BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY
BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY
LEAVE THE COLD AND SNOW
BEHIND YOU THIS WINTER
HOT CLIMATE HOLS SPECIAL P18-20
Issue 1,048 Monday 11 January 2010
D-DAY LOOMS
FOR CADBURY
PHONEY WAR
CONSUMER GOODS
▲
BY JULIA KOLLEWE
CADBURY shares are set to jump this
morning after mounting talk last
night that Ferrero could make a joint
bid with Hershey for the British con-
fectionery group.
Ferrero is thought to be working on
a syndicated loan of about €3bn
(£2.8bn). According to an Italian news-
paper, Mediobanca, which advises the
Italian chocolate maker, has contacted
other Italian banks – Intesa Sanpaolo
and UniCredit - in the hope of getting
up to five banks to lend between
$750m and $1bn each.
Ferrero has until 2 February to
make a counterbid to an offer from
Kraft, which Cadbury has rejected.
Both Ferrero and US confectioner
Man United launches bond
issue to help cut debt pile
▲
SPORT
BY JULIA KOLLEWE
MANCHESTER United said last night
it was seeking to raise £500m
through a bond issue to alleviate its
£699m debt burden.
The Premiership club had been
expected to raise £600m via a bond
issue. Its finance arm will issue senior
secured notes due 2017 to refinance
existing debt secured against the club.
FTSE 100 ▲5,534.24 +7.52
Hershey are smaller than Cadbury and
need significant funding to launch an
offer. Ferrero declined to comment,
reiterating a November statement that
it was assessing its options.
Cadbury sets out its final defence
against the Kraft bid tomorrow, fol-
lowed by a trading update on Friday. It
is expected to attack Kraft’s stock price
performance over the past few years.
Kraft sold its North American pizza
business to Swiss food group Nestle
last week, enabling it to improve the
Cadbury chairman Roger
Carr says Kraft is run by
its biggest shareholder,
Warren Buffett, who
opposes the firm’s bid.
Last year United’s annual profit of
£72m was almost wiped out by inter-
est payments of £69m.
Old Trafford’s owners, the
American Glazer family, bought the
club for £828m in May 2005, funding
one third of the deal with equity, one
third bank debt and one third with a
payment-in-kind note.
Manager Sir Alex Ferguson has
denied that the club’s debt pile has
affected his spending on players. Since
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cash component of its offer. Nestle has
ruled itself out of the bidding.
Cadbury’s chairman launched yet
another fierce attack on Kraft yester-
day. Roger Carr accused the US firm of
being run by its biggest shareholder,
Warren Buffett, He said Buffett’s oppo-
sition to the bid and pressure from rat-
ings agencies severely limited Kraft’s
ability to improve its offer.
It has until 19 January to decide
whether to raise its cash and shares
bid, which currently values Cadbury
at 769p a share, or £10.5bn. Ferrero
and Hershey are likely to wait until
then before entering the fray.
Cadbury’s chief executive Todd
Stitzer has made it clear that the com-
pany would prefer being taken over by
Hershey rather than Kraft because of
the companies’ cultural similarities.
the Glazers’ takeover of the club,
Ferguson has spent a net £32m on
new players. He has claimed that his
reluctance to spend the record £80m
United made from selling Cristiano
Ronaldo to Real Madrid last summer
was purely because he “couldn’t see
any value in the market”.
Last week the owner of Manchester
City, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al
Nahyan, wrote off £304.9m of personal
loans to the club to make it debt free.
£/$ 1.60▲+0.01
TECH FIRMS
FIGHT BACK
The Mayor says 9,000 bankers will quit London
Boris: exodus from City
to knock public finances
▲
BANKING
BY VICTORIA BATES
MAYOR Boris Johnson yesterday called
on the Treasury Select Committee to
launch an “urgent” investigation into
the government’s new tax on bank
bonuses, which he said would serious-
ly endanger the City’s position as a
competitive global financial centre.
The Mayor’s advisers predict up to
9,000 bankers could leave the UK for
more favourable jurisdictions due to
the so-called “supertax”, the new 50
per cent income tax band, rules on
non-doms and a raft of damaging EU
financial services regulation.
“These ‘salami-slicing’, shortsighted
proposals could potentially and per-
manently damage the competitive-
ness of London as a financial centre by
driving away the city’s unique cluster
of highly skilled people, ideas and
expertise,” Johnson said.
City Hall said the exodus could
potentially cost the economy over
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£1.2bn in lost tax revenues annually.
Johnson’s call to arms came as it
emerged that the Financial Services
Authority plans to force all bankers
earning over £1m to defer their bonus-
es under its new remuneration code.
Under the FSA’s original plans, only
those exerting a “significant influ-
ence” over a bank would be affected,
with those earning over £500,000 hav-
ing to defer 60 per cent of their bonus
over three years.
But the regulator has now widened
its net to ensure all bankers earning
over £1m will be subject to the 60 per
cent bonus deferral.
JP Morgan will on Friday kick off
the annual results round at the
world’s biggest banks, which are this
year expected to pay out around
£40bn in compensation. The bank is
expected to hand out a record $29bn
(£18.1bn) in salary and bonuses,
thanks to a resurgence in activity at
its investment banking division.
JP MORGAN: PAGE 7
Certified Distribution
02/11/09 – 29/11/09 is 102,194
 2 News
Britain needs to rediscover how to save
EDITOR’S LETTER
ALLISTER HEATH
BELIEVE it or not but many forecasters
are becoming more upbeat about
Britain’s prospects for the coming
year. HSBC, whose predictions are
always cautious, is expecting growth
of 2.2 per cent, much higher than the
consensus; others are also becoming
more optimistic.
I remain more downbeat. But it is
worth taking a look at some of the
arguments for bullishness, if only to
show why they are not convincing. It
is true that in the first year after the
last three major downturns – 1976,
1982 and 1993 – the economy grew by
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WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
THE SUNDAYS TODAY
GOOGLE BOSS WARNS UK OVER DEBT
MOUNTAIN
The chief executive of Google, Eric
Schmidt, has given warning to the UK
and other western governments that
reducing their massive deficits will
be far harder than in America
because of the dollar’s status as the
world’s reserve currency.
PET CHAIN SUITORS GIVEN FINAL
DEADLINE BY OWNER
Potential buyers of Pets at Home have
been given a final bid deadline of 25
January by the pet retailer’s private
equity owner Bridgepoint Capital.
Sources close to the situation said the
firm would consider offers from
interested parties for the UK’s fifth
largest pet retail chain. So far, buyout
firms Bain Capital, KKR, Apax
Partners and TPG are thought to have
made bids in the region of £800m.
2.6 per cent, 2.1 per cent and 2.2 per
cent respectively. Unfortunately, the
present recession wasn’t normal: it
was accompanied by unprecedented
monetary reflation and an equally
extreme budget deficit. Both of these
policies need to be reversed, starting
this year; this will hit the recovery.
Budget deficits have often been
tightened without too many problems
in the past – and when deficits are so
high, cutting them actually boosts
growth – but it is best that the process
takes place via spending cuts, not tax
hikes. Unfortunately, we will be get-
ting plenty of the latter. Meanwhile,
ending quantitative easing, while
urgently necessary, will push up the
cost of borrowing and could even
force a sterling crisis if foreign
investors refuse to buy our gilts.
The bulls are right on one point:
much stronger credit growth is not a
prerequisite for better GDP growth –
the economy accelerated for several
years in the early 1990s before bank
lending started to recover, as Capital
M&B talks to
rebel Lewis
LEISURE
▲
BY JULIA KOLLEWE
PUBS group Mitchells & Butlers,
which owns the All Bar One and
Harvester chains, is thought to have
begun peace talks with rebel investor
Joe Lewis.
The M&B board is this week expect-
ed to offer to back some of the four
men proposed as non-executive direc-
tors by Lewis at a shareholder meeting
at the end of the month, according to
The Guardian. In return, M&B’s largest
shareholder is thought to have
pledged to support existing non-execu-
tive Tony Bates, who also faces a share-
holder vote at the annual meeting on
28 January. Last month there was a bit-
ter falling out when M&B ousted four
directors – two of them Lewis
appointees – accusing them of miscon-
duct and plotting. The group has
GUARDIAN READY TO THROW CASH
AT EMAP
The Guardian Media Group and pri-
vate-equity investor Apax have
pledged to pump more money into
Emap, their jointly-owned business
publisher, whose assets include the
Nursing Times and the Cannes Lions
International Advertising festival. The
pair are gearing up to support an
acquisition drive with fresh funds
after rejecting proposals to relax
covenants on Emap’s £700m of debt
because it would be too expensive.
BP TO SHUT GAS NETWORK DESPITE
RECORD DEMAND
The oil giant BP will pile the pressure
on Britain’s stretched gas supplies
tomorrow when it shuts down a large
gas network in the North Sea. The
Southern North Sea pipeline system
will be closed for a week.
Economics notes. And even if credit
availability remains constrained com-
pared to 2007, access to loans remains
easier than it was in the 1970s or
1980s, when credit markets were
under-developed and tied up in miles
of red tape.
Yet one of the biggest drags to
growth in the years ahead is that con-
sumers will have to pay back more
debt. Sure, savings as a share of
income shot up from an absurd -0.7
per cent in the first quarter of 2008 to
a more respectable 8.6 per cent in the
third quarter of 2009, leaving it above
its long-run average of just under 8 per
cent. This is progress. But the rise has
been driven by strong disposable
income growth, powered by ultra-low
interest rates, rather than savage cuts
in spending; as soon as mortgage rates
jump back, many will save less. The
savings ratio also remains lower than
after the previous recession.
Debt has fallen from 174 per cent of
UK households’ income to 155 per
cent – but was just 105 per cent a
brought an official complaint against
the Bahamas-based billionaire curren-
cy investor. A ruling by the Takeover
Panel is expected before the compa-
ny’s annual shareholder meeting.
If a compromise between the two
sides is reached, Lewis could even back
M&B chairman Simon Laffin, who has
led hostilities against Lewis and other
major shareholders and also faces a
shareholder vote. However, until now
the investor has made clear that he
wants to see Laffin replaced by outgo-
ing Debenhams chairman John
Lovering.
Joe Lewis has been
pressing for major
changes at M&B,
which has complained
about his behaviour
EU INVENTORIES LOW AMID RECOV-
ERY DOUBT
Businesses are holding very low stock
levels and are reluctant to boost
inventories, according to some of
Europe’s leading chief executives –
providing evidence of lingering
doubts about the durability of eco-
nomic recovery. Business leaders
from consumer goods, chemicals and
manufacturing companies have told
the Financial Times that they have lit-
tle idea of when demand will return.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION NOMINEES
FACE GRILLING
The European Union launches the
final phase of building its new-look
leadership team today when legisla-
tors start to grill 26 nominees to the
next European Commission to assess
their suitability for office.
decade ago. Nobody knows what the
“right” level of debt is but it is almost
certainly much lower than the pres-
ent situation. Debt as a percentage of
households’ assets remain above the
early 1990s peak – even though house
prices remain artificially high and
could tumble again in 2010.
All of this suggests the economy is
set for years of paltry growth, with a
second, devastating crisis a possibility
if the public finances aren’t tackled
soon. It is far too soon for optimism.
CALMING DOWN AT LAST
Here is an interesting though unscien-
tific anecdote. I was a guest on James
Max’s LBC radio show yesterday after-
noon, where we spent an hour dis-
cussing City bonuses – but the calls
and texts were less hostile to bankers
than on similar shows I took part in
before Christmas. It may be that the
tide of extreme, rabid hostility against
anybody who works in finance may be
slowly turning. I certainly hope so.
allister.heath@cityam.com
Ice and low temperatures are set to persist for the next few days
Transport stalled by snow
TRANSPORT
▲
BY JULIA KOLLEWE
THE government said great efforts
were being made to keep roads and
schools open, amid signs that the
severe wintry weather conditions are
easing. Nearly all motorways and
trunk roads will be open today, the
government said.
While it is not issuing any severe
weather warnings at present, the Met
office says snow, ice and low tempera-
tures will persist in the next few days.
SHAREHOLDER DREAM OF THATCHER
COMES TRUE, SAYS ONSR
One in six British families now owns
shares, according to the first ever offi-
cial figures. The new estimates from
the Office for National Statistics
appear to show that Margaret
Thatcher’s dream of creating a share-
holder democracy has taken root.
The ONS found that 15pc of British
households – 3.75m – own some
shares directly on the London stock
market.
UK ECONOMY LIKELY TO BE DOWN-
GRADED, WARNS INVESCO’S NEIL
WOODFORT
Expert investor Neil Woodford has
warned that the UK economy is “not
out of the woods” and advised against
buying banking stocks. Neil Woodford
of Invesco advised against buying
banking shares, saying the industry
was overvalued.
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010
Japan Airlines
approaches
bankrupt status
▲
TRANSPORT
THE main lenders to Japan Airlines
plan are ready to accept a restructur-
ing package that would require the
carrier to file for bankruptcy increas-
ing the likelihood of a state bailout
this month.
A state-backed turnaround fund is
undersood to be planning to establish
a credit line of more than 600bn yen
(£4bn) along with a state-owned bank
to ensure JAL can keep flying once a
bankruptcy is announced.
Reflecting growing concerns over
the potential fallout from a bankrupt-
cy, reports said the government plans
to tap diplomatic channels to reassure
the 35 or so countries to which JAL
flies that it would support the carrier.
JAL, weighed down by $16bn (£10bn) in
debt and mired in losses, applied for
state funding for ailing companies.
Picture: PA
Councils need about 60,000 tonnes
of salt a day and supplies are running
short as the cold spell continues.
They have had to focus on keeping
main routes clear of ice. Salt ordered
from abroad will not arrive until 21
January.
Secondary schools in England,
Wales and Northern Ireland have
GCSE and A-level exams starting
today, even though many were closed
in recent days. School closures have
been the main reason for a surge in
snow-related workplace absenteeism.
TUC GETS MILLIONS FROM GOVERN-
MENT FOREIGN AID POT
The Government is giving the Trades
Union Congress millions of pounds
from its foreign aid budget to pay for
the education of British trade union-
ists and to support advocacy work in
Britain. The payments by the
Department for International
Development (DfID), which include a
£2.4m grant, are evidence of a deep-
ening relationship between the DfID
and the TUC.
POUNDLAND SHRUGS OFF WOOLIES’
EFFECT
Poundland, the discount retailer,
enjoyed a bumper Christmas as shop-
pers opted for value in stocking
fillers, decorations and cards. The
group said that like-for-like sales dur-
ing the five weeks to 3 January had
been up 4.4 per cent on the same peri-
od last year.
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010
RBS hires advisers
to prepare 300 of
its outlets for sale
BANKING
▲
BY JULIA KOLLEWE
ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) has
appointed UBS to advise on the sale of
more than 300 branches, which is
expected to attract a flurry of interest.
A teaser document, detailing the
branches included in the sale, was cir-
culated at the end of 2009. Potential
bidders include National Australia
Bank, which owns Clydesdale and
Yorkshire Banks in the UK, and
Santander, the Spanish banking group
that has acquired Abbey, Alliance &
Leicester and Bradford & Bingley.
The sale process is at an early stage
and an information memorandum is
still being finalised.
The European Commission has
ordered RBS to sell more than 300
branches in return for receiving bil-
lions of pounds of aid from the UK gov-
China tops forecast
with strong growth
WORLD ECONOMY
▲
BY HARRY BANKS
GROWTH in China’s exports and
imports last month blew past
expectations, figures yesterday
revealed, providing fresh evidence
of the vigour of the economy and
strengthening the case for Beijing
to let the yuan start climbing again.
Exports leapt 17.7 per cent from
a year earlier, dwarfing the 4.0 per
cent rise forecast by economists
and breaking a 13-month streak of
year-on-year declines; imports
surged 55.9 per cent, much more
than the 31.0 per cent increase
markets had expected.
“The strong acceleration in
imports may heighten the chances
of overheating and put more pres-
sure for the government to tighten
policy,” said Wang Hu, an econo-
ANALYSIS l How China’s economy is booming
Export and import growth (yr/yr % change)
Dec Nov Oct
+55.9 +26.7 -6.4
Aug Jul Jun
-17.0 -14.9 -13.2
Trade, in billions of dollars
Dec Nov Oct
112.3 94.6 103.0
Aug Jul Jun
94.8 87.2 75.4
ernment. The 84 per cent state-
downed bank also has to sell its com-
modities trading joint venture RBS
Sempra and its insurance operations,
including Churchill and Direct Line.
Forced asset sales in the wake of the
government bailout of several major
UK banks are opening up retail bank-
ing to new competition, as Virgin
Money and Tesco are entering the
banking market.
Meanwhile RBS chief executive
Stephen Hester is likely to face ques-
tions over bonus figures today when
he appears in front of the Treasury
select committee.
Philip Dunne MP, a member of the
Public Accounts Committee, said RBS’s
proposed bonus scheme meant that
RBS bankers would receive more gen-
erous bonuses than bankers at ABN
Amro, the Dutch bank which RBS
bought for £10bn in 2007.
mist at Guotai Junan Securities in
Beijing. Based on the trade data, he
estimated industrial output in
December grew by more than 25
per cent from a year earlier and
that GDP growth in the fourth
quarter exceeded 11 per cent.
Despite the leap in exports, the
even bigger jump in imports meant
China’s trade surplus slipped to
$18.4bn in December from $19.1bn
in November and $39.0bn in
December 2008. Economists had
expected it to tick up to $19.6bn.
China was not the only Asian
exporter to enjoy a dazzling
December. South Korea and
Taiwan reported export growth of
46.9 per cent and 33.7 per cent,
respectively.
But China is far bigger, overtak-
ing Germany as the world’s biggest
exporter of goods in 2009. Its
Export and import growth (yr/yr % change)
Sep
-3.5
May
-25.2
Trade balance Trade, in billions of dollars
Sep Dec Nov Oct Sep
88.0 18.4 19.1 12.9 15.7
May Aug Jul Jun May
78.8 10.6 8.2 13.4 13.1
News 3
NEWS | IN BRIEF
Eurostar disruption continues
Eurostar services between London and
Paris are still being affected by what it
described as “severe” weather condi-
tions. Eurostar will run a restricted serv-
ice today and urged passengers to cancel
or postpone their trips if possible. Some
late evening services will be cancelled.
Disney services are running normally.
Early morning and late night services
were also cancelled this weekend.
Banks lift salaries, cut bonuses
Most banks have increased basic
salaries and cut bonuses for executives
in response to calls for leaner compensa-
tion packages after the financial crisis,
according to a survey by consultancy
Mercer. Four fifths of respondents in a
survey of 61 banks and other financial
services firms said they had made or
plan to make changes to annual bonuses
and short-term incentives.
House of Fraser celebrates sales
Own-brand labels helped department
store group House of Fraser to surging
Christmas sales. Like-for-like sales rose
7.1 per cent in the eight weeks to 2
January, following a 1.5 per cent fall
during the same period a year ago. Chief
executive John King said the figures
meant House of Fraser was a festive
winner, putting it ahead of rival Next
and Marks & Spencer’s non-food unit.
Parts of the RBS branch network will be put up for sale Picture: GETTY RETAIL NEWS: PAGE 12
booming investment and con-
sumption are helping to rebalance
the world economy even though
Beijing has refused to let the yuan
rise against the dollar since the
global financial crisis began in
mid-2008, said Rob Subbaraman,
chief Asia economist at Nomura in
Hong Kong.
Its imports of crude oil also hit a
monthly record, while iron ore
shipments were the second highest Small investment. Substantial returns.
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expectations. Bed & Breakfast from
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“It shows that China will contin-
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 4 Politics
Tories unveil
plans to help
small firms
▲
POLITICS
BY DAVID CROW
DAVID Cameron yesterday announced
a raft of measures to help small busi-
nesses, as he attempted to portray the
Tories as a party of entrepreneurship.
He said a Tory government would
end the “anti-aspiration” culture that
had been fostered under Labour, by
increasing the insolvency threshold
and reducing the number of days it
takes to get a new business off the
ground.
Currently, the government can pur-
sue and make bankrupt companies
which have unpaid taxes of over £750,
but the Tories said they would
increase the threshold to £5,000
immediately if they win the general
election.
“The insolvency threshold is cur-
rently £750. We would lift that to
£5,000 because, when you look at the
figures, more small businesses have
gone bankrupt in this recession than
in previous recessions and a number
have been pushed there by the gov-
ernment itself,” Cameron told BBC1’s
Andrew Marr show.
Conservative party sources said the
measure would be cost neutral,
because the government would save
on welfare payments by protecting
jobs that would otherwise be lost.
And the Tory leader said he would
make it easier for entrepreneurs to
start a new venture by cutting red
tape and allowing them to register
online.
“It takes 13 to 14 days to start a new
business in this country, in America
it’s half as long. We have the ambi-
tion of making us one of the fastest
countries in the world to start up a
new business,” Cameron said.
Cameron also said he would scrap
rules preventing people living in
social housing from starting a firm
from home.
“The message that seems to be
coming out of Labour at the moment
is don’t start a business, don’t buy
your home, don’t try and leave
money to your children, don’t try and
get on.” POLITICAL BETTING: P16
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010
ELECTION2010
Tories to cut immigration
Immigration would fall by as much as
75 per cent if the Conservatives win
the next general election, David
Cameron said yesterday. He said he
would use an annual cap to push net
immigration from around 200,000 in
recent years to the tens-of-thousands
last seen under the Thatcher and
Major governments. “I’m in favour of
immigration, we’ve benefited from
immigration, but I think the pres-
sures – particularly on our public serv-
ices – have been very great.”
Cameron in deficit pledge
David Cameron yesterday made a firm
commitment to cut public debt faster
than Labour. Gordon Brown’s plans to
halve the £178bn budget deficit with-
in the next four years do not go far
enough, Cameron said. “We haven’t
put a figure on it, but unlike the Prime
Minister I'm happy to sit in this chair
and say ‘Yes, there will be cuts’,” he
added. But chief secretary to the
Treasury Liam Byrne said: “He said he
wants deeper, faster cuts than Labour
but then deepened the mystery about
where the cash would come from,”
Byrne said.
Ex-Labour supremo hits out
Gordon Brown’s premiership came
under fire yet again yesterday, after a
former Labour Party treasurer said
Number 10 had been reduced to a
“shambles” in 2007 when Brown
dithered over an early election. Peter
Watt, who stood down after the party
funding scandal in 2007, also said
Brown lacked the “emotional intelli-
gence” to win the next election.
David Cameron said he would cut red tape for small firms Pic: Micha Theiner/CITY A.M.
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010 News 5

Oleg Deripaska cancels 2007

deal to acquire Russneft firm
Approval from the commission, Sberbank to acquire Russneft from
▲

ENERGY
BY JULIA KOLLEWE
RUSSIAN tycoon Oleg Deripaska has
pulled out of a deal struck in 2007 to
acquire oil firm Russneft from its
founder, Mikhail Gutseriyev.
The deal was reversed because
Deripaska failed to win permission
from the Russian government’s com-
mission on foreign investment in
strategic industries.
chaired by Russian prime minister
Vladimir Putin, was necessary because
Deripaska used offshore vehicles for
the deal. Last month, Deripaska,
Russia’s most heavily indebted tycoon,
wrapped up talks to restructure
$16.8bn of debt for his firm UC Rusal,
the world’s biggest aluminium pro-
ducer. He wants to sell a 10 per cent
stake in Rusal this month.
Deripaska took a $2.7bn loan from
Gutseriyev for $3bn in 2007 when the
businessman fled Russia chased by
police over unpaid taxes.
The head of Russia’s anti-monopoly
watchdog Igor Artemyev said the
deal's structure involved hundreds of
offshore firms and the government’s
commission needed time to look into
it. The deal’s structure is thought to
have involved hundreds of offshore
firms. Deripaska is believed to be heavily in debt Picture: PA

City gets New

Year jitters as
outlook dims to be bold.
umes, although insurance brokers
▲

BANKING
BY OLIVER SHAH
BANKS and securities traders expect
profits to flatten in the coming quar-
ter, indicating weak short-term expec-
tations among City players.
Sentiment across the Square Mile is
downbeat as the New Year gets under-
way, according to a survey by the CBI
and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The
report found the majority of financial
services firms were concerned the
booming business volumes seen in
the fourth quarter of 2009 would be
unsustainable and that further cost-
cutting would be necessary.
A balance of 13 per cent of finan-
cial services firms said they expected
falling business volumes this quarter
– the most negative response since
December 2008. A balance of nine per
cent expected the slight uptick in
business with private clients to peter
out, while an overwhelming balance
of 54 per cent said commission and
trading income would fall.
Income values in the banking sec-
tor are forecast to drop, flattening
profitability. Finance houses expect
further shrinkage in business vol-
and life insurers were more positive.
Ian McCafferty, chief economic
adviser at the CBI, said: “The bounce
in UK financial services activity over
the past six months is not expected to
last as we enter 2010. Firms see their
business volumes falling back again,
with no further improvement in prof-
itability over the next three months.”
PwC’s John Hitchins
said one positive was
growing headcount in
banking for the first
time in two years
John Hitchins, UK banking leader
at PwC, said the long-term outlook
for the banking sector remained
strong but the immediate-term view
was “less encouraging”.
He said: “Activity in revenues are
expected to decline over the coming
quarter, predictions for demand
remain weak and an uncertain regu-
latory future continues to temper the
banks’ growing confidence with cau-
tion. On a positive note, the sector
reports growing headcount.” Introducing the new
B l a c k B e r r y ® B o l d™ 9 7 0 0 s m a r t p h o n e

Bolland to start Ex-Lupus man There are the go-getters and the make-happeners. They are the people who
think bold thoughts, act bold acts and dream bold dreams. And the rest of the
crunch talks in bid to rejoin world watches with anticipation. It’s this spirit that gets us going too.
▲

RETAIL
MARC Bolland will jet back early from
holiday to have crunch talks with Wm
Morrison about his departure date.
Soon-to-be new employer Marks &
Spencer wants him to start as chief
executive as soon as possible but
under the terms of his contract the
Dutchman still has nine months
notice to work.
Morrison’s is believed to have pre-
ferred to concentrate on Christmas
trading before entering what could be
difficult negotiations with Bolland.
Until Bolland begins his new term,
M&S cannot look for a replacement
for Sir Stuart Rose.
INVESTMENT The type of spirit that pushed us to look over every curve, edge, button
THE ousted boss of industrial investor
Lupus Capital has launched a second and processor, to make our new BlackBerry Bold 9700, the best one
attempt to be reinstated to the board. yet. To make sure it lived up to the name, we dressed it in a tailored suit
Greg Hutchings was ejected as exec-
utive chairman last July after the and accessorised it with a new optical trackpad. Experience the new
company breached part of a lending
agreement. He then made a failed BlackBerry Bold 9700. Visit blackberry.co.uk/love
effort to rejoin in October. He has
requested another extraordinary
meeting with an eye on the chief
executive post, it was reported yester-
day. To succeed, Hutchings would
need 50 per cent of votes at the EGM.
Hutchings holds around an 11 per © 2009 Research In Motion Limited. All rights reserved. BlackBerry®, RIM®, Research In Motion®, SureType®, SurePress™ and related trademarks, names, and logos
are the property of Research In Motion Limited and are registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world. Screen image simulated.
cent stake in Lupus, having spent
about £9m buying its shares.
 6 News
London-listed blue chips derive most profit overseas
UK spending
 !*,(
!(,(
!%,(
could spark
'' &( *! "!&% (&$ "*/ %.
bond crisis
▲
UK ECONOMY
BY STEVE DINNEEN
THE UK faces a currency and bond
crisis by 2016 if government expen-
diture is not drastically cut, accord-
ing to new findings by the Centre
for Economics and Business
Research (CEBR).
The current level of public spend-
ing will fuel a slight acceleration in
economic growth of around 0.25 per
cent for the next five years but will
squeeze out private investment in
the medium term.
Douglas McWilliams, chief execu-
tive officer of CEBR, told City A.M.:
“The government hasn’t got any seri-
ous plans for decreasing public
spending.
“If expenditure isn’t cut, in the
coming years there will be a currency
crisis and possibly a bond crisis too.
Private investment will be squeezed
out and this is going to severely ham-
per the economy by around 2016.
“In the short term there will be an
increase in jobs and a slight increase
in economic growth but this will be
outweighed by the eventual fall in
investment.
“When the government increased
spending they threw too much money
in too quickly. Now they need to imme-
diately start phasing a cut in public
expenditure. Over the next 4-5 years
there needs to be a sharp reduction.
“We estimate there needs to be an
initial cut of around £20bn a year,
mounting to within the region of
£180bn being cut by 2016.
“They could start by cutting pay
and cutting pensions. They can
FTSE profits overseas
▲
FINANCIAL MARKETS
BY RACHEL STEVENSON
ALMOST all profits made by blue chip
FTSE 100 companies are generated out-
side the UK, according to a report from
financial website, The Motley Fool,
which says the sluggish recovery of the
UK economy will not affect the per-
Picture: Micha Theiner/CITY A.M. formance of blue chip shares.

"*/ ("% 
*! )* '( **"% %  ("%
£1bn for
'$ "# (" -"*! %(/
The research shows 83 per cent of
FTSE profits are from overseas, with
£120bn of the £144bn of profits made
by blue chip companies last year from
outside of the UK. Motley Fool director
David Kuo says this means the FTSE
should not be seen as a barometer of
the UK economy. He points to the dif-
ference between UK GDP and the per-
formance of the index. Between the
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010
last quarter of 2008 and the third quar-
ter of 2009, the UK economy contract-
ed by five per cent, while the FTSE 100
rose 18 per cent.
“Investors betting on a global recov-
ery can do so by exploiting the geo-
graphic diversity of the FTSE 100
index. The UK economy may struggle
to recover from recession but it’s
unlikely to hold back the FTSE.”
3i to raise
small caps
▲
PRIVATE EQUITY
BY OLIVER SHAH
PRIVATE equity giant 3i has spotted a
raft of investment opportunities in
international growth companies as
the world economy improves.
The firm is planning to raise £1bn
for a growth capital fund that would
take minority stakes in small caps.
The venture, first mentioned during
3i’s half-year results in November,
marks a move by chief executive
Michael Queen to bring the listed
buyout group back to its roots.
A fundraising would be the first
time 3i has brought in significant
external cash for growth capital
investment rather than using its own
balance sheet. It has £1.6bn of assets
in its growth capital portfolio but just
£28m of that is external money.
A source said the nascent economic
recovery meant growth companies
were now ripe for investment.
“As companies come out of reces-
sion there’s going to be a big demand
for equity,” the source said. “They’ve
all cut down on working capital and
capital expenditure and when we
come out of a period like that there’s
a big financing need.”
Growth capital is 3i’s oldest busi-
ness, but its investment in the area
fell from £990m in 2008 to £343m last
year. The news comes a year after
Philip Yea was ejected from the top
job as debts soared and shares fell.
ANALYSIS l 3i
p 289.60
300 8 Jan
achieve plenty of reductions without
  
touching services. But there are also a
lot of services that do not warrant the
current level of expenditure.”
Britain’s record budget deficit
stands at more than 12 per cent of
GDP, the worst in the Group of 20
nations.
Winterhill set to raise £6m in Aim float
▲
FINANCIAL SERVICES
BY VICTORIA BATES
INSOLVENCY services specialist
Winterhill will today announce its
intention to raise £6m through an ini-
tial public offering (IPO) on London’s
Aim market, as it seeks to capitalise
on the spate of corporate bankrupt-
cies coming out of the recession.
Directors Andrew and Neil
Duckworth, who founded asset valua-
 
---"*/"%.&+#"'!&%''
tion and disposal firm Winterhill
Asset in 1998, intend to use £3.5m of
the monies raised to acquire corpo-
rate debt recovery business Largo,
renaming the combined entity
Winterhill Group.
Neil Duckworth, who becomes
chief executive of the group, said:
“We are very busy at the moment –
the firm does well in a counter-cyclical
environment, when we tend to see a
boom in corporate restructurings and
290
insolvencies coming out of recession.”
He added that the acquisition of
Largo will provide a platform for the
business to expand into non-insolven-
cy based services such as asset
appraisal and recovery.
Winterhill has also hired
Countrywide chairman Harry Hill as
its new non-executive chairman and
Paul Hancock – a veteran of JP Morgan
and Bank of America – as a non-execu-
tive director.
DANIEL STEWART
NOMINATED
ADVISER AND
BROKER TO
WINTERHILL
BROKER Daniel Stewart is acting as
nominated adviser and broker to
Winterhill on its upcoming placing.
Leading the team on the float is
Simon Leathers, a director in corpo-
rate finance at the firm for several
years. He will be backed up by relative
280
270
260
250
12 Oct 30 Oct 19 Nov 9 Dec 31 Dec
newcomer Emma Earl, who joined the
broker recently as a manager in cor-
porate finance.
Landing the deal will come as a
welcome piece of good news for
Daniel Stewart, which has struggled
over the course of the recession due
to the near-dearth of corporate
finance activity in the small cap sec-
tor. In September, the firm reported a
27 per cent drop in full year revenues
to £1.9m, though chief executive Peter
Shea said the group had noticed an
uplift in underlying activity in all busi-
ness areas in the second half as mar-
ket conditions begin to improve.
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010 News 7

Taxpayer will be rewarded

for Northern Rock support
earlier this month but now looks set pension scheme into the “bad bank”

▲
BANKING
BY STEVE DINNEEN
THE taxpayer will be fully rewarded
for rescuing Northern Rock from the
brink of collapse, according to chair-
man Ron Sandler.
But he claimed it was “highly
unlikely” the bank would be sold
prior to the general election.
The government injected more
than £1.4bn restructuring the bank
to reap as much as £2bn when it is
sold.
The restructuring involved separat-
ing Northern Rock plc, a £20bn, 76
branch operation, from Northern
Rock (Asset Management), the “bad
bank” that contains around £80bn of
questionable assets. The government
hopes to attract bids for the “good
bank” in the lead-up to the election. It
transferred Northern Rock’s £350m
part of its business.
Blackstone, the US private equity
firm, has been approached by Sir
Richard Branson’s Virgin Money
about backing a renewed bid for the
bank.
Whether the Asset Management
business eventually realises its value
will only become clear further down
the line when it is seen if mortgages
are converted into cash.

JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon has protested against the bonus tax Picture: REUTERS

JPMorgan set
for bonus haul
over the new one-off 50 per cent tax on
Work
faster.
▲

TRANSPORT
BY HARRY BANKS
JP MORGAN Chase is set to defy calls
for restraint and pay out record bonus-
es this week thanks to bumper invest-
ment banking profits.
The US investment firm is expected
to pay compensation of $29bn (£18bn)
to its executives when it kicks off the
annual banking results season on
Friday. The pay-out is expected to be up
28 per cent from last year, according to
analysts, partly due to a 50,000
increase in staff after the firm
acquired Bear Stearns and Washington
Mutual. JP Morgan’s 220,861 employ-
ees are on track to earn an average
$131,300 for the year, against $100,000
in 2008, although its top investment
bankers will pocket far more.
Analysts reckon the world’s biggest
banks will pay more than $65bn to
their staff over the next fortnight, in
defiance of efforts by the US and UK
governments to rein in bonuses. Jamie
Dimon, JP Morgan’s chairman and
chief executive, has personally com-
plained to chancellor Alistair Darling
bonuses. The tax is also thought to
have prompted the bank to reconsider
plans to build a European headquar-
ters in London.
Most banks in the City have said
they would absorb all or part of the
cost of Britain’s supertax, rather than
cut back on remuneration.
JP Morgan received $25bn of govern-
ment money under the Troubled
Assets Relief Program last year, which
it has paid back. The bank is forecast to
report earnings per share growth of 62
per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009,
equivalent to profits of $2.7bn.
ANALYSIS l JPMorgan Chase
$ 44.68
9 Jan
With Wi-Fi and more seamless working time on our trains, you can
47
get things done at up to 125mph. And with flexible pricing to suit
45
all business budgets, it’s even easier to get up to speed.
43
41
19 Oct 9 Nov 30 Nov 21 Dec

Annual fraud breaks the £2bn Book in advance at virgintrains.com

barrier and could treble soon

porate fraud could reach as high as
▲

UK ECONOMY
REPORTED fraud in the UK broke the
£2bn barrier for the first time and
could treble over the next two years.
New research from business advis-
ers BDO suggests that business and
public sector fraud rocketed a stagger-
ing 76 per cent last year with both the
number and size of frauds increasing
dramatically.
And it warns annual reported cor-
£5bn by 2012 as more deception is
uncovered.
BDO says fraud will become harder
to hide as companies battle against
tighter cashflow and focus on reduc-
ing costs.
Last year saw the sharpest increase
since reports began seven years ago,
with the average value of each fraud
now over £5m compared to £1.8m in
Wi-Fi free in First Class, hourly rates apply in standard.
2003.
 The Capitalist
8 CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010
EDITED BY
VICTORIA BATES
GOT A STORY? EMAIL
thecapitalist@cityam.com

A BABY RAY OF LIGHT PENETRATES

THROUGH SNOWY SKIES OF GLOOM
GLOOM, gloom and more gloom set-
tles over us because of that dratted
snow – dwindling grit supplies, an
acute gas shortage, train cancella-
tions, firms left in the lurch by
snowed-in staff, the spiralling eco-
nomic cost for small businesses… the
list goes on and on.
But there is hope on the horizon,
according to a frisky little note that
arrives courtesy of usually sedate IHS
Global Insight economist and City
A.M. shadow Monetary Policy
Committee member Howard Archer.
Yes, apparently there’s another
benefit to the big freeze, apart from
the seemingly endless “snow days”
currently being enjoyed by many an
out-of-town-based City worker.
“Of course, some sectors will benefit
such as providers of thermal under-
wear, scarves, hats and other winter
clothes,” writes Archer, the hint of a
mischievous twinkle in his eye. “And
there may also be a baby boom in
nine months’ time!”
Definitely a reason to put out the
bunting.
RELIGIOUS FERVOUR
The ability of the Church of England
to adapt to the modern world never

The snow isn’t all doom and gloom, if it causes a baby boom as predicted Picture: GETTY

ceases to amaze. Religious readers out
there may wish to pop along at
12.30pm today to St Lawrence Jewry
church, next to the Guildhall, for an
annual Plow Monday service with a
difference. This service provides an
opportunity to bless tools of the trade,
which traditionally involved a village
plough being brought to the church
door and blessed. But, as the church’s
newly-appointed vicar Canon David
Parrott explains, times have changed.
“We’re nowhere near a field in the
City so I thought it would be a good
idea to bless our basic working tool
instead – technology,” he tells me. “It’s
and this one is right up with the best
of them.
Peter Thanni of accountancy firm
KPMG is determined to give a helping
hand to the family of his erstwhile
chum Ian Spiers – who, having
worked in recruitment in the City for
nigh on 20 years, developed early-
onset dementia last year in his early
fifties and is now in a care home.
Thanni, weighing in at a hefty 18 st
12.6 lb, will be putting himself
through a gruelling diet regime for
the next 40 days in the hope of raising
money for every pound lost.
“For someone who loves their food
as much as I do, this will not be an
easy task,” he jokes, “but raising
money for Ian’s family will be just the
inspiration I need to make the weight
fall off.”
He’s already joined a gym and
Weightwatchers in preparation for
his ordeal, so for details on how to
sponsor our slimming champion,
email peter.thanni@kpmg.co.uk.

St Lawrence Jewry hosts a tech service today

all part of wanting to ensure our serv-

ices are fresh and lively for the City.”
At the very least, this one will be a
novelty – Parrott will be asking the
congregation to raise their
Blackberrys, mobile phones and iPods
into the air during the service in
order to be blessed.

WEIGHT WATCHER
Being a soft soul at heart, The
Capitalist is always touched by tales of
endeavour in aid of a good cause –

BILL OF THE WEEK

A NEW gastronomic haunt to grace

the column this week, as this group of
diners headed off to restaurant, bar
and entertainment venue Circus in
the West End.
After a magnum of Laurent Perrier
to kick off the evening, they enjoyed
starters of langoustines and pulled
pork, mains of Cajun tuna, fillet
steak and schnitzel, and rich cheese-
cake and panna cotta for dessert.
Four bottles of wine and numer-
ous gin, rum, sambuca and amaret-
to cocktails later, I’m told our tipsy
diners were all too keen to join in
the dancing on the tables…

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'/( $% '(%$ $%) )% )' , ) %')($%$(%#

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&' )) $ , ) %')($%$( $ '(*") $ "%((( ')' )$

.%*' $ ) " &%( ) *) $+' #%' )$ ) *$( " $ .%*' %*$)



 

 

%')($%$(%# (  )' $ $# % &'- ) ,  ( *)%' ( $ '*") . )  $$ " '+ (
*)%' ).
 10 News
ABI calls for restraint on
executive pay packages
▲
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
BY OLIVER SHAH
DIRECTORS at Britain’s largest banks
have been warned against tarnishing
their reputations by developing
schemes to exempt top earners from
higher income tax.
The Association of British Insurers,
whose members own nearly a fifth of
the stockmarket, said it “would not
The ABI’s Peter Montagnon says shareholders should not fund employees’ tax burdens be able to approve” salary structures
that focused on avoiding the forth-
coming 50 per cent tax band instead
of encouraging long-term strategy.
The ABI has written to the remu-
neration committees of FTSE350 com-
panies urging them to review the way
they reward staff. Shareholders do
not want to see bonuses paid out
when performance has been excep-
tionally poor, the ABI said, or to see
executives handed windfall gains if
share option multiples are main-
Former AIG boss blames
Goldman for its collapse
▲
INSURANCE
BY HARRY BANKS
THE former head of American
International Group is urging a closer
look at the actions of Goldman Sachs,
claiming the investment bank con-
tributed to the insurer’s near-collapse,
the Wall Street Journal reported this
weekend.
Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, former
chief executive of AIG, said in an inter-
view he believed not enough attention
was being paid to the role Goldman
Sachs played in the subprime melt-
down. “Well, it certainly wouldn’t be
difficult to come to that conclusion,”
Greenberg said.
Goldman Sachs shot back at
Greenberg, who based some of his
NEWS | IN BRIEF
Collins Stewart eyes Ingram
Tim Ingram, chief executive of Caledonia
investment trust, has been tipped as a
new non-executive director at Collins
Stewart. The company is looking to
recruit two new board members after
Terry Smith, its current chairman,
announced his intention to step down
from the role. Ingram, former managing
director of Abbey National, has run
Caledonia since 2002 and is also a non-
The Postgraduate Study & MBA Fair
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010
tained after a company’s shares tank.
The warning follows growing con-
cerns that a culture of risk-taking and
excessive remuneration is already
returning to the City. Firms are
thought to be restructuring salaries
over £150,000 as capital gains ahead
of the new tax rate in April.
Peter Montagnon, director for
investment at the ABI said: “We do
not expect shareholders to pay to
reduce employees’ tax burdens.”
accusations on articles in the New
York Times, the Washington Post and
other news outlets.
“Anyone, including Mr Greenberg,
who relies on news reports rather
than facts to form an opinion, particu-
larly of a complicated subject, has a
very high probability of reaching the
wrong conclusion,” a spokesman said.
AIG had to be propped up with
some $180bn in taxpayer support after
it nearly collapsed in September 2008.
The US government now owns nearly
80 per cent of the company, once the
world’s largest insurer by market
value.
The government stepped in to res-
cue AIG after it ran short of funds to
meet collateral demands from banks
that had paid for credit protection.
executive at Sage and Savills.
Goodyear turns down Usmanov
Charles “Chip” Goodyear, the former
chief executive of FTSE 100 mining
group BHP Billiton, has turned down a
return to the sector with Metalloinvest –
the steel group founded by Russian bil-
lionaire Alisher Usmanov. Goodyear is
understood to have been approached
before Christmas but rejected an offer.
from The Careers Group
TO
FREE ND
AT T E
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010 News 11

Outlook continues to present challenges for retail

numbers (and my snow-shop experiment won’t
register for several more months) but in the
meantime we have heard from several other
retailers who proved that forecasts of the non-
weather variety are key.
Earnings have looked pretty strong for the
likes of Next, J Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer,
but the shares of Next and Marks suffered horri-
CNBC COMMENT bly at the hands of the dreaded cautious outlook.
When CNBC spoke to M&S’ CFO Ian Dyson, he
REBECCA MEEHAN voiced concerns about UK unemployment this
year and the end of the VAT holiday, adding that
Sainsbury’s, though, reported sales for the earthquake or plague of locusts I shall put the
quarter up a better-than-expected 4.2 per cent, other retailers to the test. Beware.
plus signs of a return towards high-end foods, Rebecca Meehan co-anchors Capital Connection and is
and John Lewis reported its best ever Christmas a presenter on Squawk Box Europe each weekday on
trading. In an upbeat statement, low-cost fash- CNBC. SPREAD BETTING: P16-17
ion chain New Look told us its like-for-like sales
have gained 5.9 per cent and said it is optimistic
enough that it plans to double the size of its
stores in the long term.
Despite a few signs of optimism, it looks like
UK growth is set to remain sluggish and the big
retailers will have to carry on battling it out for

I
N A BOUT of not-particularly-investigative
journalism, I set Tesco a mystery shopper
challenge last week, ordering a hefty shop
be delivered to my home just as the heaviest
snow was due to fall. Right on time two cheerful
chaps showed up without even a word of com-
plaint about the weather. Impressive.
We’ll have to wait until tomorrow for Tesco’s
the company remains focussed on cutting costs.
But that was the theme of the past two earnings
seasons and the question now is how much
more can costs possibly be cut.
Meanwhile, Next explicitly cautioned against
reading too much into strong sales in the last
weeks of 2009, pointing out we shouldn’t bank
on that trend continuing this year.
market share. It will get interesting when sales
start to pick up. Who will be in the strongest
position to move back into growth mode after
this downturn?
Finally, I’d just like to point out, in case my
boss is reading, that I didn’t put my Tesco shop-
ping on expenses, nor am I limiting the experi-
ment to one retailer. Come the next flood,

Osmond is serial
entrepreneur NEWS | IN BRIEF
HUGH OSMOND'S with a host of
PREVIOUS DEALS: successful busi-
ness ventures to Ex-Betonsports boss to serve time tions in the US, where online gambling is
• Pizza Express reverse his name The former chief executive of Betonsports, illegal. Carruthers was ordered to spend 33
the defunct online gambling site, has been months in prison by a court in Missouri.
takeover (1993) Picture: sentenced to nearly three years in prison. Last year, Betonsports founder Gary
• Bass turned into REUTERS David Carruthers was arrested in Texas in Kaplan was sentenced to more than four
July 2006, and pleaded guilty to racketeer- years in prison after agreeing to forfeit
Punch Taverns (1997) ing charges linked to the company's opera- more than $43m.
• Allied Domecq
buyout (1999)
• Pearl Group
majority stake (2005)

Osmond launches
£500m buyout fund
PRIVATE EQUITY quality business whose cashflows that companies were bought out in
▲

BY OLIVER SHAH
ENTREPRENEUR Hugh Osmond
will this week announce plans to
float a £500m turnaround vehicle
on the London Stock Exchange.
The Horizon fund, expected to
list before the end of January, will
target one large investment in a
consumer-facing business. Advisers
from Osmond’s private equity firm
Sun Capital have drawn up a long
list of prospective companies which
were bought out at the peak of the
M&A boom but now need refinanc-
ing.
The aim will be to find a good
are being diverted to service huge
debts, restricting its ability to
invest. It is understood that book-
maker and bingo hall group Gala
Coral, where equity has been wiped
out and control has passed to the
company’s creditors, is the type of
investment being considered.
A source said the Sun Capital
team was running the rule over a
number of privately held compa-
nies. The final candidate will have
an enterprise value of between
£1bn and £5bn and could be a con-
sumer-facing business with a small-
er financial services arm.
An insider said: “The problem is
the run-up to 2007 with high lever-
age on the expectation that 2007’s
EBITDA [earnings] would be repeat-
ed, and clearly that didn’t happen...
Horizon is going to solve the prob-
lems of one such business.”
Fundraising is understood to be
at an advanced stage after a series
of meetings with institutional
investors in December.
Osmond will take a key role in
the venture. Mike Fairey, former
deputy chief executive of Lloyds
TSB, will serve as chairman while
Terry Eccles and Baroness Kingsmill
have been hired as non-executive
directors.

Flurry of impairment charges looms

▲

ACCOUNTING
COMPANIES will have to carry out
further write-downs of poorly per-
forming assets this year as the glob-
al economy struggles to recover,
according to investors, analysts and
lenders surveyed by Ernst & Young.
The survey of 170 global firms
showed that nearly half of those
questioned believe the level of
impairment charges reported since
the financial crisis began is lower
than they expected.
E&Y said its respondents are
“sceptical” about the size of impair-
ments being published so far and
are bracing themselves for further
write-downs in 2010. The real
estate, banking and capital mar-
kets, and automotive sectors are
thought likely to experience fur-
ther impairment charges this year.
The firm says valuing businesses
and their underlying assets is
“more challenging today than at
any other time in recent history”.
 12 Retail News CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010

Peacocks fashion expansion

after strong Christmas trade
per cent in the eight weeks to 2 Spring/ Summer season.

A tie-up with Pearl Lowe has lured shoppers to Peacocks’ tills
▲
RETAIL
BUDGET fashion chain Peacocks
added to signs of a robust Christmas
for Britain’s retailers, helped by its tie-
up with singer-turned-designer Pearl
Lowe, and yesterday said it planned to
step up its expansion.
The firm, taken private in 2005 by a
consortium including US hedge funds
Perry Capital and Och-Ziff, said sales
Picture: NEWSCAST at stores open at least a year rose eight
January, including 17 per cent growth
from December. Peacocks said it
planned to open around 40 stores in
2010-11, up from around 30 in 2009-10.
Peacocks, which currently trades
from 546 stores in Britain and also has
84 franchises abroad, reported strong
demand online and for a range of
dresses produced in collaboration
with Lowe. The group said it planned
further ranges with Lowe for the
Peacocks adds to a growing list of
British retailers, including fashion
chain Next, grocer J Sainsbury and
department store group John Lewis,
to report strong Christmas sales.
However, shopkeepers have also
sounded a cautious tone about the
coming year, warning that steps to cut
government debt – likely to include
higher taxes and lower public spend-
ing – could dent a consumer recovery.

Tesco in line
for sales hike
the pace for others to follow.”

▲
RETAIL
BY JOHN DUNNE Tesco, which has nearly 2,300 shops
in the UK and 4,308 worldwide, is
TESCO is being tipped for a like-for-like Britain’s largest retailer.
sales hike of up to four per cent when Debenhams will also give a trading
it issues its trading update tomorrow. update this week in another indicator
The figures are expected to reflect a of how the high street is performing.
healthy seasonal boost as customers And Home Retail, owner of Argos and
splashed out over the holiday. Homebase, will also update on trad-
Analysts predict that the supermar- ing. Figures for quarter three of the
ket chain’s doubling of Clubcard year showed growth and the market is
points over the period would help to expecting a further boost.
secure a positive result. Jeremy Batstone-Carr of Charles
The Tesco trading statement comes Stanley said: “The picture on the high
after an upbeat data from rival street has been one of mixed messages
J Sainsbury last week which revealed a all round.”
3.8 per cent sales rise.
However, the messages remained ANALYSIS l Tesco
p 415.95
mixed on the high street with Marks & 8 Jan
Spencer only recording a marginal 0.8 430
per cent increase while Waitrose saw a 420
nine per cent boost in to sales.
Nick Raynor, investment adviser at 410
retail stockbroker The Share Centre, 400
said: “The recent cold snap may also
390
boost sales as consumers look to stock
up on winter essentials. 380
“As the first food retailer to release 370
figures in 2010, Tesco will be setting 12 Oct 30 Oct 19 Nov 9 Dec 31 Dec

ANALYST VIEWS: HOW DO YOU EXPECT TESCO

TO HAVE PERFORMED THIS TIME? Interviews by John Dunne
JONATHAN PRITCHARD | ORIEL SECURITIES

“ I see the figures being as much as four per cent up on last

year. The Clubcard doubling of points has made a big difference and I
cannot see any reason why the figures should not follow the trend of

”
Sainsbury’s and be significantly up.

KEITH BOWMAN | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN

“ These figures will be all about the UK core business. The com-
pany will be analysing the impact of its clubcard after it doubled its dis-
counts. We have to remember though that all of the retail sector is under

”
pressure and some believe Christmas could have been a last binge for
customers facing a tough time next year.

JEREMY BATSTONE-CARR | CHARLES STANLEY

“ We must remember that the retail sector is still struggling and

it’s too early to predict whether it’s going to be a good year.
The picture on the high street has been mixed with Waitrose last week

”
eclipsing Marks & Spencer with a nine per cent rise compared with just
0.8 per cent.
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010
Balanced debate is needed on future of banking
measures – most notably the bonus
supertax and 50p income tax top
band – caused widespread discontent
across the City.
Despite this London is still home to
unrivalled pools of talent and capital,
with around 250 overseas banks bas-
ing operations in the Square Mile.
CITY COMMENT However, the ongoing uncertainty
surrounding the UK is only benefit-
STUART FRASER ing our rivals as firms weigh up their
options.
A
S PEOPLE from across the City We are fast approaching a tipping
brave the wintry conditions let point where further changes to regu-
us hope that policy makers can lation and taxation could begin to
help provide a brighter forecast seriously undermine our competitive-
for the financial services industry ness and ability to attract top talent.
over the coming year. Driving away the internationally
The past 12 months have seen the mobile parts of the financial services
business environment in a state of industry would have a disastrous
almost constant flux. A series of effect on the country as a whole. The
City rents up
for first time
since 2007
BlackRock announced it will snap
PROPERTY
▲
up one of the few new buildings in the
BY RACHEL STEVENSON AND STEVE DINNEEN
City. It will occupy occupy Canary
CITY office rents rose for the first Wharf Group and Exemplar
time in three years at the end of 2009, Properties’ 270,000 square foot office
boosting confidence that office rents tower at Drapers Gardens. It will pay
have bottomed out. about £50 a sq ft on a 25-year lease.
A report from Cushman & Other key deals that happened
Wakefield reveals 41 per cent of the towards the end of the year included
year’s total take-up of office space law firms Clyde & Co taking 145,000 sq
took place in the last quarter of 2009. ft at St Botolphs, and Pinsent Masons
The take-up of 2.6m sq ft across the taking 189,000 sq ft at Crown Place.
capital is the highest quarterly figure Central London has an overall
since the collapse of Lehman Brothers vacancy rate of 8.5 per cent. In the last
in 2007. The Square Mile saw its first recession, the peak vacancy rate was
rental growth in three years, with nearly 17 per cent.
prime rents rising 3.5 per cent to £44 C&W City office manager James
per sq ft, up from £42.50 per sq ft. Young said: “We turned the corner in
London office rents hit their lowest the third quarter and in the fourth
point in the last quarter of the year, quarter we have seen a number of
with prices on prime space standing major transactions that have boosted
at £75 per sq ft in the West End. the annual take-up.
Speculative development activity, “Companies who have been biding
however, has fallen markedly and at their time on buying new space will
the end of December there was just see Blackrock’s new deal and realise
5m sq ft under construction in the there is a narrowing window. The
capital. This is down by 42 per cent great deals we are seeing won’t be
compared with 12 months ago. here forever.”
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS
Office of Fair Trading
The consumer watchdog has appointed
Sheldon Mills, a senior associate at law firm SJ
Berwin, as its new director of mergers, effec-
tive from 15 February. Mills joined SJ Berwin in
2006 from rival Jones Day.
Simon Holmes, head of EU and competition
at SJ Berwin, said: “While we will miss him,
Mills’ appointment is a credit to the excellent
merger experience he has had over the last few
years.”
sponsors in equity capital markets.
UniCredit Prior to his appointment at
Emmanuel Pezier is to join UniCredit’s UniCredit, Pezier was a principal and
corporate and investment banking as a partner at alternative asset manager
managing director for the financial ACP, where he was responsible for rais-
institutions group (FIG) and financial ing capital for its various funds and
To appear in CITYMOVES please email your career updates and pictures to citymoves@cityam.com
sector’s importance to the wider
economy is highlighted by how it gen-
erated 12.1 per cent of total tax rev-
enues in 2008/09. Goldman Sachs
alone paid £1.1bn in corporation tax
last year, while its 5,000 London staff
contributed hundreds of millions of
pounds in income and indirect taxes.
This is money that can ill afford to
be lost given the precarious state of
the public finances.
We all acknowledge the real anger
that exists as a result of the financial
crisis, particularly when it comes to
bankers’ remuneration. However, in
most cases high levels of pay reflect
the high levels of wealth generated by
people working in the industry.
This is precisely why we must not
damage the UK’s competitiveness by
signalling that we do not welcome
BEST OF THE BROKERS
520
ANALYSIS l Ted Baker
p 516.00
8 Jan
500
480
460
440
420
400
30 Oct 19 Nov 9 Dec 31 Dec
TED BAKER
Singer Capital maintains a “buy” rating for
Ted Baker after strong trading from 1
November to 24 December. Retail sales
growth for this period was 19.1 per cent
and trading was up 14.3 per cent year-on-
year. It says Ted Baker’s collections are
doing well and has revised its target price
from 505p to around 530p.
UBS whistleblower begins jail sentence
BANKING
▲
THE chief whistleblower in the UBS
tax secrecy probe has entered prison to
serve a sentence he considered unfair,
hours after a Swiss court ruled the
bank should not have been forced to
turn over client files to investigators.
Bradley Birkenfeld, a former UBS
banker, entered a federal prison in
managed vehicles.
He also previously worked as head of
equity capital markets at Bear Stearns
from 2004 to 2007.
WSP Environment & Energy
The risk solutions provider has hired Dr
Isabel Boira-Segarra as a director in
charge of its renewable energy team,
based in London.
Boira-Segarra has joined as a renew-
able services director from Mott
MacDonald, where she was most
recently head of its renewable energy
team.
She has 13 years of experience in
the renewables industry, having advised
on numerous complex infrastructure
projects worldwide.
talented individuals and institutions
from across the world. Only by retain-
ing, and indeed building upon, the
City’s reputation for being home to
an unrivalled cluster of professional
skills will we be able to face up to the
challenge from emerging and estab-
lished centres.
In order to achieve this, however,
we need a level playing field when it
comes to regulation and taxation. If
the UK instead continues to ignore
the G20 principles by adopting a
piecemeal, isolated approach the sub-
sequent exodus of talent will slow any
economic recovery.
The government could make a
good start to restoring consistency,
clarity and confidence to the business
environment by making it clear that
the bonus supertax will not be repeat-
ANALYSIS l Mitchells & Butler
p
270 273.70
8 Jan
260
250
240
230
30 Oct 19 Nov 9 Dec 31 Dec
MITCHELLS & BUTLERS
Astaire rates pub group Mitchells & Butlers
a “buy”, despite the likelihood of an event-
ful annual general meeting on 28 January
because of its dispute with Elpida and
Piedmont. Christmas trading was strong,
and was up 4.9 per cent over the 10 days
of Christmas. It adds that London and resi-
dential pubs performed strongly.
To appear in Best of the Brokers email your research to notes@cityam.com
Pennsylvania to serve a 40-month
prison term, after attacking the gov-
ernment for the punishment in light
of what he called his cooperation in
helping expose thousands of US tax
cheats. “The American taxpayer
should be outraged,” the 44-year-old
told reporters in a snowstorm as he
prepared to surrender to prison
authorities. He said he was “proud” to
Pinsent Masons
The law firm has poached Matthew
Morgan from rival DLA Piper to lead its
banking team in Manchester.
Morgan has been a partner at DLA
Piper for the past five years and has
been a key adviser to the likes of RBS,
Barclays and HSBC.
He has also worked on some of the
largest corporate projects in the region
in recent years, including discount
retailer Matalan’s £817m public-to-pri-
vate transaction and the renegotiation
of banking facilities for car dealership
Lookers.
Santander Corporate Banking
The bank has hired Mark Lonsdale as a
director for trade finance in the North
News 13
ed again in future. This exceptional
measure was described as a one-off
and it must remain that way.
We cannot allow huge pay differen-
tials to arise between staff working in
London and other global financial
centres. This makes transparency on
pay all the more important as key
industry players decide whether to
commit their future to London and
the UK.
As we move into 2010, let us hope
that we can leave behind the pre-elec-
tion political point scoring in favour
of a more productive, balanced
debate on the future of the industry.
It is now time for policy makers to
oblige.
Stuart Fraser is Chairman of the Policy
and Resources Committee at the City of
London Corporation.
ANALYSIS l Aberdeen
145
p
134.00
8 Jan
140
135
130
125
12 Oct 30 Oct 19 Nov 9 Dec 31 Dec
ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT
Evolution retains a “neutral” recommenda-
tion for Aberdeen Asset Management,
which is acquiring £13.5bn of funds under
management from Royal Bank of Scotland
for £84.7m. Although the assets are being
bought for less than one per cent of funds
under management, 84m shares are set to
be placed to fund the acquisition.
have come forward and “expose the
largest tax fraud in the world”.
Last February, UBS accepted a
$780m (£486.7m) penalty and admit-
ted to criminal wrongdoing for help-
ing US taxpayers hide accounts from
the Internal Revenue Service. The
Swiss bank later agreed to give the
names of 4,450 American clients to
government investigators.
Edited by Victoria Bates
of England region.
Lonsdale has 22 years of experience
in commercial and corporate banking,
having previously worked at Barclays
as director of trade finance in the
North.
Coutts & Co
The private bank has appointed Ian
Copley as a senior private banker,
based in its Leeds office.
Copley joins from Bank of Scotland
Investment Service and brings with
him over 20 years of experience within
the financial sector, latterly advising
private banking clients on their person-
al wealth management. Prior to that, he
held the role of head of training, recruit-
ment and professional development.
 14 Analysis WORDS BY DAVID CROW CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010

E-book readers, 3D TVs and tablet

PCs compete to be top dog of 2010
The consumer Christmas hit, with sales said to be run-
ning at 2.5m by the end of 2009. Its chief
electronics show in executive Jeff Bezos says digital books out-
sold physical copies on Amazon.com in
Las Vegas last week the festive period.
The trend is clear: demand for consumer
set the agenda for electronics is shrinking overall, but the
appetite for the next big thing is as vora-
cious as ever. For that reason, CES is still
technology in 2010 important: it is the place where journal-
ists, analysts and manufacturers get
together and decide exactly what the next

H
YPE and prototypes dominated the
Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in
Las Vegas last week. From the Ford
car that lets you send Twitter mes-
sages while driving, to the scuba diving
mask that can shoot high definition video
at depths of 130 feet, the vast majority of
products on display will not hit the main-
stream.
The show’s thunder was also stolen by
Google, which decided to launch its Nexus
One phone five hundred miles away in San
Francisco – just one day before the trade
fair got going. And even when CES was in
full swing, the delegates were more inter-
ested in the imminent launch of Apple’s
tablet PC, slated for 27 January. Analyst
Richard Holway from TechMarketView
compared the product announcements at
CES to the “tiny sorbets they give you in
between courses in posh restaurants”,
mere pallet cleansers that serve as a
sideshow to the main dishes.
Like Google and Apple, many of the dele-
gates from recent years stayed away; atten-
dance was down 20 per cent to 110,000
compared to the glory days of 2008. That
said, CES remains a seminal date on the
tech sector’s calendar. It marks that time of
year when firms start touting their wares,
in the full knowledge that they have just
nine months to turn their products into
Christmas bestsellers.
High-end consumer electronics have
held up remarkably well in the recession.
Although global mobile phone sales in
2009 numbered some 8m less than the pre-
vious year – the first ever annual drop –
luxury smartphones like Blackberrys are
still in vogue. Gartner says smartphone
sales were up around 24 per cent on 2008,
and now account for some 14 per cent of
total sales, a figure that will rise to 38 per
cent by 2013.
Similarly, Apple boosted sales of its
high-end MacBooks and iMacs by 17 per
cent in its third quarter, even as global PC
revenues for the year fell by around 11 per
cent. Analysts also expect the firm to have
shipped around 10m iPhones in the three
months to the end of December, beating
all previous records. The Kindle,
Amazon’s e-book reader, was another
big thing will be. This year, everyone seems
to be in agreement: the ones to watch are
tablet PCs, the next generation of e-book
readers and 3D TVs.
TABLET PCS
It’s amazing how much hype Apple can
generate without lifting a finger. Simply by
booking a large hall in a San Francisco con-
ference centre at the end of January, it has
sent the industry into a tailspin. The
famously secretive firm has made no
announcements and given no briefings to
analysts or the press; apart from a handful
of Apple execs. Noone knows what to
expect. Still, most think the firm will
unveil a new tablet PC, dubbed the
“iSlate”.
Tablets are expected to bridge the gap
between high-end smartphones and small-
er laptops. Constantly connected to the
internet, and probably sold with a mobile
data subscription, the touch screen devices
are designed to surf the web, watch movies
and read e-books.
In an attempt to steal some of Apple’s
thunder, Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer
unveiled a new HP tablet that will run
Microsoft Windows 7. His keynote speech
was an unmitigated disaster: the
PowerPoint point presentation didn’t
work; Ballmer gave a lacklustre perform-
ance; and details were sketchy, with no
release date or pricing information.
Although a good strategist, Ballmer is like
Gordon Brown – you get the feeling the
organisation he leads would do so much Microsoft boss Steve Housekeeping and Esquire. The device is year it was the 3D TV. Although the likes of
better if he didn’t appear in public. Ballmer got a poor impressive, but it’s the business model Panasonic and Samsung were waxing lyri-
reception when he that is really interesting. Hearst is plan- cal about the possibilities, analysts remain
E-BOOK READERS unveiled a HP tablet ning to subsidise the e-reader if buyers take wary of the category – and they’re right to
While Amazon’s Kindle has been a success PC that will run out a digital subscription to one of its be. Most families have updated their TVs in
in the digital book space, the next genera- Windows 7 titles, probably for a minimum of two recent years, as Western governments
tion of devices are attracting interest years. If they subscribe to two or more pub- switch off analogue signals.
because of their potential to rejuvenate Picture: REX lications, the subsidy will be greater. That has led to perfect conditions for
newspapers and magazines. Its competitors will be watching with HDTV, but if manufacturers think they
Unsurprisingly, print journalists have interest: analysts say magazine advertising can repeat the trick with 3D, they’re
devoted acres of column inches to the revenue fell 20 per cent in the US last year, wrong. As Forrester analyst James
topic, desperate for the slightest sign that with circulation falling by a similar McQuivey puts it, “Let’s get real: not even a
the industry they work for is not in its amount. million US homes will buy one in 2010”,
death throes. equivalent to less than one per cent of the
One glimmer of hope is the Skiff reader 3D TELEVISIONS market. This is still one for the early
developed by Hearst, the publishing giant There’s always one device where the hype adopter that wants to spruce up his bache-
whose titles include Cosmopolitan, Good gets the better of CES delegates, and this lor pad. david.crow@cityam.com

THE ONES TO WATCH

Google Nexus One Hearst Skiff

The most serious iPhone
competitor yet, Google’s Nexus
One comes loaded with its
impressive Android mobile
phone software. In a massive
departure from conventional
thinking in the telecoms
industry, Google will sell the
phone as an unlocked device
on its own website for $529
(£330), allowing customers to
use their existing sim card. It
will also be available with
T-Mobile in the US while
Vodafone has won the rights
to launch the phone in the UK.
Unlike Amazon’s hugely
popular Kindle, the
Skiff’s screen is made of
metal board that is
coated with special
e-ink – not glass. As well
as making it less likely to
break, it also keeps the
device extremely thin:
even though it has an
11.5 inch widescreen
Samsung LED 9000 3D HDTV display, it is just 0.25
inches thick and
Samsung’s stunning range of 3D TVs aim to give an immersive 3D weighs just over a
performance, from 3D movies to video games. But you’ll still have to pound. Pricing TBA.
wear those pesky glasses. Pricing TBA.
 Markets&Investment 15

LONDON’S TOP 250 Trade these shares from £1.50 with Interactive Investor - www.iii.co.uk
Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low
(p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p)
3i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289.60* +1.20 314.80 108.66 Croda Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .834.50 –0.50 852.50 451.50 Kazakhmys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1499.00 +36.00 1511.00 187.30 Sainsbury(J) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .329.50* +1.30 373.00 284.50
3i Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . .103.40 — 105.80 76.50 CSR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .442.50 +0.80 524.00 152.00 Kesa Electricals . . . . . . . . . . . . .145.50 –0.40 162.00 83.50 Schroders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1335.00 +11.00 1361.00 628.00
A.B. Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .850.00* +11.50 870.50 603.00 Daily Mail ‘A’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .431.30* +7.80 467.30 205.75 .LQJÀVKHU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225.60 –4.20 249.10 115.00 Schroders N/V. . . . . . . . . . . . . .1060.00 –2.00 1094.00 533.50
Aberdeen Asset Man . . . . . . . . . .134.00* –4.60 155.60 113.00 Dana Petroleum . . . . . . . . . . . .1281.00 +2.00 1549.00 807.00 Ladbrokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144.70 +4.00 213.49 114.60 Scot. & Sthrn Energy. . . . . . . . . 1171.00 +12.00 1254.00 357.50
Admiral. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1149.00 –5.00 1190.00 793.50 Davis Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .406.20 +0.20 438.00 213.75 Lancashire Hldgs . . . . . . . . . . . .448.40 +0.40 540.00 411.00 Scottish Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . .462.50 +1.00 467.00 324.75
Aegis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118.70 +1.40 122.90 66.75 De La Rue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .996.50* +1.00 1080.00 808.50 Land Securities . . . . . . . . . . . . . .664.00* +0.50 1010.00 323.25
Aggreko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .932.00 –8.50 946.50 342.00 Debenhams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75.30 –2.70 99.50 24.25 Legal & General . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84.30 +2.50 94.40 20.90 Scottish Mortgage. . . . . . . . . . . .552.00 –1.00 556.50 284.00
Alliance Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .333.30* –0.50 336.50 233.00 Derwent London . . . . . . . . . . . .1307.00 –8.00 1418.00 445.50 Liberty International . . . . . . . . . .495.90 –5.10 580.00 278.00 SEGRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .344.00 +0.50 403.10 250.00
AMEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .806.00 –13.00 879.50 484.25 Dexion Absolute . . . . . . . . . . . . .142.50 +1.50 142.90 82.00 Lloyds Banking Gp . . . . . . . . . . . .56.90 –0.03 96.02 21.97 Serco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .520.00 +1.50 546.50 341.50
Amlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .363.50 +1.00 400.00 291.00 Diageo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1067.00 — 1098.00 727.00 Logica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123.30 +1.10 136.80 59.25 Severn Trent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1084.00* +12.00 1214.00 921.00
Anglo American . . . . . . . . . . . .2897.00 +53.00 2897.00 906.00 Dimension Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79.85 +1.85 82.80 32.75 London Stock Exchange . . . . . . .707.50 –16.00 949.50 355.75 Shaftesbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .393.00 –0.90 426.50 184.32
Antofagasta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1024.00 +1.00 1045.00 371.00 Drax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .441.60 +6.50 617.00 393.75 Lonmin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2126.00 +25.00 2134.00 729.97 Shire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1223.00 –9.00 1244.00 764.00
Aquarius Platinum . . . . . . . . . . .444.10 +10.40 448.40 128.85 DSG Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36.80 +0.08 39.75 13.10 Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .319.80 –7.60 373.60 150.40 SIG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125.20 +2.60 230.00 82.25
ARM Holdings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .194.70 –1.00 197.20 77.50 Dunelm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .395.00 –5.00 438.40 137.50 Marks & Spencer. . . . . . . . . . . . .366.40* –4.60 412.70 214.75 Smith & Nephew . . . . . . . . . . . . .633.00 +1.50 654.50 412.00
Arriva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .503.00 –2.00 609.50 361.00 Easyjet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .354.30 –0.30 416.80 246.50 Meggitt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .280.50 +4.00 285.10 110.50 Smiths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1011.00 +9.00 1073.00 646.50
Ashmore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .268.30 –1.70 311.20 92.75 Edinburgh Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . .381.90 +2.20 383.30 283.75 Melrose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .184.80 –1.20 198.20 58.25 SOCO Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1398.00 –1.00 1500.00 885.50
Astrazeneca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2908.50 –2.00 2966.00 2126.00 Electrocomponents . . . . . . . . . . .168.10* +1.30 176.00 113.00 Mercantile IT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .906.00* +12.50 964.00 515.50 Spectris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .765.00 +5.00 772.50 376.75
Atkins(Ws) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .637.50* +1.00 685.00 415.00 Eurasian Nat Res . . . . . . . . . . .1034.00 +51.00 1046.00 295.00 Michael Page Intl. . . . . . . . . . . . .410.00 –11.90 434.80 171.25
Autonomy Corp . . . . . . . . . . . .1560.00 –32.00 1687.00 924.00 Experian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .599.00* –2.00 639.00 371.75 Micro Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .490.00* +8.70 491.50 257.50 Spirax-Sarco Eng . . . . . . . . . . .1298.00 +63.00 1317.00 741.00
Aveva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1095.00* –5.00 1109.00 460.00 F&C Comm Prop . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94.00 –2.80 96.80 73.50 Millen & Copthorne . . . . . . . . . . .387.50 +9.20 411.90 165.50 Spirent Comms . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107.70 –0.30 109.10 32.00
Aviva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .410.60 +7.60 474.00 160.10 Ferrexpo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237.30 +7.20 237.90 32.75 Misys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .222.30 +2.80 238.80 98.00 SSL Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .769.50 –5.50 785.00 422.75
Babcock International . . . . . . . . .602.50* +3.50 660.50 381.25 Fidelity European . . . . . . . . . . . 1147.00 –9.00 1182.00 753.00 Mitchells & Butlers . . . . . . . . . . .273.70 +21.40 310.60 150.00 St James’s Place . . . . . . . . . . . . .256.00 +2.50 296.90 142.75
BAE Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .368.50 –3.00 416.00 294.20 FirstGroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .410.60* +1.30 448.80 192.90 MITIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239.00* –1.90 281.70 170.25 Stagecoach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177.20 –0.90 180.90 102.75
Balfour Beatty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276.90 –3.10 346.18 243.40 Foreign & Col Inv Tst. . . . . . . . . .280.10 — 281.90 179.25 Mondi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .379.10 +17.50 381.90 118.25 Standard Chartered . . . . . . . . . .1624.00 +19.50 1696.00 554.00
Barclays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .320.55 +5.05 390.00 47.30 Fresnillo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .866.00 +13.00 935.00 217.75 Monks Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .304.30* +1.30 307.00 190.00 Standard Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213.90 +3.40 237.00 123.50
Barratt Development . . . . . . . . . .141.90 +3.50 193.31 40.82 G4S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .264.90 –2.00 269.40 171.90 Morrison Wm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .284.80 +2.60 298.40 233.50 Talvivaara Mining . . . . . . . . . . . .389.00 –2.30 428.00 124.00
BBA Aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177.90 +3.00 184.20 58.25 Genesis Emerging Mkts Fd . . . . .450.50 +0.50 452.50 370.00 Mothercare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .675.00* –3.50 694.00 359.75 Tate & Lyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .408.20* –10.50 481.40 225.75
Bellway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .826.00* +12.00 927.50 515.00 GKN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123.50 –0.80 131.30 36.45 Murray Intl Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .813.00* +12.00 814.00 512.00 Taylor Wimpey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41.88 +0.37 54.90 12.25
Berkeley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .876.00 +15.50 1071.00 716.50 GlaxoSmithKline . . . . . . . . . . . .1281.00* –12.50 1347.00 982.00 National Express. . . . . . . . . . . . .199.90 +5.90 278.73 78.45 Telecity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .407.90 +24.40 415.50 155.00
BG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1194.00 +2.50 1198.50 836.50 Go-Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1348.00 +23.00 1577.00 845.00 National Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .658.50* +6.00 689.00 511.00 Templeton Emrg Mkts . . . . . . . . .553.50 –1.50 557.50 235.00
BHP Billiton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2115.50 +24.50 2116.50 1025.00 Grainger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137.00* –0.90 194.62 39.93 Next . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2040.00 –19.00 2139.00 1039.00
BlackRock Mining . . . . . . . . . . . .581.50 +1.50 587.00 233.00 Great Portland Estates . . . . . . . .285.00 –6.60 301.00 127.11 Northumbrian Water . . . . . . . . . .271.20* +0.40 281.90 203.00 Tesco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .415.95 +3.95 437.05 301.40
BlueBay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .332.50 +4.90 393.00 63.00 Greene King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .434.80* +7.10 547.45 279.35 Old Mutual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112.70 –0.20 122.30 30.50 Thomas Cook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .244.80 +4.60 303.50 165.40
Booker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46.27 +0.26 49.50 20.50 Halfords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .418.00* +6.50 442.10 216.75 Pace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207.10 +3.70 243.80 39.50 Tomkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .212.00 +5.60 217.20 99.50
Bovis Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .446.00 +11.20 571.00 341.75 Halma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246.10* –0.90 256.00 140.75 Partygaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279.40 +8.40 298.50 157.25 Travis Perkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .843.50 –5.50 888.00 198.63
BP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .621.70 –1.60 626.20 400.00 Hammerson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .399.00 –1.00 616.00 212.25 Pearson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .863.00 –6.50 897.50 566.50 TUI Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263.90 +1.70 294.75 208.25
Brit Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201.00 +4.80 207.90 185.20 Hargreaves Lansdown . . . . . . . .308.00 — 314.30 158.50 Pennon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .540.00 +3.00 548.50 372.00 Tullett Prebon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .309.00 +13.60 436.20 105.25
British Airways . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199.20 +0.50 243.30 111.30 Hays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107.90 –0.70 114.00 67.25 Persimmon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .491.30 –8.70 534.50 247.25 Tullow Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1320.00 –18.00 1346.00 570.50
British Amer. Tob . . . . . . . . . . .2035.00 –9.50 2055.50 1481.00 Henderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133.00 +1.90 142.10 50.00 Petrofac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .984.00 –11.00 1078.00 320.75 UK Commercial Prop. . . . . . . . . . .80.35 –0.85 81.50 50.50
British Empire Tst . . . . . . . . . . . .432.40* +5.40 451.80 304.00 Heritage Oil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .501.50 +6.20 630.00 161.00 Petropavlovsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1156.00 –15.00 1343.00 345.00 Ultra Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . .1384.00 –11.00 1410.00 1010.00
British Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .461.40 +2.70 532.00 295.00 Hikma Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . . . .519.00 +3.00 530.00 308.50 Premier Farnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174.60 +0.10 180.90 112.50 Unilever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1936.00 +5.00 2024.00 1226.00
Britvic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .406.00* +3.00 411.30 204.25 Hiscox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .326.50 +5.80 364.30 272.50 Premier Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37.25 +0.67 47.00 24.00 United Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . .496.00* +6.90 615.00 429.00
Brown(N.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255.40* –4.10 275.80 183.75 Hochschild Mining . . . . . . . . . . .364.80 +11.00 367.70 101.00 Premier Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1244.00 –11.00 1431.00 512.78 Utd Business Media . . . . . . . . . .463.10 –3.90 514.50 364.75
BSkyB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .562.00 –6.50 593.00 398.25 Home Retail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278.90* –1.30 336.50 180.40 Provident Financial . . . . . . . . . . .931.00 –4.00 986.00 736.00
BT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143.00* +0.20 151.00 70.20 Homeserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1729.00 — 1752.00 849.50 Prudential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .638.50 +10.00 665.00 195.40 Vedanta Resources . . . . . . . . . .2886.00* +51.00 2895.00 492.75
Bunzl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .663.50 +0.50 679.50 473.00 HSBC Hldgs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .740.00* +3.50 766.80 270.37 PZ Cussons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .262.40 +0.40 274.60 144.25 Victrex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .844.50 +13.00 852.00 400.75
Burberry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .598.50* –1.50 617.00 194.25 Hunting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .585.00 –8.50 615.50 367.00 Qinetiq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165.80 –0.20 179.10 123.00 Vodafone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137.00* –1.80 144.65 111.20
Cable & Wireless. . . . . . . . . . . . .147.50* +0.40 170.00 125.10 ICAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .456.60* +11.40 478.30 199.20 Randgold Resources. . . . . . . . .5250.00 –20.00 5450.00 2425.00 VT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .521.00* +0.50 606.00 412.75
Cadbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .778.00 +1.50 819.50 484.25 IG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .393.50 +9.50 395.30 159.25 Reckitt Benckiser . . . . . . . . . . .3244.00 –26.00 3390.00 2403.00 Weir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .832.00 +26.50 862.50 302.00
Cairn Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .361.90 +6.70 362.50 319.50 Imagination Tech Gp . . . . . . . . . .279.00 +12.90 284.40 55.50 Reed Elsevier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .506.00 +3.50 570.00 403.75 Wetherspoon(J.D.) . . . . . . . . . . .466.00 +25.00 551.00 270.00
Caledonia Invs . . . . . . . . . . . . .1663.00* +19.00 1759.00 1081.00 IMI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .564.50 +4.00 570.50 214.00 Regus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92.30 +0.30 120.50 43.00 WH Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .492.00* –1.00 551.00 306.75
Capita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .726.50 –3.50 791.00 608.00 Imperial Tobacco. . . . . . . . . . . .1950.00 — 1988.00 1412.00 Rentokil Initial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115.00 –0.10 119.70 37.25 Whitbread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1411.00 +15.00 1425.00 686.50
Carillion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .309.00 +2.50 319.60 192.00 Inchcape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29.21 +0.31 36.74 5.82 Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89.75 +0.25 112.00 77.45 William Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .190.40 +2.20 243.25 141.04
Carnival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2206.00 +56.00 2219.00 1224.00 Informa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .331.50 +7.90 339.10 216.00 Rexam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .284.60 –0.90 323.64 188.89 Witan Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .452.60 +2.10 457.00 276.50
Carpetright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .921.00 –26.00 999.00 346.00 Inmarsat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .682.00 –4.50 717.50 378.25 Rightmove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .519.50 +2.50 610.50 156.25 Wolseley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1438.00 +28.00 1570.00 907.03
Carphone Warehouse . . . . . . . . .197.90* +2.20 216.10 88.25 Intercontl Hotels . . . . . . . . . . . . .921.50 +18.00 926.50 433.75 Rio Tinto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3638.50 +1.00 3679.00 1111.93
Catlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .329.40 –6.60 387.38 270.00 Intermediate Capital . . . . . . . . . .296.00 +0.20 332.00 79.71 RIT Capital Partners . . . . . . . . .1043.00 +16.00 1052.00 715.00 Wood Group (John). . . . . . . . . . .347.90 +17.60 354.90 175.75
Centrica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279.50 +4.70 288.75 212.50 Intertek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1234.00 –3.00 1368.00 753.50 Rolls Royce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .501.50 +2.40 505.50 252.50 WPP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .626.00 +10.50 627.50 349.75
Charter Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .786.50 +8.00 797.00 305.75 Intl Personal Fin . . . . . . . . . . . . .235.80 +3.40 241.80 58.25 Rotork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1220.00 –9.00 1267.00 667.50 Xstrata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1246.50 +28.00 1257.00 288.75
Chemring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2990.00 +10.00 3006.00 1794.00 Intl Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .315.00 +3.80 318.40 190.60 Royal Bank Of Scot . . . . . . . . . . . .35.12 –0.75 58.25 10.00 Yell Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37.57 –1.22 86.00 11.75
Close Bros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .729.50 +18.50 806.50 384.25 Invensys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .323.00 +6.40 323.00 136.00 Royal Dutch Shell A . . . . . . . . .1910.00 –16.50 1951.50 1362.00 LONDON TOP 250 BY MARKET CAPITALISATION
Cobham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .248.90 –3.10 254.10 163.90 Investec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .462.60 +2.50 487.20 164.75 Royal Dutch Shell B . . . . . . . . .1835.00 –20.00 1897.00 1315.00
COLT Telecom . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142.30 –0.30 144.20 72.25 ITV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57.20 –0.15 59.65 16.50 RSA Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126.60 –0.10 150.20 113.10 * Ex-Dividend † Suspended
Compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .460.20 +3.70 470.10 275.00 Jardine Lloyd Thompson. . . . . . .480.50 –1.80 514.00 387.75 SABMiller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1838.00 –3.00 1858.00 906.00
Cookson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .475.90 +12.90 481.40 202.75 Johnson Matthey . . . . . . . . . . .1601.00* –1.00 1641.00 856.50 Sage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229.90 +0.30 239.20 158.90 www.interactivedata.com

New Year has positive start with surge on stocks

for December, we should see a broad December. ment is out on Friday which is also bullish tone to the week but the risk is
MARTIN ON appetite for risk get us off to a positive
start to this week.
Looking further into the week
ahead, we have the start of the US cor-
expected to post a modest gain in a
reading of 74, compared to 72.5 in
to the down side, so watch out for
unexpectedly negative news.

THEMARKETS GFT is calling the UK’s FTSE 100

index to open up 11 points at 5,545 –
within a whisker of the 52-week high
porate earnings season to keep us on
our toes, with Alcoa, Intel and JP
Morgan the blue chips in the spotlight.
December and 67.4 in November.
On that basis we foresee a broadly
Martin Slaney is director of global deal-
ing operations at GFT.

of 5,552 set just last week. The German This week the news on the corpo- ANALYSIS l FTSE100 5,534.24
DAX is quoted around 6,051, up 14 rate and economic fronts is overall 8 Jan
points from Friday and the French expected to be positive. Intel and JP 5,500
CAC is seen opening up 12 points at Morgan are forecast to show a mas-
the 4,057 level. sive leap in profits from this quarter a 5,400
That stocks appear for now at least year ago. On Thursday, US retail sales
to have shrugged off that disappoint- data should benefit from the
ing nonfarm payrolls number is sig- Christmas rush, and consumer senti- 5,300
nificant, with market mood clearly
focussed more on the positive, which
MARTIN SLANEY in this case was the news that
November’s data were actually
5,200

revised higher to show a net gain in 5,100

S
TOCKS have begun 2010 with a jobs. Already one can sense a feeling
bullish surge, and even after of anticipation ahead of next month’s
Friday’s employment data from payrolls data, with hopes building 5,000
the US revealed a surprising drop that we will see a similar revision for 21 Oct 30 Oct 10 Nov 19 Nov 30 Nov 9 Dec 18 Dec 31 Dec

WEEK AHEAD ON WALL STREET

ANALYSIS l Dow Jones

U
S STOCKS could be in for a company reports do not point to as company outlooks, will be closely a clear picture of improving
$
bumpy ride this week as three improved demand. scrutinised to determine if the opti- prospects will be a major concern for
10,800
10,618.00
Dow components kick off the Aluminum company Alcoa is due mism that has driven the S&P 500 investors, a strategist said. 09 Jan
quarterly earnings reporting to post its fourth-quarter results stock index to 15-month highs is war- “Has visibility picked up for 2010? 10,600
season, with investors clamoring for today, marking the unofficial start of ranted. That’s going to be more of a driver 10,400
reassurances on future profits. the reporting season. For the first week of the new year, going forward,” said Mike O’Rourke,
10,200
While the latest earnings are wide- Chipmaker Intel is scheduled to the Dow rose 1.8 per cent, the S&P chief market strategist at BTIG, an
ly expected to show a sharp improve- release its quarterly scorecard on 500 climbed 2.7 per cent and the institutional brokerage firm, in New 10,000
ment compared with the abysmal Thursday, followed by JPMorgan Nasdaq shot up 2 per cent. The S&P York. “I think companies are still 9,800
2008 fourth quarter, the stock mar- Chase on Friday. 500 has risen 69 per cent since last going to be cautious with their guid-
ket could still be in for choppiness if The quality of the earnings, as well March. Whether companies can give ance and their outlooks.” 21 Oct 10 Nov 1 Dec 21 Dec
 16 Investment | Spread Betting CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010

Brown drags down Labour’s election

chances as punters look to Lib Dems
Nick Clegg will get a
boost from televised
debates at the PM’s
expense, writes
Jeremy Hazlehurst

R
IGHT at the height of the aborted
coup attempt by Geoff Hoon and
Patricia Hewitt last week, a Labour
local council leader went on the
radio and said that the leadership of the
party is not an issue. Even if Jesus Christ
came back and took over, he said, some
people would never vote for the party.
No doubt true. But to say that Gordon
Brown is not a problem for voters is a lit-
tle disingenuous. Almost nobody outside
his immediate family members wants
the scowling Scot to be PM. The Hoon-
Hewitt intervention simply came too late
– changing horses at this late point in
the race would be suicide. The plot was a
non-starter.
This can be seen by the small move-
ments that it caused in the spreads last
week. At the start of the week, the
spreads for the number of seats that the
parties will win at the next election
stood at Labour: 212-217, Conservatives:
345-350. (The prices come from Extrabet.)
When Hoon and Hewitt made their
move, spread betters initially wondered
whether Labour might fall below 200,
but the price only dipped very slightly, to Last week’s coup failed, but Gordon won’t be PM for much longer. Picture: REUTERS
209-214. The Conservatives’ spread
moved up to 347-352. Clearly, punters
thought that the attempt to unseat
now 52-55. (Also with Extrabet.)
The Lib Dems will probably continue to
Last week, the Conservatives and Lib
Dems were calling for an immediate gen-
ELECTION BETS | Number of Days Gordon Brown
CURRENT PRICES will have been prime minister
Brown would fizzle out. gain support. Leader Nick Clegg is expect- eral election. It is hard to see a situation
ed to do well out of the televised debates: where Brown would call one. Since he (“Brown and Out”)
SMALL WOBBLE a lack of visibility is the perennial prob- admitted that there will be a spring budg-
To win the next election 1,035-1,040 – is, up to May 6
By the weekend, the prices had stabilized lem for the Lib Dems and several hours of et, this suggests that there will not be a Labour 6/1 (Sporting Index)
to Labour: 211-216; and Conservatives: prime-time televisual exposure will help March election, as some had suggested, as Cons 1/11
246-351. The wobble from David Cameron with this. a budget could not take place during a Who will be the next Labour
Lib Dems 80/1 (Extrabet)
earlier in the week when he appeared to The other bet that looks tasty is the campaign. However, suspicious minds leader after Brown?
become confused about his own policy on number of days that Gordon Brown will might consider Brown’s statement a ploy. Number of seats parties will David Miliband 11/4
marriage appears not to have damaged be prime minister. Assuming that Brown Alternatively, on the grounds that win at the election:
him at all, and was overshadowed by the will not be PM after the election, then Gordon Brown has the same attitude to Alan Johnson 4/1
half-hearted coup attempt. Sporting Index’s Brown and Out bet is power that Charlton Heston had to guns – Labour: 209-214 Ed Miliband 5/1
One clear trend that is emerging in this effectively a punt on the date that the it will have to be prised from his cold, Conservative: 347-352 Harriet Harman 8/1
campaign is increasing support for the country will go to the polls. At the dead hand – then who is to say that he Liberal Democrats: 54-57 Lord Mandelson 10/1
Liberal Democrats. Back on 30 June 2008, moment the spread stands at 1,035-1,040, will not hold on until the last possible (Extrabet)
their seats spread stood at 40-43, but is which takes you to May 6. date, 3 June? Jon Cruddas 14/1

+44 (0) 207 170 0770 0800 358 0864 gftuk.com

LONDON MAIN UK FREEPHONE W E B , L I V E C H AT
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010
Retail is a sell
as customers
desert the UK’s
high streets
Stocks look over-valued as shoppers change
their habits, writes Kathleen Brooks
T
HE BRITS lived up to their reputa-
tion as a nation of spenders and
splashed their cash with abandon
over the festive period. Major retail-
ers swept up and some, like fashion chain
Ted Baker, saw sales rise 20 per cent in the
latter part of 2009. John Lewis, Next,
Marks & Spencer and J Sainsbury also
reported an increase in Christmas sales.
This topped off a fairly strong year for
the sector, and retailers’ share prices have
sky-rocketed since the financial markets
bounced back in March. But is this robust
performance actually credible when the
economy remains weak, wage growth is
stagnant and people are still trying to pay
down debt? James Monro, an analyst for
S&P Equity Research, says that all the data
suggests that Christmas was “stable” for
retailers as customers continued to spend.
“But now the New Year’s hangover has set
in and people are going to need to be
more cautious,” he says.
The journey south has already started
for some of the retailers including M&S,
whose share price fell 50p last week after
chairman Sir Stuart Rose warned that
2010 heralds tough trading conditions.
This trend should gain momentum dur-
ing the rest of the year as a number of fac-
tors weigh on consumer sentiment.
Once a general election is out of the way
the party in power will be able to wield
the public spending axe and hike taxes.
With less cash in their pockets, people are
likely to do less buying. Rising unemploy-
ment in the public sector and lower
incomes also create perfect conditions to
keep people out of the shopping centres.
The household savings rate jumped in
THE TIPSTER
GAS PRICES
HAVE RUN
THEIR COURSE
T
HERE’S been no shortage of news
regarding the increased demand for nat-
ural gas by UK consumers as the cold
snap continues to grip the country. As a
result, BG Group (formerly British Gas) has got
the year off to a cracking start, outperforming
the FTSE-100 by over 100 per cent. But the
cold (hopefully) won’t last forever. The freeze
has also highlighted the problems with gas
storage capacity in the UK, which requires
investment in in the coming years. So, has the
rally run its course? IG Index offers 1,185.3p-
1,188.2p for BG Group.
Resolution, the investment vehicle owned
by the charismatic Clive Cowdery has been
gobbling up players in the British life insur-
ance sector all year. Now it’s taking a shine to
Legal & General, the investments, insurance
and pensions provider. Rumours of a takeover
bid waiting in the wings caused Legal &
General’s stock price to soar by more than
Investment | Spread Betting 17
the last quarter of 2009 from 0.7 per cent
in 2008 to more than 8 per cent. Although
this has gone some way to helping house-
holds pay off the debt they accumulated
over the past decade, there is still more
adjusting of the household finances to
come. In this environment large purchas-
es are likely to be off the schedule for
many people.
Furthermore, cannier shoppers will
scour price comparison websites more
and more for the best bargains. This shift M&S faces a tough year as consumers get battered by tax hikes and try to save more. Picture: Jason Alden/ CITY A.M.
in consumer behaviour could hurt retail-
ers without an online presence and even in April 2009 and now looks like it could ANALYSIS l Debenhams
those who do sell their goods online could be close to its peak. Likewise, M&S, which 100 75.30
see their profit margins start to erode if is a fairly volatile stock, had a bumpier 8 Jan
90
price wars erupt in a bid to lure frugal cus- ride than Debenhams did last year but it
tomers. too could see its price fall as consumers 80
top up their savings accounts rather than 70
CHANGING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR splashing out on knickers. 60
Vicky Redwood, a consumer and debt spe- As millions of people receive their cred-
50
cialist for research firm Capital it card bills in the coming weeks and get
Economics, thinks a more frugal con- real about how much they can afford to 40
sumer could be a trend that continues spend, consumer sentiment is likely to 30
beyond 2010 and that retailers could be in nose dive. This could be a good opportuni-
trouble in the long-term as more con- ty for spread betters to make a profit. Feb 09 Apr Jun Aug Oct Dec
sumers choose to save for a rainy day. Due to the run up in the share price of
“Whereas in the past people relied on some of the retailers in the last 12 ANALYSIS l Marks & Spencer
their house to appreciate in value and do months, spread betters can take advan- 366.40
all of their saving for them, that has tage of a weakening retail sector at a good 400 8 Jan
changed now and people will want to re- price. Spread betting on the FTSE 350 360
think their more conventional saving pat- retail index gives you a broad-based expo-
terns like putting money away,” she says. sure to the UK retail sector. The index 320
S&P’s equity anlayst James Monro says includes 16 of the UK’s largest high street
M&S will especially suffer this year, names including M&S, Next, Debenhams, 280
because it is considered to be expensive. Mothercare and Dixons and has risen by a
Its food sales have also looked weak whopping 70 per cent in the past 12 240
recently. Debenhams’ share price (see months. The index is currently trading at
chart) collapsed in 2008 when the finan- 1,700, and you can sell it at 1,698 with IG
cial crisis hit, however, it rapidly increased Index. Feb 09 Apr Jun Aug Oct Dec
five per cent on Friday and as the rumour mill BG Group might have
heats up there could be further upside. ETX benefited from the
Capital offers 83.77p-84.02p.
Tesco reports a trading update tomorrow
cold weather but its
share price could have
after a slew of other retailers announced good
sales growth over the festive season. It’s not
gone too far.
been plain sailing for all the major retailers Picture: REUTERS
and there’s been some notable under-perform-
ers such as Marks & Spencer whose 0.8 per
cent rise in sales disappointed the market.
However, John Lewis, which had a record-
breaking Christmas, and Next both outper-
formed consensus and in general
supermarkets have done well this winter. This
should bode well for Tesco, which has the
largest market share of all the supermarkets
in the UK. But it’s worth remembering that
consumer confidence had the sharpest fall for
some time in December and that shoppers
might not be in such great shape as we move
into the new year. City Index is offering a
spread on Tesco of 413.4p-414.3p and Capital
Spreads offers a price of 415.3p-416.0p.
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy March-based UK Short Sterling quote of and investment banking firm, was downbeat
Committee held interest rates at their record 99.34-99.38. on its prospects. It wrote that the upside
0.5 percent lows for yet another month last Tullow Oil is in focus after it announced potential for Tullow Oil for this year has prob-
week, but many analysts believe rates could that its oil field in Uganda, which it part owns ably been reached and expectations for fur-
start moving upwards again soon – particular- with Heritage Oil, has 4bn extra barrels of oil ther oil discoveries and a boost to its reserves
ly if the economy picks up strongly in 2010 in its reserves, bringing the total level to 6bn levels are too optimistic. ShortsandLongs.com
and the Bank decides to end its stimulus plans barrels. However, a recent note out from has a rolling spread of 1,328.6p-1,332.4p.
and stops quantitative easing. Spreadex has a Jeffries International, the global securities KATHLEEN BROOKS
 Lifestyle
18
Cooking up an
idyllic holiday
Esther Shaw grabs herself a slice
of Polynesian perfection in one of
the remotest places on earth
T
HERE’S no getting away from the
fact that it takes a long time to get
to the Cook Islands. Located
between Samoa, Fiji and Tahiti, they
are as remote as it gets. The flight from
London is over 20 hours. However, they are
a perfect stop-over to stretch your legs on
the way to Australasia and the ideal South
Seas stopover as part of a round-the-world
trip. If you fancy a few weeks of island hop-
ping, then it’s hard to think of a more idyl-
| Travel
A Polynesian couple
checking out some
Cook Island caves.
lic spot for it than this heavenly necklace
of islands in the centre of the Polynesian
triangle.
This cluster of 15 small islands are
named after Captain James Cook, who
sailed through the southern group in
1773. The islands are self-governing, but
have a free association with New Zealand,
and while English is the official language,
the traditional greeting of “kia orana”
rings out wherever you go.
The clear skies, temperate climes and
pristine waters of the South Pacific offer
the ideal tropical therapy. These easy-on-
the-eye tropical islands attract travellers
from far and wide to kick back on the
secluded beaches, but I was determined to
spend my days here doing more than just
lying on a deck chair.
The microcosm
of Rarotonga combines lush
greenery with beaches.
The islands are a great spot for travellers
who want an active holiday. Sport is truly
part of the culture, and I timed my stay to
coincide with the South Pacific Mini
Games, being hosted by the archipelago
for the first time since 1985, making this
the biggest event here in 24 years.
It was a fortnight-long competition in
which 21 nations from all over the Pacific
region competed in all manner of sports
including lawn bowls, boxing, table ten-
nis, triathlon and athletics. Everyone on
the island is involved in one way or anoth-
er. The Cook Islands also hosts the Youth
Netball Championships and the Vaka Eiva
paddling festival.
Even when the cream of Polynesia’s
sportsmen and women are not there,
sport is definitely on the menu in the
Islands, and it’s easy to find somebody
organising a spot of running and rugby –
or if you’re looking for something a little
more sedate, swimming and sea kayaking.
Rarotonga
of Rarotonga, a fabulous microcosm of all
things Polynesian.
Aitutaki
Any trip to the Cook Islands should com- The breath-taking powder-blue lagoon of
mence with a few days on the main island
This lush green island, one of the south-
ern group, has rugged mountains in the
centre, and is ringed around the edges by
white-powder sand.
I joined one of the 4WD inland safari
tours (www.tangaroa4x4.co.ck), to enjoy
the rainforest interi-
or of the Avatiu val-
ley and to soak up
The powder-blue lagoon
the panoramic
views from the east-
is a clear front-runner for
ern heights over-
looking Muri
one of the world’s most
Lagoon.
Included in the
beautiful destinations
tour is a delicious
lunch of marinated raw fish, taro leaves
and meat, all baked in banana leaves and
cooked in the umu – or traditional earth
oven.
If you’re feeling active, you can trek
across the island via the highest point
known as Te Rua Manga or “The Needle,”
for spectacular views of the coral-fringed
coastline.
The preferred means of transport on
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010
Rarotonga is the scooter, while the hop-on
hop-off buses run a regular service clock-
wise and anti-clockwise around the
perimeter.
There are a couple of good dive opera-
tors here, or, if you want to keep your head
above water, you can go fishing to try and
land your own supper.
The delights of the day are served up at
Rarotonga’s lively array of cafes and
restaurants, and the likes of Windjammer
and The Yellow Hibiscus are well worth a
try, as is Trader Jacks, which overlooks the
beautiful Avarua Harbour – in what passes
for the island’s capital; many of the hotels
also have an Island Night, offering a tradi-
tional mix of Polynesian song, dance, cos-
tumes and cuisine.
I was based in a pristine pool suite at
the luxurious Crown Beach Resort, and
with my own plunge pool, large sun-deck,
and super-sized bed, it didn’t take long to
get used to “island time.”
Aitutaki, less than an hour’s flight north
of Rarotonga, is in a league of its own, and
this honeymoon destination, popular for
its paradisal remoteness, is a clear fron-
trunner for one of the world’s most beau-
tiful destinations.
The first European to record its exis-
tence was Captain Bligh, master of the
Bounty back in 1789, just 17 days before
the mutiny,
although it has,
more recently, been
made famous by the
Shipwrecked reality
television show.
A boat tour of the
brilliant blue lagoon
is an absolute must,
and I joined
Bishop’s Cruises (www.bishops
cruises.com) for its day-long trip around
the numerous palm-fringed coral “motu”
or islets.
The itinerary is incredibly relaxed, and
includes a stop-off on One Foot Island for a
banquet of barbequed fish and the chance
to get your passport stamped at the
world’s smallest Post Office.
You can then while away the remainder
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010 SKIN CARE FOR 19
THE SLOPES
IN TOMORROW’S
HEALTH & BEAUTY

A typical idyllic TRAVEL NOTES

Cook Islands beach. ZOE STRIMPEL

Winter offer at Cap Maison, St Lucia

To celebrate its first birthday anniversary, this clifftop paradise is offering a
winter package to entice you to sunnier climes, with a free night and free
meals at the hotel’s gourmet restaurants. Suites have professional-grade
kitchens, outdoor showers, roof-top terraces and private pools. Five nights
for the price of four and seven for the price of six including breakfast.
Guests staying five nights at the hotel will receive $250 per room to spend
of your day cruising through the lumi- at any of the hotel’s restaurants and bars, those staying for seven nights
nous blue, sunbathing on the chalk-white will receive $500. Valid until 31 Mar. www.capmaison.com
beaches and snorkelling in the kaleido-
scopic reefs.
If you don’t mind splurging, then it’s
worth spending a few nights in one of the
sumptuous over-water bungalows at the
Aitutaki Lagoon Resort & Spa.
This incredibly upmarket private island
resort is the perfect indulgence for those
looking for a bit of beach-side bliss – this is
barefoot luxury at its best.

Atiu
Atiu remains one of the less visited islands
in the Cook group, but nature lovers and
adventure lovers alike will soon be won
over by this Robinson Cruesoe-esque hide-
away with its rugged jungle-covered interi-
or and scenic coral cliffs or “makatea”
coast.
With supplies delivered by a ship just The Robinson
once every three weeks, you certainly feel Crusoe-esque New Six Senses on Koh Kood, Thailand
as though you’re a long way from any- hideaway of Atiu. The new Six Senses on Koh Kood on the Thai/Cambodia border is
where. Nonetheless, from the moment I accessed by private plane and sports 29 vast pool villas. Treetop dining
set foot on the island, I was made to feel pods and superlative snorkeling add to the superlative spa treatments for
like a member of the family at the homely which the company is known. Carrier offers seven nights for the price of
Atiu Villas by my hosts, Roger and Kura five (Save £1,975pp) at Six Senses Soneva Kiri in a Hill Villa Suite based on
Malcolm. The rooms, set in lush tropical two people sharing on a B+B basis. Price includes flights with Thai
gardens, all offer well-stocked larders and Airways from Heathrow andprivate transfers. To book call 0161 491 7630
basic cooking facilities, while a delicious or go to www.carrier.co.uk.Valid for travel 1 April-30 June.
dinner is cooked up each evening at Kura’s
Kitchen.
Atiu is far from your average beach hol-
iday as it’s so far off the beaten track, and
yet at the same time it so much more, as
the island is ringed by miles of secluded
beaches you can call your own. Bird-life
here is prolific, and if you’re lucky, you
might catch a glimpse of the striking red
Rimatara Lorikeet, re-introduced back in
2007.
I joined a guided eco-tour with indige-
nous Birdman George whose knowledge
of the flora and fauna of Atiu is unbeat-
able, and spent an action-packed after-
noon trekking with UK-born Marshall
Humphrey exploring the extensive lime-
stone cave system, home to the kopeka or
Atiu swiftlet (further tour details can be
found at www.atiu.info).
I rounded off my final day on this cast- Boston Gets a Touch of High Style
away island with a visit to the Tumunu The world's most picturesque business city is not known for its cutting-
meeting place, to take part in the nightly edge cool. That's just changed, with the opening of the Ames hotel in the
drinking ritual with the local men. centre of the financial district. Style is the buzzword here and you'll sleep in
The so-called ceremony comprises the minimalist, white-washed rooms with historical touches and dine at the
assembled group knocking back a seem- posh tavern, the Woodward, where American classics are done to perfec-
ingly unending round of wooden cups of tion. Launch offers include rooms from $200 per night. For more informa-
bush beer. And, as I sit beneath the starlit tion and to book, go to www.ameshotel.com.
sky chattering and laughing late into the
night with these welcoming Pacific
Islanders whose traditions date back cen- nections once a week to Rarotonga; economy
fares start from £926.
(www.crownbeach.com) in Rarotonga start
from £321, while a garden room at the Aitutaki
Seabourn Cruises Pay for Flights
turies, I know that I am well and truly Luxury boutique cruise line Seabourn is the ultimate choice for travellers
immersed in island life. Air Rarotonga (www.airraro.com) flies daily Lagoon Resort (www.aitutakilagoonresort.com) who prefer perfect service and lovely rooms over onboard climbing walls,
from Rarotonga to Aitutaki and Atiu (except starts from NZ $515 and an over-water villa cinemas and nightclubs. Because they’re small, boats get to coves bigger
GETTING THERE Sunday). starts from NZ $1,395; rooms at Atiu Villas ships can’t visit. On cruises in 2010 round the Riviera, the Aegean and the
Air New Zealand (www.airnewzealand.co.uk; (www.atiuvillas.com) start from NZ $160. All Norwegian fjords Seabourn will be throwing in flights and transfers into
0800 028 4149) has daily departures from STAYING THERE prices are per night. For more information go to the price. A winter pick-me-up to take seriously. Fares from £1,799. To
London Heathrow to Los Angeles, with con- Prices for a villa at the Crown Beach Resort www.cookislands.travel book call Seabourn on 0845 070 0500 www.seabourn.com.
 20 Lifestyle | Travel
Stars and spas
in California’s
flashy south
A beautiful coastline is the ultimate place for
golf, glamour and pampering, says Laura Ivill
T
HE SOUTHERN California sunshine
danced on the ocean off Newport
Beach as we stepped aboard the boat
where we would be eating our lunch.
We opened the champagne, tucked into
the picnic, and took it in turns at the helm
to guide the boat, silent as a whisper
around the bay. This was a brilliant way to
sightsee, the electric motors meaning that
there was nothing to interfere with the
sound of amiable chit-chat and the oohs
and aahs that greeted the stunning water-
front properties.
Duffy Boats, as they are called, are also
perhaps the perfect union of Newport
Beach’s two biggest passions – the ocean
and golf. They were invented by teenager
Marshall “Duffy” Duffield in 1970. As the
story goes, he was entertaining a date on
his father’s gas-powered boat when, to his
irritation, the engine gave out. Not to be
foxed, he swiftly swapped it for a golf cart’s
electric motor, and the Duffy boat was
born. Now 1,500 of them swish around
Newport Beach, a sizeable percentage of
the 9,000 motor yachts and sailboats
moored here.
“The Hamptons of Hollywood” have been
entertaining the cream of west coast socie-
ty for a century. The town bloomed in the
golden days of the movies when stars were
contractually obliged to stay within 200
miles of the studio, so that they could be on
call for a shoot. Newport Beach was just far
enough away from the prying eyes and
lenses of LA, with pool parties a-go-go. It
was home to the Rat Pack and Bob Hope,
and the story goes that John Wayne gave up
his dream of a professional American foot-
ball career for the movies when he injured
his shoulder bodysurfing off the area
known as The Wedge.
Movie stars still flock here today, but
you’ll find names hard to prize out of any-
one in the hospitality industry. As we
cruised around the bay, past the multi-mil-
lion dollar homes with their multi-million
dollar yachts, though, there was no doubt-
ing where they would be staying. To give
you an idea of what we are talking about,
in 2008 Nicholas Cage sold his modernist
pile for $35m.
The town likes to play up this glamorous
connection. We had a cracking seafood
lunch at the Harborside Restaurant and
Grand Ballroom (www.harborside-
pavilion.com), where Bette Davis used to
party. That evening we dined at the John
Wayne Table at The Cannery (www.can-
nerynewport.com), a former fish-canning
factory that is now a snazzy harbour-front
dining spot. Here I had the finest cocktail I
have ever drunk – a Spiced Pear Martini, so
viscous you could stand a spoon in it.
GOLF | ORANGE COUNTY
It’s no wonder Orange County is known as
California’s Golf Coast (Tiger Woods has a home
here). Take your pick of eight challenging courses
in stunning settings, designed by some of the
world’s best architects (www.occgolf.com). The
crème de la crème is the Tom Fazio-designed
Pelican Hill Golf Club, with 36 holes, over 400
acres and magnificent ocean views. In Palm
Springs Desert Resorts, golf is king. Among the
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010
We stayed in 847 sq-ft bungalows at The
Resort at the Palladian-style 504-acre A view of Newport
Pelican Hill. From my bath, the view went Harbour.
directly through my room, out across my
private terrace, across the expansive golf
course and right to the ocean. The best
time to visit is spring (April or May) or
autumn (September and October). From
December to March you’ll have the beaches
to yourself, and June is foggy and overcast.
In Southern California you don’t have to
travel far to enjoy a complete change of
scene. Newporters hop in the car for a
weekend in Palm Springs Desert Resorts,
where they swap beaches for mountains,
snow-covered in winter against an azure
sky. The Resorts are a seamless conglomera- Get to your golf
tion of eight towns (they are called cities) course in a Duffy
strung along the Coachella valley. This is a boat.
year-round sunshine destination – in fact
July and August are the off-season because
it’s too hot.
The Resorts are spending $2bn on
refreshing and expanding the facilities. If
you want to try your luck at one of the casi- Surfers off the
nos, the one in the Agua Caliente Casino Newport coast.
Resort Spa in Rancho Mirage is a good place
to start. We ate our fill of steak and seafood
in the restaurant before hitting the tables.
Palm Springs is also world famous for its
branch of mid-century “Desert
Modernism” architecture, and so much of
this survives that the city is thought of as
an “architectural garden”. But new gems
are springing up: just one example is the
Ace Hotel & Swim Club Palm Springs
(www.acehotel.com), a modern-retro hang-
out for couples or friends weekending
from the cities. I loved it. In Indian Wells,
The Hyatt Grand Champions is perfectly
placed next to the spectacular new gold
club, and after a morning’s round out on
the green, you can kick back, lazing
around one of the Resort’s many pools
under a giant palm.
Between them, Newport Beach and
Palm Springs Desert Resorts give you the
best of Southern California, and with sun-
shine thrown in for free.
Balboa Boat Tours hires out Duffy Boats for self-
guided tours. (www.boats4rent.com). Newport
Beach: The Resort at Pelican Hill (www.pelican-
hill.com), from $495 for a garden-view bungalow,
$695 for ocean-view bungalow per night. Visit Dining at Pelican
Newport Beach Inc (www. Hill resort.
visitnewportbeach.com). Palm Springs Desert
Resorts: Hyatt Grand Champions Resort, Villas &
Spa, Indian Wells (www.grand SPA | NEWPORT BEACH NATURE | ECO RESERVE
champions.hyatt.com), from $159 per room per
night. Palm Springs Desert Resorts Communities
CVA (www.palmspringsusa.com). Flights: British
In Newport Beach four resort spas and luxury day spas provide Explore the central Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve
Airways flies three times daily from Heathrow to
Los Angeles from £456.40 return, including taxes a huge choice of treatments to pamper, detox and rejuvenate (www.ocparks.com/uppernewportbay) on foot, by bike or by
(tel: 0844 4930787, www.ba.com). mind and body. Nip into the Pure Blu Spa at the Marriott kayak – it’s a pristine estuary where 35,000 birds spend their
(www.marriott.co.uk/newport-beach) for a buff and bronze. At winter. Take a walking tour with Newport At Your Feet
The Resort at Pelican Hill, the classic Italian architecture lends (www.newportatyourfeet.com) or, for a more strenuous walk,
itself to a spa complex of elegant stonework, arches and El Moro Canyon has hiking trails. Or head to Crystal Cove State
columns. My Oxygen Facial was gentle and enjoyable yet prop- Park and Cottages (www.crystalcovestatepark.com), a rare
options are two 18-hole courses, which make up erly beneficial. There are so many spas in the Palm Springs example of an original laid-back California beach community. For
the Indian Wells Golf Resort (www.indianwellsgol- Desert Resorts that even dogs are catered for (at Aqua Paws). Palm Springs Desert Resorts pack your hiking boots for the
fresort.com). Clive Clark’s Celebrity Course has The natural hot springs beneath the San Andreas Fault feed a Santa Rosa Mountains, Joshua Tree National Park and Indio
expansive views of the desert mountains; John number directly, such as the Two Bunch Palms Resort and Spa Hills. Hire performance road and mountain bikes from Big
Fought’s Players Course offers dynamic bunkering (www.twobunchpalms.com), an a-list favourite. There’s an Wheel Tours (www.bwbtours.com). And learn all about the
and generous fairway corridors. The 53,000 sq ft emphasis on wellness, and after a massage and time in the hot geology and rock formations, the Indians and gold-rush pio-
clubhouse overlooks the action. The Hyatt Grand spring, I was certainly chilled out. The Agua Serena Spa at the neers, with a Desert Adventures Jeep tour (www.
Champions Resort is just next door, with villas Hyatt Grand Champions also has both indoor and outdoor red.jeep.com). Our naturalist guide, Morgan Levine, was hugely
offering privacy, and butler service. spaces, with a full-on eucalyptus steam room. entertaining.
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010 Lifestyle | TV& Games 21

BBC1 BBC2 ITV1 CHANNEL4 FIVE

TERRESTRIAL
6pm BBC News
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10.35pm FILM The Hours:
Drama, starring Nicole Kidman
2002; Weatherview
12.30am Sign Zone: Great
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Journeys
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Sally and Kevin tell their and Alzheimers: Re-examining police cars pursue a vehicle;
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9pm CHOICE Law & Order: UK adequate care. 9pm CHOICE Paul Merton in
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10.30pm London News 10pm Celebrity Big Brother 10pm FILM Traffic: Crime DELIA THROUGH THE DECADES
10.35pm FILM Out for Justice: 11.10pm FILM Cruel drama, starring Michael Douglas BBC2, 8.30PM
Action thriller, starring Steven Intentions: Drama, with Ryan and Benicio Del Toro. 2000. New series. The cook recalls her
Seagal. 1991. Phillippe and Reese 12.50am SuperCasino: Live favourite recipes through archive
12.20am Take Me Out; ITV Witherspoon. 1999. interactive gaming. footage before giving the food a
News Headlines 1.05am Celebrity Big Brother: Live 4am The FBI Files 4.55am Rough modern twist.
1.15am Loose Women 2am The 3.55am St Elsewhere 4.40am The Guide to Adventures 5.10am
Jeremy Kyle Show 2.55am-5.30am World’s Greatest Musical Prodigies Neighbours 5.35am-6am Home and
ITV Nightscreen 5.35am-6am The Hoobs Away

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7pm Netbusters 7.30pm Live
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5.30am-6am Home Shopping
Nostradamus Effect 10pm The Stories of the ER 1am Trauma group within the police force.
Next Nostradamus 12am Pawn Unit 3am Little People, Big
BBC THREE Bradley Walsh stars.
7pm Doctor Who 8pm Doctor Stars 1am Ice Road Truckers World 4am Bringing Home
2am How Britain Was Built Baby 5am-6am Baby Tales
Who’s Greatest Moments: The
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First episode of the comedy, 7pm Mythbusters 8pm How 8pm Football’s Next Star 9pm
starring Mathew Horne. 10pm Do They Do It? 8.30pm How Road Wars 10pm Ross Kemp
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2009 2.10am Being Human Crashes That Changed Flying Lyrics 3.30am Nothing But the New series. The comedian embarks on
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It, Cook It, Eat It – Fast Food Industrial Revelations Smarter Than a 10 Year Old? political movement the Apple Front.

COFFEE BREAK
Copyright Puzzler Media Ltd, www.puzzler.com
19 34 16 35 26 7
1
QUICK CROSSWORD
2 3 4 5 6

SUDOKU KAKURO
16

34
19
17 4

10
3
7 8 9
Place the numbers from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so that each 4
6 17
row, each column and each 3x3 block contains all the numbers Fill the grid so that each block
from 1 to 9 to solve this tricky Sudoku puzzle. adds up to the total in the box 9 12 10 11 12
above or to the left of it. 6 4 34 7
4 6 9
3 2 9 You can only use the digits 1-9
and you must not use the
33 16
13
14 26
14 15 16
1 same digit twice in a block.
The same digit may occur 17 14
35
12
14 19 17
4 8 6 3 more than once in a row or
column, but it must be in a 4 7
23 16
19 18 19 20 21
4 3 7 9 2 separate block. 31
16
6

7 34
5 8 7 17 9 22 23

7 2 8 5 4 ACROSS DOWN
1 Military instrument (5)
5 3 9 7 1 Rumour, gossip (4)

8 WORDWHEEL A H
4 ___ Cruz, Bolivian city (5)
7 ___ Days, wildlife series
(3)
2 Filled (the gaps between
tiles) (7)
Using only the letters in the Wordwheel, you have 3 Arm’s sharp bend (5)
3 1 6 ten minutes to find as many words as possible, Y H 8 Unit of atmospheric
pressure (3) 4 Clean vigorously (5)
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 E
T N
9 Animal foot (3)
10 Keep under hatches (4)
5 Daytime snooze (3)

08/01/10 letters can only be used once in every word. There

11 ___ Berkeley, Hollywood 6 For eternity (6)
12 Passing (a credit card)
SOLUTIONS KAKURO is at least one nine-letter word in the wheel.
E P
director (5)
14 Greater in breadth (5) through an electronic
QUICK CROSSWORD 2 1 2 1 9 7
er 16 Make an entrance (2,2)
terminal (7)
CA L L E D F R E D
1 3 1 3 8 2 1 SUDOKU 2 7 3 5 8 4 6 9 1
18 ___ de Janeiro, city (3)
13 Relating to a typewriter’s
2 8 2 6 9 8 3 20 18th-century gambling
H E I E A 1 6 8 9 7 3 4 5 2
I N F AMY KN OW
9 8 2 7 1 card game (3) standard layout (6)
4 5 7 6 2 8 52 5 9 4 6 2 1 3 8 7
L R U A N
9 8 6 4 3 2 1 7 5 21 Written promise to pay 15 Presided over (5)
L OS BA S QU E 2 6 7 4 9 31
I H E E L J 1 3 2 1 7 3 64 3 2 7 1 6 5 9 4 8 (inits)(3) 16 Animal’s angry noise (5)
RU S T E D T AU 1 7 5 5 1 WORDWHEEL 4 1 5 8 9 7 2 3 6 22 Joined together, as
T F H A L 1 2 8 9 3 2 3 7 5 1 3 4 6 8 2 9 17 Witty remark (4)
WE F T S A L A M I The nine-letter word draught oxen (5)
I L O P E 7 8 9 2 1 2 1 8 3 2 7 1 9 5 6 4 23 Assistance getting over a 19 Gabriel ___, Thomas Hardy
N E E D B A S A L T 5 9 1 3 1 3 was MALIGNANT 6 4 9 2 5 8 7 1 3
wall? (3-2) character (3)
 22 Sport
Murray: It’s
time to break
my Slam duck
▲
TENNIS
BY JON COUCH
ANDY MURRAY insists he is ready to
land a first Grand Slam tournament
after enjoying “perfect” preparation
for this week’s Australian Open.
The world No4 arrived in
Melbourne yesterday having reached
the final of the Hopman Cup with
Laura Robson last week.
Murray is yet to progress beyond
the fourth round at Melbourne but
has prepared meticulously for the
event with plenty of court time in the
hot and humid conditions.
And despite suffering defeat to
Tommy Robredo in Perth, the Scot
insists he is happy with his form.
“The week has been really good. I’ve
been really happy with the way I’ve
played all week on the court,” the 22-
year-old said. “I think it was perfect
preparation for the Aussie Open. I’m
ready to win it.
“I just need to play well and if I do
then there’s no reason why I can’t. I
feel like I’m serving well, moving well
and hitting the ball better than I have
for a long time from the back of the
court.
“There’s not a whole lot to com-
plain about. Physically I feel good. It
was good to play back-to-back days. My
back is a little bit stiff because I
haven’t played much in the past six or
seven weeks, but it’s good to get the
body used to playing. I feel really well
prepared.”
With the Hopman Cup played
indoors, Murray is now looking to
arrange a practice match outdoors to
complete his preparation.
“I’ll speak to my coach and the peo-
ple I work with this week,” he added.
“I’m sure I’ll play a match there just to
play outdoors.
“Ideally I would have played out-
doors last week, but I was able to prac-
tice outdoors on the off days to
acclimatise.
“I’ll practice a lot next week out-
doors and I’m sure I’ll be fine.
“I’ll train hard for the first four or
five days and then relax over the
weekend and get ready.”
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010
WOLFIE’S ON TOP OF THE WORLD SPORT | IN BRIEF
White bows out at Wembley
SNOOKER: Wembley favourite Jimmy
White crashed out of the UK
Championship first round after going
down 6-2 to No16 seed Mark King.
The 47-year-old, who appeared on
reality show ‘I’m A Celebrity, Get Me
Out of Here’ recently, was handed a
wildcard for the the tournament after
slipping to 56 in the rankings.
And, in truth, he was never really in
the contest as King powered to a second
round clash with Stephen Maguire.
Elsewhere, Mark Selby beat Ding
Junhui 6-1, while Peter Ebdon was a 6-2
winner over Marco Fu.
Schwartzel wins home title
GOLF: Home favourite Charl Schwartzel
fired a final round 67 to clinch a one-
stroke victory in the Africa Open in East
London.
Schwartzel started the final round
two shots behind Thomas Aiken and
Trevor Fisher Jnr, but four birdies in the
opening seven holes brought him into
contention.
Further birdies at 11 and 14 put him in
front and he sealed a fourth European
Tour title despite a bogey at the last.
India seal final place
CRICKET: India will face Sri Lanka in
the final of the triangular series in
Dhaka on Wednesday after beating the
Sri Lankans by eight wickets.
Kumar Sangakkara smashed nine
fours in his 68 but had little support as
Sri Lanka were dismissed for 213.
Gautam Gambhir led the India charge
WILY Martin ‘Wolfie’ Adams held off a thrilling comeback from Dave Chisnall to become with 71 before Virat Kohli’s 71no saw
BDO World Darts Champion for a second time. Chisnall, 29, roared back from 3-0 down to India cruise home with 17 overs to
level at 4-4, but Adams held his nerve to claim a 7-5 victory. At 53, he breaks his own record spare. India now play a dead rubber
as the oldest champion in a record 17th consecutive Lakeside appearance. Picture: PA against Bangladesh today.
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010 Sport 23

Mercedes team are hungry for more Results

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Arsenal ...........................(1) 2 Everton.................................(1) 2

success, insists new boy Schumacher

Denilson 28 Osman 12
Rosicky 90 Pienaar 81
Att: 60,053
Birmingham.................(1) 1 Man Utd ..............................(0) 1
Jerome 39 Dann 63 (og)
Att: 28,907
P W D L F A GD Pts
Chelsea 20 14 3 3 45 16 29 45
Man Utd 21 14 2 5 46 19 27 44
“I have been in the factory in man is already settling in nicely. so much used to that at my work and
▲

FORMULA ONE Arsenal 20 13 3 4 53 23 30 42

BY JON COUCH
MICHAEL SCHUMACHER says the
Mercedes team are “hungry for more
success” after visiting the team’s
Brackley base ahead of the new sea-
son.
The 41-year-old, who returns to the
grid this season after three years in
retirement, spent two days at the
headquarters of the former Brawn GP
team, and says he was impressed with
the motivation of team bosses.
Brackley now for two days and spent
the time to get to know the engineers
and the structures a bit better, and I
am extremely surprised about how
motivated everybody was,” the seven-
time world champion said.
“This a world champion team but it
does not seem to be spoilt by success
at all; it seems to be hungry for more
instead.”
Schumacher will race alongside
Nico Rosberg in an all-German driver
line-up and the experienced ex-Ferrari
“It is important for me to be I find it quite convenient.” Tottenham 20 11 4 5 42 22 20 37
informed about everything and it Schumacher also visited Mercedes’ Man City 19 9 8 2 38 27 11 35
was very interesting to get to under- engine facility in Brixworth this week Aston Villa 20 10 5 5 29 18 11 35
Liverpool 20 10 3 7 37 25 12 33
stand the engineers and their struc- and was equally impressed with what Birminghm 21 9 6 6 21 19 2 33
tures and the way they work,” said he saw. Fulham 20 7 6 7 26 22 4 27
Schumacher. “I also was in the Mercedes factory Stoke 20 6 6 8 18 25 -7 24
“I was there already around the in Brixworth and I have to say that I Sunderland 20 6 5 9 28 31 -3 23
time of the signature of the contract am very impressed about the high Everton 20 5 8 7 28 34 -6 23
Blackburn 20 5 6 9 20 35 -15 21
and learned a lot, now I have seen level you see there,” he went on. Burnley 20 5 5 10 22 40 -18 20
much more about the team. “In Brixworth the people seem to Wolves 20 5 4 11 17 36 -19 19
“What I also liked was that you be highly motivated as well and I find Wigan 19 5 4 10 21 44 -23 19
hear a lot of people speaking German that encouraging, as it perfectly fits West Ham 20 4 6 10 28 37 -9 18
there. That is nice for once, I am not my personal mood.” Bolton 18 4 6 8 26 36 -10 18
Hull 20 4 6 10 20 42 -22 18
Portsmouth 20 4 2 14 18 32 -14 14
COCA-COLA CHAMPIONSHIP

Vieira warns:
Cardiff.............................(1) 1 Blackpool...........................(0) 1
Hudson 9 Adam 46
Att: 19,147
Coventry .......................(2) 3 Barnsley..............................(0) 1
Eastwood 24 Macken 50
Clingan 27
Morrison 90 Att: 15,031

I’m playing as
Derby...............................(0) 1 Scunthorpe.......................(2) 4
Williams 59 (og) Hooper 14
Thompson 45, 80
Att: 28,106 Forte 89
P W D L F A GD Pts
Newcastle 24 15 6 3 39 14 25 51
Nottm For 25 12 10 3 37 19 18 46

well as ever
West Brom 24 13 6 5 49 25 24 45
Cardiff 24 11 5 8 43 28 15 38
Leicester 23 10 8 5 29 25 4 38
Swansea 24 9 10 5 21 19 2 37
Blackpool 23 9 8 6 36 26 10 35
Sheff Utd 24 9 8 7 35 33 2 35
Crystal Pal 24 8 10 6 28 27 1 34
QPR 24 8 9 7 38 36 2 33
Middlesbro’ 24 9 5 10 34 29 5 32
Bristol City 24 7 11 6 29 29 0 32
“I have learned a lot around big-
▲

FOOTBALL
BY JON COUCH
NEW Manchester City signing Patrick
Vieira says he is a better player now
than he was when he left the Premier
League four-and-a-half years ago.
The 33-year-old has rejoined his for-
mer Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini
after penning a six-month loan deal
at Eastlands.
Critics believe the French interna-
tional is well past his best and a shad-
ow of the player who helped Arsenal
land a string of trophies around the
turn of the millennium.
But Vieira has hit back, insisting he
is actually a better player now than
when he left the Gunners for a stint
in Italy with Juventus and then Inter.
“I am a better player for the experi-
ences I have had,” Vieira said. “You get
better with experience and age and I
have been really lucky to play at big
clubs.
name players and I have come back to
the Premier League a better player
than I used to be.”
Vieira has also likened Mancini to
Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, insist-
ing both have similar philosophies in
their approach. “They both like to
work on the pitch and like to be next
to the players,” he added.
“They manage players and believe
in communication. That is really
good and I regard it as a compliment
that I am the first player Mancini has
brought to City.
“Mancini is a winner. He is a really
ambitious man. He came here
because he knows he can achieve
something.
“He will do everything for the team
to be successful and win games.”
Vieira will make his City debut
against Blackburn tonight providing
he can recover from a niggling calf
injury.
Watford 24 8 8 8 33 37 -4 32
Coventry 25 8 7 10 29 36 -7 31
Doncaster 23 7 9 7 29 27 2 30
Barnsley 23 8 6 9 30 37 -7 30
Preston 23 7 8 8 26 29 -3 29
Derby 25 7 5 13 25 39 -14 26
Scunthorpe 24 7 5 12 29 45 -16 26
Ipswich 24 4 13 7 27 34 -7 25
Reading 24 5 8 11 26 39 -13 23
Plymouth 23 6 3 14 21 34 -13 21
Sheff Wed 23 4 7 12 25 39 -14 19
Peterboro 24 3 9 12 31 43 -12 18
COCA-COLA LEAGUE ONE
Leeds................................(1) 1 Wycombe...........................(0) 1
Norwich..........................(1) 3 Exeter...................................(0) 1
TODAY’S DIARY
(Football 7.45pm unless stated)
African Nations Cup Group A
Malawi v Algeria (1.45) ............................................................................................
African Nations Cup Group B
Ivory Coast v Burkina Faso (4pm) ......................................................................
Barclays Premier League
Man City v Blackburn (8pm)..................................................................................
SPORTS EDITOR JON COUCH
Vieira is back in the Premier League after four-and-a-half years. Picture: ACTION IMAGES email sport@cityam.com

League chiefs to Boss Zola steps up striker Keane’s Blues strike early
defend stance on
freeze victims search after Franco blow to stop high-flying Foxes
that quartet Scott Parker, Jack 22 seconds. Ex-Foxes defender Gareth
▲

FOOTBALL
Collison, Mark Noble and Danny LEICESTER CITY 1 McAuley and Jack Colback both came
▲

FOOTBALL BY FRANK DALLERES

THE Premier League is ready to vigor-
ously fight their corner if the decision
to postpone the majority of matches
this weekend is questioned.
Only two top-flight matches, the
WEST HAM boss Gianfranco Zola will
up his search for a striker this week
after Guillermo Franco picked up an
injury in training.
Italian Franco was Zola’s only fit,
Gabbidon are expected to be back for
this weekend’s trip to Aston Villa.
The Hammers are also expected to
make an announcement this week on
the latest in the club’s takeover saga.
Ex-Birmingham duo David Gold
▲
close the doubling Town’s lead late in
the first half but, within seconds,
IPSWICH TOWN 1 Steve Howard slotted home for the
hosts against the run of play.
Leicester’s Matty Fryatt and Paul
Gallacher forced saves from Ipswich

games at Arsenal and Birmingham,
survived the big freeze, sparking fears
of a fixture pile-up.
Questions have been raised after
pictures showed the surrounding
areas of Upton Park being clear of
snow despite West Ham’s match with
Wolves falling victim.
But League officials will explain
they were acting on police advice
with no guarantees of safety on sur-
rounding roads.
recognised striker with Carlton Cole
still suffering with a knee problem.
But the 33-year-old has suffered a
muscular complaint and now faces at
least three weeks on the sidelines.
Zola’s ex-Chelsea team-mate Eidur
Gudjohnsen heads the Hammers’
wanted list, but Stoke’s James Beattie,
Portuguese international Nuno
Gomes and even ex-Hammer Marlon
Harewood have also been touted.
The good news for Zola, however, is
and David Sullivan, along with
Malaysian businessman Tony
Fernandes, are in ongoing negotia-
tions with the club’s owners,
Icelandic bank Straumur.
Fulham, meanwhile, are closing in
on the signing of Roma striker
Stefano Okaka.
The Cottagers have reportedly had
a bid accepted by the Italians.
Erik Nevland will also be offered a
new deal later this month.
CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL
BY JON COUCH
LEICESTER missed the chance to go
fourth in the Championship table
after being held to a draw by Roy
Keane’s battling Ipswich in a disap-
pointing wintery encounter at the
Walkers Stadium.
The visitors got off to the best possi-
ble start when Ryan McGivern bun-
dled into his own net under pressure
from Ipswich’s David Norris after just
keeper Arran-Lee Barrett late on, but
Ipswich comfortably held on to
extend their run to just one defeat in
14 matches.
Keane said afterwards: “We had
chances before their equaliser but
we’ve not been scoring enough goals
all season and that was the case again.
“Draws are not going to take us up
the league very quickly but it’s a
point that we got and we’ll take it and
move on.”
 Sport
24
Captain Ade:
We wanted to
play in honour
of dead mates
▲
FOOTBALL
BY JON COUCH
EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR has admit-
ted the Togo squad had decided they
wanted to play in the Africa Cup of
Nations – only to be overruled by gov-
ernment officials.
The Manchester City striker joined
his Togo team-mates on the plane
back home last night following
Friday’s attack on the team bus
which claimed three lives.
Initial reports suggested the play-
ers were in favour of withdrawing
from the tournament, but Adebayor
told how he led a team meeting
where it was eventually decided they
wanted to play on as a mark of
respect for those killed.
But Togolese prime minister
Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo and presi-
dent Faure Gnassingbe had the final
say yesterday, insisting the players
return home immediately on the
presidential plane, despite last-ditch
talks with the Confederation of
African Football (CAF).
Houngbo said: “We understand the
approach of the players who wanted
to express a way to avenge their fallen
comrades, but it would be irresponsi-
ble on the part of the authorities to
let them continue.
“The team must return today. The
government’s decision is unchanged.
Desperate Smith looking to
make home advantage count
▲
CRICKET
BY JON COUCH
SOUTH AFRICA have urged
Wanderers groundsman Chris Scott
to seize home advantage as they look
to level the Test series with England
this week.
The Proteas must win the fourth
and final Test in Johannesburg to
avoid back-to-back home series defeats
after losing to Australia last year.
The hosts were frustrated with last
week’s pitch in Cape Town, which
became slower as the match went on
and eventually contributed to
It is a conscious decision since Friday.
If a team or a person present them-
selves under the banner of Togo, it
would be a false representation.”
Speaking to a French radio station,
ex-Arsenal star Adebayor explained:
“The head of state has decided we will
return. There was a meeting between
players yesterday and we said we were
still footballers. We all decided to do
something good for the country and
play to honour those who died.
“Unfortunately, the head of state
and the country’s authorities have
decided otherwise. We will pack up
and go home. Is there going to be
another attack? Nobody knows. If
they asked us back [home], maybe
they received a call saying that the
threat was not passed.
“We are obliged to respect that. The
head of state knows what is good for
our careers and our lives.”
Adebayor also revealed he had spo-
ken to both Ivory Coast and Ghana
camps – two of Togo’s group oppo-
nents – to discuss the situation.
“As captain and spokesman of
Togo, I spoke with all authorities. I
told them to take the measures neces-
sary for our security,” he added.
“They expressed their support by
saying they were ready to leave the
competition if we did. [But] at the end
of the day, we realised that they were
ready to continue. It is still a conti-
England clinging on to a precious
draw with a brave last-pair stand.
But South Africa captain Graeme
Smith has now called on Scott to pre-
pare a livelier wicket to benefit his fast
bowlers as he bids to save the series.
“Obviously they have to win the
Test, they don’t want to lose the
series,” Scott explained. “They are look-
ing at a result wicket because they
don’t want to end with another draw.
“I’ve always maintained that a Test
wicket should live up to its name in
that it’s a test between bat and ball,
unlike one-day cricket where every-
thing is so loaded towards the bats-
“I’M PLAYING BETTER
THAN EVER”
MAN CITY NEW BOY
PATRICK VIEIRA HITS
BACK AT CRITICS: P23
Adebayor said that Ivory Coast and Ghana were also willing to withdraw Pic: ACTION IMAGES
nent where a World Cup will take
place in South Africa.”
Separatist group, The Front for the
Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda
(FLEC), who reportedly claimed
responsibility for the attack, have
now denied they carried it out.
Meanwhile, Mali completed a stun-
▲
man that the bowlers almost have no
chance,” he said.
Meanwhile, England’s batting hero
from Cape Town, Ian Bell, has been
named in the second-string Lions
squad for the limited overs tour to the
United Arab Emirates next month.
The 27-year-old was left out of
England’s one-day squad for the
South Africa tour, but has played in
all three Tests so far.
New Yorkshire captain Andrew
Gale will lead the side for the tour,
which sees England take on Pakistan
A and the UAE in Twenty20 and limit-
ed-over games.
ning fightback to draw 4-4 with Angola
in the opening game of the tourna-
ment in Luanda last night, having been
4-0 down with 11 minutes remaining.
Ex-Tottenham and West Ham striker
Frederic Kanoute was among the goals
for Mali, while Flavio fired a first-half
double for the Angolans.
Gerrard and Torres may
have to go, admits Rafa
FOOTBALL
LIVERPOOL boss Rafael Benitez has
admitted the club’s cash crisis could
force him to sell star duo Steven
Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
The Spaniard has always said he
would never consider a bid for either
of his star men, but confessed for the
first time yesterday that a lack of
funds may force his hand.
“We would have a conversation and
decide what’s the best for the club,”
said Benitez. “I’ve said before I want
to keep the best players here because
that means we can be closer to the
top four. They are the most impor-
tant.
CITYA.M. 11 JANUARY 2010
‘Is it selfish
motivation?’
questions
Wenger
▲
FOOTBALL
BY JON COUCH
ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger has
questioned the motivation behind his
fellow Premier League bosses who
want their players pulled out of the
Africa Cup of Nations.
Friday’s gun attack on the Togo
team bus has prompted managers’
calls for players to be able to leave
Angola and return home.
Wenger has Cameroon’s Alex Song
and Ivory Coast star Emmanuel
Eboue involved in the competition,
but the Gunners boss insists he will
not be following the calls to bring the
players home.
“It wouldn't be fair, let’s say that,”
the Frenchman said. “What is behind
things like that? Is it a selfish motiva-
tion or is it a real issue over security?
“We, here, are not in the best posi-
tion to judge the security of this com-
petition.”
He continued: “If you organise the
European Championships and you
have an incident like that – it can hap-
pen, and has happened already – you
do not want all your players suddenly
to move home. International competi-
tion is international competition.
“When you hear sometimes there’s
unrest in the suburbs of London, you
still live well in London. When I speak
to my friends in France, they ask me:
‘Is a revolution happening in London?’
It’s the same in Paris.You immediately
think it’s a revolution everywhere. It’s
not always the case.”
“You have to judge the place,
whether the competition can go on or
not. I don’t like this culture of fear,
either. I hate that.”
“We gave extensions to players
because we want to keep the squad
together.
“If you ask any manager in the
world they will tell you they want
more money and want to spend but
at this moment we have to do what’s
best for the club. That means manag-
ing the situation for each player and
see what happens.”
Meanwhile, Reds striker Andriy
Voronin yesterday joined Russian side
Dinamo Moscow on a three-year con-
tract.
The Ukrainian scored just five goals
in 27 appearances for the club and
was farmed out on loan to Hertha
Berlin last season.