FTSE 100 ▲5,522.50 +22.16 DOW ▼10,572.02 -16.44 NASDAQ ▲2,308.71 +0.29 £/$ 1.60 ▼-0.01 £/¤ 1.11 ▼-0.01 ¤/$ 1.44 unc Certified Distribution 02/11/09 – 29/11/09 is 102,194

Worst snow in years tocause commuter chaos

LONDON transport will be put to thetest today as it strains to cope withsome of the worst weather to hit thecapital in years.

The Met Office issued an emer-gency weather warning for the wholeof the UK saying London and theHome Counties would be the worstaffected.

Forecasters predicted that morethan a foot of snow could fall in theseareas in less than 24 hours.

The amount of snow forecast couldbe the biggest single fall since 1962-63,when some areas of the country facedblizzard conditions for almost threemonths.

West London, including Heathrowand Ealing, were particularly hard hitbut snow continued to fall across thecity throughout the night.

The Met Office warned commutersthey faced transport delays lasting

well into the evening as companiesstruggled to plough through thedownfall.

A BAA spokeswoman warned therecould be delays at Stansted, Gatwickand Heathrow and snowploughs wereclearing the runways last night.

She said: “There are likely to besome delays and destination airportscould be affected.”

The Association of Train OperatingCompanies also said delays will affectcommuters throughout the day.

Lines from London to the HomeCounties are likely to be hardest hitand only a “limited number of servic-es” would arrive in London in time forbusinesses to open shop.

Drivers were advised not to ventureout unless their journey was absolute-ly essential and councils warned theycould run out of grit if the conditionsfailed to improve. Schools across thesouth were last night expected to beclosed. The snow is expected to contin-ue until late this afternoon.

BY STEVE DINNEEN

TRANSPORT

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SENIOR bankers have told City A.M.that the government’s supertax onbank bonuses will not reduce Citypayouts, predicting the levy will raiseup to £3bn as firms cough up to pro-tect their London employees.

That is six times the £550m taxtake predicted by chancellor AlistairDarling when introducing the 50 per

cent levy on bonuses over £25,000 inhis pre-Budget report four weeks ago.

Many banks are now consideringfollowing the lead of Goldman Sachsand Lloyds Banking Group in payingout UK bonuses in full, increasing thesize of their remuneration pools tocompensate for the effects of the tax.

Lloyds’ decision to award bonusesin full will net the Treasury around£100m, while Goldman, if it goesahead, could pour up to a staggering

$1bn (£624m) into public coffers.Anthony Browne, London Mayor

Boris Johnson’s policy director foreconomic development, said a sur-prising number of banks had alreadyconsidered moving teams to othercountries because of the tax burden.

“This is not bluster,” he said. “Therepeated taxation salami-slicing ischipping away at London’s reputa-tion and is in danger of causing long-term, perhaps permanent, damage.”

BY VICTORIA BATES

BANKING

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Planes out of Gatwick airport were expected to be delayed Picture: PA

BILLIONAIRE investor Warren Buffettyesterday put a spanner in the worksof Kraft’s hostile bid for confectionerCadbury, voting against plans to issuenew shares to fund the acquisitionand claiming the current bid struc-ture fundamentally undervalues theUS firm’s stock.

Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway firm,which owns a 9.4 per cent stake inKraft, said the issuance of up to 370mshares, worth around $16bn (£10bn)would give the company “a blankcheque allowing it to change its offerto Cadbury – in any way it wishes”.

“We worry very much that, indeed,there will be an additional changefrom the revision announced thismorning,” it added in a statement.

Buffett’s position came as a heavyblow to Kraft, which yesterday sealeda deal to sell its frozen pizza businessfor $3.7bn (£2.3bn) to Swiss firm

Nestlé, which yesterday ruled itselfout of a bidding war for Cadbury.

Kraft said it would use the net pro-ceeds from the sale to provide a cashalternative to some of the shares upfor grabs in its current offer. It hasraised the cash component of its offerby 60p to 360p per share and cut theshare element to match.

Kraft’s original deal, which hasbeen rejected by Cadbury, was 300pcash plus 0.2589 new Kraft shares foreach Cadbury share.

The US food giant has until 19January to improve its offer forCadbury or walk away, under aTakeover Panel deadline.

Buffett said yesterday he reserved

the right to change his vote in favourof the share issuance proposal if therevised offer “does not destroy valuefor Kraft shareholders”.

But he said Kraft stock at its cur-rent price is “a very expensive ‘cur-rency’ to be used in an acquisition”.

Buffett’s dissidence spookedCadbury shareholders yesterday,sending the stock tumbling 3.2 percent to 779p on fears the veteraninvestor’s influence would swayother Kraft shareholders into votingagainst the proposal.

Kraft investors have until 1February to vote on the shareissuance, which requires a straight-forward majority to be passed provid-ing shareholders representing at least50 per cent of the stock have comeforward to vote.

“Buffett is our largest investor andone of the most respected investors inthe world so of course we take hisopinion seriously,” said a Kraftspokesman.

BUFFETT WON’TBACK KRAFT’SCADBURY BID

BY VICTORIA BATESCONSUMER

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Warren Buffett hasmoved to block Kraft’sbid for Cadbury, saying it undervalues the US confectioner’s stock

www.cityam.comIssue 1,045 Wednesday 6 January 2010 FREE

Bonus supertax to raise upto £3bn as firms pay in full

IN THE COLDICELAND BLOCKSCOMPENSATION

DEAL FOR UK ALLISTER HEATH P2

FULL STORY P4

WALKING IN A WINTERWONDERLAND

BOOTS TO KEEP YOU TOASTY P15

BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY

News2 CITYA.M. 6 JANUARY 2010

Fears over UKgas shortageA CHRONIC lack of gas storage is leav-ing the UK at risk of an energy short-age and higher gas bills if the coldsnap continues, experts claimed aftergas network operator National Gridwarned about gas supplies.

Britain has only three weeks’ worthof gas in reserve, far less than itsEuropean neighbours like Germany,analysts at energy purchasing groupMcKinnon & Clarke (M&C) said.

High demand in the cold weatheris pressuring supplies, lifting theneed for imports and possibly spark-ing higher gas prices, they said.

M&C energy analyst David Huntersaid: “This might give the energy com-panies the excuse they need toincrease prices.”

On Monday, National Grid issued a

Gas Balancing Alert, meaning majorgas users such as power stationsmight need to cut consumption.

A Grid spokesman blamed themove on a one-off offshore supplyproblem, although the firm was mon-itoring the situation.

“There is enough supply to meetdemand, but we are having a verycold spell of weather at the moment,”he said.

Faced with falling North Sea gas,the UK now gets more than half itsgas via imports from continentalEurope, Norway and the Middle East.

BY PHILIP WALLERENERGY

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Iceland sees the first anti-bailout revolt

SOMEONE should give Gordon Browna copy of John Maynard Keynes’ TheEconomic Consequences of the Peace.Published in 1919, it addressed post-war Germany – but the book is uncan-nily relevant to the situation in today’sIceland, explaining how cripplingreparations enforced by powerful for-eign nations on an unwilling popula-tion are counter-productive. Iceland –unlike Weimar Germany – won’t turnto extremism, though an eventualdescent into national bankruptcy andhyperinflation is a real possibility,with Fitch yesterday downgrading the

country’s debt to junk. The UK and Dutch governments

have been too harsh towards Iceland,to deflect the attention from their ownstupidity – and now its people, whofear being pushed into poverty, arerevolting. It is the first successful grass-roots anti-tax, anti-bailout revolt sincethe onset of the credit crunch.

The row boils down to Landsbanki’sIcesave unit, which like the rest of theIcelandic banking system collapsed in2008. A small group of Icelandic entre-preneurs pushed the crazed NorthernRock banking model to its extreme,borrowing vast amounts to buildfinancial giants with massiveEuropean property assets. These wereoften operated out of London andgiven the seal of approval by the FSA,academics and “experts”. But whenthe credit markets imploded, thebanks collapsed.

British and Dutch depositors inIcesave were bailed out by their govern-ments; Iceland had said it would coverthe first €20,887 in accounts but didn’t

have the foreign currency to meet itsobligations. It was a worthless promisewhich should have been seen as suchby the UK authorities: tiny nations arephysically unable to guarantee all theforeign liabilities of any giant bankthat they happen to host. Either theyshouldn’t host the banks; or theyshould explicitly state that they areunprotected and in a real free market;or their banks should take part in pre-funded insurance schemes.

The bankers were incompetent, aswere the Icelandic authorities, the UKauthorities, the EU and the depositorswho didn’t do their research. Egged onby price comparison websites and per-sonal finance pages, the publicassumed regulators would ensureevery newfangled online bank was safeand forgot that high returns oftenmean high risk. Instead of acknowledg-ing this, Brown is pursuing a vendettaagainst Iceland, trying to recoup all ofthe cash from its government.

Bailouts have been unpopular allover the world. Until now, however,

voters were never consulted – but aftera fifth of Iceland’s entire populationsigned a petition against the terms of aproposed £3.6bn reimbursement (at a5.5 per cent rate of interest and a 14-year schedule) the proposal will nowbe put to a referendum and crushed.The sums involved are huge: 40-60 percent of Iceland’s national income, tak-ing the national debt to 200 per cent ofGDP. Each of Iceland’s 304,000 citizenwould have to pay £11,700 without get-ting shares or any assets in return. Themoney would be gone for good.Imagine if UK taxpayers were asked topay £700bn to overseas governmentsbecause one of our banks had messedup. We too would be up in arms.

Iceland will hopefully hand oversome money, albeit on more sensibleterms. But the last thing we need is forBritain, the IMF and the EU to pushReykjavik into total bankruptcy ornobody will get anything. Shame thatBrown, a self-professed Keynesian, hasactually failed to heed his master’swarnings. allister.heath@cityam.com

PEARL, the insurance group foundedby pizza entrepreneur HughOsmond, has tabled a deal it hopeswill resolve a dispute it has beenembroiled in with its bondholders.

The firm suspended interest pay-ments on £500m of bonds last year,sparking protests from the bondhold-ers. The clash is an obstacle to thecompany’s hopes to achieve a full list-ing on the London Stock Exchange.

Now it has devised a complexscheme which pledges not to pay div-idends to shareholders in the eventthat it suspends coupon payments tobondholders.

It is also offering to buy back £100mof the bonds at 45 per cent of theirvalue and will ask remaining holdersto accept a reduction in the face valueof their bonds by 25 per cent.

City A.M. exclusively revealed lastyear that Pearl had resurrected dis-cussions with the disgruntled bond-holders.

BY STEVE DINNEENINSURANCE

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Pearl courts bondholdersPearl, founded by Hugh Osmond, hopes to list on the LSE later this year Picture: REUTERS

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EDITOR’S LETTER

ALLISTER HEATH

The National Grid,headed up by SteveHolliday, issued analert on gas supplieson Monday

Seymour PierceMD resigns andadmits errors

THE managing director at SeymourPierce resigned yesterday after mak-ing errors in a deal involving a client.

Richard Feigen, who has been withthe corporate broker for 11 years, saidhe decided to leave after mistakesoccurred in a transaction he wasoverseeing.

“Some errors occurred during atransaction which I was leading. Ifeel that as the firm’s managingdirector it is my duty to accept fullresponsibility for them, and I havetherefore decided it is in the bestinterests of Seymour Pierce that Istep down,” Feigen said.

Seymour Pierce, which focuses onsmaller companies, has more Aim-quoted clients than any other stock-broker.

BY KATIE HOPE

FINANCIAL SERVICES

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ALWALEED’S CITI SHARES TO BOLSTERKINGDOMPrince Alwaleed bin Talal al-Saud, theSaudi investor, revealed on Tuesdaythat he plans to shore up the balancesheet of his investment vehicle by“donating” SR2.24bn (€416m) ofshares in Citigroup into it. PrinceAlwaleed said the initiative wouldhelp lead Kingdom Holding to prof-itability and enable it to distributedividends to shareholders.

ESPN TO KICK OFF FIRST 3D TV CHANNEL WITH FOOTBALL WORLD CUPESPN, the sports network owned byWalt Disney, will launch the first 3Dtelevision channel this summer inthe US, in a further sign that a tech-nology which has revolutionisedHollywood is heading for homes.ESPN’s move came as Sony, Imax andDiscovery Communications unveiledplans to launch a 3D channel.

PRU IN EAST ASIA LINK WITH UOBPrudential has struck a deal withSingapore’s United Overseas Bankwhich the UK life assurer hopes willboost its presence in the south-eastAsian city state and in Indonesia andThailand. The move, expected to beannounced today, according to peo-ple familiar with it, will also see thePru acquire UOB’s Singaporean lifeassurance business with the UKgroup paying about S$430m (£193m).

UK AIRPORT OWNERS FEAR SECURITYCLAMPDOWN BEING RUSHED THROUGHLord Adonis, the transport secretary,is to meet the owners of Britain’smain airports today amid growingindustry anger that controversial newsecurity measures are being rushedthrough and may amount to littlemore than window dressing. BAA,Heathrow’s owner, and other airportoperators who will bear the costs ofthe measures held a teleconferenceyesterday morning to discuss theirposition.

RIVALS LEFT HANGING AS APPLE HITSTHREE BILLION APP STORE DOWNLOADSOwners of Apple’s iPhone and iPodtouch devices have downloaded morethan three billion applications fromthe company’s App Store in less than18 months, trouncing the last bench-mark figure by a billion. The company’s latest record comes lit-tle more than three months after itracked up two billion downloads, sug-gesting that enthusiasm for applica-tions has grown substantially inrecent weeks.

JAPANESE FINANCE CHIEF READY TOSTAND DOWN Bowed with fatigue and the pressuresof rescuing the country’s debt-ladeneconomy from another slide intorecession, Hirohisa Fujii, the JapaneseFinance Minister, is expected to stepdown today.

HEIRESS CASEY JOHNSON FOUND DEADIN LOS ANGELESCasey Johnson, 30, whose father ownsthe New York Jets American footballteam, had a history of alcohol anddrug abuse.Detectives, who discovered her bodyat her West Hollywood home onMonday morning, said there was noevidence of foul play but are awaitingthe results of toxicology tests.

10,000 ADMIT TO OFFSHORE TAXDODGEJust over 10,000 people with untaxedincome hidden in offshore accountshave taken advantage of theGovernment's latest amnesty. HMRCsaid 1,100 people came forward onMonday to qualify for reduce penal-ties as the deadline neared. But asource said the 10,000 figure includedthose using a separate amnesty foraccounts held in Liechtenstein.

BIOGEN IDEC LAUNCHES SEARCH FORNEW CEODrug maker Biogen Idec Inc. said onMonday it has launched a search for asuccessor to its chief executive andpresident, who plans to retire thissummer. James Mullen, 51 years old,will retire effective June 8 as theCambridge, Mass., biotech companyfaces continued pressure fromactivist shareholders and concernsabout the growth trajectory of con-troversial multiple sclerosis treat-ment Tysabri, sold with Elan Corp.

CAL-MAINE FOODS PROFIT FALLS 41PCCal-Maine Foods Inc. fiscal second-quarter earnings fell 41 per cent asrevenue, margins and average sellingprice dropped. As more people cookat home, the owner of the Eggland'sBest and Farmhouse egg brands con-tinues to post anemic sales to restau-rants.

WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING

US CARMAKER Ford yesterday posteda 33 per cent sales gain for December,ending a crushing 2009 on anupswing as it recorded its first full-year market-share gain since 1995.

The Ford sales surge ran beyondthe expectations of analysts and sentthe company’s stock sharply higher.Ford shares powered above $11 to hittheir highest level since August 2005.

The stock has gained 55 per cent ina rally since early November and hasmore than quadrupled in value overthe past year as investors bet that thenumber two US automaker wouldsteer clear of the federal bailouts thatwiped out shareholdings in itsdomestic rivals.

Other automakers trailed Ford’sgain. Sales for Nissan were up 18 percent in December. Chrysler’s salesdropped four per cent. GeneralMotors was expected to post a salesdecline near nine per cent.

After adjusting for population, US

car sales suffered their deepestdecline since World War Two in 2009.Full-year sales are expected to be justover 10.3m vehicles, down 40 per centfrom where the industry began thedecade in 2000.

Last year saw both GM and Chryslercollapse into bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, in a historic reversal,vehicle sales in China surged to over-take the US market as the world’slargest in 2009.

Analysts expect China’s sales tohave soared 44 per cent to 13.5munits in 2009.

Ford cheersinvestors assales surge THERE is an 80 per cent chance

Britain will lose its “AAA” credit rat-ing if drastic action to reduce thebudget deficit is not taken, accordingto Pacific Investment Management Co(Pimco).

Scott Mather, head of the Americaninvestment group’s global portfoliomanagement, slammed the UK’s debtreduction plan, saying it is “lacking inconviction and lacking in details.”

He believes it is “a question ofwhen, not if” the rating is slashed,adding: “Based on what we knowtoday about the debt trajectory andabout the inability to adjust that, Ithink it’s greater than a 50 per centlikelihood. More like 80 per cent.”

A downgrade of the UK’s interna-tional debt rating would be a hugeembarrassment to the Treasury. Itwould also push up the cost of bor-rowing to fund the UK’s record£178bn budget deficit.

Experts fear the higher cost couldtrigger the first debt crisis since the1970s as the UK could struggle to payback massive interest payments on itsdebt.

On Tuesday, Pimco, the world’sbiggest bond fund, said it would cutits exposure to government bonds inthe UK and US amid fears over theirhuge levels of debt.

UK faces creditdowngrade,warns Pimco

BY HARRY BANKS

AUTOMOTIVE

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UK ECONOMY

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News 3CITYA.M. 6 JANUARY 2010

VODAFONE will be the first UK carrierto stock the new Google Nexus Onesmartphone.

It will start stocking the phone“soon” but the deal is non-exclusive,meaning other networks could offerit in the coming weeks.

Vodafone missed out on the exclu-sive rights to the iPhone in 2007 afterclashing with Apple over its insis-

tence on taking a share of subscrip-tion fees. The deal, which expired inOctober, was seen as a boon for O2,and Vodafone was determined not tobe left behind a second time.

The phone is currently only avail-able through Google in the US, whereit will cost $529 (£331) plus $29.65shipping. It is available on a contractwith T-Mobile in the US for $179.

The device was unveiled yesterdayat an exclusive event at the internetgiant’s Silicon Valley headquarters.

Vodafone is first off theblocks with Google phone

Google executive Mario Queiroz unveiled the Nexus One yesterday Picture: REUTERS

BY STEVE DINNEENTECHNOLOGY

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ANALYSIS l Ford Motor

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5 Jan14 Dec23 Nov3 Nov14 Oct

$10.95

5 Jan

THE upswing in the US economy wasunderlined yesterday as the latest gov-ernment figures showed new factoryorders rose 1.1 per cent, their thirdstraight monthly increase.

Inventory figures for November con-tinued the recovery trend by growingfor the second month in a row with a0.2 per cent rise. After stocks fell formore than a year before October, the

growing supplies indicate factories areramping up production as the econo-my becomes healthier.

A separate survey of US housingshowed pending sales fell more thanexpected in November, which wasexplained by the end of a rush to takeadvantage of a popular tax credit.

The National Association of Realtors(NAR) said its index, based on the num-bers of contracts signed, dropped 16per cent to 96.0, after rising for ninestraight months. US home sales had

been boosted by a $8,000 (£5,000) taxcredit for first-time home buyers,which was set to run out at the end ofNovember but was extended to mid-2010. Despite the monthly drop, theNAR said the index was 15.5 per centhigher compared to November 2008,showing the market had gained“momentum”.

NAR’s chief economist LawrenceYun expects a surge in the spring asmore home buyers take advantage ofaffordable housing conditions.

US factory orders increasebut new home sales tumbleBY EMMA ROWLEY

WORLD ECONOMY

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News4 CITYA.M. 6 JANUARY 2010

FSA GETS TOUGH

CITY regulator the FSA may up its penalties after fining a record number of firms last year.New rules could see guilty firms fined up to 20 per cent of turnover and individuals fined upto 40 per cent of their salary and bonuses. Margaret Cole, director of enforcement (pictured)said the watchdog was embracing a “tougher” approach. Picture: Micha Theiner/CITY A.M.

ICELAND’S President OlafurGrimsson has refused to sign into lawa bill to repay more than $5bn(£3.1bn) that was lost by British andDutch savers when the island’s bankscollapsed.

The country’s parliament initiallypassed the bill on New Year’s Eve butthe President’s move yesterday nowmeans that under the constitution areferendum must be held.

Grimsson was petitioned by morethan 60,000 voters – almost a quarterof Iceland’s population – demandingthat he refuse to sign the documenton the grounds that the cash-strapped nation could not afford it.

The British and Dutch govern-

ments have already partially compen-sated more than 320,000 savers wholost money when Landsbanki, theparent of online bank Icesave thatfailed in October last year.

Grimsson said: “The cornerstone ofIceland’s constitution is that thenation is the highest judge for thevalidity of law. Now the nation hasthe power and the responsibility in itshands.”

Iceland’s parliament had approvedthe bill by a narrow majority of 33votes to 30.

In August a poll showed that 70 percent of the country’s population wereagainst paying up.

Chancellor Alistair Darling said itwas vital for Iceland’s economicfuture and credibility that the Icesavecompensation was repaid.

Iceland in bidto block £3bnpayout to UKBY JOHN DUNNE

WORLD ECONOMY

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● 6 October 2008Icelanders give the government sweep-ing powers over its banks as it facesbankruptcy.

● 7-9 October - The government putsLandsbanki, the island's second largestbank by value, in receivership.Also takes control of Glitnir andKaupthing, its biggest bank.

● October - A diplomatic row breaksout between Iceland and Britain overhundreds of millions of pounds of Britishdeposits trapped in collapsed Icelandicbanks.

● 19 November – The IMF approves a$2.1 bn loan for Iceland.

● 1 February 2009 - Iceland names aninterim centre-left government whichpromises to rebuild the economy.

● 6 June - Iceland agrees to reimburseBritain and the Netherlands compensat-ing people holding Icesave accounts atLandsbanki.

● 17 July - Iceland applies to join the EU

● 30 December - Parliament approvesan amended bill to repay more than $5bn(£3.1bn) lost by savers in Britain and theNetherlands.

● 5 January 2010 – President blocksbill and a referendum must now be calledunder the Icelandic constitution.

TIMELINE | ICELAND’S FINANCIAL CRISIS

News 5CITYA.M. 6 JANUARY 2010

INVESTMENT bank Barclays Capitalyesterday warned that the onerouscapital and liquidity requirements tobe imposed on so-called “too big tofail” (TBTF) banks could wreak havocon the balance sheets of some organi-sations, putting them at a disadvan-tage to their peers.

BarCap said UBS, Credit Suisse andthe Royal Bank of Scotland wereamong those banks which could behit hard by the TBTF classification.

Analysts Simon Samuels and MikeHarrison, leading a European bank-ing research team BarCap poachedfrom rival Citi, released a weightytome of research as they initiated cov-erage of the sector.

They believe 20 banks in Europecould be considered TBTF because oftheir size, interconnectedness or sys-temic importance.

These include British banks HSBC,RBS, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclaysand Standard Chartered; Irish banksAllied Irish and Bank of Ireland; andothers including Deutsche Bank, KBC,Santander, BNP Paribas, BBVA, CreditSuisse, UBS and Dexia.

BarCap said the concept of making

banks “fail proof” would involve big-ger banks being required to holdmore liquidity, which, like keepingmore capital, would depress prof-itability.

“For several [TBTF banks] such asHSBC, BNP Paribas and BBVA, theirstrong capitalisation today makesthem well positioned to cope withthis status, whilst their strong fund-ing structures mean that on balancewe view their size as a net advantage,”the analysts wrote.

“By contrast, for UBS, Credit Suisse,RBS and the Irish banks we view thisclassification as potentially muchmore damaging.”

Writing on the problems ofaddressing the TBTF problem by split-ting up larger banks to make themsmaller, BarCap said its analysis hadshown that when banks do fall intoloss, smaller organisations wipe out amuch higher proportion of their cap-ital base.

“So whilst it might instinctivelysuit politicians to argue for makingbanks smaller, the analytical evi-dence suggests that smaller banks areless profitable, more likely to sufferlarge losses and considerably morevulnerable to failure,” its analystssaid.

AIRBUS set itself on a potential colli-sion course with Germany by sig-nalling it might ditch a delayed€20bn (£18bn) military project in arow over costs.

A source close to the planemakersaid its chief executive was growingimpatient over the impact on its jet-liner business of the failure so far toagree a budget deal for the A400Mtransporter, which is dogged bydelays and soaring costs.

Airbus is said to have drawn upcontingency plans to scrap Europe’slargest defence project, in a sign of itsexasperation following months ofinconclusive talks with sevenEuropean Nato buyers.

Airbus parent EADS has asked thebuyers to come up with funds forincreased production costs, but keybuyer Germany has ruled out makingconcessions on volume or price.

Scrapping the deal could triggerrepayments of more than €5bn ingovernment advances.

Airbus and Germany rowover military transporter

AVIATION

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RECORD fund sales continued inNovember, with equities making thebiggest gains.

The new figures from theInvestment Management Association(IMA) show net retail sales brokethrough the £2bn barrier for theeighth consecutive month. Novembersaw fund sales hit £2.4bn, just £400mshort of the record set in May.

Property funds were the highestselling sector for the second monthrunning, with global emerging mar-kets coming in second.

Corporate bond funds, which ledpopularity tables for most of last year,fell to near the bottom of the pile.

Gross ISA sales reached £987m –the highest ever monthly sales out-side the traditional ISA season ofMarch and April. They toppedOctober’s record breaking £965m andmore than doubled the £449machieved in November 2008.

An IMA spokeswoman said: “Themarket has really picked up sinceMarch – it hasn’t dropped below £2bnfor eight months.

“The biggest switch has been fromthings like gold and corporate bondfunds to equities, which indicates areturn of investor confidence.

“Non-UK funds, especially emerg-ing markets, have been very popularbut the biggest rise has been property,which is now our biggest sellingfund.”

Fund salescontinue topower on

MARKETS

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RETAILERS have attacked Tory plansto set up a supermarket watchdog topolice how they treat suppliers.

The party said sellers’ behaviourtowards their suppliers could leavefarmers burdened with unfair costsand reduce the choice and quality ofproducts on the shelves.

Shadow environment secretaryNick Herbert said: “We will introducean ombudsman to curb abuses ofpower which undermine our farmers

and act against the long-term interestof consumers.”

But the British Retail Consortium,which represents stores, said anombudsman would be expensive,unnecessary and would push upprices in the shops.

Director general Stephen Robertsonsaid: “Very few farmers deal directlywith retailers. Most supermarket sup-pliers are multinational food busi-nesses perfectly able to stand up forthemselves. Retailers are right todefend customers’ interests.”

Stores group slams Toryplans to police retailers

RETAIL

▲VITRUVIAN Partners, the private equi-ty group that bought Callcredit fromthe Skipton Building Society inDecember for £40m, recorded a 20per cent fall in profits for the year toMarch.

The latest accounts show five part-ners – Mark Harford, Ian Riley, DavidNahama, Mike Risman and TobyWyles – shared £9.2m last year, downfrom nearly £12m in 2007/8. Thehighest-paid dealmaker took homealmost £1m less year-on-year but stillbooked a gain of £2.5m.

Vitruvian was set up in summer2006 when Wyles, Risman andNahama left buyout giant ApaxPartners to start their own venture.Harford joined from Bridgepointwhile Riley came from BC Partners.

The firm raised €925m (£832m) forits inaugural fund in February 2008 .It is best known for backing a £45mpublic-to-private deal for Welsh TVproduction firm Tinopolis, whichmakes ITV’s Real Crime.

Documents filed at CompaniesHouse reveal turnover stayed steadyat around £13.5m but rising adminis-trative expenses ate into profits.

Toby Wyles, managing partner at

Vitruvian, told City A.M. the figuresdid not reflect the performance ofunderlying investments.

He said: “Vitruvian Partners LLP isowned by its partners and we do notprovide any additional informationover and above that provided in thestatutory accounts.”

Vitruvian hit by profit slumpBY OLIVER SHAH

PRIVATE EQUITY

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Too big to failtag to weighdown banksBY VICTORIA BATES

BANKING

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THE CHIEF investment officer of UBSGlobal Asset Management in the UKis to quit after 24 years service at thecompany.

A UBS spokesman confirmed JohnHarrison will retire in March aftermaking an internal announcementin October.

He joined the Swiss financial serv-ices group in 1983 and stayed for aninitial nine years. After a break he

returned in 1994 and rose to chiefinvestment officer, a position he heldfor five years.

Harrison oversaw a restructure ofUBS’s UK equities arm in October2007 after a period of underperfor-mance, which saw several prominentfund managers lose their positions.

He has said he will also leave hisposition as head of UK InstitutionalAdvisory Solutions.

A UBS spokesman yesterday con-firmed the departure. He said: “Thereis no direct replacement lined up but

client responsibility has been re-allo-cated.

“Jonathan Davies will take part ofthe responsibility in a newly createdUK coordinator role.”

Davies was formerly an executivedirector and head of currencies atGlobal Investment Solutions based inLondon. Davies has been at UBS sinceMarch 2002. Prior to joining, he heldpositions at the Institute for FiscalStudies and the Financial ServicesAuthority. The Zurich-based companyemploys more than 65,000 people.

UK investment chief to quit his job atUBS after twenty-four years of service BY STEVE DINNEEN

FINANCIAL SERVICES

▲

● Vitruvian’s five partners shares £9.2m inprofits between them last year. ● This was down from nearly £12m in 2007/8.● Its investments include Welsh TV productioncompany Tinopolis.

FAST FACTS | VITRUVIAN

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE RISE INFUND SALES? Interviews by Steve Dinneen

“JANE LOWE | INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION

Corporate bond funds were very popular inthe earlier part of the year. People were investing inbig established names – a back to basics approach.But there has been a switch – now it’s all aboutproperty and global emerging markets. People think shares have bottomed out and arecoming back. ”“

DENNIS HALL | YELLOWTAIL FINANCIAL PLANNING

Retail investors were sometimes slow to buyin the last year but they have gained in confidence.Banks and bank interest is not delivering. We willcontinue to see positive movement until the electionfight really starts – this could have a bearing on therecovery. Multi asset classes are popular at themoment to diversify risk. ”“

MARCO PIETROPOLI | RM WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Optimism may be in the air but it's mis-placed. I'm selling the last of my equities and fillingmy boots with commodities. These figures suggestthat people think we're out of the woods but theyare in for a shock in 2010. Equity markets are over-rated and out-of-fashion corporate bond funds are abetter bet. ”

NEXT has increased its full-year profitforecast after reporting an unexpect-ed boost in sales.

The fashion retailer’s like-for-likesales grew by 3.2 per cent in the 22weeks to Christmas Eve.

It has now raised its full-year profitforecast to between £490m and£500m – above its previous estimateof £472m.

In a statement Next said that itspost-Christmas sale had “gone well”and that home furnishings had per-formed “particularly well”.

Excluding online sales, like-for-likesales across more than 500 Nextstores were up 1.6 per cent during the22-week period. It said the consumerenvironment was “more stable thanexpected, with only modest falls inemployment, low inflation and con-tinuing low interest rates”.

The firm’s mail order business,Next Directory, saw sales increase by6.8 per cent compared with a year ago.

But Next warned that challengesahead could include tax rises, govern-ment spending cuts and rising inter-est rates.

The statement added: “We do not

necessarily expect the year ahead tobe as good as the previous sixmonths. We believe Next is wellplaced to face the challenges of theyear ahead.”

Next, led by chief executive SimonWolfson, entered the sale period with12 per cent less stock than last year –a move aimed at preserving margins.

Shares in Next have risen by 93 percent over the past year but closed twoper cent lower at 2,100p last night.

The retailer is planning for lowersales growth at its outlets of betweenone per cent and minus three percent this year.

However, it expects its Directoryonline and telephone business toshow sales growth of up to two percent going forward.

LITTLEWOODS owner Shop Directenjoyed a 6.3 per cent sales rise in therun-up to Christmas as shoppersflocked to buy over the internet.

The home shopping group, whichalso operates the Woolworths.co.uk,Kays and Very.co.uk brands, saidonline sales were up 19 per cent on theprevious year in the six weeks to 1January. With its websites attractingone million customers a day, sales viathe internet accounted for 65 per centof purchases, nearing the group’s tar-get of 70 per cent by the next financialyear. Party wear performed particular-ly strongly, with five dresses sold eachminute as shoppers readied them-selves for the festive season.

Chief executive Mark Newton-Jonessaid the popularity of online shoppingwas extending the festive trading win-dow. “We found that last year cus-tomers concentrated their shoppinginto two weeks but this year, we haveseen four equally large trading weeks;the last two weeks of November andthe first two weeks of December.”

The group, owned by Sir David andSir Frederick Barclay, also said margingrowth was “significantly ahead” ofsales growth because of fewer clear-ance sales before Christmas and“stronger supplier support”.

But despite the Christmas perform-ance, Newton-Jones warned that 2010would continue to be “challenging”for retailers.

Shop Directsales surgeon internet

RETAIL

▲

STRONG Christmas trading helpedluxury jeweller Links of London enjoya record year despite the recession.

The company yesterday said itexpected sales for 2009 to be up atleast 28 per cent on the previousyear’s figure in excess of £60m. Salesfor 2007 were just over £45m.

Links, known for its popular“sweetie bracelets” in silver and gold,said its success reflected its ability toprovide the “highest quality at an

affordable price”. Chief executive Andrew Marshall

said: “It is a huge achievement to havehad a record year in 2009, a challeng-ing time for retailing in general.

“This was in no small part due tothe increasing recognition by our cus-tomers, both in the UK and interna-tionally, of our uniquely adopted andstrict ethos of providing ‘honest luxu-ry’.”

Links, founded in 1990, has 42 out-lets across the UK and 44 more inter-nationally.

Links of London forecastsfurther growth this year

LUXURY GOODS

▲BELLWETHER retailer John Lewisposted a surge in sales over theChristmas period, including its bestever week’s trading, and forecast aslow recovery in consumer spendingin 2010.

“As the year progresses we expectto see a long slow recovery with theretailers who continue to focus ongiving customers what they wantprospering,” Andy Street, managingdirector of John Lewis, said yesterday.

The employee-owned retailer saidits 29 department stores saw sales rise

15.8 per cent in the five weeks to 2January, driven by fashion and beautysales up 22 per cent, a 19.6 increase inhomewares, and electricals andhome technology 11.4 per cent high-er. “We have seen excellent sales dur-ing Christmas and Clearance,” Streetsaid. “The five-week period has seen anumber of records broken. Sales sur-passed the £100m milestone on fourseparate weeks, the most recentbeing the week ending 2 January, andwe beat our previous biggest everweek from 2007 in early December.”

Britain is taking longer to emergefrom recession than most majoreconomies. But the early signs are

that while consumers cut back ongoing out over Christmas, they wereprepared to spend a little more onenjoying themselves at home.

John Lewis’s chain of 222 Waitrosesupermarkets said sales rose 20.5 percent year-on-year in the week to 26December.

John Lewis smashes recordsBY HARRY BANKS

RETAIL

▲

Festive cheeras Next hikesprofit targetsBY JOHN DUNNE

RETAIL

▲

● John Lewis started as a single shop onOxford Street in 1864.● As a partnership, the company is owned byits 67,000 permanent staff members who getthe same scale of bonus as a percentage of pay.

FAST FACTS | JOHN LEWIS

Retail News 7CITYA.M. 6 JANUARY 2010

Fortnum & Mason was among those retailers to see a festive sales uplift Picture: ALAMY

CITY VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU THINK CHRISTMAS HAS BEEN LIKE FOR THE HIGH STREET THIS YEAR? Interviews by Emma Rowley

“It didn’t seem that busy, personally.Possibly slightly betterthan the shops mighthave anticipated earlierin the year. Hopefully theredundancies are com-ing to an end andit will have aknock-on effect.”

ANDY STEWART |FIDESSA

“I shopped the week before Christmasand did go to John Lewis – itwas very busy. I went toJo Malone and they werequeueing outside. (But) Ifelt people had left it allto the last minute.It’s too soon to saywhether retailersare out of thewoods.”

CHARLOTTE HAZLETON |ICAP

“I think it was more that Christmasfestive rituals were theboost, rather than theeconomy itself. I think itwas a seasonal peak ingeneral, but in terms ofthe economy goingup, I don’t think itwas that great.The future isvery uncertain.”

RAKESH SODHA |SCHRODERS

“We are coming out of recession sohopefully things are goingto look up. I was morecautious than in previ-ous years, but you stilltend to spend more thanin any other month. I think it will havebeen a goodChristmas for thehigh street.”

ROB HEPWORTH |STRUTT & PARKER

ANALYSIS l Next

1,700

1,800

2,000

1,900

2,100

2,200

5 Oct 23 Oct 12 Nov 2 Dec 22 Dec

p 2,100.006 Jan

Date CompanyToday M&S Third Quarter Sales Thursday Sainsbury Third Quarter Sales 11 January UK Food Retail TNS Data for December 12 January British Retail Consortium December Sales 12 January Debenhams Trading Update12 January GAME Trading Update12 January Signet Trading Update13 January Tesco Trading Update (Not Confirmed) 14 January Home Trading Update14 January Halfords Third Quarter Sales 14 January HMV Trading Update15 January DSGI Xmas Trading (Not Confirmed) 19 January Burberry Third Quarter Sales 19 January Carphone Warehouse Third Quarter Sales 20 January KESA Trading Update21 January Morrison Trading Update27 January WH Smith Trading Update

CHRISTMAS UPDATES | PENDING RETAIL TRADING STATEMENTS

IRON MANYou’d have thought City businessmanCharlie Pitcher (right), who usuallyspends his days running high-endrefurbishment company CPRefurbishment, would have hadenough of noble deeds for the timebeing, having completed the notori-ously gruelling Marathon des Sablesjust last year. (The event is a six-day,151 mile race through the sand dunesof the Sahara Desert, in baking tem-peratures of up to 50 degrees Celsius,known as the “toughest footrace onEarth”, so it’s hardly for the fainthearted.)

But I hear Pitcher’s now officiallybegun his second hare-brainedescapade in less than 12 months, hav-ing set off on Monday in a quest torow single-handedly across theAtlantic Ocean, to raise money for therenal unit at Addenbrooke’s Hospitalin Cambridge.

This feat, which will take him thebest part of two months to complete,involves being completely alone atsea, facing salt sores, sleep depriva-tion, a diet of dehydrated spag boland scrambled eggs, and 30ft waveswhich will capsize the boat a coupleof times a day.

The lengths some people will go tofor a good cause, eh?

PANTOMIME SPIRITOnly three weeks to go now untilaccountancy giantPricewaterhouseCoopers’ annualChristmas panto, and I hearrehearsals are well underway.

This year, the production is SnowWhite, and will run from 25-30January, playing to over 6,000 disad-vantaged children in London andBelfast.

The main role is played by NiamhAnderson in the firm’s audit techni-cal practice, with four of her unluckyseven dwarves having to do the entireshow on their knees.

But of course, no panto isever complete without across-dressing dame,and the game gent get-ting the cheers thisyear will be PwC alum-nus Matt Scott – a for-mer stamp dutyexpert at the firm –who will be donningthe customarytights, sparklydresses and aDolly Parton cos-tume. Utterlyravishing, I’msure.

MUSIC TO OUR EARSSpeaking of light entertainment,music fans are going to have a lot tothank the City of London Corporationfor over the next few months, as ithosts a series of free lunchtime con-certs to mark the annual City ofLondon festival.

All concerts run for less than anhour between 1 and 2pm, so they’reperfect for a bit of bite-sized entertain-ment.

And what’s more, they featureeverything from piano recitals to jazzsingers, folk music and full orchestralpieces, so there’s something there foreveryone. Visit the website atwww.colf.org for details.

UP AND COMINGTelecoms giant BT has been doing itsbit to promote budding UK businessrecently, having just concluded itscompetition to find 20 smaller com-panies worthy of an award for theirentrepreneurial spirit.

The winners, judged by a panelincluding Dragon Peter Jones, includesuch diverse businesses as SaraMurray’s Buddi, which makes tinyGPS personal trackers to keep tabs onkids; fruit supplier Daniel Ox, whoruns Fruit for the Office; a tiny knit-ting shop nestled in the heart of

London’s Islington; andBompass and Parr,which creates fineEnglish jellies,designs weird andwacky jelly moulds,and throws lavishculinary partiescentred aroundthe wibbly stuff.

Who saidentrepreneurial-

ism in thiscountry hadbeen trod-den down by

the recession?

MARKS AND SPARKSBOSS ROSE SUFFERS ASARTORIAL SETBACKIT’S a good job Marks and Spencerboss Sir Stuart Rose can look forwardto updating the market later today onhis firm’s encouraging trading overChristmas, since The Capitalist canreveal he’s about to suffer a disap-pointment in the style stakes.

Rose, you see, has a reputation inthe City for being one of the mostdapper chaps around and is usually asafe bet on any roster of the UK’smost elegant gentlemen (which cancome in quite handy as a form ofbrand advertising, since he’s alwaysimpeccably dressed in carefullyselected M&S togs). Until this year,that is, when he’s probably quite hor-rified to have been left off GQ maga-zine’s annual best-dressed list –which this year featured the likes ofhedgie philanthropist Arki Bussonand Tory leader David Cameron.

At least Sir Stuart can console him-self with the knowledge that he still

escapes by a wide berth the annuallist of the worst sartorial offenders,which this year appears to have beenreserved for the scruffiest of theworld’s beleaguered politicians.Flaxen-haired London Mayor BorisJohnson made the cut, as did diminu-tive French premier Nicholas Sarkozyand, of course, our very own PrimeMinister Gordon Brown.

CREAM OF THE CROPInteresting to see “City superwoman”Nicola Horlick’s Bramdean AssetManagement website is back up andrunning, after a short amount ofdowntime following Aberdeen AssetManagement grabbing the manage-ment contract for the BramdeanAlternatives fund in November.

And what does the new site looklike? Well, it’s rather threadbare insubstance – which Horlick’s spinner

Sir Stuart’s choice of togs is normally enough to win him style plaudits Picture: REX

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The Capitalist8 CITYA.M. 6 JANUARY 2010EDITED BY VICTORIA BATESGOT A STORY? EMAIL thecapitalist@cityam.com

Pitcher is off to row across the Atlantic

explains is because the firm will be “alot quieter” from now on. I’ll say – theonly investment mandate in evidenceat the moment is a new fund focusingon Brazilian farmland, of all things.

“Under usualcircumstancesRose is a safebet for anyroster of theUK’s mostelegantly-dressed gentlemen”

ADMINISTRATORS of collapsedScottish airline FlyGlobespan aretaking legal action against a firmresponsible for the carrier’s onlineticket sales.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) ispressing ahead with a High Courtpetition filed around the time whenthe airline entered administrationlast month to force E-Clear to revealwhether it holds £35m withheldfrom the carrier.

A downturn in air travel causedby the global recession leftFlyGlobespan short of cash, causingup to 800 job losses and travel chaosfor thousands of its customers.

PwC joint administrator IanOakley-Smith said PWC had repeat-edly asked E-Clear to confirm thelevel of funds it held that had beenreceived from FlyGlobespan cus-

tomers. The administrators believethe £35m is excessive in terms of theairline’s actual liability for unflownflights.

“Globespan records indicate some£35m is being held – but no detailsto support the funds have been pro-vided by E-Clear,” Oakley-Smith said.

“Before Christmas, the adminis-trators requested the funds beplaced in a joint account and thisrequest has so far been refused.”

E-Clear, which specialises in han-dling online credit and debit cardtransactions, is understood to havewanted to protect itself if Globespanfailed and it was left liable to paythose customers who used cards tobook flights.

A spokesman for E-Clear told theBBC that it had received the legalchallenge, adding it was disputingthe total and refunding the claims.

“It’s our view the money is dueback to the credit card holders,” hesaid.

“Our duty has been to the cus-tomer and it remains that way.”

E-Clear had sought proof of theadministrators’ claim that £35mwas withheld, £20m of it for pastflights, but had not received it, hesaid.

PwC fights toget cash forFlyGlobespanBY PHILIP WALLER

TRANSPORT

▲

PwC administrator Ian Oakley-Smith istaking legal actionagainst FlyGlobespan’sonline ticket seller.

EUROZONE inflation rose to 0.9 percent in December, its highest levelsince February, driven by energy priceeffects, data showed yesterday.

The region’s inflation rate was upfrom 0.5 per cent in November and afive-month period of deflation in themiddle of last year, but remains wellbelow the European Central Bank’s(ECB) target of just under two percent.

Economists said the rise was prima-

rily due to oil prices, which had fallensharply at the end of 2008 and thebeginning of 2009, adding that therewas little reason for the ECB to worryabout upward inflationary pressuresfor the rest of the year.

“There remains a compelling casefor the ECB to only very graduallywithdraw its emergency liquiditymeasures, and to keep interest ratesdown at one per cent not only at itsJanuary meeting next week but alsodeep into 2010,” said Howard Archer,economist at IHS Global Insight.

Eurozone inflation spikeson energy price effects

ECONOMICS

▲

CONSTRUCTION activity in the UKeconomy contracted for a 22nd con-secutive month in December, thoughthe pace of decline eased and firmswere upbeat about the future, a sur-vey showed yesterday.

The CIPS/Markit construction pur-chasing managers’ index (PMI) roseslightly to 47.1 in December from 47.0the previous month, on a measurewhere any figure below 50 signalsfalling activity.

However, this is still a significantimprovement on February’s index

low of 28.6.Construction accounts for around

six per cent of the UK’s gross domes-tic product.

Economists noted that the con-struction series is currently paintinga more gloomy picture than officialdata from the Office for NationalStatistics, which showed that the sec-tor returned to growth in the secondquarter of 2009 after a prolonged con-traction in 2008 and the start of 2009.It improved again in the third quarterof last year, expanding by 1.9 per cent.

A breakdown by sub-sector showedboth commercial and civil engineer-ing construction activity continued

to decline in December, but residen-tial construction expanded for afourth month running and at itsfastest rate since August 2007.

Incoming new business declinedafter rising in November. But con-struction companies were optimisticbusiness would pick up over the com-ing year.

“Though the sector ended the yearon a bad note, there are some glim-mers of hope,” said CIPS chief execu-tive David Noble.

“Purchasing managers also remainconfident that 2010 will be a muchbetter year for the construction sectorand that it will begin to grow again.”

Construction decline easingBY VICTORIA BATES

ECONOMICS

▲

News 9CITYA.M. 6 JANUARY 2010

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Construction firms are upbeat about the future Picture: Micha Theiner/CITY A.M

SHARES in Irish building materialsgroup CRH dipped yesterday after awarning of a steeper than expectedslide in profits.

The Dublin-based company saidthe outlook for construction marketswas still murky, despite cheerier fore-casts from its rivals.

CRH, now Ireland’s biggest compa-ny by market value, said the fall inprofits slowed in the last six monthsof 2009 but it expected full-year prof-its to be down by more than halfcompared to the previous year, toaround €750m (£675m) from €1.6bn(£1.3bn).

Although the figure was in linewith its previous forecast for pre-taxprofits, it fell short of an average fore-cast from analysts of more than€797m.

Like-for-like sales in the secondhalf of the year were down 18 percent, a slight improvement on the 21per cent slide in the first six monthsof the year.

The company warned in anupdate: “Trading conditions remaindifficult and the timing of any sus-tained pick-up in developed world

construction demand is unclear.”The stock closed down four per

cent in Dublin to €18.77 last night.CRH said it would carry out more

cost-cutting measures than planned,leading to gross yearly savings of€1.65bn against the €1.45bn antici-pated in July.

The cost of carrying out the cutsrose to €305m from the original€250m. A more positive note wasstruck with the news that CRH, thebiggest producer of asphalt in the US,is benefiting from US PresidentBarack Obama’s stimulus measures.

Chief executive Myles Lee said thecompany had also “increasedappetite” as evidenced by its spend-ing on 10 acquisitions and invest-ments in the second half of 2009.

MOORE Capital Management, the$14bn (£8.7bn) New York hedge fundrun by Louis Moore Bacon, has hiredformer Brevan Howard man Jean-Philippe Blochet.

Blochet will start in the middle ofJanuary and will take charge of aglobal macro strategy, trading stocks,bonds and commodities based onbroad economic trends. Global macrostrategies roam between asset classes

and look for returns wherever theycan find an edge.

A founding partner of BrevanHoward, Blochet is seen as accom-plished and will bring years of curren-cy and interest rate expertise to thefirm. He is the latest high-profile hireafter Moore Capital poached GregCoffey as co-chief investment officerin Europe from GLG Partners in 2008.

Moore Capital is a discreet housethat prides itself on consistency. Theflagship fund managed by Bacon hasreturned around 21 per cent a year

since its launch in 1990. Bacon hasbuilt a house style based on a belief inlow stockmarket correlation, reflect-ed in the returns for the torrid year of2008 when his portfolio ended 4.3 percent down and Moore’s Global FixedIncome fund finished 1.3 per cent up,against huge losses in markets.

A source close to Moore Capitalsaid Blochet would not be relocatingto New York, but would continue towork out of London. It is not knownwhether the firm is planning tolaunch a new fund for him.

Moore Capital recruits Brevan Howardfounder for a senior global macro role

THOUSANDS of households will beable to apply for a voucher worth£400 towards the cost of a new ener-gy-efficient boiler under the govern-ment’s scrappage scheme.

From 18 January, up to 125,000families will be eligible for a discountunder the £50m taxpayer-fundedproject. The government hopes to cutCO2 emissions by encouraging peopleto ditch old G-rated boilers for A-ratedmodels, which require less fuel.

Changing over would save the aver-age household around £235 a year,according to price comparison siteuSwitch.com. Will Marples, an energyadviser at uSwitch.com, said:“Heating and hot water account for£756 a year on average so it makesabsolute sense to focus energy effi-cient efforts here.”

However, consumer groups warnedthe offer was likely to be oversub-scribed as 3.5m UK households areestimated to be using G-rated boilers,which tend to be at least 25 years old.

Boiler scrappage schemeto help 125,000 families

ENERGY

▲

PROPERTY consultancy King SturgePrime has forecast a 10.5 per cent risein City office rents by the end of 2010.

The West End, which suffered thesharpest decline in rental last year,ranks top in the Consultancy group’slist of prime office space location.Rents in the area are predicted to riseto £70 per sq ft over the year com-pared to £47.50 at current levels.

During the financial crisis, office

rents fell by over 40 per cent. Butfinancial tenants are now more confi-dent and want to trade up their officespace. Experts say this is squeezingalready limited supply and pushingprices up.

“Occupiers now have greater visi-bility and confidence about their sec-tor and their markets; and they arelooking to stabilise or expand theirbusinesses. This is after almost twelvemonths of inactivity”, said MarkBourne, head of London markets atKing Sturge.

City office rents expectedto surge by end of 2010

AVIVA Investors has bolted on a USequities operation through thetakeover of River Road, a Kentucky-based boutique asset manager, for anundisclosed sum.

The British insurer’s funds armsaid the acquisition would comple-ment its existing fixed income pres-ence in the US and help it win moreinstitutional mandates in NorthAmerica.

River Road has $3.6bn (£2.3bn)under management, a fraction ofAviva Investors’ $364bn. A spokesper-

son said River Road’s value-led invest-ment approach would remainunchanged and confirmed therewere no plans to relabel its fundswith the Aviva brand.

Alain Dromer, chief executive ofAviva investors, hailed River Road’s25-strong team as “experienced”.Dromer said its strong track recordwould provide a firm platform forgrowing Aviva’s US business.

Aviva, whose operations arefocused on the UK and mainlandEurope, is keen to expand into thelucrative Asian and North Americanmarkets. The company entered theUS in earnest in 2006 with the £1.6bn

takeover of life insurer AmerUs. Itreinforced its position in the regionlast October by listing its shares onthe New York Stock Exchange.

Aviva buys US equities houseBY OLIVER SHAH

FUND MANAGEMENT

▲

CRH hit afterprofit slumpsparks fearsBY EMMA ROWLEY

BUILDING MATERIALS

▲

BY NATASHA SAINI

PROPERTY

▲

BY OLIVER SHAH

HEDGE FUNDS

▲

News10 CITYA.M. 6 JANUARY 2010

Financial tenants are more confident and looking to trade up Picture: Micha Theiner

NEWS | IN BRIEF

Geronimo boosted by ChristmasFestive Londoners helped pub operatorGeronimo Inns sparkle over Christmas,with like-for-like sales up six per cent inthe last four weeks of the year. Despitemany publicans suffering badly duringthe recession, the privately owned firmsaid it achieved the increase without anydiscounting or promotions. Geronimosaid its 28 pubs in and around the capi-tal were boosted by a record number ofChristmas bookings, with those madeprivately offsetting fewer corporatebookings.

Speedy Hire secures new dealTool hire company Speedy Hire saw itsshares accelerate yesterday after itsigned a five-year deal to supply equip-ment to Carillion and Al-Futtaim’s jointventure in the Middle East and NorthAfrica. The firm’s stock closed 6.3 percent up at 29.8p following theannouncement, which will see it providelight plant and equipment, asset man-agement and logistical services to thejoint venture. Speedy Hire said thearrangement would help its internation-al asset services unit meet the exit runrate turnover target of over £10m atMarch 2010.

Namakwa Diamonds strikes outMiner Namakwa Diamonds has struck adeal giving the company its first kimber-lite mining operation in Lesotho in south-ern Africa. The group said NamakwaBatla Diamonds, its joint venture withBatla Minerals, the government andLesotho investors, had secured a mininglease and agreement covering 173 mil-lion tonnes of kimberlite in an area of19.8 hectares, the largest kimberlitedeposit in Lesotho and the fourthbiggest in Southern Africa. Kimberlite isa rock formation containing peridotite,in which diamonds areformed.Namakwa primarily focuses onfinding loose diamonds.

ANALYSIS l CRH

16

17

19

18

20

5 Oct 23 Oct 12 Nov 2 Dec 22 Dec

€18.77

5 Jan

ANALYSIS l Aviva

360

380

420

400

440

460

480

5 Oct 23 Oct 12 Nov 2 Dec 22 Dec

p 403.105 Jan

Jean-Philippe Blochet cut his teeth onCredit Suisse First Boston’s propri-etary fixed income trading desk in the1990s. It was there he met AlanHoward, one of four partners he wouldjoin forces with to start BrevanHoward Asset Management in 2002.

Blochet may have left the Londonmoney manager in 2008 after takinga sabbatical, but his initial remains inits brand: “Brevan Howard” combinesthe surnames of founders Blochet,Christopher Rokos, James Vernon,

Trifon Natsis and Howard.The macro specialist is known to

his friends as someone who enjoysadventure as much as the typicalhedge fund manager’s high life. In2006, Blochet completed the gru-elling Marathon des Sables – a six-day, 151-mile foot race across theSahara desert. Carrying packs forfood and sleeping gear on his back,Blochet finished the charity race157th out of 800 contestants,according to the marathon’s website.

By joining Moore Capital, Blochet isentering the hedge fund premierleague. The firm has proven to be anincubator of talent and several for-mer members have gone on to starttheir own funds, notably BretBarakett with Tremblant Capital,Stanley Shopkorn with Hilltop Parkand Christopher Pia with Pia Capital.

JEAN-PHILIPPEBLOCHET

NEW RECRUIT TOMOORE CAPITAL

News 11CITYA.M. 6 JANUARY 2010

BEST OF THE BROKERSANALYSIS l Carr’s Milling Industries

420

430

440

450

5 Jan11 Dec23 Nov3 Nov14 Oct

p 425.005 Jan

CARRS MILLINGFinnCap believes the agriculture, engineer-ing, food and travel company has decentvalue and should return to profit after adisappointing second half last year.Fertiliser sales have been picking up sinceearly december but the flour markets areproving very competitive and will negatesome of the gains made by fertiliser.

ANALYSIS l Carlsberg

340

350

360

370

380

390

21 Dec30 Nov9 Nov19 Oct

DKr394.20

5 Jan

CARLSBERGEvolution Securities has issued a "buy" rec-ommendation following the introduction ofa minimum retail price on alcohol in Russia.This will almost double the price of thecheapest vodka, making beer a far cheaperalternative. The sale of a former brewerysite in Copenhagen could reduce the com-pany's debt by 10 per cent.

ANALYSIS l Kesa Electricals

130

140

150

125

135

145

155

5 Jan11 Dec23 Nov3 Nov14 Oct

p155.10

5 Jan

KESA ELECTRICALSInvestec Securities maintained its "hold"recommendation on the electrical retailer.Trading comparatives for Comet havebecome much tougher which is expected tobe shown in the third quarter tradingupdate later this month. Overseas divisionsare targetting store openings while UKoperations are focusing on efficiency.

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

SUMITOMO Mitsui Financial Group(SMFG), Japan's third-largest bank byassets, plans to raise up to 800bn yen(£5.5bn) by issuing new shares tomeet stricter capital requirementsand for potential acquisitions in Asia,people with knowledge of the mattersaid.

SMFG is the latest big Japaneselender to tap a modest stock reboundfor much-needed fundraising.Industry leader Mitsubishi UFJFinancial Group raised about 1 tril-lion yen last month through a sharesale.

Without these fundraisers,Japanese banks would fall short ofnew global capital requirements, ana-lysts have said. The SMFG move is like-ly to put pressure on second-rankedMizuho Financial Group, which hasyet to announce fundraising plans.

“If the news is confirmed, the capi-tal enhancement would be positivefrom a credit perspective,” saidMasahiko Watanabe, a credit analystat Fitch Ratings in Tokyo.

“However, Sumitomo Mitsui’sunderlying profitability is still not sostrong, so how they improve theirprofitability remains the challenge.”

The fundraising will be SMFG’s sec-ond in less than a year, after raising861bn yen in July.

SMFG’s board will meet as early astoday to formally approve the 800bnyen fundraising, said five people, whowere not authorised to speak publiclyabout the matter.

The bank has begun preparing forthe sale and will decide the terms bythe middle of this month, they said.

The bank’s president TeisukeKitayama said that while nothing hadbeen decided about fundraising, sucha move would be needed.

“Capital raising is necessary for ourfuture undertaking of the business-es,” he said.

Mitsui plansshare placingworth £6bnBY HARRY BANKS

BANKING

▲

ASDA yesterday upped the ante in thesupermarket wars by announcing itsbiggest round of price cuts in adecade.

The supermarket said it was slash-ing the price of one in five of its prod-ucts by an average of 13 per cent. Themove comes after Tesco last weekpromised customer savings of more

than £280m through 12,000 specialoffers on its groceries. Asda said itsJanuary price cuts will affect 3,600branded and own-label staples includ-ing potatoes, bananas, milk, bread,cheese and nappies. The supermarketsaid the “vast majority” of the cutswould last at least six to 12 weeks, say-ing customer feedback showed athirst for long-term reductions ratherthan short-lived promotions.

Supermarkets have reacted aggres-

sively to woo recession-hit consumersamid competition from discount foodretailers such as Aldi and Lidl.

But Asda’s management warnedthe industry risked “being tarredwith the same brush as the banks”unless it became more transparent inits pricing. Chief merchandising offi-cer Darren Blackhurst said: “Peopleare sick and tired of being tricked anddeceived by dodgy claims and bogusBOGOFs (buy-one-get-one-free).”

Asda ramps up supermarket price war

BY EMMA ROWLEY

RETAIL

▲

BA’s image recovers from threat of strike action

JOHN Lewis yesterday announcedstrong Christmas sales – and cer-tainly from the BrandIndex satis-faction scores, it seems that

Waitrose customers were satisfiedwith their Christmas shopping.Graph One shows the scores of six

leading supermarkets for the monthof December.

A PR DISASTERBritish Airways, meanwhile, had adisastrous December on the PR front.Strikes threatened the Christmas andNew Year holidays of thousands oftravellers, and a war of attritionbetween BA management and mem-bers of the Unite transport workers’union was conducted in full view ofthe public eye. After failed negotia-tions, on 17 December British Airwayswon a high court injunction whichblocked the 12-day strike.

The strike threat did great immedi-ate damage to the BA brand, but thespeed of the recovery is also pretty

striking. Just as we saw on every previ-ous occasion, for example after thedebacle surrounding the opening ofHeathrow’s Terminal 5, BA’s brandrecovered virtually as soon as theproblems had been solved.

A RESILIENT BRAND BA’s overall BrandIndex score (calculat-ed over seven measures of brand per-formance) had sunk to a dismal minusfour points on 21 December, but hadrebounded to plus eight by the start of2010, and looks set to rise further still.

We have shown British Airways’scores for the month of Decemberagainst three rivals in the airline mar-ket for comparison Virgin Atlantic,Easyjet, and Ryanair. 

Why are the public so willing to for-give British Airways? It seems that –to borrow investor parlance – BA’sbrand fundamentals are sound.British Airways still maintains a repu-tation for value and service, which

has so far proved resilient to theshort-term negative publicity con-cerns which have dominated thenews agenda. Stephan Shakespeare is co-founder andchief innovation officer of YouGov.

BRANDINDEXSTEPHAN SHAKESPEARE

Financial Services Authority The City regulator has appointed JulianEdwards as consumer senior advisor.

Edwards has more than 30 yearsexperience as a consumer champion

working for various organisationsincluding Which? and ConsumerInternational.

His new role has been established bythe FSA as part of its drive to deliverbetter outcomes for consumers

through intensive supervision and rigor-ous risk assessment.

Union Bancaire PrivéeThe Swiss bank has appointed EmmyLabovitch as head of marketing forasset management and a member ofthe firm’s executive committee forasset management.

Labovitch was previously global headof marketing at Fortis Investments.

Ambrian PartnersThe broker has hired a leading life sci-ences equities team, to be led by JulianBurn-Callander, a former head of equitysales and founding partner of Code(now Nomura Code) Securities.

He will be joined by Paul Diggle, Mike

Ward and Dr Chris Redhead, also allfounding partners of Code Securities.

Diggle and Ward will cover large-capEuropean pharmaceuticals, whileRedhead will join Burn-Callander in ateam focusing on small and mid-capcorporate client opportunities.

NSAFSThe National Skills Academy forFinancial Services has hired ThereseReinheimer-Jones as regional directorfor London.

Reinheimer-Jones, who will supportemployers with staff skills developmentand compliance with financial servicesregulation, was previously head of theFinancial Services Skills Academy atTower Hamlets College.

DS SmithGareth Davis is set to join the board ofthe packaging group in mid-2010 afterhe retires as chief executive of ImperialTobacco.

Davis has led Imperial Tobacco sinceits incorporation in 1996, and has beensenior independent director of Wolseleysince 2004.

DS Smith also said Chris Bunker hastaken over the role of its senior inde-pendent director from Bob Beeston.

List GroupThe electronic trading software firmhas appointed Mark de Nieffe as seniorsales manager in London.

De Nieffe has 20 years of experienceas a stockbroker and equity trader.

CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS Edited by Victoria Bates

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

EuroclearThe settlement firm said yesterday that TimHowell, the global head of HSBC SecuritiesServices, will become its new chief executive,replacing Pierre Francotte, who announced hisdecision to step down last year.

Howell, 49, also previously held the positionof group treasurer at HSBC. He is a charteredaccountant, having originally qualified withArthur Andersen. He has been a board memberat Euroclear since 2007.

Teisuke Kitayama,president of SMFG,yesterday confirmedthe banks would needto raise new funds

ANALYSIS l BA vs Rivals

-30

-20

0

-10

20

10

30

40

5 Dec 9 Dec 17 Dec 23 Dec 27 Dec

Ryanair

Easy Jet

Virgin Atlantic

BA

ANALYSIS l Supermarket satisfaction

10

20

30

60

50

40

70

80

Aldi Asda Morrisons Sainsburys Tesco Waitrose

BAD noises have been rumblingaround sterling for months now,but they got considerably uglierin the past days. The world’s

biggest bond fund, Pacific InvestmentManagement Co (the cutely-acronymedPimco), announced earlier this weekthat it is to cut its exposure to UK gov-ernment bonds. This raises the spectreof other large investors losing confi-dence in the UK’s economy. This is notgood news for sterling.

So what else could happen, and howlow could the pound go? The Bank ofEngland, which has propped up the UKgilt market since March 2009 when itstarted its programme of quantitativeeasing, may choose to extend purchasesby another £25bn later this year. But theBoE can’t afford to keep gobbling upgilts and when it does finally announcethe end of quantitative easing thenthere are sure to be more investors whowill follow Pimco’s example and headfor the exits.

The whispers that the UK’s fiscal debtproblems could lead to a sovereign debtdowngrade by the credit ratings agen-cies are also adding to the din. ScottMather, Pimco’s head of global portfoliomanagement, said during an interviewwith Dow Jones Newswires yesterdaythat there was an 80 per cent chance ofa credit rating downgrade for the UK ifit doesn’t implement a credible debtreduction plan. This is big news comingfrom one of the largest bond investors inthe world. Mather also said that giltyields could rise by 100 basis pointswhen the Bank ends their quantitativeeasing program.

Confidence in thepound is low anddoesn’t look likeperking up soon, says Kathleen Brooks

Sterling is expected to take a bashing this year. Picture: GETTY

Investment | Foreign Exchange12 CITYA.M. 6 JANUARY 2010

Outlook for sterling isgetting even grimmer

PERHAPS the biggest irony of the pastdecade has been the fact that despite all thenew financial products – ETFs, CDOs, CDSsand so on – the best return was earned by

the oldest asset of all – gold. At the start of 2000,the yellow metal traded at around $300 perounce. By the end of 2009 it rose to $1,100 – a266 per cent increase. As most equity marketsaround the world lost money, gold’s performanceis a testament to its durability as an investmentidea.

However, gold’s massive rally has sparked astrong debate among investment professionals.Bears argue that it is the next bubble to burst,while bulls claim that its true ascent hasn’t evenstarted yet.

For now the bulls are correct. Contrary topopular perception, gold is not a hedge againstinflation but rather an insurance policy againstrunaway fiscal deficits. Gold is essentially a noconfidence vote in fiat currencies. It is no coinci-dence that gold’s ascent in the past decade par-alleled the unprecedented expansion of the USbudget deficit during the past decade. Withnearly $2 trillion of US debts due for re-financingthis year, the fundamentals for further goldappreciation are firmly in place.

Yet it has not been easy to make money fromgold. The last decade saw some stomach-churn-ing corrections. During its multi-year uptrend,gold would often lose up to 80 per cent of anygains made during a rally before once again mov-ing higher. Such price action is emblematic of aclassic bull market that constantly tries to shakeout the weak longs from its positions. Unlessgold drops below $850 – its last major breakoutpoint – it remains a buy.Boris Schlossberg and Kathy Lien are directors ofcurrency research at GFT. Read their daily com-mentary on currencies at www.GFTUK.com/com-mentary or e-mail your questions to them atBorisandKathy@gftuk.com.

IF YOU’VE LOSTCONFIDENCE,GO FOR GOLDBORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT

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The cost of insuring British sovereigndebt against default has risen, making itan unattractive asset. All of this makes itmore and more likely that investors willgive the UK a wide berth in 2010.

GOING DOWNYou don’t have to be George Soros to pre-dict that sterling will drop like a stonein 2010. Even a general economic recov-ery by the country’s biggest companieswould not buoy the currency, as theyderive a lot of their income from over-seas. Sterling is a purer play on the UKeconomy. It looks utterly dire, and sothe pound’s prospects are equally grim.

Some well-known names in the City,

such as David Buick from BGC Partners,think that sterling could reach paritywith the euro, and fall to $1.50 againstthe dollar.

Optimists have suggested that a weakpound can ignite our economy andboost exports, but the fact is that a largeproportion of our exports are in servic-es, a sector that is less reactive to curren-cy fluctuations than manufacturing.More likely is that weak sterling causes aspiral effect, as imports become moreexpensive and push up inflation, mak-ing the currency even less attractive.The road ahead looks bumpy for ster-ling. Selling the currency, and fast, isthe only game in town.

Blizzards boostloonie, kroneas oil and gasdemand soarsWhen the snow comes down in London andNew York, currencies like Canada’s andNorway’s skyrocket, writes Kathleen Brooks

WHILE Londoners struggle to getinto the work through thesnow, clever forex traders arefinding a way to profit from

the grim weather. Whenever the winteris cold, the commodity markets get hot-ter as fuel demand rockets. Demand fornatural gas in the United States wasabove its five-year average at the end ofDecember, and the oil price moved high-er at the start of this week, now lookingcomfortable above $81 per barrel.

A cold snap will boost the economies ofcountries such as Canada, the largestexporter of oil to the United States, andNorway, Europe’s second-largest gas pro-ducer after Russia. Following Russia’sdecision to cut off Ukraine’s gas suppliesin 2006 following a political dispute,many European countries decided tosource its gas from Norway instead.

The importance of fuel exports forthese two countries can be seen in thefact that the Canadian dollar and theNorwegian krone have moved in lockstepwith the oil and gas price (see chartbelow.)

Pressure on gas prices in particular issure to continue. The National Grid hassaid that demand for gas is 30 per centhigher than normal and has askedpower suppliers in the UK to use less gasas it tries to source more from overseas.When supply is tight, then, demand forNorway’s gas should increase, sendingthe krone higher. Likewise, oil is a pop-ular way to heat homes in the US, whichis good news for the Canadian dollar.

If you fancy taking a view on Jack Froststaying with us for a while longer, then along position in the Canadian dollar orthe Norwegian krone against the US dol-lar could pay off in the short term.Commodities are tightly wedded to move-ments in the US dollar, and since the dol-lar started 2010 on a weak note,commodities have moved higher.Shorting the US dollar and going longthese commodity currencies thereforegives you exposure to a further fall in thegreenback as well as a rise in commodityprices caused by the weather.

Since both commodity currencies areaffected by other factors including inter-est rate differentials and the strength ofthe global economic recovery, taking aview on how the weather will affect thecurrency markets should be a shortterm trade and it is worth taking outtight stops in case the (arctic) windschange.

Although there is not a perfect hedgefor this trade, going long short-dated USTreasury Bills will protect you against anyupward movements in the US dollar. Also,you could go long the oil and gas import-ing currencies such as the yen or even theeuro. In the longer term the direction of

Canadian oil gets aboost from coldweather.

Picture: REUTERS

Investment | Foreign Exchange 13CITYA.M. 6 JANUARY 2010

the Canadian dollar is less clear. It hasproven to be sticky against the greenback,and has resisted reaching parity. This waspartly due to strength in the US dollar inDecember but it was also due to theCanadian central bank, which talked

down its strong currency saying it willslowdown an economic recovery.Whatever happens long-term, at themoment traders should be keeping asclose as eye on the thermometer as themarkets.

Spreads quotes a price of 91.93-91.95 forthe dollar/yen.

The euro/dollar has regained someground since its recent low of 1.4215, asignificant level as it is just above its 200-day moving average. However, sovereigndebt fears will continue to weigh on it andthe long term target remains 1.3800 forthe first quarter of 2010, says CMCMarkets.

But there is potential for the euro toreturn to the 1.4580 level in the short-term. Yesterday it tried to break above thislevel, but could not manage it and insteadreturned to its previous range between1.3750 and 1.4485. The euro is unlikely tobreak above 1.4530 but if it does, expect itto rise to 1.4630.

Traders will take profits at the 1.4500level and look to buy at the level of therecent lows, around the 1.4215 mark. Ifthe euro breaks below the 200-day movingaverage and then stays there, that wouldsuggest that the euro could fall to 1.3800.CMC Markets is currently quoting euro/USdollar at 1.4414-1.4416 with a two basispoint spread. The US payrolls figure alwayscauses the forex markets to flutter, andthe latest numbers are due on Friday. Theimprovement in the US labour market datafor November caused a rally in the green-

back and the same could happen when weknow the December figures.

The US economy seems to be firmly inrecovery mode and there is reason toexpect that the labour market will contin-ue to improve. Long Australian dollar/USdollar was a popular carry trade for 2009after the Australian central bank raised

interest rates. However, the pair remainsreluctant to push above the 0.9160 level,and if payrolls boost the perception of aUS economic recovery then it could beworth shorting this pair.  CMC quotes aprice of 0.9138-0.9140 for the Australiandollar/US dollar.

Kathleen Brooks

THE refusal by Iceland’s president tosign a bill to refund the UK some£2.3bn in savings lost in the Icesavecollapse has the potential to heap

further pressure on sterling. We’ve seen cable struggling to hold

above the 1.6000 level in recent days andassuming there are no hints from the MPClater this week regarding the future direc-tion for UK interest rates, the next big levelto watch for will be those mid-Octoberlows of around 1.5800.

IG Index is currently offering a price of1.6020-1.6023

Over the pond, the US dollar seems tobe the focus again as investors return toriskier assets. The big question for 2010 iswhether the US dollar will be able to main-tain the small recovery that it started atthe end of 2009. This would mean furtherstrength for the dollar/yen pair. Capital

6.50

6.25

6.00

5.75

Jul 09 Aug Oct Dec

ANALYSIS l Norwegian krone and natural gas

5.00

4.00

3.00

6.00

$/m

mBT

U

Krone/ US dollar (left hand side)

Natural Gas (right hand side)

NOK

/USD

ANALYSIS l Canadian dollar and oil

80

70

60

50

40

30

Jul 09 Jan 09

$/bb

l

Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

0.95

0.90

0.85

0.80

CAD/

USD

Oil (left hand side)

Canadian dollar/ US dollar (right hand side)

The dollar is lookingstrong for 2010.

Picture: GETTY

THE TIPSTER PRESSURE ONSTERLING ISGROWING

Since Russia cut off Ukraine’s gas supply in2006, many European countries haveswitched to Norway, boosting the krone

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3i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285.40* +2.20 314.80 108.663i Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . .104.00 +1.00 105.80 76.50A.B. Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .821.00* –1.00 870.50 603.00Aberdeen Asset Man . . . . . . . . . .139.30* +3.30 155.60 113.00Admiral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1183.00 +9.00 1190.00 793.50Aegis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119.00 –0.40 122.90 66.75Aggreko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .927.00 –11.00 940.50 342.00Alliance Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .335.40* +1.80 335.40 233.00AMEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .804.00* –0.50 879.50 484.25Amlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .372.80 +9.90 400.00 291.00Anglo American . . . . . . . . . . . .2815.00 +45.50 2845.00 906.00Antofagasta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1020.00 –6.00 1030.00 371.00Aquarius Platinum . . . . . . . . . . .432.80 +2.10 445.00 128.85ARM Holdings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185.70 +2.10 186.00 77.50Arriva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .507.50 –5.50 641.00 361.00Ashmore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .275.00 –0.30 311.20 92.75Astrazeneca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2907.50 –33.50 2966.00 2126.00Atkins(Ws) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .622.50* –11.50 747.50 415.00Autonomy Corp . . . . . . . . . . . .1470.00 –59.00 1687.00 924.00Aveva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1045.00 +15.00 1083.00 460.00Aviva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .403.10 +8.60 474.00 160.10Babcock International . . . . . . . . .604.00* –5.00 660.50 381.25BAE Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .366.90 +5.90 416.00 294.20Balfour Beatty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .268.20 +9.20 346.18 243.40Barclays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .298.10 +17.55 390.00 47.30Barratt Development . . . . . . . . . .127.50 +1.00 193.31 40.82BBA Aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170.30 +5.20 184.20 58.25Bellway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .788.00* –4.00 927.50 515.00Berkeley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .835.00 +6.00 1071.00 716.50BG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1165.00 +4.00 1180.00 836.50BHP Billiton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2080.00 +16.00 2084.50 1025.00BlackRock Mining . . . . . . . . . . . .575.00 +16.00 575.00 233.00BlueBay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .325.00 +1.00 393.00 63.00Booker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46.22 –0.68 49.50 20.50BP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .620.10 +6.50 621.20 400.00Brit Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203.20 +3.20 206.10 185.20British Airways . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197.90 +6.80 243.30 111.30British Amer. Tob . . . . . . . . . . .2020.00 –12.00 2055.50 1481.00British Empire Tst . . . . . . . . . . . .429.00* +3.10 451.80 304.00British Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .470.00 +3.20 535.26 295.00Britvic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .397.90* –10.80 411.30 204.25Brown(N.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .265.90* +8.20 275.80 183.75BSkyB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .568.00 +2.00 593.00 398.25BT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141.60* +2.80 151.00 70.20Bunzl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .663.00* –9.50 679.50 473.00Burberry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .603.50 –7.50 617.00 194.25Cable & Wireless . . . . . . . . . . . . .144.00* +1.70 170.00 125.10Cadbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .779.00 –26.00 819.50 484.25Cairn Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .346.30 –8.70 358.90 319.50Caledonia Invs . . . . . . . . . . . . .1640.00* +7.00 1759.00 1081.00Capita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .746.00 –5.00 791.00 608.00Carillion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .303.00 –4.70 319.60 192.00Carnival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2155.00 +5.00 2218.00 1224.00Carpetright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .985.00 +33.50 999.00 346.00Carphone Warehouse . . . . . . . . .191.00* +0.60 216.10 88.25Catlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .347.00 +4.00 401.79 270.00Centrica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281.10 –0.20 288.75 212.50Charter Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .754.50 –2.50 778.50 305.75Chemring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2985.00 +19.00 2993.00 1794.00Close Bros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .710.50 +4.50 806.50 384.25Cobham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250.70 –1.50 254.10 163.90COLT Telecom . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138.50 +2.00 142.50 71.50Compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .457.10 –1.20 470.10 275.00Cookson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .435.90 +2.80 481.40 202.75Croda Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .810.50 –20.00 833.50 451.50

Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low (p) (p) (p) (p)

CSR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .434.70 +8.90 524.00 152.00Daily Mail ‘A’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .424.10* +1.20 467.30 205.75Dana Petroleum . . . . . . . . . . . .1245.00 +14.00 1549.00 807.00Davis Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .403.50 –2.90 438.00 213.75De La Rue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .989.00* –1.00 1080.00 808.50Debenhams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80.00 +0.35 99.50 24.25Derwent London . . . . . . . . . . . .1340.00 +16.00 1418.00 445.50Dexion Absolute . . . . . . . . . . . . .140.00 +0.30 141.00 82.00Diageo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1063.00 –20.00 1098.00 727.00Dimension Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76.05 +0.05 82.80 32.75Drax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .444.00 +24.00 644.50 393.75DSG Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36.99 –0.90 39.75 12.73Dunelm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .410.00 +5.40 438.40 130.00Easyjet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .363.50 +3.40 416.80 246.50Edinburgh Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . .383.30 +1.80 383.30 283.75Electrocomponents . . . . . . . . . . .166.00* +2.20 176.00 113.00Eurasian Nat Res . . . . . . . . . . . .970.00 +10.00 976.50 295.00Experian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .609.00* –9.50 639.00 371.75F&C Comm Prop . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96.25 +5.25 96.25 73.50Ferrexpo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229.00 +17.40 229.50 31.00Fidelity European . . . . . . . . . . . 1160.00 +13.00 1182.00 753.00FirstGroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .424.10 +1.50 448.80 192.90Foreign & Col Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . .278.10 +1.00 278.70 179.25Fresnillo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .823.00 +23.00 935.00 217.75G4S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .266.60 –0.60 269.40 171.90Genesis Emerging Mkts Fd . . . . .450.00 +9.00 452.40 370.00GKN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120.00 +2.00 131.30 36.45GlaxoSmithKline . . . . . . . . . . . .1307.00* –32.50 1347.00 982.00Go-Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1338.00 +8.00 1577.00 845.00Grainger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137.00* +5.00 194.62 39.93Great Portland Estates . . . . . . . .297.00* –0.90 301.00 127.11Greene King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411.30* –5.40 547.45 279.35Halfords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .417.20* –2.70 442.10 216.75Halma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252.90 +2.40 256.00 140.75Hammerson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .409.00 –3.20 624.50 212.25Hargreaves Lansdown . . . . . . . .312.40 +11.80 312.40 158.50Hays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107.40 +1.70 114.00 67.25Henderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128.00 +0.10 142.10 50.00Heritage Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .453.00 –4.30 630.00 161.00Hikma Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . . . .516.00 –0.50 530.00 308.50Hiscox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .324.80 +2.70 364.30 272.50Hochschild Mining . . . . . . . . . . .353.00 +3.50 366.40 101.00Home Retail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289.90* –5.70 336.50 180.40Homeserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1712.00* +10.00 1752.00 849.50HSBC Hldgs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .737.00* +10.50 766.80 270.37Hunting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .593.00 –20.50 615.50 367.00ICAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .435.90 +1.90 478.30 199.20IG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .388.30 +5.70 392.30 159.25Imagination Tech Gp . . . . . . . . . .251.00 –3.00 261.90 55.50IMI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .541.00 +3.00 552.00 214.00Imperial Tobacco. . . . . . . . . . . .1925.00 –10.00 1988.00 1412.00Inchcape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29.20 –0.82 36.74 5.82Informa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .333.80 +12.30 339.10 216.00Inmarsat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .699.50 –9.00 717.50 378.25Intercontl Hotels . . . . . . . . . . . . .901.50 –3.00 926.50 433.75Intermediate Capital . . . . . . . . . .287.90 +2.30 332.00 79.71Intertek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1245.00 –15.00 1368.00 753.50Intl Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .315.60 +5.70 316.40 190.60Invensys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .305.50 +2.40 314.60 136.00Investec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .450.90 +11.80 487.20 164.75ITV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55.50 –0.05 58.65 16.50Jardine Lloyd Thompson. . . . . . .483.40 +1.40 514.00 387.75Johnson Matthey . . . . . . . . . . .1584.00* +12.00 1641.00 856.50Kazakhmys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1397.00 +18.00 1404.00 187.30Kesa Electricals . . . . . . . . . . . . .155.10 –0.30 162.00 83.50

Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low (p) (p) (p) (p)

Kingfisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233.40 –3.00 249.10 115.00Ladbrokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144.90 +3.30 213.49 114.60Lancashire Hldgs . . . . . . . . . . . .453.70* +4.20 540.00 411.00Land Securities . . . . . . . . . . . . . .666.50* –6.50 1051.00 323.25Legal & General . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80.35 +0.85 94.40 20.90Liberty International . . . . . . . . . .514.00 +2.00 580.00 278.00Lloyds Banking Gp . . . . . . . . . . . .54.03 +1.77 96.02 21.97Logica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117.70 +0.60 136.80 59.25London Stock Exchange . . . . . . .720.00* +3.00 949.50 355.75Lonmin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2053.00 +20.00 2069.00 729.97Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .325.30 +12.90 373.60 150.40Marks & Spencer . . . . . . . . . . . . .404.90* –7.50 412.70 214.75Meggitt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .271.50 –0.50 276.80 110.50Melrose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185.00 –1.00 198.20 58.25Mercantile IT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .884.00* +9.00 964.00 515.50Michael Page Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . .402.10 +2.20 404.00 171.25Micro Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .464.80* +2.80 469.80 257.50Millen & Copthorne . . . . . . . . . . .375.20 –2.90 411.90 165.50Misys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .218.30 –4.20 238.80 98.00Mitchells & Butlers . . . . . . . . . . .247.60 –3.70 310.60 150.00MITIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236.00* +2.40 281.70 170.25Mondi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .352.30 +7.20 361.80 118.25Monks Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .302.00 +2.40 302.00 190.00Morrison Wm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .277.90 –0.90 298.40 233.50Mothercare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .687.00 –3.00 693.00 340.50Murray Intl Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .787.00 –2.50 800.00 512.00National Express . . . . . . . . . . . . .196.00 –1.60 294.83 78.45National Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .682.00* +1.50 717.00 511.00Next . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2100.00* –39.00 2139.00 1039.00Northumbrian Water . . . . . . . . . .272.80* +0.30 281.90 203.00Old Mutual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113.60 +2.20 122.30 30.50Pace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213.00 –0.10 243.80 39.50Partygaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259.70 +2.60 298.50 157.25Pearson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .886.00 –7.50 897.50 566.50Pennon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .538.00 –2.50 566.50 372.00Persimmon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .463.40 +1.70 534.50 247.25Petrofac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1031.00 –5.00 1078.00 320.75Petropavlovsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1155.00 +44.00 1343.00 345.00Premier Farnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173.00 –0.50 180.90 112.50Premier Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36.55 +0.54 47.00 24.00Premier Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1209.00 +50.00 1431.00 512.78Provident Financial . . . . . . . . . . .938.00 –4.00 986.00 736.00Prudential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .642.00 +2.00 665.00 195.40PZ Cussons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .262.00 –6.00 274.60 144.25Qinetiq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165.30 +0.10 179.10 123.00Randgold Resources . . . . . . . . .5175.00 +35.00 5450.00 2425.00Reckitt Benckiser . . . . . . . . . . .3317.00 –34.00 3390.00 2403.00Reed Elsevier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .510.50 –2.00 570.00 403.75Regus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90.00 –3.15 120.50 43.00Rentokil Initial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115.50 –0.70 119.70 37.25Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88.00 –0.55 112.00 77.45Rexam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .288.00 –0.30 327.43 188.89Rightmove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .504.00 –11.00 610.50 156.25Rio Tinto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3542.50 +73.00 3565.00 1111.93RIT Capital Partners . . . . . . . . .1034.00 –18.00 1052.00 715.00Rolls Royce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .492.00* +0.80 504.50 252.50Rotork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1218.00 +3.00 1267.00 667.50Royal Bank Of Scot . . . . . . . . . . . .35.40 +3.30 58.25 10.00Royal Dutch Shell A . . . . . . . . .1950.00 +19.00 1951.50 1362.00Royal Dutch Shell B . . . . . . . . .1883.50 +21.00 1897.00 1315.00RSA Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122.50 +2.80 150.20 113.10SABMiller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1821.00 –29.00 1858.00 906.00Sage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226.80 –0.90 239.20 158.90Sainsbury(J) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .319.90* –4.30 373.00 284.50Schroders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1340.00 –11.00 1361.00 628.00

Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low (p) (p) (p) (p)

Schroders N/V. . . . . . . . . . . . . .1078.00 –16.00 1094.00 533.50

Scot. & Sthrn Energy . . . . . . . . . 1170.00 +7.00 1279.00 357.50

Scottish Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . .459.00 +5.00 459.00 324.75

Scottish Mortgage . . . . . . . . . . . .550.00 +4.00 550.00 284.00

SEGRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .351.90 +1.80 403.10 250.00

Serco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .525.00 –7.00 546.50 341.50

Severn Trent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1079.00* –1.00 1236.00 921.00

Shaftesbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .396.00 +1.80 426.50 184.32

Shire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1222.00 –10.00 1244.00 764.00

SIG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114.90 –0.80 230.00 82.25

Smith & Nephew . . . . . . . . . . . . .636.50 –5.00 654.50 412.00

Smiths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1038.00 –31.00 1073.00 646.50

SOCO Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1388.00 +15.00 1500.00 885.50

Spectris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .761.50 +16.50 763.50 376.75

Spirax-Sarco Eng . . . . . . . . . . .1253.00 +29.00 1317.00 741.00

Spirent Comms . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106.50 +2.50 107.20 32.00

Sports Direct Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . .100.00 –0.70 134.00 41.50

SSL Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .778.50 — 785.00 422.75

St James’s Place . . . . . . . . . . . . .260.90 +7.90 296.90 142.75

Stagecoach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175.50 +3.40 175.70 102.75

Standard Chartered . . . . . . . . . .1637.00 +23.00 1696.00 554.00

Standard Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .216.60 +4.80 237.00 123.50

Talvivaara Mining . . . . . . . . . . . .396.10 –6.40 428.00 124.00

Tate & Lyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .453.80* +2.90 481.40 225.75

Taylor Wimpey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39.53 +0.03 54.90 12.25

Telecity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .385.90 –4.10 407.90 155.00

Templeton Emrg Mkts . . . . . . . . .555.00 +16.50 555.50 235.00

Tesco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .420.45 –7.95 437.05 301.40

Thomas Cook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237.90 +1.90 303.50 165.40

Tomkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202.20 –1.90 204.70 99.50

Travis Perkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .841.00 –14.00 888.00 198.63

TUI Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259.70 –0.30 294.75 208.25

Tullett Prebon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .292.00 –2.60 436.20 105.25

Tullow Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1320.00 –17.00 1346.00 570.50

UK Commercial Prop . . . . . . . . . . .79.45 +0.20 79.55 50.50

Ultra Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . .1400.00 –5.00 1410.00 1010.00

Unilever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1953.00 –43.00 2024.00 1226.00

United Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . .494.50* –1.80 642.00 429.00

Utd Business Media . . . . . . . . . .471.30 +0.80 540.00 364.75

Vedanta Resources . . . . . . . . . .2754.00* +18.00 2783.00 492.75

Victrex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .810.00 –10.00 840.50 400.75

Vodafone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143.10* –0.20 148.00 111.20

VT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .524.50* –3.50 606.00 412.75

Weir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .745.50 +4.00 771.00 302.00

Wellstream Hldgs . . . . . . . . . . . .563.50 –20.00 702.00 350.50

Wetherspoon(J.D.) . . . . . . . . . . .427.60 –7.60 551.00 270.00

WH Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .515.00 –6.00 551.00 306.75

Whitbread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1398.00* –2.00 1425.00 686.50

William Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .192.80 +0.20 243.25 141.04

Witan Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .448.00 –3.00 451.00 276.50

Wolseley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1300.00 +3.00 1570.00 907.03

Wood Group (John) . . . . . . . . . . .319.10 +2.30 354.90 175.75

WPP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .606.50 –10.50 620.00 349.75

Xstrata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1188.00 +25.50 1191.00 288.75

Yell Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39.67 –0.80 86.00 11.75

LONDON TOP 250 BY MARKET CAPITALISATION

* Ex-Dividend † Suspended

www.interactivedata.com

Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low (p) (p) (p) (p)

Ford cheers but lowhome sales concern

THE S&P 500 and the Nasdaq roseyesterday as better-than-expectedfactory orders and a surge invehicle sales at Ford provided

more evidence of an economic recov-ery.

But a big decline in pending homesales, which fell in November for thefirst time in nine months, increasedconcerns about the housing market,capping the broad market’s gains andpushing the Dow industrials into thered a day after all three major US stockindexes finished the first trading dayof 2010 at the highest levels in over ayear.

For the last month, stocks havesurged as investors bet on a series ofbetter-than-expected economic data.Much of that optimism appeared toremain intact yesterday as S&P indexesfor the financial, materials and energysectors ended the day higher.

Yesterday marked a new 15-monthhigh for the S&P 500 and a 16-monthhigh for the Nasdaq.

“There is nothing in here to suggestthat investors are backing away at allfrom the sentiment expressed yester-day, which is one of increased opti-mism about the global recovery,” saidCraig Peckham, equity trading strate-gist at Jefferies & Company.

Peckham pointed to what hetermed a “slow and measured marchhigher” in expectations for a betterreading in Friday’s non-farm payrollsreport.

The Dow Jones industrial averagefell 11.94 points, or 0.11 per cent, toend at 10,572.02. The Standard &Poor’s 500 Index rose 3.53 points, or0.31 per cent, to finish at 1,136.52. TheNasdaq Composite Index crept up just0.29 of a point, or 0.01 per cent, to closeat 2,308.71.

Ford surged 6.6 per cent to $10.96,hitting a four-and-a-half year high afterit said its December sales rose 33 percent year-over-year, ending a tumul-tuous 12 months when rivals GM andChrysler collapsed into bankruptcy

Earlier yesterday, the governmentsaid US factory orders rose more thanexpected in November. The report,which suggested the manufacturingsector will continue to support a recov-ery, was released one day after theInstitute for Supply Management'sindex of manufacturing activity beatestimates.

Financials, energy, materials andconsumer discretionary stocks gavethe biggest boosts to the S&P 500 in amuted rerun of Monday’s rally.

The S&P financial index led thewider market higher, rising 1.6 per-cent, with Citigroup up 4.4 per cent to$3.55.

Pending home sales from theNational Association of Realtors fell 16per cent in November compared withexpectations of a 2 per cent drop.

THE leading share index ended0.4 per cent higher on yester-day, hitting a fresh 16-monthclosing high, as banks and com-

modity stocks rose, but gains werecapped by a fall in drugmakers onconcerns over vaccine sales.

The blue chip FTSE 100 closed22.16 points higher at 5,522.50, itshighest close since 2 September 2008-- the month when Lehman Brotherscollapsed. It had also hit a 16-monthclosing high on Monday.

BARCLAYS LIFTS BANKSBarclays gained 6.2 per cent, withtraders citing market talk that thelender could lift its outlook. LloydsBanking Group, HSBC and StandardChartered were up 1.4 to 3.4 per cent.

Meanwhile Royal Bank ofScotland, the worst-performing FTSE100 stock in 2009, rose 10.3 per centto the top of the gainers’ list.

Man Group climbed 4.1 per centafter Nomura issued an upbeat noteon the speciality finance sector, advo-cating a “buy” on the hedge fundgroup.

MINERS STRIKEMiners were in positive territory,with investors still heartened by

Monday’s strong manufacturing datafrom China, although base metalsprices were largely lower.

Xstrata, Rio Tinto, Lonmin andEurasian Natural Resources rose 1 to2.2 per cent.

Energy stocks were also in favouras the price of crude oil edged uptowards $82 a barrel. Royal DutchShell, BP and BG Group added 0.3 to1.1 per cent.

ALL EYES ON US PAYROLL DATAInvestors are seen keenly awaitingDecember's US non-farm payrollsnumbers on Friday, which are expect-ed to provide an indication of thehealth of the economy and couldgive further direction to equities.

“The US non-farm payrolls will bethe big cue. Volumes still haven’treturned to normal and I wouldimagine that people will be waitingfor that and from next week on you'llsee proper volume returning to themarket,” said Arifa Sheikh-Usmani,equity trader at Spreadex.

Earlier, data showed a bigger-than-expected fall in pending sales of pre-viously owned US homes, whichdipped 16 per cent in November.

VACCINE DEMAND WORRIESDrugmakers were pressured afterFrance cancelled over half the H1N1flu shots it had ordered from Sanofi-Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartisand Baxter International due to over-supply.

GlaxoSmithKline dropped 2.4 per

cent, while AstraZeneca and Shirelost 1.1 and 0.8 per cent respectively.

BUFFETT HITS CADBURYAmong individual stocks, Cadburyshed 3.2 per cent. Warren Buffett’sBerkshire Hathaway, which owns 9.4per cent of Kraft Foods, said it hadvoted “no” to Kraft’s proposal to issueup to 370m new Kraft shares to helpfund a Cadbury takeover.

Earlier, Kraft said it was raising thecash portion of its hostile £10bntakeover offer for the British confec-tioner by 60p per share, funded by adeal to sell its North American pizzaunit to Swiss food giant Nestle.

Next fell 1.8 per cent after the fash-ion chain warned 2010-11 profitscould be flat, even as it upgraded2009-10 forecasts after a solidChristmas.

Marks & Spencer, which is due toissue a trading update this morning,dropped 1.8 per cent, while HomeRetail and Kingfisher lost 1.9 and 1.3per cent.

Banks push FTSE higher butvaccine worries hit pharmaTHELONDONREPORT

THENEW YORKREPORT

5,1005,000

5,300

5,200

5,400

5,500

5,600

5 Oct 23 Oct 12 Nov 2 Dec 22 Dec

5,522.505 Jan

ANALYSIS l FTSE100

Markets & Investment14 CITYA.M. 6 JANUARY 2010

IAM the first to roll my eyes at patheticexcuses for staying off work. “Oh, Isneezed, I think I should stay at home”or “oh, I hurt my leg, I better rest up.”

Usually, these are cover-ups for things likehangovers from hell and just really, reallywanting to stay in bed watching HerculePoirot all day.

I’d happily add “there’s too much snow”to the list of pathetic excuses. And usually,I do. But this winter I am prepared tomake an exception. Firstly because weseem to be having snow that (wait for it)actually settles. Real snow, in other words.Most years it’s a few flakes, some hysteria,and general meltdown. That has becomethe routine. That’s just what we do. Thisyear the snowfall deserves the status of,well, snowfall, albeit light. It has donewhat real snow does: accumulated.Become icy. Reduced visibility. Causedslush to be tracked all over the place.Killed people.

Lifestyle EAT AWAY THEJANUARY BLUESIN TOMORROW’SFOOD SECTION

15

ZOE STRIMPEL

YES

All of which is sad but not that amaz-ing, when you look at properly snowycountries. But as long as the UK refusesto invest in snow equipment – and if youdo the sums, you quickly see that it isn’tworth investing billions for weatherthan only affects us a few days a year –the costs of getting to work outweigh thebenefits.

Getting to work in London followingsnowfall is not a tolerable exercise inmodern living. With limited or no publictransport, limited taxis, and no bicycling,what are we meant to do? If the answer iswalk, then that’s asking your averageLondoner to embark on a nine-mile strollthrough the snow. In that time, don’t youthink more can be achieved with a laptopand a cup of tea? Exactly.

EARLY on 26 February last year I lookedout of my front window and watchedsomeone ski past my house. In Brixton.Once I got past wondering where he’d

nicked the skis from, I had to wonder – likeeveryone else in London – how the heck Iwas going to make it to work. As it hap-pened, I pulled on some boots, trudged upto Stockwell, hopped on the Northern Lineand pootled in as normal. So much for thecity coming to a standstill.

Okay, so lots of people didn’tmanage the journey, and allover the country they’ll bestruggling today aswell – if you’restranded in the coun-tryside or a part of outersuburbia that resemblesThe Day After Tomorrowthen stranded you are, so sitback and enjoy that mug ofcocoa. But for those who make itin on days when commutinglooks more like a job forRanulph Fiennes and a packof huskies, it’s always worthit.

Business is all about over-coming challenges, after all,and there’s a particularkind of camaraderie thatdevelops among theintrepid battlers whoarrive, swaddled in woollyhats, scarves and whateversnow-defying footwearthey could find. If you’relooking for an officewith a positive atmos-phere, look for it on aday when getting towork at all is an actof positive, go-gettingadventurousness.

And that’s the prob-lem for the ninnies who choose to stay athome. For while they sip their milkydrinks and battle with their companywebmail connectivity, there’ll be the nig-gling worry that colleagues with evenmore difficult routes to work managed tostruggle in. And that, have no doubt, willhave been noticed.

TIMOTHY BARBER

NO

Where there’s a will there’s a way.Usually. But sometimes a cup ofcocoa and a duvet look appealing

Is snow a fair reason for us to skip work?

1 Dita tall sheepskin boots, Australia Luxe Collective,£190, www.netaporter.co.uk 2 Eskimo ankle boots,

Mou, £175, www.netaporter.co.uk 3 W Nuptse Fur III, North Face, £79.95,

www.snowandrock.com 4 Faux-fur lace up boots,Mark Jacobs, £295, www.netaporter.co.uk

5 Autograph boot, £79, www.marksandspencer.com6 Front-lace knee high boot, Minnetonka Moccasin,

£100, www.minnetonka.co.uk

1

6

5

2

Celebrate fashion from the warmth of a comfy, well-made boot, says Zoe Strimpel

3

4

Step out inwinter style

To get the best of both worlds, I decidedthat the only solution is to drive theGranTurismo S with the windows down.

When you step inside this car and pressthe Start button, the sound is raucous andexpensive. Next, press the Sport buttonand ideally take it out of automatic. Aheadof you on the screen behind the steeringwheel, MC-Shift will light up (you are nowin manual paddle-shift mode) and thewhole aural pitch drops several octaves.Now drive off, pulling the right paddlebehind the wheel towards you. Changeup – splutter splutter, crackle – andengage. Pure, unadulterated bliss.

How do Maserati create the perfectgrowl? It’s all to do with the Sport buttonwhich sidesteps part of the exhaust systemand hastens the response to gearshifts.The MC-Shift (superfast sport shift) comesinto play once the revs are over 5,500 andthe throttle is open.

What we have here is the Sport versionof the GranTurismo. It’s an alto-

gether tighter, more racymachine compared to its

sibling, which feelsmore of a grand tour-

er when you’ve beenin this. Both carsshare the same V8engine built byFerrari but modi-fied specificallyfor Maserati.

With a 4.2 litrein the standard

car compared witha 4.7 litre in the

Sport there is right-fully a marked upsurge

in power and torque(440bhp over 405bhp) and

this combined with a lower rideheight, stiffer springs and dampers – thelatter aiding faster and more directsteering feedback too, which is whatmakes the GranTurismo Sport so utterlyfantastic.

Driving the GT S during the icy, snowyconditions – and this being rear-wheel-drive – it’s not surprising that I had some

WHEN I returned home from tak-ing this car for a spin aroundthe local area, I found a post-itnote stuck to my front door

with a message from a friend who liveslocally. “Hi V,” it read. “I realised there’s amajor flaw with your job. You’re missingout on some of the best engine notesmoney can buy because you’re in thedamn things. This Mazza produces thebest noise of any car you’ve had in the lastfew years, hands down.”

This raises an interestingquestion about theMaserati GranTurismoS. Is it better to beinside or outside it?On the one hand, ithas a sublime inte-rior in the finestItalian leatherwith the MaseratiTrident embossedin the headrestraints. It’s gotrear seats too, seatsthat you can actuallyfit in, snugly but in adecent degree of com-fort.

Externally, on the otherhand, its design is so striking that Ican’t imagine it not being appreciated byeveryone. And there’s that growl. I can’tthink of a simple way to communicate itto you. I went onto YouTube and searchedfor GranTurismo S, but there is not oneexample here that does the car’s soundjustice. So for now, you’ll just have to takemy word for it.

OUT OF OFFICETIMOTHY BARBER

SWEET CHARITY AT THE MENIERTamsin Outhwaite is currently proving hertalents stretch far beyond TV soap operasand cop shows, starring in this revival at thehit machine that is the Menier ChocolateFactory in Southwark. Hey Big Spender andIf My Friends Could See Me Now are amongthe numbers she gets to belt out as CharityHope Valentine, the New York dancing girlwith a habit of falling for the wrong guy.Until 7 Mar, Menier Chocolate Factory, 53Southwark Street, SE1 1RU. Tickets £29.50from www.menierchocolatefactory.com

BOOK NOW: RICHARD HAWLEY Sheffield’s finest guitar-slinging crooner willbe bringing his retro-tinged ballads to theRoyal Albert Hall this Saturday. Two partsRoy Orbison to one part Morrissey, the for-mer Mercury Music Prize-nominee (and one-time guitarist with 90s band The Longpigs)will be playing songs from his latest album,Truelove’s Gutter, while no doubt deliveringhis customary brand of dry, Northern witbetween songs. 9 Jan, Royal Albert Hall,Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX. Tickets £25 fromwww.royalalberthall.comTamsin Outhwaite in Sweet Charity.

You know what you can afford.What you may not know is thatit’s a Mercedes. For more information on our tailor-made

packages or to book a test drive, visit

mercedes-benz.co.uk/offers

unintentional drifts. Throw in a dab ofsteering and engine braking though andfrom the jaws of defeat comes triumph.

Gently apply the right foot again andchange up through the six forward gears.The response is smooth and immediate,and via a brief intermission where there’sfirst a groan, then the detection of elec-tronic help and the long straight roadahead beckons appealingly.

Windows down, and there’s a whamand a pow as you change down, flicking

through the gears and revelling in thepleasure of the moment. There’s just you,the machine, an open A road and a crispwinter’s morning. It’s one hell of anengine note to start the year on.

THE VERDICTDESIGN HHHHiPERFORMANCE HHHHiPRACTICALITY HHHHiVALUE FOR MONEY HHHHi

PPOOWWEERR

Lifestyle | Motors16 CITYA.M. 6 JANUARY 2010WORDS BYVICTORIA MACMILLAN BELL

THE FACTS:MASERATI GRANTURISMO S

PRICE: £88,0050-62MPH: 4.9 secsTOP SPEED:183mphCO2 G/KM: 385MPG Combined: 17.2

This Italian supercarlooks the businessinside and out, butit’s the noise it makesthat really impresses

Roar

10 17 3

38 4

18 14

16 17

9 35

16 14 9

24 12

4 16

3 32

13 23

14 3 10

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23

16

6

28

24

6

28

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19

7

11

14

36

24

24

39

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3

7

23

Fill the grid so that each blockadds up to the total in the boxabove or to the left of it.You can only use the digits 1-9and you must not use thesame digit twice in a block.The same digit may occurmore than once in a row or column, but it must be in aseparate block.

1 2 3 4 5

6 7

8 9

10 11

12 13 14

15 16

17 18

19

20 21

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

Using only the letters in the Wordwheel, you haveten minutes to find as many words as possible,none of which may be plurals, foreign words orproper nouns. Each word must be of three lettersor more, all must contain the central letter andletters can only be used once in every word. Thereis at least one nine-letter word in the wheel.

BOS

UDUY

LI

6 81 7

2 9 58 1 2

3 6 8 45 4 7 6

1 6 58 7 9

1 8

WORDWHEEL

Copyright Puzzler Media Ltd, www.puzzler.com

SUDOKU

QUICK CROSSWORD

KAKURO

05/01/10SOLUTIONS

QUICK CROSSWORDT A B W Y O M I N GR L O R L IU S A I N B E L L AM R I NP A N S I E S C A T

E W O RM A Y O W N G O A LA J W UD U B A I D O N A TA A M F E EM A N U A L S D E S

KAKURO2 1 7 9 7 91 3 2 6 8 9 3 1

1 8 5 3 1 29 7 3 1 7 9 88 9 1 7 3 9 8 6

4 9 7 3 18 9 6 9 8 5 6 71 3 2 6 9 8 94 2 1 3 7 12 1 3 5 4 3 2 19 7 1 3 1 3

5 2 4 8 1 6 7 3 98 7 3 5 2 9 1 4 61 6 9 7 3 4 8 2 54 9 5 1 6 2 3 7 87 8 2 3 4 5 9 6 13 1 6 9 8 7 4 5 29 4 8 2 5 3 6 1 72 3 1 6 7 8 5 9 46 5 7 4 9 1 2 8 3

SUDOKU

The nine-letter wordwas ABDOMINAL

WORDWHEEL

ACROSS

1 Not domesticated (4)3 Islamic prayer leader (4)6 Junior Scout (3)8 Peter ___, star of Easy

Rider (5)9 City of central Nigeria,

that became the capital in 1991 (5)

10 Taking (a piece in chess or draughts) (9)

12 Elizabethan ballads (9)17 Country bordering

Tanzania (5)18 Classic Disney deer

movie (5)19 Comedy ___, TV series

which showcases new talent (3)

20 ___ colada, drink made with coconut and rum (4)

21 Disease often associated with a swollen big toe (4)

COFFEE BREAK

Lifestyle | TV&Games 17CITYA.M. 6 JANUARY 2010TE

RRES

TRIA

L

MATCH OF THE DAY LIVEBBC1, 7.30PMManchester City v Manchester United(Kick-off 7.45pm). Gary Linekerpresents coverage of the League Cupsemi-final first-leg clash.

LION COUNTRYITV1, 7.30PMNew series. Following David Youldonand his colleagues in Zimbabwe as they work to halt the decliningpopulation of the animals.

NCISFIVE, 9PMPart one of two. The funeral of a specialagent leads Shepard on a covertmission to finish some classifiedbusiness she began a decade previously.

BBC1

SKY SPORTS 17pm Test Cricket 10pmFootball Special 10.55pm FIFAFutbol Mundial 11.25pm-6amLive Test Cricket

SKY SPORTS 27pm Live Spanish Cup Football9pm European Tour Weekly9.30pm Inside the PGA Tour10pm Test Cricket 11pmEuropean Tour Weekly 11.30pmInside the PGA Tour 12amSpanish Cup Football 2am Poker4am-4.30am Spirit of Yachting

SKY SPORTS 37pm Tennis 10pm TransworldSport 11pm Ten Pin Bowling12am Tennis 3am EuropeanTour Weekly 3.30am WorldMatch Tour Sailing 4am-4.30am Tracking Eero

BRITISH EUROSPORT7pm Sport Traveller 7.15pmDakar Rally 7.25pmWednesday Selection

7.45pm Show Jumping8.40pm Polo 9.40pm RidersClub 9.45pm Golf Club9.50pm Yacht Club 9.55pmWednesday Selection 10pmDakar Rally 10.45pm SkiJumping 11.45pm-12.30amDakar Rally

ESPN7pm ESPN Kicks 7.15pm NBAFastbreak 7.45pm Live Serie A9.45pm ESPN Kicks 10pmBarca TV 12am Live NHL IceHockey 2.30am Basketball:FIBA World Magazine 3amNBA Fastbreak 3.30am-6amLive NBA Basketball

LIVING7pm Ghost Whisperer 8pmPaul McKenna: I Can Make YouThin 9pm 45 Stone Virgin Part2: The Weight Is Over 10pmCSI: Crime Scene Investigation12am Supernatural 1amCriminal Minds 2am PaulMcKenna: I Can Make You Thin

3am Charmed 4.40am 60Minute Makeover 5.30am-6am Home Shopping

BBC THREE7pm Doctor Who’s GreatestMoments 7.40pm FILMMadagascar 2005. 9pm FILMKing Arthur 2004. 10.55pmKill It, Cook It, Eat It – FastFood 11.55pm Family Guy12.40am Russell Howard’sGood News 1.10am MostAnnoying People 2009 2.05amKill It, Cook It, Eat It – FastFood 3.05am Russell Howard’sGood News 3.35am DoctorWho’s Greatest Moments4.10am-5.10am MostAnnoying People 2009

E47pm Hollyoaks 7.35pm MyName Is Earl 8pm Friends 9pmRude Tube 10.05pm FILMMean Girls 2004. 12.05am-6am Celebrity Big Brother: Live

HISTORY7pm Secrets of MaryMagdalene 8pm Decoding thePast 9pm Britain AD: KingArthur’s Britain 10pm Decodingthe Past 11pm Lost Ships12am Decoding the Past 1amSecrets of Mary Magdalene2am The SS 3am The RomanEmpire in the First Century4am-5am Mega Movers

DISCOVERY7pm Mythbusters 8pm HowDo They Do It? 8.30pm HowIt’s Made 9pm Mystery of theLost Catacombs 10pm SpaceStation and Beyond 11pm TheWave That Shook the World12am Mystery of the LostCatacombs 1am Space Stationand Beyond 2am The WaveThat Shook the World 3amFirst World War 3.50amIndustrial Revelations 4.40amKings of Construction 5.30am-6am How Does That Work?

DISCOVERY HOME &HEALTH7pm Amazing Births 8pm LittlePeople, Big World 8.30pm Jonand Kate Plus 8 9pm The RealER 10pm Hospital Sydney 11pmTrauma: Life in the ER 12amThe Real ER 1am HospitalSydney 2am Trauma: Life inthe ER 3am Little People, BigWorld 3.30am Jon and KatePlus 8 4am Bringing HomeBaby 5am-6am Baby Tales

SKY17pm The Simpsons 8pm FatFamilies. New series. Changingthe lifestyles of obese families.9pm Got to Dance. DavinaMcCall hosts the live dancingcompetition. 11pm Fat Families12am Road Wars 1am MiamiSWAT 1.50am Road Wars2.40am Don’t Forget the Lyrics3.30am Battlestar Galactica5.10am-6am Are You SmarterThan a 10 Year Old?

BBC2 ITV1 CHANNEL4 FIVE

SATE

LLIT

E &

CABL

E

TV PICK6pm BBC News 6.30pm BBC London News 7pm Celebrity Mastermind 7.30pm CHOICE Match of the Day Live: ManchesterCity v Manchester United (Kick-off 7.45pm). 10pm BBC News 10.25pm Regional News 10.35pm The National LotteryDraws 10.45pm FILM The PerfectStorm: Fact-based drama,starring George Clooney 2000;National Lottery Update 12.50am Sign Zone: CountryTracks 1.45am Sign Zone: The Truth AboutCrime 2.45am-6am BBC News

6pm Eggheads 6.30pm Great British RailwayJourneys 7pm Live Darts: BDO WorldChampionships: Second-roundcoverage at the LakesideCountry Club. 8pm Natural World: A team ofnaturalists tries to film 10specimens of the bird of paradise.9pm Horizon: The Secret Life ofthe Dog: Humans’ relationshipwith dogs. 10pm Nurse Jackie 10.30pm Newsnight; Weather 11.20pm Darts: BDO WorldChampionships 12.10am Darts Extra 2.10am BBC News

6pm London Tonight 6.30pm ITV News 7pm Emmerdale 7.30pm CHOICE Lion Country 8pm You’ve Been Framed! KidsSpecial: Home-video howlersfeaturing children. 9pm Above Suspicion: The RedDahlia 10pm ITV News at Ten 10.30pm London News 10.35pm FILM The Fugitive:Thriller, starring Harrison Fordand Tommy Lee Jones. 1993. 12.55am October Road; ITVNews Headlines 1.45am Loose Women 2.30am TheJeremy Kyle Show 3.25am-5.30amITV Nightscreen

6pm The Simpsons 6.30pm Hollyoaks 7pm Channel 4 News 7.55pm 3 Minute Wonder: RealLife Secrets 8pm Relocation, Relocation: Acouple hope to move fromLondon to Surrey. 9pm Gordon Ramsay’s F Word:The Semi-Final: The second semi-final. 10pm Celebrity Big Brother:More from the house. 11.10pm Rude Tube 2010 1.10am 4Music: 360 Sessions1.40am 4Music: 4Play: Simian MobileDisco 1.50am Celebrity Big Brother:Live 4am St Elsewhere 4.50am Ageof Love 5.35am-6am The Hoobs

6pm Michaela’s Zoo Babies 6.25pm Live from Studio Five 7.30pm Highland Emergency;Five News Update 8pm Trial of the KnightsTemplar: Sean Martininvestigates the fall of theorder; Five News at 9 9pm CHOICE NCIS; Part oneof two. An agent’s funeral leadsShepard on a covert mission. 10pm NCIS 11pm Law & Order: SpecialVictims Unit 11.55pm Poker 1.30am SuperCasino 4am The FBIFiles 4.55am Rough Guide to EcoEscapes 5.10am Neighbours5.35am-6am Nick’s Quest

DOWN

1 The Time Traveler’s ___, novel and film (4)

2 ___ Ronstadt, countryrock singer (5)

4 ‘Man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands___’, Burns quotation (5)

5 Average score within a distribution (4)

6 Denoting the north side of a choir of a church (9)

7 One of the Bee Gees (5,4)10 East Anglian river also

known as the Granta (3)11 Classical ___, 1968 Mason

Williams hit (3)13 Small town to the west of

Gretna Green (5)14 Dwelling place of Virgil, in

Dante’s Divine Comedy (5)15 Second part of a triple

jump (4)16 Tribesman of ancient

Scotland (4)

Sport18 CITYA.M. 6 JANUARY 2010

PUNDIT John McCririck believesplans to scrap fractional odds infavour of decimals will ultimately hitpunters in the pocket.

Decimal odds such as 1.5/1 will betrialled instead of the traditional 6/4later this year, as part of a range ofproposals aimed at broadeningappeal.

But while the system may be famil-iar to internet-savvy gamblers whouse online betting exchanges such asBetfair, McCririck believes it will onlybenefit bookmakers. Under the frac-

tional system the next longest oddsafter 7/2 are 4/1, but decimalisationwould mean 3.5/1 (the same as 7/2)would be followed by 3.6/1 and so on,meaning potentially less value forcustomers. “When they take thesefractions away the punters willinevitably lose out, but change isinevitable,” said the television com-mentator. “All these changes – in theend, the customers have to pay for it.”

As well as the odds revamp, theRacing For Change taskforce yesterdayformally proposed jockeys and trainersbe given media training to improve thesport’s image. Other proposals includephoto-finishes being made instantly

available to the crowd and jockeys’ firstnames being included on racecards.

Results

SEAMER Stuart Broad was last nightembroiled in a bitter ball-tamperingrow as England lost their grip on thethird Test in Cape Town.

Television footage appeared toshow Broad trapping the ball withthe sole of his studded boot as hewent to stop a defensive shot fromHashim Amla in the morning session.

Replays suggested Broad hadapplied pressure on the ball with thestuds, prompting South African offi-cials to “raise concerns” to match ref-eree Roshan Mohanama.

“There have been several queries

from the media about various videofootage shown today, and certain alle-gations being made about the ball,” aSouth African spokesman said.

“We have raised our concerns withthe match referee about it and we’veleft it to him to decide if any furtheraction or investigation is necessary.”

England coach Andy Flower, how-ever, looked to play down the inci-dent. “I don’t think it is a big issue,”he said. “It was a long, hot day and heput his foot out and stopped the ball.All he did was stop the ball.

“I think over the years we have seena lot of tall fast bowlers stop ballswith their feet so I don’t see anythingsinister in it at all.”

The alleged incident capped a mis-erable day for Flower’s England, whosaw any chance of sealing an unassail-able 2-0 series lead disappear with adevastating captain’s innings fromGraeme Smith in the soaring CapeTown heat. Smith smashed a magnifi-cent unbeaten 162, including a match-saving 230-run partnership with Amla(95), as the hosts closed day three on312-2 – an overall lead of 330.

England resumed the third day on241-7, but lost two wickets in two ballsin the first over of the day. Matt Priorbatted to a gallant 76, but Englandwere dismissed for 273 – a deficit of 18.

From then on, however, there wasonly one team in the hunt. England

tried and failed to get the best of theuneven track, and despite GraemeSwann trapping Ashwell Prince lbwfor 15, success came at a premium.

But Smith still wasn’t done, smash-ing the wiltering England bowlers toall points of the ground in a battingmasterclass – although he wasreprieved on 51 when a Swann lbwcall was overturned on review.

Similarly, Amla chipped in with astylish knock, only to fall five short ofa well-deserved century when he wascaught at short-leg by Alastair Cookafter Swann finally got some turn.

But with Smith in determinedmood and two days still to play, surelythe writing is on the wall for England.

BY JON COUCH

CRICKET

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Odds shake-up will work in thebookies’ favour, says McCririck

CRICKETTTHHIIRRDD TTEESSTT MMAATTCCHH (Cape Town): SSoouutthh AAffrriiccaa 291 (J HKallis 108, M V Boucher 51, J M Anderson 5-63) and 307-2(80 overs) (H M Amla 95). vv EEnnggllaanndd 273 (M J Prior 76, A NCook 65, M Morkel 5-75, D W Steyn 4-74).

SSEECCOONNDD TTEESSTT MMAATTCCHH (Sydney): AAuussttrraalliiaa 127(MohammadAsif 6-41) and 286-8 (87.0 overs) (S R Watson 97, DanishKaneria 4-117). vv PPaakkiissttaann 333 (Salman Butt 71, ImranFarhat 53, D E Bollinger 4-72).

TTRRIIAANNGGUULLAARR TTOOUURRNNAAMMEENNTT (Dhaka): IInnddiiaa 279-9 (YuvrajSingh 74, U W M B C A Welegedara 5-66) vv SSrrii LLaannkkaa 283-5(T T Samaraweera 105no, K C Sangakkara 60). Sri Lanka(2pts) beat India by 5 wickets.

DARTSBBDDOO WWOORRLLDD CCHHAAMMPPIIOONNSSHHIIPPSS (Lakeside Country Club,Frimley Green)—22nndd rrnndd:: Tony O’Shea (Eng) bt StephenBunting (Eng) 4-0, Ted Hankey (Eng) bt Willy van der Wiel(Ned) 4-1.

FOOTBALLBARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE

Stoke................................(3) 3 Fulham .................................(0) 2Sanli 12 Duff 61Faye 34 Dempsey 85Sidibe 37 Att: 25,104

P W D L F A GD PtsChelsea 20 14 3 3 45 16 29 45Man Utd 20 14 1 5 45 18 27 43Arsenal 19 13 2 4 51 21 30 41Tottenham 20 11 4 5 42 22 20 37Man City 19 9 8 2 38 27 11 35Aston Villa 20 10 5 5 29 18 11 35Liverpool 20 10 3 7 37 25 12 33Birminghm 20 9 5 6 20 18 2 32Fulham 20 7 6 7 26 22 4 27Stoke 20 6 6 8 18 25 -7 24Sunderland 20 6 5 9 28 31 -3 23Everton 19 5 7 7 26 32 -6 22Blackburn 20 5 6 9 20 35 -15 21Burnley 20 5 5 10 22 40 -18 20Wolves 20 5 4 11 17 36 -19 19Wigan 19 5 4 10 21 44 -23 19West Ham 20 4 6 10 28 37 -9 18Bolton 18 4 6 8 26 36 -10 18Hull 20 4 6 10 20 42 -22 18Portsmouth 20 4 2 14 18 32 -14 14

TENNISIITTFF HHYYUUNNDDAAII HHOOPPMMAANN CCUUPP (Perth)—GGrroouupp AA:: Australiabt United States 2-1 (Australian players first: Lleyton Hewittbt John Isner 6-1 7-5, Samantha Stosur bt Melanie Oudin 6-2 6-4, Samantha Stosur & Lleyton Hewitt lost to MelanieOudin & John Isner 6-2 1-6 6-7 (5-10)). Spain bt Romania 3-0 (Spanish players first: Tommy Robredo bt Victor Hanescu6-3 6-0 ret, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez bt Sorana Cirstea6-4 6-3, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez & Tommy Robredo btSorana Cirstea & Victor Hanescu w/o).

AATTPP QQAATTAARR EEXXXXOONNMMOOBBIILL OOPPEENN (Doha, Qatar)—11sstt rrnndd::Steve Darcis (Bel) bt (8) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spa) 6-4 6-1,Andreas Seppi (Ita) bt Oscar Hernandez (Spa) 6-4 7-5, YounesEl Aynaoui (Mor) bt Ryler De Heart (USA) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4),Lukasz Kubot (Pol) bt Karim-Mohamed Maamoun (Egy) 6-0 6-2, Benjamin Becker (Ger) bt Daniel Koellerer (Aut) 5-1 ret, (2)Rafael Nadal (Spa) bt Simone Bolelli (Ita) 6-3 6-3, (1) RogerFederer (Swi) bt Christophe Rochus (Bel) 6-1 6-2.

WWTTAA TTOOUURR AASSBB CCLLAASSSSIICC (Auckland)—11sstt rrnndd:: IoanaRaluca Olaru (Rom) bt Elena Baltacha (GB) 6-2 6-2.

AATTPP AAIIRRCCEELL CCHHEENNNNAAII OOPPEENN (India)—11sstt rrnndd:: MarcelGranollers (Spa) bt James Ward (GB) 5-7 6-2 6-2.

TODAY’S DIARYFOOTBALLBBaarrccllaayyss PPrreemmiieerr LLeeaagguuee:: Arsenal v Bolton (7.45).CCaarrlliinngg CCuupp——SSeemmii--FFiinnaall 11sstt LLeegg:: Man City v Man Utd (OFF).

SPORTS EDITOR JON COUCHemail sport@cityam.com

South Africa captain Graeme Smith smashed his 19th Test century to put his side in complete control of the third Test. Picture: PA

BY FRANK DALLERES

HORSE RACING

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Overnight 241-7M Prior b Steyn 76G Swann c Smith b Morkel 5J Anderson c Smith b Morkel 0G Onions not out 4Extras (1nb, 2w, 6lb) 9TOTAL (all out, 88.0 overs) 273

Fall: 2, 36, 36, 73, 133, 174, 225, 241, 241, 273Bowling: Morkel 22-4-75-5, de Wet 16-3-36-0,Steyn 22-5-74-4, Kallis 14-2-27-1, Harris 9-0-39-0, Duminy 5-0-16-0

ENGLAND (1ST INNS)

A Prince lbw b Swann 15G Smith not out 162H Amla c Cook b Swann 95J Kallis not out 20Extras (1nb, 8b, 6lb, 5pen) 20TOTAL (for 2 wkts, 80 overs) 312

Fall: 31, 261Bowling: Anderson 11-0-50-0, Onions 13-3-51-0,Swann 33-5-104-2, Broad 15-3-52-0, Pietersen 3-0-6-0, Trott 5-0-30-0

SOUTH AFRICA (2ND INNS)

Broad locked in tampering row as Smith takes charge

l Decimal odds to replace fractionall Media training for jockeys and trainersl Photo finishes displayed more quicklyand saddle numbers to be clearerl Jockeys’ first names on racecardsl Concessions for young people attend-ing race meetingsl Website and PR campaign aimed atattracting wider audience and new fans

RACE FOR CHANGE | KEY PROPOSALS

SPORT | IN BRIEF

Manny and Floyd to use mediatorBOXING: Representatives of MannyPacquiao and Floyd Mayweather are setto meet with a mediator in a bid to savetheir mega showdown from collapse.

Pacquiao pulled out of the scheduled13 March clash and threatened legalaction against Mayweather after theAmerican demanded random drugs testsahead of the bout.

Former judge Daniel Weinstein, who hashelped resolve previous spats between thepair, has now been brought in.

Pakistan put Aussies in a spin CRICKET: Pakistan look set for their firstTest victory against Australia since 1995after closing day three of the second Testin Sydney in complete control.

Leading by 206 runs from the firstinnings, the tourists reduced the Aussiesto 286-8 – a lead of 80. Spinner DanishKanieria claimed 4-117, while Australiaare pinning their hopes on Mike Hussey,who is unbeaten on 73.

Premiership duo on chill alertRUGBY UNION: Sale and Leicester havemoved the kick-off times for their week-end Premiership matches in a bid to beatthe big chill. With more heavy snow andfreezing temperatures expected, Salehave postponed their Friday nightencounter with Saracens at Edgeley Parkto Saturday with a 1.05pm kick-off.

Similarly, Leicester have moved theirkick-off time against Wasps to 3.15pm onSaturday after originally been scheduledto play at 5.30pm.

Ferguson set for PrestonFOOTBALL: Darren Ferguson is expectedto be unveiled as the new manager ofPreston today after reportedly agreeingterms at Deepdale last night.

The former Peterborough boss and sonof Manchester United boss Sir AlexFerguson, will take over theChampionship club’s reigns from AlanIrvine, who was relieved of his duties lastweek.

SCORECARD

Sport 19CITYA.M. 6 JANUARY 2010

FULHAM boss Roy Hodgson was left torue a woeful first-half defensive dis-play as Stoke held on for all threepoints in a snowy thriller at theBritannia Stadium.

Poor defending allowed the hosts

to power into a three-goal lead inside37 minutes thanks to goals fromTuncay Sanli, Abdoulaye Faye andMamady Sidibe.

Fulham fought back throughDamian Duff and a stunning ClintDempsey effort to set up a thrillingfinale, but Tony Pulis’ Potters held onto end a six-match winless run andmove into the top half of the table.

Winger Matthew Etherington wasthe key for Stoke, setting up all threeof their goals, starting with a cornerfor Tuncay’s opener on 12 minutes.

Then, a static defence left Fayeunmarked from another Etherington

set-piece to stab home a second. Threeminutes later, Etherington’s cross wasflicked on by Danny Higginbottom forSidibe to half-volley home.

Hodgson lost Brede Hangeland toinjury just before the break, but theywere back in the contest on 61 min-utes when Duff’s shot was deflectedpast keeper Steve Simonsen.

Dempsey’s arrival from the substi-tute’s bench gave Fulham extra vervegoing forward and the American setup a rousing finale with a dippinglong range effort five minutes fromtime. Sadly for Hodgson, however, itwas to prove too little, too late.

Too little, too late as Stokesurvive Fulham fightback

MANCHESTER City are poised to landveteran France midfielder PatrickVieira on loan after Inter Milanadmitted he was likely to leave.

The former Arsenal captain is set toreturn to England where he wouldjoin up with his former coach atInter, Roberto Mancini, who wasinstalled at Eastlands last month. It isthought Vieira, 33, would move on aninitial six-month deal with the optionto make the move permanent.

Inter boss Jose Mourinho said yes-terday there was “very little” chancethat the combative ex-Gunner wouldremain at the club, where first-team

opportunities are proving elusive.Lyon have also been linked with a

swoop to take the former Cannesyoungster back to his homeland, butthe French club have played downtheir interest, while fellow suitorsBarcelona would be unlikely to offerVieira the regular action he needs towin a place in the national team forthis summer’s World Cup.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wengersaid he was “surprised” at theprospect of his former protege join-ing City but backed him to succeed atEastlands. He said: “I believe he willstill be very effective in the PremierLeague because he has been injuryfree for three or four months.”

Mourinho expects Vieirato make Man City switch

FOOTBALL

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MOTORSPORT chiefs were bracingthemselves for another legal battlelast night after their decision to handformer Renault Formula One bossFlavio Briatore a lifetime ban wasdeemed illegal by a French court.

The Italian was banned by thesport’s governing body, the FIA, inOctober for his part in Nelson PiquetJnr’s deliberate crash to alter the resultof the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

But the French high court yester-

day overturned Briatore’s ban onappeal and awarded the supremo€15,000 (£13,500) in compensation.

“The court ruled the sanction wasillegal,” the judge told the Tribunalde Grande Instance (TGI) in Paris.

The TGI also awarded in favour ofBriatore’s former engineering headPat Symonds, who had his five-yearban overturned. He was also awardedcompensation of €5,000 (£4,500).

The FIA now has 15 days to pay thepair, but representatives said lastnight they intend to appeal the deci-sion.

Briatore, himself, was delightedwith the decision, but insisted hewanted to revel in his “moment ofhappiness” before decidingwhether or not to return to F1.

“I would like to express mygreat joy with the decision,” hesaid. “[It] restores to me thedignity and freedom cer-tain people had arbi-trarily attempted todeprive me of. I believejustice has been done.”

Briatore, inset, andSymonds left their posi-

tions at Renault in September lastyear – just five days before the team

were due before the World MotorSport Council to explain theiractions in Singapore. There, thepair were involved in a conspira-

cy which saw Piquet Jnr deliber-ately crash in order to help

team-mate FernandoAlonso win the race.

Piquet Jnr wasreleased by the team amonth before therevelations, whilehe and his father,

Nelson Piquet Snr, were threatenedwith legal action by Briatore, althoughthat was later dropped. On receivingthe lifetime ban, Briatore, 59, claimedthe FIA World Council, chaired by MaxMosley, was out for “personal revenge”on him following reports of plans toset-up a rival breakaway series.

The TGI’s decision also has a knock-on effect for Briatore’s ownership ofQueens Park Rangers Football Clubas, if upheld, the Italian is no longerin danger of breaching the FootballLeague’s fit and proper person test torun one of their clubs.

FIA’s ban on Briatore was illegal, says high court BY JON COUCH

FORMULA ONE

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BOTH midweek Carling Cup semi-final clashes were yesterday hastilyrearranged after heavy snowfall blan-keted the north-west.

The eagerly anticipated first legbetween Manchester United and localrivals City, due to take place thisevening, was put back to Tuesday 19January. The second leg at OldTrafford will now take place on 27January.

Blackburn also called off lastnight’s scheduled first leg againstAston Villa due to extreme weatherand will name alternative dates today.

Manchester City said they decidedto postpone the game at Eastlandsafter consultation with emergencyservices and United officials, withtemperatures expected to drop to -6Ctonight. “It is a huge disappointmentfor everyone that we have had to post-pone the tie,” said chief executiveGarry Cook. “But we have had thekind of harsh weather unseen in thispart of the world for years and years.”

Blackburn said their decision topostpone had been based on concernsover supporters’ journeys, with someroads and motorways in Lancashirepassable only with extreme care.

The postponements mean City’strip to Stoke and United’s match withHull, both scheduled for 26 January,will be postponed.

Snow KOsCarling Cupsemi-finals

FOOTBALL

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Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal were 11 points behind Chelsea just five weeks ago. Picture: ACTION IMAGES

ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger hasurged his side to seize the chance toturn up the heat in the title racetonight when Bolton visit theEmirates Stadium.

Wenger’s men will climb to secondin the Premier League and just onepoint behind leaders Chelsea if theycontinue their winning streak thisevening.

The Gunners’ new-found optimismis a far cry from the misery that greet-ed their 3-0 home drubbing by theBlues just five weeks ago. But a run offive wins from six league games sincethen has propelled Arsenal back intothe hunt while Chelsea andManchester United have slumped.

“We have a good opportunity tocome back very close to Chelsea, andwe want to take it, to make it moreinteresting for everybody,” saidWenger.

“One month ago we were far fromthe top teams, and since have createdmomentum. We refused to give upand continued to fight and believe inour strengths.

“The biggest test in our camp wasthe mental strengths of the playersand the solidarity of the players. Thathas been tested. What we haverealised in one month gives us a goodspringboard to go even further. Why

Wenger issues call to armsas Arsenal eye title charge BY FRANK DALLERES

FOOTBALL

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should we stop here? The next twomonths will determine how ambi-tious and how hungry we are.”

Wenger is set to recall fit-againDenilson in place of midfield anchor-man Alex Song, who has flown toAngola to represent Cameroon at theAfrica Cup of Nations. Forward

Andrey Arshavin will also returnafter missing Sunday’s FA Cup win atWest Ham, but captain Cesc Fabregasand defender Gael Clichy have bothbeen written off until after the week-end visit of Everton.

Bolton, meanwhile, had hoped tofinalise the appointment of Owen

Coyle as manager in time for thematch but, while the Scot is keen tojoin, a compensation package in theregion of £3m has still to be agreedwith Burnley. Caretakers Steve Wigleyand Chris Evans, who took charge ofSaturday’s cup win over Lincoln City,are again poised to be at the helm.

BY JON COUCH

PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALL

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3

2

STOKE CITY

FULHAM

TOP FIVETEAM PLD W D L F A PTS

Chelsea 20 14 3 3 45 16 45Man Utd 20 14 1 5 45 18 43Arsenal 19 13 2 4 51 21 41Tottenham 20 11 4 5 42 22 37Man City 19 9 8 2 38 27 35

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