowners will intensify further. If rising rates
upset a recovery in the US housing market, then a
sustainable global recovery is far from assured.
T
HE news yesterday that Abu Dhabi
had bailed out Dubai to the tune of
$10bn gave indices across the world
an extra boost. Adding to the good
news in the market was Citigroup’s pro-
posal to pay back the US government the
money it owes, including an issue of
$17bn of stock immediately. No doubt
Citigroup was spurred on by Bank of
America’s exit from the Troubled Asset
Relief Programme (Tarp) a month ago,
which saw strong demand from investors
for the stock.
These two events combined to give a
boost to risk appetite. Dubai’s wobble had
seen investors’ appetite for risk plummet
as they feared that the emirate’s troubles
would spread across the globe, so
investors in the Gulf region certainly took
yesterday’s news as a positive. The Dubai
stock index rose 19 per cent, while Abu
Dhabi’s was up 7.93 per cent. The pound
also rebounded, a sign that investors were
more willing to take risky assets on board.
The yen – which has been perceived as a
safe-haven currency – weakened across
the board.
But should contracts for difference
(CFDs) traders be piling back into emerg-
ing markets and other risky assets on the
back of Abu Dhabi’s actions? Perhaps.
Capital Economics’ Kevin Grice points out
that Dubai’s problems are a legacy of past
financial excesses combined with a heavy
dependence on foreign demand. This
volatile cocktail is not present in any of
the other major emerging markets, and
so they are unlikely to suffer from the
same problems as Dubai.
If you share this view, then you should
look to go long in the near-term on risky
assets such as equities and commodities
as well as risky currencies such as the
Australian dollar, the South African rand
and the pound.
That said, there are still lingering con-
cerns surrounding Dubai. As Alastair
McCaig, senior derivatives broker at
WorldSpreads, notes: “It may have
relieved everybody that Abu Dhabi decid-
ed to put its hands in its pockets, but it
raises the question as to why they weren’t
willing to do it in the first place.”
Many market commentators are calling
the move a political one, and many are
questioning just what has Abu Dhabi got
in return for its financial stimulus. It is not just Dubai which is raising
Furthermore, restoring Dubai’s credibili- concerns about debt. Greek prime minis-
ty will take far more than a substantial ter George Papandreou also outlined yes-
bailout and there is no guarantee that terday economic policies aimed at
throwing cash at the emirate will solve its reassuring the markets. On 8 December,
problems. ratings agency Fitch cut the country’s
Luis Costa, emerging markets debt sovereign debt rating to BBB+ for the first
strategist at Commerzbank, says: “It looks time in more than 10 years, making it the
like soft guarantees worked out this time only Eurozone member to be rated below
around, but we still believe the ability of an A.
Dubai-related enterprises to tap the exter- The markets watched Papandreou’s
nal markets with large deals (especially comments closely for signs that his poli-
those without explicit guarantees by the cies would establish Greece on a firmer
state) will be re-adjusted going forward.” footing but investors remained cautious

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CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009 THE RETURN OF THE 17
YEN CARRY TRADE
SEE OUR FOREX PAGES
IN TOMORROW’S PAPER

Crude oil to spike higher

over the next 12 months
As top strategists go bullish on
the black gold, traders should go
long now, writes Jessica Mead

Is betting on Dubai
a road to nowhere?
Picture: REX
and bought into German bonds, which
are perceived to be safer than Greek debt.
CFD traders who think that sovereign
debt concerns will periodically continue
to affect riskier assets should seize dips in
price as buying opportunities for short-
term gains.
Dubai might have been a one-off event
that has now been solved. But as Greece
and the UK show, worries over countries’
public finances are far from over. Traders
should make the most of what opportu-
nities these episodes of risk aversion
offer.
U
NTIL the start of this month crude
oil had been trading in a tight
range between $75 and $80. But
those commodity analysts who
argued that the price of a barrel of oil
did not justify its supply and demand
fundamentals will be feeling rather
smug right now. Since the start of
December, crude oil has lost 13 per cent
of its price, dropping to as low as $68.59
during intra-day trading yesterday.
In fact crude has lost more than 11 per
cent in the past nine sessions – its
longest losing streak since June 2001 – as
weak demand put downward pressure
on the price.
Slowing demand from developed
countries has been of particular concern
– yesterday the world’s third largest oil
consumer, Japan, saw its business confi-
dence survey post its smallest improve-
ment this year.
This move below the psychologically
important $70 a barrel level consolidat-
ed oil’s break lower from the original
trading range and raises questions for
traders about whether crude will contin-
ue to fall ahead of the holiday season or
if the price will be supported by investors
entering positions at lower prices and an
improving overall economic outlook.
CYCLICAL PRESSURES
Bank of America-Merrill Lynch commod-
ity strategists certainly fall into the lat-
ter camp. Although not necessarily
bullish over the next three months, they
expect that an improving US and global
economic outlook will start to create
cyclical demand pressures on commodi-
ty markets.
They forecast an average West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) crude oil price of $85
a barrel in 2010 and even believe that oil
prices could spike above $100 a barrel as
Demand for oil is
expected to grow
in 2010.
Picture: REUTERS
we head into 2011 on a combination of CFD PROFILE | CITIGROUP
loose monetary policy and dollar depre-
ciation on a trade-weighted basis – they
estimate that the sharp depreciation of
the greenback has contributed to about
Commission: 2.95 cents per stock in order to raise money to
one-third of the rise in global crude oil share exit the Troubled Asset Relief
prices. Minimum Commission: $10 Programme (Tarp).
However, while it has been difficult to Margin Requirement: 10 per The bank suffered badly during
justify higher oil prices in 2009 using cent the financial crisis and its stock
fundamentals, BoA-ML strategists say
that a tightening in physical oil supply Trading Hours: 14:30 - 21:00 plunged as low as $1.02 at the
and demand fundamentals could play a beginning of March before recov-
significant role in propping prices up Citigroup’s announcement that it ering along with the wider mar-
next year. “While inventories of crude oil would start to repay the money ket. But the stock has been stuck
and petroleum products are still bloated,
we expect them to fall in 2010,” they say. it owes the US government in a trading range since the mid-
And on the demand side, they now see boosted the stock yesterday. dle of August as the general
global oil demand growth at 2m barrels The troubled US bank revealed stock market recovery has
per day, of which 1.5m will come from that it would issue $17bn of slowed in recent months.
non-OECD markets, where growth is very
oil-intensive. ANALYSIS l Citigroup share price year-to-date
BoA-ML is not the only investment 8 $
bank to be bullish on oil at the moment 7
either. Goldman Sachs expects WTI 6
crude to hit $92.50 a barrel by the end of 5
next year and $110 by the end of 2011, 4
also based on strong demand from 3
emerging markets. 2
Contracts for difference (CFDs) traders 1
should be making the most of the sub-
$70 a barrel prices before they disappear 1 Jan 1 Mar 1 May 1 Jul 1 Sep 1 Nov
in the early spring.

THE TIPSTER large take-up – especially compared to some

of the disastrous capital-raising attempts
Things could be
looking up for the LSE.
STRIKES WILL that we saw in the sector a year ago – but it
has done little to support the company’s Picture: Micha
GROUND BA’S share price. Theiner/CITY A,M,
However, there is talk in the markets that
SHARE PRICE the recent move lower could be mere book-
balancing in light of all the new shares. With
the banking sector heading higher, Lloyds

N
EWS that British Airways’ cabin crew
has voted in favour of strike action,
combined with the state of the airline’s
pension scheme has put further down-
ward pressure on the airline’s share price. On
a technical level, shares are currently blocked
from any further progress by a resistance line
in place on the daily chart since September.
The stock is currently trading at 201p and
traders should be looking to sell and targeting
the 188p level. IG Markets has a December-
based spread of 199.60p-200.51p
While tourists might be in for a bleak
Christmas, there’s plenty of festive cheer on
the high street. After news that London saw
its best retail sales growth for three years on
Monday, Comet owner Kesa Electricals is
due to report interim results tomorrow. The
stock could be worth a buy and Capital
Spreads offers a price of 156.5p-157p.
Lloyds Banking Group has rightly
deemed its rights issue a success with a very
could be poised for a rebound. IG Markets is
offering a spread of 55.22p-55.39p.
Good news from the Gulf made the
London Stock Exchange (LSE) the standout
gainer yesterday. Its share price rallied 7 per
cent following Abu Dhabi’s bailout of Dubai,
which meant that Borsa Dubai was less like-
ly to sell part of its 22 per cent stake in the
exchange. LSE shares have fallen over 15 per
cent since the Dubai debt fears first arose
and yesterday speculators were bargain
hunting.
The LSE is also said to have plans to offer
derivatives on the FTSE 100 to widen its
portfolio of products, so could the share tomorrow. Analysts believe the firm could that the delay in recovery from the world
price be set for a short-term resurgence? follow the recent trend of positivity in the recession may slow demand for fuel and
City Index is offering a spread of 765.0p- pub sector when it announces its interim energy. Prices fell to below $69 on the New
766.5p. statement. ShortsandLongs.com has a rolling York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) at one
After an upbeat report from Mitchells & spread of 79.8p-80.3p. point, but will the drop continue further?
Butlers at the end of November and news of Crude oil fell for a ninth consecutive day Spreadex is offering a January contract on
a rise in sales growth for Greene King earlier yesterday – its longest decline since July light crude oil with a spread of $70.06-
this month, the focus falls on Punch Taverns 2001. Analysts put the drop down to fears $70.18.
 18 Markets & Investment CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009

LONDON’S TOP 250

Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low
(p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p)
3i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278.20* +0.90 314.80 108.66 Croda Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .764.50 +5.50 811.00 440.00 .LQJÀVKHU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .234.30 –1.00 249.10 115.00 Schroders N/V. . . . . . . . . . . . . .1007.00 +6.00 1033.00 533.50
3i Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . .103.00* +1.80 105.80 76.50 CSR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .377.60 +8.80 524.00 152.00 Ladbrokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139.10 +3.00 213.49 114.60 Scot. & Sthrn Energy. . . . . . . . . 1114.00 +7.00 1279.00 357.50
A.B. Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811.50* +3.00 870.50 603.00 Daily Mail ‘A’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .414.10* +10.20 467.30 205.75 Lancashire Hldgs . . . . . . . . . . . .427.00* +0.50 540.00 390.00 Scottish Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . .436.00 +4.50 444.90 324.75
Aberdeen Asset Man . . . . . . . . . .138.50* +2.20 155.60 92.00 Dana Petroleum . . . . . . . . . . . . 1190.00 +17.00 1549.00 807.00 Land Securities . . . . . . . . . . . . . .638.50* +0.50 1051.00 323.25 Scottish Mortgage. . . . . . . . . . . .513.50 +1.50 527.00 284.00
Admiral. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1110.00 +3.00 1188.00 793.50 Davis Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .378.50 –2.70 438.00 213.75 Legal & General . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77.20 +1.30 94.40 20.90 SEGRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .330.50 –1.40 403.10 250.00
Aegis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116.40 –0.90 122.90 61.00 De La Rue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .968.50* –1.50 1080.00 808.50 Liberty International . . . . . . . . . .464.40 +4.30 580.00 278.00 Serco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .522.50 +5.00 546.50 341.50
Aggreko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .810.00 +6.50 819.00 342.00 Debenhams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83.85 +1.05 99.50 22.00 Lloyds Banking Gp . . . . . . . . . . . .55.16 –1.06 100.95 21.97
Alliance Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .313.30 +1.80 325.20 233.00 Derwent London . . . . . . . . . . . .1260.00 –8.00 1418.00 445.50 Logica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113.70 +4.50 136.80 57.50 Severn Trent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1047.00* +2.00 1236.00 921.00
AMEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .774.00* +1.00 879.50 465.00 Dexion Absolute . . . . . . . . . . . . .131.20 –1.30 136.70 69.00 London Stock Exchange . . . . . . .763.50* +69.00 949.50 355.75 Shaftesbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .364.80 –5.60 426.50 184.32
Amlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .363.10 –1.70 400.00 291.00 Diageo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1052.00 –1.00 1079.00 727.00 Lonmin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1830.00 +66.00 1943.00 629.30 Shanks Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135.20* +5.20 136.20 36.15
Anglo American . . . . . . . . . . . .2636.00 +76.00 2766.00 906.00 Dimension Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73.40 +0.10 82.80 32.75 Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .317.20* +7.40 373.60 150.40 Shire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1183.00 +24.00 1213.00 764.00
Antofagasta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .945.00 +29.50 949.50 367.75 Drax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .412.10 –1.30 644.50 393.75 Marks & Spencer. . . . . . . . . . . . .403.20* +2.30 408.30 207.50 SIG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109.10 –0.50 230.00 82.25
Aquarius Platinum . . . . . . . . . . .352.50 +5.50 392.20 128.62 DSG Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35.08 +0.08 39.75 9.96 Marston’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94.00 +1.10 141.37 63.87 Smith & Nephew . . . . . . . . . . . . .625.00 +5.00 625.50 401.00
ARM Holdings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169.80 +0.50 179.00 77.50 Dunelm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .413.70* +1.70 438.40 121.50 Meggitt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .242.50 +0.30 267.10 110.50 Smiths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .990.50 +2.00 1002.00 646.50
Arriva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .468.00 +3.00 641.00 361.00 Easyjet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .346.40 — 416.80 246.50 Melrose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168.30 –1.00 198.20 58.25 SOCO Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1337.00 +21.00 1500.00 885.50
Ashmore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .273.70 +18.40 311.20 92.75 Edinburgh Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . .365.00 +4.00 369.00 283.75 Mercantile IT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .839.00 +0.50 964.00 515.50 Spectris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .700.50 +5.50 763.50 376.75
Astrazeneca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2811.00 –12.00 2966.00 2126.00 Electrocomponents . . . . . . . . . . .163.60* — 176.00 113.00 Michael Page Intl. . . . . . . . . . . . .369.10 +3.20 375.00 171.25 Spirax-Sarco Eng . . . . . . . . . . . 1101.00 +3.00 1195.00 741.00
Atkins(Ws) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .612.50 –2.00 747.50 415.00 Eurasian Nat Res . . . . . . . . . . . .891.50 +18.00 965.00 291.00 Micro Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .442.20 –1.80 454.25 256.25 Spirent Comms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94.60 +1.10 100.60 32.00
Autonomy Corp . . . . . . . . . . . .1528.00 +16.00 1687.00 867.00 Experian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .617.50 –2.00 626.50 370.75 Millen & Copthorne . . . . . . . . . . .351.50 –3.50 411.90 165.50 Sports Direct Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98.30 –0.20 134.00 32.00
Aveva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .951.00 +1.00 1083.00 460.00 F&C Comm Prop . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84.50* +1.00 90.00 73.50 Misys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200.40 –3.20 238.80 90.75 SSL Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .723.00 +8.00 756.50 422.75
Aviva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .380.50 +9.90 474.00 160.10 Ferrexpo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182.80* –5.20 228.40 27.00 Mitchells & Butlers . . . . . . . . . . .258.50 +0.40 310.60 136.50 St James’s Place . . . . . . . . . . . . .231.30 –3.80 296.90 142.75
Babcock International . . . . . . . . .606.50 –2.00 660.50 381.25 Fidelity European . . . . . . . . . . .1094.00 –2.00 1182.00 753.00 MITIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228.10 –2.10 281.70 170.25
BAE Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .346.60 +3.90 416.00 294.20 FirstGroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .393.10 +5.00 448.80 192.90 Mondi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .331.20 –5.30 361.80 118.25 Stagecoach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163.70 –1.20 173.80 102.75
Balfour Beatty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251.80 +0.20 346.18 243.40 Foreign & Col Inv Tst. . . . . . . . . .266.60 +1.80 269.20 179.25 Monks Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .274.00 +0.80 298.60 190.00 Standard Chartered . . . . . . . . . .1575.00 +65.50 1696.00 554.00
Barclays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .291.65* +3.65 390.00 47.30 Fresnillo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .819.00 +5.00 935.00 152.70 Morrison Wm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .275.70 –1.40 298.40 233.50 Standard Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207.80 +0.30 275.00 123.50
Barratt Development . . . . . . . . . . 110.10 –1.60 193.31 35.41 G4S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253.50 –2.20 259.50 171.90 Mothercare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .663.00 +3.00 668.00 325.00 Talvivaara Mining . . . . . . . . . . . .378.00 +3.50 428.00 102.75
BBA Aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155.40 +1.40 184.20 41.00 GKN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113.90 +1.00 131.30 36.45 Murray Intl Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .764.50 +0.50 800.00 512.00 Tate & Lyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .426.30* +8.30 481.40 225.75
Beazley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99.85 –0.45 122.00 86.00 GlaxoSmithKline . . . . . . . . . . . .1324.00* +21.00 1324.00 982.00 National Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .650.00* +5.00 717.00 511.00 Taylor Wimpey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34.00 +0.61 54.90 8.75
Bellway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .731.00* +17.50 927.50 515.00 Go-Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1271.00 +4.00 1577.00 845.00 Next . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2052.00* +9.00 2079.00 1009.00 Telecity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .360.00 –8.90 379.30 135.00
Berkeley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .818.00 –4.50 1071.00 716.50 Great Portland Estates . . . . . . . .268.50* +0.40 298.80 127.11 Northumbrian Water . . . . . . . . . .270.20 +1.40 281.90 203.00 Templeton Emrg Mkts . . . . . . . . .506.00 –2.50 515.00 235.00
BG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1085.00 +17.50 1180.00 836.50 Greene King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .419.20 –4.90 547.45 279.35 Old Mutual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107.10 +1.20 122.30 30.50 Tesco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .418.25* +1.40 437.05 301.40
BHP Billiton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1906.00 +31.00 1969.00 1025.00 Halfords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .413.50 –3.80 442.10 216.75 Pace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .196.70* –0.90 243.80 39.50 Thomas Cook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228.70 +1.60 303.50 164.60
BlackRock Mining . . . . . . . . . . . .537.50 +2.50 565.00 211.00 Halma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246.20 –0.50 256.00 140.75 Partygaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .256.70 +0.20 298.50 119.25 Tomkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186.60 –0.90 199.30 99.50
BlueBay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .307.00 +15.00 393.00 63.00 Hammerson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .380.00 –4.80 624.50 212.25 Pearson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .869.50 +0.50 876.00 566.50 Travis Perkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .806.00 +4.00 888.00 198.63
BP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .581.00 +5.80 599.30 400.00 Hargreaves Lansdown . . . . . . . .277.90 +6.60 299.90 157.00 Pennon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .509.00 +4.50 566.50 372.00 TUI Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261.10 +2.10 294.75 208.25
Brit Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181.00 –0.50 245.00 157.75 Hays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99.30 +1.20 114.00 67.00 Persimmon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .426.00 +0.70 534.50 223.50 Tullett Prebon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .291.60 –0.90 436.20 105.25
British Airways . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201.00 –0.30 243.30 111.30 Henderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122.60 +1.30 142.10 49.75 Petrofac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .975.00 +17.50 1078.00 306.00
British Amer. Tob . . . . . . . . . . .1961.00 +2.50 2012.00 1481.00 Heritage Oil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .441.90 +12.90 630.00 161.00 Petropavlovsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1147.00 –39.00 1343.00 295.25 Tullow Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1290.00 +40.00 1311.00 562.00
British Empire Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . 411.60* +0.20 451.80 304.00 Hikma Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . . . .514.50 +1.00 523.50 288.50 Premier Farnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175.00 — 180.90 112.50 UK Commercial Prop. . . . . . . . . . .76.20 +2.20 77.50 50.50
British Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .444.90 +3.90 535.26 295.00 Hiscox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .303.00 +3.00 364.30 272.50 Premier Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32.86 –0.34 47.00 24.00 Ultra Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . .1366.00 +14.00 1393.00 1010.00
Britvic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .388.00* –2.50 402.00 204.25 Hochschild Mining . . . . . . . . . . .307.30 +1.20 366.40 77.00 Premier Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1088.00 +18.00 1431.00 512.78 Unilever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1890.00* +12.00 1905.00 1226.00
Brown(N.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245.00* +1.30 275.80 183.75 Home Retail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .302.00* +3.30 336.50 180.40 Provident Financial . . . . . . . . . . .915.00 +2.50 986.00 736.00 United Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . .503.50 +2.50 642.00 429.00
BSkyB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .572.00 –6.00 593.00 398.25 Homeserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1654.00* +16.00 1752.00 849.50 Prudential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .612.00 +9.00 665.00 195.40 Utd Business Media . . . . . . . . . .442.60 +7.60 540.00 364.75
BT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143.00 +0.90 151.00 70.20 HSBC Hldgs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .719.90* +16.50 766.80 270.37 PZ Cussons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .258.80 +1.80 274.60 136.50 Vedanta Resources . . . . . . . . . .2432.00* +42.00 2510.00 492.75
Bunzl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .653.50* –3.50 679.50 473.00 Hunting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .482.80 +2.20 578.50 367.00 Qinetiq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164.50 –0.50 179.10 123.00 Victrex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .809.00 +4.00 840.50 400.75
Burberry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .595.00 +9.50 617.00 194.25 ICAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .424.50 +1.20 478.30 199.20 Randgold Resources. . . . . . . . .5020.00 +5.00 5450.00 2425.00 Vodafone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142.45* +0.90 148.00 111.20
Cable & Wireless. . . . . . . . . . . . .141.70* –0.30 170.00 125.10 IG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .368.10 +8.10 373.00 159.25 Reckitt Benckiser . . . . . . . . . . .3239.00 –40.00 3305.00 2390.00 VT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .526.00* –15.50 606.00 412.75
Cadbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .795.00 +4.50 819.50 484.25 Imagination Tech Gp . . . . . . . . . .221.40 +3.60 250.00 33.50 Reed Elsevier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .480.40 +0.90 570.00 403.75 Weir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .677.00 –7.50 771.00 297.00
Cairn Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3111.00 +30.00 3197.00 1651.00 IMI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .517.50 +2.00 552.00 214.00 Regus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87.90 +0.10 120.50 43.00 Wetherspoon(J.D.) . . . . . . . . . . .446.00 +1.10 551.00 270.00
Caledonia Invs . . . . . . . . . . . . .1535.00* –45.00 1759.00 1081.00 Imperial Tobacco. . . . . . . . . . . .1907.00 +6.00 1983.00 1412.00 Rentokil Initial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100.70 +1.65 119.70 36.00 WH Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .524.00 +2.00 551.00 306.75
Capita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .730.00 –1.50 791.00 608.00 Inchcape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26.75 –0.38 36.74 5.82 Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78.90 +0.05 112.00 77.45 Whitbread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1380.00* +50.00 1425.00 686.50
Carillion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .298.90 –2.00 319.60 192.00 Informa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295.00 –1.10 339.10 216.00 Rexam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279.10 –6.90 328.55 188.89 William Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .190.00 +2.90 243.25 136.45
Carnival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2145.00 +25.00 2218.00 1224.00 Inmarsat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .658.50 –0.50 682.00 378.25 Rightmove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .471.80 +7.80 610.50 156.25
Carpetright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .923.00 +21.00 970.00 311.00 Intercontl Hotels . . . . . . . . . . . . .897.00 –6.50 926.50 433.75 Rio Tinto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3175.50 +41.50 3354.50 1102.02 Witan Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .425.00 +3.00 433.70 276.50
Carphone Warehouse . . . . . . . . .188.10* +0.10 216.10 84.75 Intermediate Capital . . . . . . . . . .273.40* +2.20 332.00 79.71 RIT Capital Partners . . . . . . . . . .996.50 +1.50 1030.00 715.00 Wolseley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1216.00 –21.00 1570.00 907.03
Catlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .320.00 –0.30 401.79 270.00 Intertek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1219.00 +4.00 1368.00 666.00 Rolls Royce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .493.20* +3.70 504.50 252.50 Wood Group (John). . . . . . . . . . .296.60 +10.50 354.90 175.00
Centrica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .264.00 –1.60 288.75 212.50 Intl Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300.00 +4.90 308.80 190.60 Rotork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1163.00 –4.00 1267.00 667.50 WPP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .610.50 –3.00 620.00 349.75
Charter Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .702.00 –2.00 778.50 301.00 Invensys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .284.50* +1.60 314.60 136.00 Royal Bank Of Scot . . . . . . . . . . . .30.99 +0.43 61.90 10.00 Xstrata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1074.00 +27.00 1175.00 288.75
Chemring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2720.00 –38.00 2917.00 1794.00 Investec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .430.20* +8.50 487.20 164.75 Royal Dutch Shell A . . . . . . . . .1833.00 +16.00 1944.00 1362.00 Yell Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40.88 +1.05 86.00 11.75
Close Bros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .709.00 +9.00 806.50 384.25 ITV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52.40 +0.35 58.65 16.50 Royal Dutch Shell B . . . . . . . . .1767.50 +18.50 1897.00 1315.00
Cobham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246.80* –0.10 252.40 163.90 Jardine Lloyd Thompson. . . . . . .453.70 +8.00 514.00 387.75 RSA Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116.00 –0.70 152.90 113.10 LONDON TOP 250 BY MARKET CAPITALISATION
COLT Telecom . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126.00 +1.00 138.00 49.00 Johnson Matthey . . . . . . . . . . .1498.00* –2.00 1641.00 856.50 SABMiller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1814.00* –8.00 1853.00 906.00
Compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .459.30 –1.70 465.00 275.00 JPMorgan Emerg Mkts . . . . . . . .476.00 –2.00 489.00 265.00 Sage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .230.80 –0.80 239.20 157.70 * Ex-Dividend † Suspended
Connaught . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .376.70 –0.40 448.30 292.50 Kazakhmys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1268.00 +15.00 1345.00 187.30 Sainsbury(J) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .320.10* +0.90 373.00 284.50
Cookson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .406.40 –1.80 481.40 202.75 Kesa Electricals . . . . . . . . . . . . .155.40 –1.90 162.00 79.75 Schroders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1225.00 +9.00 1274.00 628.00 www.interactivedata.com

London rises to highest close Exxon deal boosts

in 3 weeks on Dubai bailout hopes for M&A
But Lloyds Banking Group lost 1.9 of sales at Capital Spreads. gained 29.55 points, or 0.28 per cent,
THELONDON per cent. Lloyds completed a record
£13.5bn rights issue yesterday, ending
“This sideways trend means there
could be an expansive move in either THENEW YORK to end at 10,501.05. The Standard &
Poor's 500 Index .SPX rose 7.70 points,

REPORT a turbulent period for the bank and

shifting investor focus to a potential
government stake sale in 2010.
However other financial sector
direction very soon, however it's
unlikely to be before Christmas and
may even coincide with the New
Year.”
REPORT or 0.70 per cent, to 1,114.11. The
Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC
climbed 21.79 points, or 0.99 per cent,
to close at 2,212.10.

B U
RITAIN’S top share index closed shares found support, with London The index is up about 54 per cent S STOCKS closed at 14-month The closing levels for the Dow and
at its highest level in a week yes- Stock Exchange the top FTSE 100 from a six-year low hit in March, highs yesterday as Abu Dhabi’s the S&P 500 represent 14-month
terday, led by banks, after Abu riser, up 9.9 per cent as worries that though is still 1.9 per cent below its $10bn (£6bn) in aid to help highs, while the Nasdaq ended at its
Dhabi bailed out Dubai with shareholder Dubai Bourse might have level of mid-September 2008, before Dubai avoid default eased con- highest level in 15 months.
$10bn in surprise aid, with commodi- to sell its stake in the British firm the collapse of Lehman Brothers. cerns and a takeover deal by Exxon Citigroup laid out a plan to repay
ties stocks also notching up solid receded. British Airways dipped 0.2 per cent. Mobil Corp raised optimism about the money it owes the U.S. govern-
gains. Insurers Prudential, Aviva, Profile, Thousands of BA cabin crew voted to mergers and acquisitions activity. ment, including raising money by
The FTSE 100 closed up 53.77 and Standard Life added 0.1 to 2.7 per strike, hours after the airline revealed Citigroup plan to repay the U.S. gov- selling $17bn of common stock imme-
points at 5,315.34, its highest close cent. a £3.7bn hole in its pension fund that ernment about $20bn in bailout diately, as the bank looks to end the
since 4 December, adding to a rise the Heavyweight commodity stocks will require deft handling by manage- funds also helped buttress the buoy- restrictions on executive pay that
previous session when it ended up gained too as the demand picture ment if a proposed merger with ant mood a week after Bank of came with the funds.
17.20 points, or 0.3 per cent. continued to improve, helped still by Iberia is to stay on track. America fully repaid its $45bn gov- Citi’s stock slumped 6.3 per cent to
“A decent sort of move -- it got a lift last week’s solid data from major con- With no significant economic ernment loan. $3.70.
this morning with the bailout to sumer China. data released in the UK, or due in Exxon Mobil said it would buy nat- Shares of XTO surged 15.4 per cent
some extent for Dubai World, so I Among the miners, Lonmin, the United States, the macro focus ural gas supplier XTO Energy in an all- to $47.86.In contrast, Exxon Mobil
think that’s relieved a few anxieties,” Vedanta Resources, BHP Billiton, was on the latest two-day Federal stock transaction valued at about shed 4.3 per cent to $69.69 and
said Mike Lenhoff, a strategist at Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Reserve meeting, which kicks off on $30bn, excluding debt. ranked as the top drag on the Dow.
Brewin Dolphin. Xstrata added 1.3 to 3.7 per cent today, with an interest rate decision Abu Dhabi said it will provide The NYSE Arca Natural Gas index
Banks were in demand as investor against a backdrop of firmer metals due after the London close on Dubai $10bn in bailout money, with gained 4.5 per cent.
concerns over their exposure to prices. tomorrow. $4.1bn for payment on a maturing The First Trust ISE-Revere Natural
Dubai’s debt problems eased. Oil majors BG Group, BP and Royal bond. Gas Index Fund, an exchange-traded
Standard Chartered fared best, up 4.3 Dutch Shell added 0.9 to 1.6 per cent, ANALYSIS l FTSE100 5315.34 “It certainly eases the strain on fund of natural gas companies'
per cent, supported too by a Credit despite a slightly weaker crude price. 5,400 14 Dec European banks and that, in turn, shares, rose 5.3 per cent. XTO has
Suisse upgrade, while HSBC, Barclays Whitbread stood out among indi- increases confidence in the financial underperformed that ETF by roughly
and Royal Bank of Scotland added 1.3 vidual gainers, up 3.8 per cent, after 5,300 system in general,” said Peter 14 per cent this year.
to 2.4 per cent. the hotels to coffee shops operator Jankovskis, co-chief investment offi- Sun Microsystems shares jumped
Dubai said funds provided by Abu said in a trading update that it 5,200 cer at OakBrook Investments. 11 per cent to $9.28 on Nasdaq after
Dhabi would help towards repaying a expected its 2009-10 results to “some- “We’ve seen in the last 18 months European Union regulators signaled
$4.1bn Islamic bond maturing on what exceed” market estimates. . 5,100 how these things can spiral out, if you they could clear Oracle Corp’s $7bn
Monday, while the excess would be “The market has been consolidat- will, from what appears to be well takeover of Sun after Oracle promised
used to meet state-owned conglomer- ing for some six weeks now and the 5,000 contained to envelop firms all over measures to ease competition con-
ate Dubai World’s needs up until the usual December gains have not mate- 4,900 the world.” cerns.
end of April 2010. rialised,” said Angus Campbell, head 14 Sep 2 Oct 22 Nov 11 Nov 1 Dec The Dow Jones industrial average
 Lifestyle THE CITY’S 19
NEWEST CHINESE
| Health SEE RESTAURANT
REVIEW, PAGE 20

Why fizz is
good for you
wine its colour. Red wines are darker
because the skins are kept in with
the wine as if ferments.
Theoretically, white
wine can be made from
dark grapes and in the
case of sparkling wines, it
often is. Champagne is
traditionally made from a
mixture of three grape
varieties – chardonnay,
that the polyphenols in
champagne also protect the brain
from Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s,
and strokes.
So do you have to splash out on cham-
pagne to get these health benefits, or
are other sparkling wines just as good
for you? This depends on the grapes:
those made form dark varieties will be
more beneficial to health than those
made with white grapes.
which is a white grape,
Research shows that champagne is just and pinot noir and pinot
meunier, which are both
DARK VARIETIES
It follows, then, that the Italian prosec-
as beneficial for the health as red wine. dark grapes. The presence
of these is what led scien-
co will not be as good for you as cham-
pagne, as it is made entirely from a
Good news, writes Jeremy Hazlehurst tists to suspect that cham-
pagne might share some of
white grape variety, as is Spanish cava.
German sekt is made from a number of
the health-giving properties grapes, sometimes including the dark
of red wine. pinot noir. The traditional champagne

J
OHN MORTIMER, the author who
created the scuzzy lawyer
Rumpole of the Bailey, used to say
that champagne was the secret to
a long life. Mortimer drank a glass of
fizz every morning, before settling
down to work on his plays and novels.
He lived to a sprightly and active 85, and
was publishing books right into the last
year of his life. Now scientists have
caught up with Mortimer, and are also
saying that – in moderation, naturally –
a bit of bubbly is beneficial to the
health.
According to research carried out at
the university of Reading and recently
published in the British Journal of
Nutrition, champagne can lower blood
pressure and reduce the chances of
heart attacks and strokes.
The benefit comes from the presence
of chemicals called polyphenols.
Polyphenols prevent nitric oxide leaving
the bloodstream, which lowers blood
pressure. Researchers gave one group
375ml of champagne a day and a control
group a drink containing 12 percent
alcohol and an equivalent amount of
ethanol, sugars, vitamins, So are some champagnes grapes are widely used in California,
minerals and acids. better for you than others? meaning that it might be your best bet
Samples taken afterwards The research would suggest for a non-champagne sparkler with
showed elevated levels of so. If the scientists are right, health benefits.
nitric oxide in the blood, then those champagnes with Of course, this is not a case of having
as well polyphenol metabo- a higher percentage of pinot carte blanche to go and start knocking
lites in the urine of the meunier and pinot noir ought back the bubbly secure in the belief that
champagne group. “A daily to be better for you than those you will live for ever. The key word in all
moderate consumption of which are made with a large of this is “moderation”. Polyphenols do
champagne,” concluded amount of chardonnay. not by any stretch of the imagination
the researchers, “may Most champagnes are made cancel out the risks of drinking to
improve vascular perform- with about two-thirds black grape excess, such as cirrhosis of the liver,
ance.” varieties and one third chardon- heart type-2 disease and obesity, which
The idea that wine is nay, although those called blanc de lurk in the background, no matter how
good for you might all blanc are made entirely from expensive the variety of booze that you
sound familiar. But usually, chardonnay, while those called blanc drink.
as we know, it is red wine and de noirs are made only from dark For those who do not drink alcohol,
not white whose health-giving grape varieties. The latter ought to have there are other ways to get your
properties are vaunted. So higher levels of polyphenols and in the- polyphenol fix. Plenty of other foods,
what is the story here? In fact, ory at least, be better for you. such as broccoli and cranberries, and
the argument is that champagne Fans of bubbly will be pleased to hear other drinks including cocoa, coffee,
is beneficial for exactly the same that this is not the first time that cham- and tea, also contain large amounts of
reason that red wine is: because of pagne has been shown to be good for polyphenols, which suggests that they
the grapes used to make it. health. In 2007, research published in would also be good for the heart.
Generally, red wines are made from the Journal of Agricultural and Food Still, as we approach Christmas, we
black grapes, and white wine from Chemistry – also carried out by the might well be tempted to raise a glass to
white grapes. But, of course, it is not same team at the University of Reading, the scientists at the University of
the colour of the grapes that gives the who seem to be on to a good thing – said Reading.

OTHER FUN &

HEALTHY THINGS
SEX
According to a study published in the journal
Biological Psychology, those who have regular
penetrative sex deal better with stress than
those who abstain or who engage in other sexu-
al activity.
Scientists at Wilkes University in America also
found that those who had sex once or twice a
week had higher levels of immunoglobulin A –
an antibody that can protect you against colds –
than those who had sex fewer or more times.
Thirty minutes of sex also burns off 85 calories.
CHOCOLATE
A host of studies show that choclolate is good
for you. Cocoa beans contain large quantities of
flavonoids, which are known to prevent blood
clots. Another showed that chocolate is as good
as aspirin at promoting healthy blood flow and
can help reduce the chance of stroke and heart
attack. Researchers at Harvard also found that
those who eat chocolate or sweets three times
a month live a year longer than those who eat
none. Dark chocolate is better for you, and the
less sugar it contains the better.

BEER COMPUTER GAMES

A study by the New England Journal of
Medicine found that those who drink moderate-
ly – up to one beer a day – decrease their
chances of suffering a stroke by 20 per cent.
Another study found that moderate beer-drink-
ing reduced the risk of heart attacks by 30-40
per cent. It contains a similar amount of
polyphenols as red wine. Beer also contains vita-
min B6, which helps reduce the chances of heart
disease. Beer has no cholesterol or fat and is rich
in minerals and vitamins.
Sitting in a darkened room might not be the
best thing for your physical health, but playing
some types of computer games can be good for
the development of your mind. An American
researcher called Marc Prensky thinks that
games like FIFA Soccer involve learning about
strategy, coaching and team-building, while a
game called Thrillville teaches you about engi-
neering as you build a safe fairground ride, and
also the economics of running a successful busi-
ness. Games such as Civilization teach history.
 20 Lifestyle
Cricket club out for a crispy duck
The City’s newest
Chinese restaurant,
in a Blackfriars
business hotel, is
lacking in inspiration
Chinese Cricket Club
Crowne Plaza London, 19 New Bridge Street,
EC4V 6DB. Tel: 020 7299 0400
FOOD hhh
SERVICE hhhh
ATMOSPHERE hh
Cost per person without wine: £32
L
ONDON isn’t short of excellent
Chinese restaurants, but the City cer-
tainly is. Perhaps with the exception
of Imperial City in the basement of
the Royal Exchange, the Square Mile has lit-
tle that compares in innovation and superi-
ority to the likes of Hakkasan, China Tang,
Min Jiang and the several other places –
mostly with postcodes that start with a W –
that have been rescuing London’s Chinese
dining scene from the doldrums (or
Gerrard Street, as it’s known).
So any additions in and around the
Square Mile are to be welcomed. The latest
sits in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in
Blackfriars, and comes with the intriguing
name of Chinese Cricket Club, in honour of
the national side that’s apparently been
formed this year. It’ll be some time before
they’re hosting Twenty20 tournaments in
Beijing though – and if they ever do, I can’t
say it’s a given that this place will be
around to celebrate.
It isn’t bad – though the two human
hairs I found in one dish hardly filled me
with enthusiasm – but it isn’t memorable
either. Passable for a lunch with a client
who doesn’t need impressing, but far short
of being somewhere that would draw you
back on the strength of its own excellence.
For a start, the very least you can normal-
ly expect from a modern Chinese restau-
rant is an interesting interior – think of the
zingy futurism of Yauatcha in Soho or the
sultry glamour of somewhere like
Holborn’s Shanghai Blues. However you
interpret it, the colour, variety and theatri-
cality of Chinese culture, like the food,
leaves little excuse for blandness. So even in
a building as echoingly dull as this huge,
flat-packed business hotel, you might hope
for something a little more stimulating
than the slick, beige tastefulness of Chinese
Cricket Club. Despite a name that suggests
a sense of fun, the place is drained of char-
acter – and don’t go looking for any refer-
ences to cricket. A few ornamental pieces of
THREE OTHER CHINESE RESTAURANTS
TIMOTHY BARBER
HAKKASAN
Still one of the most glamorous and fashionable of
London’s restaurants, Hakkasan is also one of the best
places to eat Oriental food anywhere. Taking
Cantonese food as its inspiration, it spins this into the
kind of wondrous cuisine that gets you Michelin stars
and gourmet adulation. Hakkasan, 8 Hanway Place,
W1T 1HD. www.hakkasan.com.
coloured bamboo, some truly wretched
muzak and moody lighting are the only
concessions to atmosphere.
Perhaps the food would rescue it, for the
place isn’t without pedigree. The hotel’s
other restaurant, Refettorio, has an estab-
lished reputation for fine Italian cooking,
under the guidance of Giorgio Locatelli;
Chinese Cricket Club’s executive head chef
Brendan Speed’s previous tenure was at the
Istanbul branch of London’s esteemed
Japanese restaurant Zuma.
We got off to a good start with some
sweet and juicy soft-shell crab that was
crisply fried, served with some spiced may-
onnaise. Every bite was a pleasure. A plate
of tea-smoked duck was also excellent – sev-
eral thin strips of breast smoked with jas-
mine tea, served rare. It was refreshing and
earthy, the perfect Chinese starter.
Where to go next on the menu could be
a bit of a puzzle – it’s divided into sections
like soups, dim sum, “from the wok” and
“from the fire”, with an emphasis on
Sichuan dishes – but there’s guidance on
hand from the attentive staff. We went to
the dim sum section, with three sorts of
dumplings – black cod, prawn and chicken.
They were satisfyingly plump and filling,
but didn’t lift the roof in terms of taste.
A dish of Hunan lamb consisted of thin
IN A NUTSHELL:
An adequate place for a business lunch, Chinese Cricket Club’s insipid decor and lack of
real inspiration mean it won’t join the top tier of Chinese restaurants in London.
MIN JIANG
Up on the 10th floor of the Royal Garden Hotel in
Kensington with some scintillating views over Hyde
Park, Min Jiang is an exquisite dining room, in which
the house speciality is wood-fired Beijing duck carved
at your table and served six ways. Min Jiang, Royal
Garden Hotel, 2-24 Kensington High Street, W8 4PT.
www.minjiang.co.uk.
WORDS BY
TIMOTHY BARBER
Chinese Cricket Club’s slithers of meat and baby leeks served in a
interior is slick but sauce that was sweeter and saltier than it
dull. was spicy or aromatic. Some fat, round
prawns served in a glossy Kung Po sauce
laced with chillis certainly looked pretty,
but once again the taste of the seafood
itself was rather muted. A bowl of Chinese
Cricket Club noodles mixed with tiny
prawns didn’t sing with flavour, or even
really croak. Like the room, this food was
adequate but unexciting.
There’s a pretty good wine list – divided,
as is the way, into sections like “fruit driven
& velvety” or “big & spicy” – and the staff
are happy to recommend bottles to match
the food. But the place lacks passion – the
most interesting thing about it is its name.
The City’s wait for another top-of-the-range
Chinese restaurant goes on.
SHANGHAI BLUES
Hidden behind an unobtrusive entrance on Holborn,
Shanghai Blue is a smart, darkly atmospheric blend of
old imperial China and speakeasy glamour. The food is
as well-presented as the restaurant itself, with some
particularly fine dim sum. The cocktails are rather a
draw as well. 193-197 High Holborn, WC1V 7BD.
www.shanghaiblues.co.uk.
CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009
FOOD & BOOZE
NEWS
TIMOTHY BARBER
DEAN STREET TOWNHOUSE OPENS
There’s a new place to go to in Soho, from the
people behind Soho House. Dean Street
Townhouse is a chic little boutique hotel with a
restaurant overseen by The Ivy’s former senior
sous chef, Stephen Tonkin. There’s an old school
British sensibility with oysters, fish and chips and
mince with boiled potatoes (hello austerity
Britain!) all featuring, as well as some more
refined dishes like pheasant in Oxford sauce or
Cornish brill with ceps. Drop by in the afternoon
for scones and clotted cream. 69-71 Dean Street,
W1D 3SE, www.deanstreettownhouse.com, 020
7434 1775.
LUNCH DEAL AT CINNAMON KITCHEN
To celebrate its first year of opening, leading
Square Mile Indian eatery Cinnamon Kitchen
has launched a new lunch menu. Get stuck into
dishes like char grilled monkfish with masala
vermicelli or baked leg of rabbit with missi roti
and corn sauce at the rather good value £15 for
two courses or £18 for three courses. And
there’s an added bonus for City AM readers –
quote “City AM” when booking, and enjoy a
complimentary glass of an Anise Fizz infusion
of pear, vanilla and prosecco. 9 Devonshire
Square, EC2M 4YL. www.cinnamon-
kitchen.com, 020 7626 5000.
COCKTAILS IN CANARY WHARF
The Parlour is a new bar and restaurant whose
owners are looking to bring a bit of colour to
Canary Wharf’s monochrome surroundings. You
can sit back and swing in funky hanging chairs,
gather for a hot toddy round the fire, or
have your seafood served to you in a bank
deposit box, apparently. I suppose there
are a lot of empty ones sitting around
that need using these days. There’s
also a diverse cocktail list, includ-
ing the Russian rose martini
(Smirnoff black vodka with lychee
liqueur and ginger syrup served
with a rose petal in a coupette)
and the Lounge Lady (Tanqueray
gin with grapefruit juice, grena-
dine and maraschino liqueur,
served with a gin-infused cherry).
Sound like style over substance?
We look forward to finding out.
The Park Pavilion, 40 Canada
Square, E14 5FW. www.thepar-
lourbar.co.uk, 0845 468 0100.
CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009 Lifestyle | Art 21

New book reveals

the City by night
Photographer Andreas Schmidt has captured the beauty
and desolation of the Square Mile, says Jeremy Hazlehurst

W
ORKING in the City, our lives are often
stressful and fast-moving. It is easy when
you are rushing from meeting to meeting
to forget that the Square Mile is also one of
the most striking places in the world. From the
Victorian banks to the modern sky-scrapers, the cen-
turies have left their imprint on the area.
A new book by German photographer Andreas
Schmidt, featuring 100 photographs of the City at
night, aims to capture the beauty and the ugliness of
the area; the haunting empty streets and the electric
lights burning in the empty buildings. This is a selec-
tion of his work.
The City by Andreas Schmidt is available now

OUT OF OFFICE
TIMOTHY BARBER
Left, the Troy V&A’S MEDIEVAL GALLERIES
Tapestry, on display in The Victoria & Albert museum’s newly-
the Victoria & Albert opened rooms of exhibits from the era of
Museum’s Medieval 300-1600 are a magnificent triumph, per-
Galleries. Right, La haps the finest museum space in London
Clique is on at the now. Discover why the Dark Ages were
Roundhouse. anything but, with extraordinary tapestries,
clothes, sculptures, paintings, wedding
chests, manuscripts, reliquaries and an
awful lot more besides. Entry free, 10am-
5.45pm daily, Victoria & Albert Museum,
Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL. www.vam.ac.uk
LA CLIQUE AT THE ROUNDHOUSE
After its run in the West End earlier
this year, the risqué cabaret show
that first set pulses racing at the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival a few
years go has now settled in for a
winter run at the Roundhouse.
Expect all manner of weird,
wacky and wonderful. Until 17
Jan, The Roundhouse, Chalk
Farm Road, NW1 8EH.
www.roundhouse.org.uk
PUBLIC IMAGE LTD RETURN
For the first time in 17
years, iconic post-punk
band PiL are performing
live this month. John
Lydon’s post-Sex Pistols outfit
will be taking to the stage at the
O2 Academy in Brixton next
Monday to roll out their inimitable
mix of rock and art. 21 Dec, O2
Academy, 211 Stockwell Road, SW9
9SL. www.o2academybrixton.co.uk
 22 Lifestyle | TV& Games CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009

BBC1 BBC2 ITV1 CHANNEL4 FIVE

TERRESTRIAL
6pm BBC News
6.30pm BBC London News
7pm The One Show
7.30pm EastEnders; BBC News
8pm Holby City
9pm Paradox: Rebecca and
the team struggle to come to
terms with their failures.
10pm BBC News
10.25pm Regional News
10.35pm Imagine
11.30pm CHOICE Film 2009
with Jonathan Ross
12am The Graham Norton
Show; Weatherview
12.50am Sign Zone: See Hear
1.20am Natural World 2.10am
Trawlermen 3.10am Trawlermen
4.10am-6am BBC News
6pm Celebrity Eggheads
6.30pm Strictly Come Dancing
– It Takes Two
7pm One Man and His Dog
7.30pm One Man and His
Dog: The contest’s veterans
take to the handler’s post.
8pm CHOICE A History of
Scotland: The effects of industriali-
sation in the 19th century.
9pm Can Gerry Robinson Fix
Dementia Care Homes?
Concluding part of the
businessman’s campaign.
10pm Miranda
10.30pm Newsnight
11.20pm Earth:
The Climate Wars
12.20am BBC News
6pm London Tonight
6.30pm ITV News
6pm The Simpsons: The
nuclear plant is sold.
6pm Home and Away
6.25pm Live from Studio Five
TV PICK
7pm Emmerdale 6.30pm Hollyoaks 7.30pm Monkey Life;
7.30pm Grimefighters 7pm Channel 4 News Five News Update
8pm Coastline Cops 7.55pm 3 Minute Wonder: 8pm Sea Patrol UK: Two
9pm Robson Green’s Wild This Is Sculpture children plunge into the sea
Swimming Adventure 8pm CHOICE Jamie’s near Folkestone. Last in the
10pm ITV News at Ten Family Christmas series; Five News at 9
10.30pm London News 8.30pm Jamie’s Family 9pm CSI: Miami
10.35pm Christmas Tales: Christmas 10pm CSI: NY; Five News Update
The Legends of Santa 9pm Gordon Ramsay’s F Word 11pm CSI: Crime Scene FILM 2009 WITH JONATHAN ROSS
11.35pm The Late Debate 10.05pm FILM Hunger: 2008. Investigation BBC1, 11.30PM
12.05am In Plain Sight 12am Bullrun 12am The FBI Files The host examines Guy Ritchie's Sherlock
12.50am Nightwatch with 12.35am Running to the Limits Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr and
12.55am SuperCasino
Steve Scott: Emergency; ITV 1.35am European Poker Tour 3am Great Ethiopian Run 3.40am Jude Law, James Cameron’s sci-fi epic
News Headlines 2.30am Ocean Race 3.20am Great Australian Run 4.05am Avatar, and star-studded musical Nine.
1.45am Loose Women 2.30am The Deadliest Catch 4.10am Switched Summer X Games 4.20am Ironman
Jeremy Kyle Show 3.25am-5.30am 4.35am St Elsewhere 5.25am- Triathlon 5.10am Great Scientists
ITV Nightscreen 6.10am One Tree Hill 5.35am-6am Home and Away

SKY SPORTS 1 BRITISH EUROSPORT 3.50am 60 Minute Makeover 1.50am Beauty & the Geek 3am The American Civil War
SATELLITE & CABLE

6.30pm Revista De La Liga
7.30pm Soccer Special. News
and results from tonight’s
matches. 10.30pm Football
First 1.30am Football Asia 2am
Scottish Premier League
Football 2.30am-6am Live Test
Cricket
SKY SPORTS 2
6.30pm Ladies European Tour Golf
7.30pm Live Football Special 10.15pm
Revista De La Liga 11.15pm A-League
11.45pm Scottish Premier League
Football 12.15am Ladies European
Tour Golf 1.15am Asian Tour Golf
2.15am Revista De La Liga 3.15am
Sports Unlimited 4.15am Football
Asia 4.45am Revista De La Liga
5.45am-6am Sky Sports Classics
SKY SPORTS 3
6.30pm Pool 7.30pm Live
Scottish Premier League
Football 10pm International
Cricket 12am Bowls 2am
International Cricket 4am-6am
Premiership Years
7pm Strongest Man 8pm
Boxing 10pm Freeride Spirit
Show 10.15pm Rallying
10.45pm World Superbikes
11.45pm-12.45am FIA Gala
2009
ESPN
6pm Bundesliga Review Show
7.15pm Serie A Weekly Round-
Up 7.45pm Live Coppa Italia
9.45pm Eredivisie Review Show
10.45pm Serie A Weekly
Round-Up 11.15pm NBA
Fastbreak 11.45pm ESPN
Football Funnies 12am Live NHL
Ice Hockey 2.30am-5am Live
NHL Ice Hockey
LIVING
7pm Ghost Whisperer 8pm
Four Weddings 9pm New Most
Haunted 10pm Medium 11pm
CSI: CSI 12am Criminal Minds
1am Charmed 2am The
Bachelor USA 3am The
Celebrity Underdog Show
4.40am 10 Years Younger US
5.30am-6am Home Shopping
BBC THREE
7pm Doctor Who 7.45pm Doctor
Who Confidential 8pm Snog,
Marry, Avoid? – Top Ten Shockers
9pm Move Like Michael Jackson
10pm EastEnders 10.30pm
Two Pints of Lager 11pm Family
Guy 11.45pm Move Like
Michael Jackson 12.45am
Snog, Marry, Avoid? – Top Ten
Shockers 1.45am Two Pints of
Lager 2.15am Blood, Sweat and
Takeaways 3.15am Britain’s
Really Disgusting Food 4.10am-
5.10am Mad About the House
E4
7pm Hollyoaks 7.30pm My
Name Is Earl 8pm Friends 9pm
Glee 9.55pm E4’s Great Big
Ruddy New Year Preview 10pm
FILM There’s Something About
Mary 1998. 12.20am My Name
Is Earl 12.50am Scrubs
3.20am Age of Love 4.05am 3.50am Mark Williams on the
Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious Rails 4.40am Mega Builders
4.45am How to Look Good 5.30am-6am How Does That
Naked USA 5.05am-6am Work?
Switched
DISCOVERY HOME &
A HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
HISTORY HEALTH BBC2, 8PM
7pm The Universe 8pm Life 7pm Labour and Delivery 8pm The effects of 19th-century
After People 9pm Nostradamus 10 Years Younger 9pm Fat industrialisation on the country, which
2012 11pm Nostradamus: 500 Doctor 10pm Too Big to Walk? saw massive numbers of rural workers
Years Later 12am Captain Cook 11pm Untold Stories of the ER move to new jobs in factories.
1am The Universe 2am Cities of 12am Fat Doctor 1am Too Big to
the Underworld 3am Decoding Walk? 2am Untold Stories of the
the Past 4am-5am Britain AD: ER 3am Little People, Big World
King Arthur’s Britain
4am Bringing Home Baby 5am-
6am Home Birth Diaries
DISCOVERY
7pm Mythbusters. The team SKY1
discovers whether falling bullets 7pm The Simpsons 8pm
can kill. 8pm How Do They Do Futurama 9pm Fringe 10pm Lie
It? Navigating a 50,000-tonne to Me 11pm UK Border Force
ship through the Panama Canal. 12am Road Wars 1.55am JAMIE’S FAMILY CHRISTMAS
8.30pm How It’s Made 9pm Derek Acorah 2.50am Road CHANNEL 4, 8PM
Deadliest Catch 10pm Whale Wars 3.15am X-Weighted Jamie Oliver provides recipes and expert
Wars 11pm American Chopper 4.10am So You Think You’re tips for achieving a stress-free family
12am Deadliest Catch 1am Safe? 5.05am-6am Are You Christmas. The first programme sees
Whale Wars 2am Time Team Smarter Than a 10 Year Old? the chef prepare the perfect turkey.

COFFEE BREAK
Copyright Puzzler Media Ltd, www.puzzler.com
24 30 9 30 21 3
1
QUICK CROSSWORD
2 3 4 5 6

SUDOKU KAKURO 16

38
16
4
12
8

4
7 8
Place the numbers from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so that each 17
Fill the grid so that each block 23 29
row, each column and each 3x3 block contains all the numbers
30
from 1 to 9 to solve this tricky Sudoku puzzle. adds up to the total in the box 7 13 4 9 10 11
above or to the left of it. 34 18 16

7 You can only use the digits 1-9

and you must not use the
4 36
37

25 15
12 13 14
1 3 2 same digit twice in a block.
The same digit may occur 42
32

29 30
2 9 3 more than once in a row or
column, but it must be in a
16
3
17
14
14
15 16 17
3 5 6 4 separate block.
17
10
15
24

13 36
8 6 2 3 9 16 17 12
18 19

1 8 3 ACROSS DOWN

4 1 2 n 1 ___ Goodman, dancing 1 The ___ Depths, Gorky

3 7 WORDWHEEL I P
judge (3)
3 Native of Belgrade (7)
play (5)
2 Housing for an aircraft
engine (7)
Using only the letters in the Wordwheel, you have 7 ___ Races, cartoon (5)
3 ___ Masterson, character in
2 7 4 6 ten minutes to find as many words as possible, I H 8 Small town near Mold in Guys and Dolls (3)
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 T
O S
North Wales (5)
9 Series of strokes in
4 Act of saying no (7)
5 Original parent company of
Zeneca (inits)(3)
YESTERDAY’S letters can only be used once in every word. There
tennis (7)
11 ___ Story, 1995 animated 6 ___ Dread, 1974 Bob Marley
SOLUTIONS KAKURO is at least one nine-letter word in the wheel.
C A film (3)
and the Wailers album (5)
10 Item used to assassinate
QUICK CROSSWORD 1 5 7 9 5 1 12 Jonathan ___, author of Trotsky (3,4)

M I M E D C I V I C
3 1 3 6
2 1 4
8 5 9
2 3 8
7
9
SUDOKU 3 6 2 1 5 9 8 7 4
The Rotters’ Club (3) 11 Clipping of trees into
U I R A I A 4 5 9 3 7 8 1 2 6 13 Oval shape (7) imitative shapes (7)
2 4 3 1 6 1 3 2
COX E RR E AU 1 3 3 1 2 6 7 8 1 4 2 6 9 3 5 15 Native of the country once 12 ___ Ev’ry Mountain, song
K E A O G
3 9 5 2 4 5 2 4 9 1 7 6 8 3 called Mesopotamia (5) from The Sound of Music (5)
AD AM BO T CH
6 2 3 1 7 9 9 7 3 8 6 2 4 5 1 14 Common brand of mineral
A
MAN
I
L Y
E
T I E D
T
2 3 1 4 9 7 6 8 WORDWHEEL 6 1 8 5 3 4 7 9 2
17 ___ Sound Machine, Gloria
water (5)
B E W D D 9 8 6 7 6 9 8 8 9 6 2 4 5 3 1 7 Estefan’s backing band (5) 16 Large insurance company (3)
L I E AGA ONO The nine-letter word
7 9 4 5 8 3 5 9 2 3 7 6 9 1 5 4 8 18 Shelf support (7) 17 ___ Office, national weather
E M S N F O
1 5 9 7 9 7 was OCTAGONAL 1 4 5 7 8 3 2 6 9
DAU N T GO F AR 19 Unit of Japanese currency (3) service (3)
CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009
Newcomers Lotus land Trulli and Heikki
▲
FORMULA ONE
BY JON COUCH
NEW F1 team Lotus have named expe-
rienced duo Jarno Trulli and Heikki
Kovalainen as their drivers for their
comeback season.
Italian Trulli joins the Malaysian-
backed team from Toyota, while Finn
Kovalainen moves across from
McLaren where he was replaced by
Tag Heuer to
ponder next
Woods’ move
Watchmakers may follow Accenture’s lead and drop
troubled star Woods, but Nike give him their backing
▲
GOLF
BY JON COUCH
SWISS watchmaker Tag Heuer last
night insisted they are yet to decide
on whether or not to turn their back
on troubled Tiger Woods.
Management consultants
Accenture pulled the plug on their
sponsorship deal with Woods on
Sunday after the world No1 confessed
he had been unfaithful to his wife Elin.
The firm insisted the world No1 was
“no longer the right representative”.
Reports had suggested that Tag
Heuer were set to back Woods after a
press spokeswoman said his personal
problems were “not our business”.
But the firm say are not yet ready to
make a decision on their seven-year
association with the American with a
meeting planned for later this week.
A Tag Heuer statement read: “We
respect the privacy of Tiger Woods
and his family. In light of recent
news, including that Tiger Woods has
decided to take an indefinite leave
from golf, over the coming weeks we
Tredwell gets England nod as
Swann continues to struggle
▲
CRICKET
BY JON COUCH
OFF-SPINNER James Tredwell was last
night drafted into England squad for
the Test series with South Africa with
Graeme Swann still feeling the effects
of a niggling injury.
Swann is struggling with a side
injury but is expected to be fit for the
first Test against South Africa at
Centurion, which starts tomorrow.
“Graeme’s injury is improving and
we expect him to be available for the
first Test match,” coach Andy Flower
confirmed.
“But with a further three matches
to come after Centurion we have
world champion Jenson Button.
The pair, who have raced in over
250 grand prixs between them, have
both signed three-year deals with
Malaysian rookie Fairuz Fauzy named
as the third driver.
“[The driver team] shows our seri-
ousness to be a world championship
contender,” said Lotus team principal
Tony Fernandes.
“Trulli will bring us a lot of experi-
will assess our options with Tiger
Woods and IMG regarding our long-
term relationship.”
Woods, 33, hasn’t been seen in pub-
lic since crashing his car near his
Florida home on 27 November, lead-
ing to a series of allegations of mari-
tal affairs in the world’s media.
Several other firms are also
mulling over whether to continue
their arrangement with Woods,
including Gillette, who have already
announced they would phase him
out of advertising, and American tele-
phone giant AT&T who are consider-
ing their position.
Pepsi are also in talks over their
£60m five-year deal, but Woods has
received the full support of Nike.
The US sportswear giants have
backed Woods since 1996 and chair-
man Phil Knight said yesterday: “I
think he has been really great. When
his career is over, you’ll look back on
these indiscretions as a minor blip,
but the media is making a big deal
out of it right now.”
•Sam Torrance is away
decided that we need a ‘like-for-like’
replacement on hand for Graeme
should this be required later in the
tour.”
Swann showed no signs of his
injury against a South Africa
Invitational XI last week, tak-
ing 6-55 and hitting an unbeat-
en 39 from 43 balls.
Kent spinner Tredwell, 27, was
first called up for England for the
2007-8 tour of New Zealand with-
out playing a game.
He was already in South
Africa after being recalled for
the one-day squad but this time
Adil Rashid was preferred, limit-
ing Tredwell’s action to the
ence to develop the team, and Heikki
is a young driver but has phenomenal
experience so I think we have two fan-
tastic drivers with Fairuz as well.”
Trulli, who like Kovalainen, has
one race win to his name, insists he
has joined the team to be competitive
in 2010. “I am here to win the 35-year-
old said. “I will fight for the team and
for Malaysia. It is a privilege to sign
for the new Lotus F1 Racing team.”
Troubled Woods was dropped by consultancy firm Accenture on Sunday.
England Performance
Programme, which was also
stationed in South Africa.
Tredwell took 69 wickets
in last season’s County
Championship for
Kent at an average of
26.6, and is also regarded as a use-
ful batsman, scoring two first-class
centuries for his county.
Meanwhile, South Africa are
set to line-up with all-rounder
Jacques Kallis and fast bowler Dale
Steyn for the first Test after both
were included in a 15-man squad.
Alviro Petersen, Ryan McLaren and
Wayne Parnell were the players to
miss out.
Flannery injury blow for Ireland
RUGBY UNION
▲
CHAMPIONS Ireland have been dealt
a massive blow ahead their defence of
their Six Nations campaign with the
news that Jerry Flannery may miss
out with an Achilles injury.
Hooker Flannery sat out Munster’s
Heineken Cup win over Perpignan on
Friday and is now expected to under-
go exploratory surgery this week to
confirm a three-month lay-off.
Picture: PA
SPORT | IN BRIEF
Cox fires late to deny Rangers
FOOTBALL: A goal deep into injury time
from striker Simon Cox denied manager-
less Queens Park Rangers a hard-earned
victory at Championship high-fliers West
Brom last night.
The visitors, with Steve Gallon and
Mark Bircham in temporary charge, went
ahead when Jonas Olsson’s attempted
clearing header looped into his own net.
Kaspars Gorkss then doubled the lead
before Jerome Thomas pulled one back.
Battling Rangers looked like hanging
on, however, until Cox tapped in a 94th
minute rebound to snatch a point for the
second-placed Baggies.
Warriors land Cracknell
RUGBY UNION: England Sevens star
Chris Cracknell has signed for Worcester
Warriors until the end of the season.
The highly-rated 25-year-old scored
two tries in England’s narrow defeat at
the IRB Dubai Sevens tournament this
month and has now joined up with his
new team-mates at Sixways.
Sport 23
If he is ruled out, it would leave
coach Declan Kidney with a huge
selection dilemma with Ulster’s Rory
Best ruled out for the rest of the sea-
son with a neck injury.
This means Connacht rookie Sean
Cronin, who only earned his first cap
in November, is the next likely choice.
Ireland open the defence of their
Six Nations title against Italy at Croke
Park on 6 February before they make
the trip to play France a week later.
Results
THE COCA-COLA FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Thomas 67
CHAMPIONSHIP
West Brom ..................(0) 2 QPR.........................................(0) 2
Olsson 56 (og)
Cox 90 Gorkss 62
Att: 21,565
P W D L F A GD Pts
Newcastle 21 14 4 3 35 12 23 46
West Brom 21 11 6 4 43 21 22 39
Cardiff 21 11 3 7 38 22 16 36
Nottm For 21 9 9 3 29 18 11 36
Leicester 21 9 7 5 26 23 3 34
Swansea 21 8 8 5 18 18 0 32
Blackpool 21 8 7 6 33 25 8 31
Sheff Utd 21 8 7 6 32 30 2 31
Bristol City 21 7 9 5 25 24 1 30
Watford 21 8 6 7 30 33 -3 30
Middlesbro’ 21 8 5 8 30 25 5 29
QPR 21 7 8 6 35 31 4 29
Preston 21 7 8 6 26 25 1 29
Crystal Pal 21 7 8 6 24 25 -1 29
Doncaster 21 6 9 6 27 26 1 27
Barnsley
Derby
20 7 5 8 26 32 -6 26
21 7 4 10 24 31 -7 25
Scunthorpe 21 6 5 10 24 38 -14 23
Coventry
Ipswich
21 5 7 9 24 33 -9 22
21 3 12 6 22 30 -8 21
Reading 21 5 6 10 23 33 -10 21
Sheff Wed 21 4 6 11 23 35 -12 18
Plymouth 20 4 3 13 16 32 -16 15
Peterboro 21 2 8 11 25 36 -11 14
ACTIVE NATION SCOTTISH CUP
THIRD ROUND REPLAY
Livingston.....................(1) 7 Clyde......................................(1) 1
TODAY’S DIARY
(Football 7.45pm unless stated)
Barclays Premier League
Birmingham v Blackburn (8pm)............................................................................
Bolton v West Ham (8pm) ......................................................................................
Man Utd v Wolverhampton (8pm) ......................................................................
Sunderland v Aston Villa..........................................................................................
FA Cup Second Round
Stockport v Torquay ..................................................................................................
Johnstones Paint’s Trophy
Northern Section Semi-Final
Carlisle v Bradford (7.30) ........................................................................................
Leeds v Accrington Stanley....................................................................................
Southern Section Semi-Final
Hereford v Milton Keynes Dons (7pm) ..............................................................
Southampton v Norwich ..........................................................................................
Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League
Dundee Utd v Rangers ..............................................................................................
Irn-Bru Scottish Division One
Raith v Airdrie Utd ....................................................................................................
Irn-Bru Scottish Division Two
Brechin v Peterhead ..................................................................................................
Cowdenbeath v Stenhousemuir ............................................................................
Stirling v Dumbarton (7.30)....................................................................................
SPORTS EDITOR JON COUCH
email sport@cityam.com
Big two set for Ascot showdown
RACING: Big Buck’s and Diamond Harry
look set for an explosive head-to-head at
Ascot on Saturday after featuring among
11 confirmations for the BGC Long Walk
Hurdle.
Last season’s World Hurdle hero Big
Buck’s made a winning return to action in
the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury,
while Grade One-winning novice
Diamond Harry defied top-weight status
to impress in the Timeform Betfair
Racing Club “Fixed Brush” Handicap
Hurdle at Haydock.
Both have their sights on a World
Hurdle tilt in March.
Pakistan hit back in Napier
CRICKET: Pakistan’s batsmen are in sight
of saving a series defeat against New
Zealand after a patient display in a rain-
interrupted fourth day’s play in Napier.
The tourists rallied to 347-4 at the
close of play, overturning a 248-run first
innings deficit to give their side a chance
in the third and deciding Test.
 Sport
24
It’s all Gold for Hammers as
ex-City duo lodge £50m bid
▲
FOOTBALL
BY JON COUCH
FORMER Birmingham City co-owners
David Gold and David Sullivan
stepped up their expected takeover of
struggling West Ham last night by
lodging a formal £50m bid.
The Hammers are seeking new
owners following the bankruptcy of
Icelandic chairman Bjorgolfur
Gudmundsson, while shirt sponsors,
the XL holiday company, also went
out of business.
Gold, meanwhile, has been in the
hunt for a club in the south after he
ended his 16-year association with
Birmingham when he and co-owner
Sullivan sold the club to Hong Kong
billionaire Carson Yeung.
Sky Sports News quoted a source
close to Gold as saying that a bid has
already been submitted to Rothschild
and Standard Bank, who were appoint-
ed in October to find new owners.
It is said that the money will be
split between paying off the Icelandic
owners and the debt accrued, and
providing funds to strengthen the
playing squad in January.
It is also understood that Gold and
Sullivan are fully behind the manage-
ment team of Gianfranco Zola and
Steve Clarke despite the Hammers
languishing in the bottom three in
the Premier League table.
The West Ham board are expected
to discuss the offer on Friday,
although it is also understood that
Gold and Sullivan’s is not the only
offer that has been lodged.
Either way, the introduction of a
new owner to Upton Park will come
as an early Christmas present to
Hammers fans, who are desperate for
stability after a turbulent last few sea-
son both on and off the pitch.
The club was bought by Icelandic
Broad and Anderson shun
IPL riches for Ashes assault
▲
CRICKET
BY JON COUCH
SEAM duo Stuart Broad and James
Anderson have turned their backs on
the big-money lure of the Indian
Premier League in order to help steer
England into a glorious new era.
Broad, 23, seen by many as the nat-
ural successor to all-rounder Andrew
Flintoff, shunned the chance to join
the world’s elite in the spring of 2010
in order to focus his attentions on a
hectic international calendar.
And he was joined by fellow seamer
Anderson in nailing his colours to the
David Gold (left) and David Sullivan up stepping up their bid to buy West Ham.
businessmen Eggert Magnusson and
Gudmundsson for £85m in 2006,
before Magnusson stepped down as
executive chairman to work in a non-
executive role in September 2007.
By December, Magnusson had
gone, selling his share of the club to
Gudmundsson, but his business
England mast with one eye clearly on
the return Ashes series in Australia
next winter.
“Obviously playing for my country
is a boyhood dream, and I want that
to continue,” Broad explained. “It’s
just how your body feels. We have
four important Tests coming up in
the next five weeks and then a tour of
Bangladesh. It’s a decision I’ve taken
to make sure I’m physically and men-
tally right to play for England.
“That’s not to say I won’t play in the
IPL in the future. It looks very excit-
ing. But this is a decision for 2010,
and I’m happy with it.”
“WE WILL ASSESS
OUR OPTIONS”
IS TIGER WOODS SET
TO LOSE ANOTHER
SPONSOR DEAL? P23
empire then collapsed in June this
year, causing the club to be acquired
by CB Holding, a unit of Iceland’s
bailed-out Straumur-Burdaras bank.
Straumur appointed Andrew
Bernhardt as chairman but without
funds to strengthen their squad, the
club’s league position began to suffer.
Anderson added: “I am proud to be
playing cricket for England and my
international career is more impor-
tant than anything which is why I
have decided not to compete in the
IPL in 2010. Taking on Australia next
winter is going to be a huge challenge
and one that I am fully committed to.
“I want to be an integral part of the
first England cricket team to retain the
Ashes since 1972 and I will be giving
myself the best possible chance of
achieving that by not playing in the
IPL. I’d like to be playing for England
as much as possible.”
TREDWELL GETS A CALL-UP: P23
Picture: ACTION IMAGES
Boss Zola faces a fight to hold onto
his three main assets – England trio
Robert Green, Matthew Upson and
Carlton Cole – but any movement in
the boardroom could now give the
Italian the rare luxury of dabbling in
the market himself in a bid to pull the
Hammers away from the drop zone.
We need characters to
save us, insists Carragher
▲
FOOTBALL
LIVERPOOL defender Jamie Carragher
has issued a rallying call to his team-
mates, insisting they need to show
character to bounce back from their
recent slump in form.
The Reds crashed to their sixth
league defeat of the season at home
to Arsenal on Sunday – a result which
sees them languish in seventh spot in
the table, five points behind the
Champions League places.
Carragher admits the defeat was
hard to take but is rallying round his
troops ahead of a busy Christmas peri-
od – starting with the home game
with Wigan tomorrow night.
CITYA.M. 15 DECEMBER 2009
Gunners
warned to
keep feet on
the ground
▲
FOOTBALL
BY JON COUCH
ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger has
warned his side must keep their feet
on the ground if they are to stay in
touch in the Premier League title race.
The Gunners came from behind to
beat Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield on
Sunday – a result which moved them
back up to third in the table, just six
points behind leaders Chelsea with a
game in hand.
But although proud of the way his
side have hauled their way back into
the leading pack, wily Wenger has
warned his troops not to get too car-
ried away, starting with a tricky trip
to Burnley tomorrow night.
“The win at Liverpool is a very sig-
nificant victory, but only if it is fol-
lowed by good results now over the
next few weeks,” the Frenchman said.
“We have to go to Burnley now on
Wednesday, a difficult game against a
side very good at home, and then we
have Hull at the Emirates on
Saturday. We must maintain our cur-
rent form in those games.
“We have shown that we have men-
tal strength. For us, we are back into
contention following the other results
from Saturday. We knew beforehand
that we had to take advantage of oth-
ers dropping points. We are in a good
position with a game in hand and
mentally it was a massive game for us.”
Striker Theo Walcott, meanwhile,
has hailed the character of his side
after Sunday’s win. “Results like this
show we are no pushovers,” he said.
“Being 1-0 down at Anfield, it is a
hostile place, but we showed great
spirit to come back and win.”
“Statistics can change quickly and
we have got to do that,” Carragher
said. “It’s tough at the moment but
part of playing for Liverpool is having
big character. That’s what we need
now. Between now and May it is going
to be a grind at times but we have got
to stick together, get through it and,
as I’m doing, pray to God that, at the
end of the season, there will be some-
thing worthwhile for what we’ve
gone through.”
Carragher also admits the clash
with Wigan is now crucial to
Liverpool’s season. “We can’t look for
excuses,” he added. “We know that
any little thing can get pounced upon
and that’s happening at the moment.”