Bank Gives Latest Signal On Rate Rise Timing

The governor of the Bank of England has said that weak wage growth will be more closely watched in relation to the timing of interest rate rises.

At a news conference to outline the Bank's quarterly Inflation Report, Mark Carney insisted that rises in bank rate - when they began - would be limited and gradual and he believed the financial markets broadly shared that timetable.

Economists and markets are expecting the first increase - from its historic low of 0.5% - either late this year or in early 2015.

A key factor in the decision-making timetable will be the public's ability to absorb interest rate rises, given current weak wage growth. 

Just an hour after it was confirmed that pay including bonuses slipped 0.2% in the second quarter compared to a year ago, the Bank announced it had slashed its forecast for wage growth in 2014 from 2.5% to a below-inflation 1.25%.

The Report signalled that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which sets bank rate, would place an increasing emphasis on the weak pay data in deciding when to raise interest rates.

Mr Carney refused to go further, insisting there would not be a "magic number" for wage growth that would prompt a hike.

The Bank's predictions for the wider economy were better, with UK growth figures upgraded from 3.4% to 3.5% for 2014 and unemployment was expected to drop more quickly, falling below a rate of 6% this year.

One factor supporting those who would argue for an earlier rate rise was a quicker-than-expected narrowing in the key measure of wasteful spare capacity - or slack - in the economy.

Mr Carney said it had fallen to around 1% of GDP, despite the fall in real wages, due to strong employment numbers.

He told reporters: "In light of the heightened uncertainty about the current degree of slack, the committee will be placing particular importance on the prospective paths for wages and unit labour costs."

Sterling fell more than 1.5% against the dollar in the wake of the governor's comments.

12.07 | 0 komentar | Read More

Wages Fall For First Time In Five Years

British workers earned less between April and June than they did in the same period last year, deepening the cost of living squeeze.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) charted average weekly earnings, including bonuses, fell by a yearly 0.2% over the three months.

The change marks the first time wage growth has been negative since the recession of 2009.

When the effects of bonus payments were stripped out, pay rises remained weak and still well below the 1.9% rate of CPI inflation.

It showed growth at an annual rate of just 0.6% between April and June - the lowest growth in regular pay since records began in 2001.

Commenting on the negative earnings figure, the ONS said it continued to reflect a cut in income tax in April 2013, which prompted many firms to delay bonus payments.

In its quarterly inflation report, the Bank of England halved its forecast for wage growth in 2014, from 2.5% to a below-inflation 1.25%.

The Bank has in the past cited weak wage growth as a reason for keeping interest rates at their historic low of 0.5%.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith, speaking to Sky News, blamed the fall in wage growth on bonuses in the financial sector and pointed to wage rises of over 1% in sectors such as manufacturing and retail.

Adam Corlett, economic analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said that unless there is an unprecedented surge in wages over the next six months it will be "almost impossible for average real pay in 2014 as a whole to exceed last year's".

The ONS also published data on the unemployment rate over the same period. It fell as expected to 6.4%, down from 6.5% a year earlier.

Between April and June, there were 30.6 million people in work, 167,000 more than for January to March and 820,000 more than a year earlier.

There were 2.08 million unemployed people, 132,000 fewer than for January to March 2014 and 437,000 fewer than a year earlier.

Mr Duncan Smith welcomed the fall in unemployment and told Sky News the youth unemployment rate had fallen at its fastest rate for 30 years.

Shadow Employment Minister Stephen Timms instead said: "While today's fall in overall unemployment is welcome, it's extremely worrying that the figures have shown pay falling far behind inflation, and the change in regular pay being the lowest ever on record".

In a separate report, the ONS also said that there were 153,000 Romanians and Bulgarians employed in the UK between April and June, an increase of 13,000 from 140,000 in the previous three months.

12.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ladbrokes Profits Halve Despite World Cup Surge

Ladbrokes profits have halved in the first six months of 2014, but it claims to now be ready for growth.

The gaming company cited its restructuring in preparation for the World Cup as the reason for its decline in pre-tax profit, which fell 49.7% to £27.7m.

It was also hit by "customer-friendly results" from football in January and horse racing in June.

Ladbrokes says it has delivered on all its key operational objectives for the first half of the year, which included switching its gaming products to a new system and replacing 9,000 gaming machines with more sophisticated models.

Once these restructuring changes are taken into account, operating profit was £56.8m, down 33.7% from the same period in 2013, broadly in line with market expectations.

Chief executive Richard Glynn will hope that this is enough to reassure Ladbrokes shareholders, who have raised concerns in recent weeks over the company's performance.

Betting in this year's World Cup was up 20% on the previous tournament in 2010.

Mr Glynn called 2014 "the Mobile World Cup", as 1100% more gamblers placed their bets over their mobile devices.

An improvement in Ladbrokes's digital division will be welcomed by the markets, ahead of a 15% online betting tax set to be introduced in December.  

Mr Glynn said high street betting "offers a resilient source of cash flow despite a challenging trading and regulatory environment", as Ladbrokes completed 46 store closures of the 50 to be shut down this year.

The company has chosen to focus on football as its priority market, as it claims "horse racing still struggles to attract younger betting customers".

The Ladbrokes share price was up 1% in lunchtime trading.

12.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

L&G To Stun City By Quitting Insurers' Body

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Legal & General (L&G), Britain's biggest pension fund manager, will stun the City on Wednesday when it discloses that it is terminating its membership of the insurance industry's flagship trade body.

Sky News has learnt that L&G is expected to make a statement declaring that it has decided to cease being a member of the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

As a major player in the UK general insurance market, L&G's decision is likely to trigger a heated debate across the industry, which employs approximately 320,000 people.

The reasons for L&G's decision were unclear on Tuesday night, although City sources speculated that the recent separation of the ABI's investment affairs mandate, which is responsible for engaging with companies on issues such as corporate governance, was likely to have been one factor.

Investment UK, another body, is to assume oversight of institutional shareholders' interaction with listed companies, a dialogue in which L&G's fund management will play a leading role.

L&G is also understood to believe that it will be able to lobby more effectively on significant issues affecting its business if it does so on its own.

L&G's move away from the ABI will mean that Nigel Wilson, the company's chief executive, will step down from the trade association's board, which until two years ago was chaired by Mr Wilson's predecessor, Tim Breedon.

A competitor of L&G criticised its move to walk away from the ABI, accusing it of grandstanding and warning that it could undermine the industry's ability to influence key policy areas in the UK and further afield at a time when the insurance sector faces a tough new regulatory regime.

Mr Wilson has been an outspoken critic of a range of Government policies, such as its approach to infrastructure investment and insurance regulation.

Reporting strong financial results last week, he argued that the UK should quit the European Union unless it could negotiate a superior settlement for itself with Brussels.

The ABI, which is led by Otto Thoresen, its director-general, has around 300 members which collectively account for more than 90% of the UK insurance market.

In recent months, it has taken a lead on negotiating issues such as the creation of Flood Re, a new body to insure homes at significant risk of flooding, and the rising cost of premiums for young drivers.

The ABI's board also includes prominent insurance industry bosses such as Stephen Hester, chief executive of RSA, and Paul Geddes, who heads Direct Line Group.

An ABI spokesman said it would issue a statement about the situation on Wednesday, while L&G declined to comment

12.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Pay Before You Die' Inheritance Tax Plan

People suspected of trying to avoid inheritance tax could have to pay before they die under proposals being considered by ministers.

HM Revenue & Customs could demand "accelerated payment" where savers are using potentially illegal avoidance schemes.

The measures - at the consultation stage - are a response to concern that growing numbers of people are using trusts to shield their estates from inheritance tax.

But Stuart Phillips, of tax planning firm the Private Office, said the policy could have "unintended consequences".

HMRC says the proposals will only affect a small minority of wealthy people

"The concern is that the Revenue takes a highly aggressive stance, just like with the film schemes for which celebrities have been under scrutiny, and terrifies families who have been engaging in legitimate tax planning that has been used for many years," he told The Daily Telegraph.

"I'm apprehensive that large-scale action could have unintended consequences."

Inheritance tax is levied at 40% on the value of an estate above the £325,000 threshold. Married couples can combine their allowances.

The Tories pledged to raise the threshold from £325,000 to £1m at the last election, but the policy was blocked by the Liberal Democrats.

A HMRC spokesman said: "We are seeking views on tackling inheritance tax avoidance schemes. This is an ongoing consultation and no final decisions have yet been taken.

"The proposals in the consultation paper will only affect a small minority of wealthy individuals who actively seek to avoid inheritance tax.

"Couples would still be able to leave up to £650,000 tax free to benefit their children or grandchildren."

12.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

Care Giant Races To Avert £500m Sale Collapse

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The parent company of HC-One, one of Britain's biggest nursing home operators, will hold crunch talks this week aimed at preventing the collapse of a £500m sale of the business.

Sky News has learnt that NHP is expected to meet with representatives from Credit Suisse, the Swiss banking giant, which is taking legal action to stall the auction in an attempt to secure repayments to bondholders.

HC-One, which owns and operates approximately 220 sites previously run by the now-defunct Southern Cross group, had been on the verge of agreeing a sale to Formation Capital, a US-based healthcare investor.

Credit Suisse has warned that it will pursue further legal avenues to derail the sale without a string of assurances from the company and its partners by August 15.

The legal tussle, which the Swiss bank believes is necessary to protect its financial interests, has thrown the future ownership of the UK's third-biggest care home operator into fresh doubt.

HC-One, whose parent company is carrying more than £1.3bn of debt, has about 10,000 residents across its estate and employs roughly 14,000 staff.

Formation, which declined to comment, is said to have told the selling shareholders that its offer will lapse shortly without a resolution of the impasse, although it is unclear whether it will abandon its interest altogether after that point.

It is reported to have pledged to invest tens of millions of pounds to fund new homes and modernise existing ones.

Anchorage Capital, a Wall Street hedge fund which is another HC-One creditor, is also trying to delay the sale.

Analysts speculated that regulators could seek to intervene if the situation deteriorated to the extent that stakeholder confidence in HC-One was undermined.

In a statement issued to Sky News on Monday, NHP said it had halted the sale process because of the dispute and is "engaging with Credit Suisse and other stakeholders with a view to resolving the issue and completing the sale of the group as soon as practicable".

An insider said the row would not have an impact on patient care and pointed to more than £80m invested in HC-One since November 2011.

"The sale process represents the next phase of ensuring HC-One remains a stable, debt-free and fully funded organisation, committed to providing the kindest possible care," the statement said.

"We are deeply disappointed that Credit Suisse has taken this action at this late stage."

The row could trigger a renewed debate about the extent of private sector involvement in crucial healthcare services after more than a decade of debt-fuelled takeovers of care home and hospital operators.

Southern Cross's collapse in 2011 under a toxic combination of mounting debts and rising rents sparked recriminations between ministers, landlords and care home operators.

The parent of HC-One, which is chaired by Chai Patel, the healthcare tycoon behind The Priory rehab clinics, also said that without a resolution of the dispute, it would consider selling the business through an alternative process.

This would involve selling the underlying assets themselves - the 221 care homes - rather than the shares in the companies which own them.

In response, Credit Suisse said it supported the work undertaken by Mr Patel to stabilise the business, adding in a statement: "Any contractual disputes between CS and other transaction parties relate to the holding company of HC-One and will have no bearing on the day-to-day operations of HC-One itself."

Dr Patel and other directors are reported to be in line for a £5m bonus if the company is sold.

Deutsche Bank, which was appointed by Capita, the special servicer, to run the auction, could not be reached for comment.

12.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

Royal Mail To Change Post Box Collection Time

The collection time at almost 50,000 Royal Mail post boxes will be brought forward to earlier in the day under new plans.

Staff delivering letters are expected to make the pick-ups as part of their rounds.

Some 47,500 post boxes will see collection times as early as 9am, instead of the usual 5pm.

Royal Mail, which was privatised last year, said it will also add around 2,000 new boxes in under-serviced areas such as rural Scotland and Northern Ireland.

New boxes would also be fitted in areas of high pedestrian traffic, including train stations and shopping precincts.

It currently has some 115,000 post boxes around the nation.

The company said where new collection times are imposed, generally between 9am and 3pm, there will still be a late posting box within half a mile.

About 12,000 rural post boxes are already emptied during delivery rounds but the new plan would primarily affect urban and suburban locations.

The new system is designed to improve efficiency, amid a decade-long decline in stamped mail use.

The company said: "Rather than decommission uneconomic post boxes, while staying within the regulated density requirement, Royal Mail will ensure their viability by improving the efficiency of its collections arrangements."

It said consultations have been undertaken with consumer groups and regulator Ofcom has been informed.

An Ofcom spokeswoman said: "Ofcom recognises the need for Royal Mail to become more efficient so it can sustain a universal postal service that consumers value highly.

"While the changes won't affect the majority of postal users, Ofcom expects Royal Mail to communicate clearly with any affected consumers and ensure that their reasonable needs continue to be met."

12.07 | 0 komentar | Read More

Huntsworth Boss To Step Down After Pay Revolt

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The Conservative peer who heads one of the biggest public relations groups listed on the London stock market is to step down weeks after a major revolt by shareholders over his pay package.

Sky News understands that Lord Chadlington, chief executive of Huntsworth and a close ally of David Cameron, is to retire from the owner of prominent communications agencies such as Citigate Dewe Rogerson and Red.

A statement confirming his exit could be made as soon as Monday, when Huntsworth is due to report half-year results for the six months to June 30, according to banking sources.

The precise timing of Lord Chadlington's departure is unclear, but the announcement is intriguing because it comes less than four months after Lord Myners, the former City Minister, was appointed as Huntsworth's chairman.

Lord Myners has been a long-standing advocate of strong boardroom governance, and is said to have been contacted by a number of leading Huntsworth shareholders since his arrival amid discontent about Lord Chadlington's £1m-plus pay deal.

At the company's annual meeting in June, more than 30% of investors expressed their disillusionment with the chief executive by abstaining on his re-election to the board.

Nearly a quarter of shareholders voted against last year's remuneration report, while almost a third opposed Huntsworth's pay policies for the next three years.

The departure of Lord Chadlington, who is also the president of Mr Cameron's Conservative constituency association, will spell the end of a chapter of one of the most prominent careers in the UK's PR industry.

Now 72, he founded the Shandwick agency four decades ago, turning it into a major industry force, and built Huntsworth through a string of acquisitions which also included Grayling, another leading outfit.

There have been tensions in the company's boardroom in recent times, with Richard Sharp, Lord Myners' predecessor, and Joe MacHale, another board member, stepping down this year partly in protest at Lord Chadlington's remuneration.

The Huntsworth boss is unusual among the heads of listed companies for having a guaranteed contractual entitlement to an annual pay rise and bonus.

The business has been performing poorly, however, with a recent profit warning contributing to a 35% fall in the share price during the past year, giving it a market capitalisation of just £133.1m.

The arrival of Lord Myners adds an unexpected layer of intrigue to a relatively low-profile listed company.

Huntsworth is also a rarity among London-quoted businesses in having a Chinese peer as its largest shareholder.

Blue Focus, one of Asia's biggest PR groups, paid £36.5m for a stake of almost 20% just over a year ago.

Last month, it emerged that Matthew Freud, another major figure in the UK PR industry, had snapped up a 3% stake in Huntsworth, a purchase he described as "somewhere between a hunch and a punt".

A Huntsworth spokesman declined to comment on Sunday.

12.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

Royal Mail To Change Post Box Collection Time

The collection time at almost 50,000 Royal Mail post boxes will be brought forward to earlier in the day under new plans.

Staff delivering letters are expected to make the pick-ups as part of their rounds.

Some 47,500 post boxes will see collection times as early as 9am, instead of the usual 5pm.

Royal Mail, which was privatised last year, said it will also add around 2,000 new boxes in under-serviced areas such as rural Scotland and Northern Ireland.

New boxes would also be fitted in areas of high pedestrian traffic, including train stations and shopping precincts.

It currently has some 115,000 post boxes around the nation.

The company said where new collection times are imposed, generally between 9am and 3pm, there will still be a late posting box within half a mile.

About 12,000 rural post boxes are already emptied during delivery rounds but the new plan would primarily affect urban and suburban locations.

The new system is designed to improve efficiency, amid a decade-long decline in stamped mail use.

The company said: "Rather than decommission uneconomic post boxes, while staying within the regulated density requirement, Royal Mail will ensure their viability by improving the efficiency of its collections arrangements."

It said consultations have been undertaken with consumer groups and regulator Ofcom has been informed.

An Ofcom spokeswoman said: "Ofcom recognises the need for Royal Mail to become more efficient so it can sustain a universal postal service that consumers value highly.

"While the changes won't affect the majority of postal users, Ofcom expects Royal Mail to communicate clearly with any affected consumers and ensure that their reasonable needs continue to be met."

12.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

Canadian Teachers Swoop On Debt Group Lowell

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

A giant Canadian pension fund has swooped to buy a big stake in Lowell Group, one of Britain's biggest consumer debt collection agencies.

Sky News understands that Teachers Private Capital (TPC), an investment arm of one of Ontario's municipal retirement schemes, signed a deal on Friday to acquire just over 35% of Lowell's shares.

The deal values the debt collection group at around $1.6bn, and returns a large chunk of cash to TDR Capital, the private equity firm which has owned Lowell since 2011.

An announcement is expected on Monday as a consequence of Lowell's publicly-traded debt securities.

Lowell specialises in debt recovery and other credit management services, a sector which has attracted frequent attention from private equity funds.

The company, which pledges to take "a fair, sensitive and ethical approach to debt recovery", competes with rivals such as Cabot Credit Management and Arrow Global, which floated on the stock exchange last October.

The Financial Conduct Authority assumed responsibility for regulating consumer credit providers earlier this year.

TPC, which is also a significant investor in TDR's funds,  is understood to have been attracted to Lowell's growth prospects and its compliance record with UK financial regulators.

The deal adds Lowell to a portfolio of UK investments made by Ontario's vast teachers' pension fund, which include Camelot, the National Lottery operator; Burton's Biscuits, the owner of Jammie Dodgers and Wagon Wheels; and Busy Bees, the nurseries group.

TPC's investment comes ahead of a potential stock market flotation of Lowell, which could take place as soon as next year.

TDR and TPC declined to comment.

12.06 | 0 komentar | Read More