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Saturday 12 November, 2005 The Telegraph MACQUARIE WOOS CRITICS OF LSE BID The Australian investment bank Macquarie and its adviser Goldman Sachs <GS.N> are to offer stockbrokers <MBL.AX> a stake in the London Stock Exchange as part of the sweeteners aimed at quelling increasing concern in the participation of Goldman Sachs in the bid for LSE. Brokers have expressed concern that Goldman Sach's participation in the bid will give the investment bank undue influence over the exchange. WESTBURY BIDDING WAR ON THE CARDS Persimmon <PSN.L>, the house-building group, has approached rival Westbury with a takeover offer thought to be worth 640 million pounds, though it is believed that Westbury is unlikely to recommend an offer at that price level. It is thought that Persimmon's bid may attract counter bids, which may trigger a bidding war for Westbury. Westbury was forced to confirm it had "received an approach regarding a possible offer" after its shares jumped 29 pence to 494 pence. FORMER AIT CHIEF MUST PAY 840,000 POUNDS A Southwark Crown Court Judge has ordered Carl Rigby, former chairman and chief executive of the software company AIT, to pay the sum of 208,796 pounds to investors who had lost money in the company, an additional 250,000 pounds towards the 1.96 million pounds incurred in legal bills by the Financial services Authority, and the sum of 381,273 pounds to the Treasury. Gareth Bailey, who was the company's financial director, was also asked to pay investors 141,686 pounds in compensation. Mr Rigby was jailed for three and half years for misleading investors. The Times NPOWER USERS TO PAY HIGHER PRICES The energy company, NPower, is to increase the price it charges its electricity and gas customers by 12 percent and 13.7 percent respectively, effective from January next year. The increases will translate to an extra 53 pounds for its gas customers and 29 pounds a year for its electricity users. NPower blamed the increase on a rise in wholesale gas costs over the past year. BCCI COSTS MOVE Deloitte, the liquidator of the collapsed bank BCCI, has indicated it is seeking to settle the legal costs with the Bank of England after the central bank demanded the liquidator pay its 70 million legal costs. Deloitte had nine days ago dropped its 12-year legal case against the Bank of England. MORE WOE FOR WHITEHEAD MANN AS SALES SLUMP 25 PERCENT The headhunting company, Whitehead Mann, has reported a 25 percent fall in sales for the six months to September 30, to 20.3 million pounds. Analysts attributed the sales decline partly to the departure of about 20 coaches from the group's executive development and coaching business in May. Its shares fell 1.75 pence to 31.75 pence on the news. The Guardian CASH MACHINE OPERATORS TO TAKE 250 MILLION POUNDS IN FEES A report out yesterday has estimated that consumers will spend some 250 million pounds a year on fee-charging cash machines, leading to calls for firmer regulation to protect more vulnerable groups. In the past five years, machines which charge up to five pounds to withdraw cash have spread across the country, especially in rural areas and outlying districts where they have come to outnumber free machines. Some of the new fee-charging operators such as Cardpoint have bought chunks of the existing free network and are converting them to fee-charging machines. O2'S SPANISH BIDDER OUTRUNS PROFIT FORECASTS Telefonica <TEF.MC>, the Spanish telecoms company, which last week launched an audacious 17.7 billion pound bid for O2 <OOM.L>, the British mobile phone company, has reported a better-than-expected third quarter profit of 2.18 billion pounds. The company's performance was boosted by recent acquisitions including the Czech operator Cesky and Bellsouth's Latin American businesses. HORNBY WARNS OF TOUGH CHRISTMAS Hornby, the maker of Thomas the Tank Engine toy trains and Scalextric cars, has reported a three percent decline in sales in the six months to September 30, to 18.5 million pounds, from 19 million pounds for the same period last year. Chief executive Frank Martin blamed the sales decline on the slowdown in the housing market and the increasing concern over the burden of consumer debt which has forced shoppers to tighten their belts in recent months. The Independent RECRUITMENT CONSULTANTS NET 27 MILLION POUNDS WINDFALL The flotation of the recruitment consultancy SThree, which began trading on the stock market yesterday, closing at 203.75 pence, will deliver personal fortunes of about 20 million pounds each to the owners, Simon Arber and Bill Bottriell. Some 150 employees in the company are also expected to share a 27 million pound windfall. Chief executive Russell Clements is selling shares worth 3.2 million pounds and retaining a 9.3 million pound stake in the company. PARTYGAMING BUYS POKER FIRMS The online poker business PartyGaming is acquiring two of its four partners as it prepares to upgrade its service. The company's takeover of Multipoker and the database of IntertopsPoker is expected to add about 300,000 players to the PartyPoker website. COVENT GARDEN TO BE DEVELOPED Shaftesbury <SHB.L>, the property company, has agreed a joint venture with Mercers' Company, a former medieval guild, to develop part of Covent Garden in London. The two partners will each contribute 81.1 million pounds for ownership of the venture. Shaftesbury's shares closed 24.75 pence higher on the news. Prepared for Reuters by Durrants. | ||||
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