(HBOS) HBOS

Monday 7 June 2010

Financial Times

PWC HEAD APPEALS TO CABLE FOR CLARITY ON AUDITING RULES

Business Secretary Vince Cable has been urged by Ian Powell, UK chairman of PwC, to make the "the ground rules" clear for auditors amid concerns that the government could initiate a competition inquiry into the Big Four accountancy firms. PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and Ernst & Young could also be subject of regulatory inquiries in the UK and Europe about the role they may have played during the financial crisis. Before entering the government, Cable had suggested he was in favour of a competition probe into the dominance of the four main accountants.

FORMER POLAR CAPITAL TRADER RAISES $200 MILLION

Star trader Julian Barnett, who left hedge fund manager Polar Capital a year ago, has raised almost $200 million for his new venture, Ridley Park Capital. Barnett's flagship fund, launched at the beginning of May, has been one of the most anticipated start-ups among London's hedge fund community this year. However, according to sources familiar with the situation, he had initially hoped to raise as much as $500 million. Since the financial crisis, fundraising has been very difficult for new fund managers, even for those with strong track records, such as Barnett.

WRIGLEY TO GIVE HABITAT A NEW LOOK

Restructuring specialist Hilco, which owns Habitat, the loss-making furniture chain, has appointed Phil Wrigley as executive chairman. Wrigley is a former chief executive and chairman of the New Look clothing retailer. On Sunday, he acknowledged there was a lot of work to be done in his new role. Hilco acquired Habitat from the Ikano group, founded by the Kamprad family, which owns Swedish furniture company Ikea. According to Wrigley, Habitat may have been distracted by being part of the Swedish family structure. He said "it is sometimes the case that companies that are absolutely focused on one brand can find it difficult to adapt and accommodate something that is completely different".

HBOS MANAGERS TO SURVIVE UNIT SALE

A deal expected to be agreed later this month will see bankers at a private equity arm of HBOS continue to manage its assets following the 500 million pound ($732 million) sale of the unit's investments by Lloyds Banking Group. Private equity firm Coller Capital is set to take a stake of roughly 60 percent in the portfolio built up by the Bank of Scotland integrated finance business, which was a part of HBOS. Having bought at the top of the market, HBOS made heavy losses on the stakes.

GOLDMAN HQ PRICE TAG SET TO TOP 300 MILLION POUNDS

The City of London headquarters of Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, will be put on the market this week by its Irish owners with a price tag of more than 300 million pounds. The move highlights how private investors are continuing to tap into the rebound in prime London real estate. River Court, owned by a syndicate of Irish investors, is the larger of the two linked offices that form the investment bank's European head office on Fleet Street.

EDWARDS HIRES EXECUTIVES TO SEARHEAD CHANGES

On Monday, vacuum technology group Edwards will announce that it has hired the recently departed heads of JCB and Jaguar as its top two executives. The appointments, of Matthew Taylor and David Smith as chief executive and finance director, are in preparation for an initial public offering or sale of the company. Taylor resigned after 18 months as chief executive of JCB, the largest maker of earthmoving equipment in the UK, while Smith quit as chief executive of carmaker Jaguar Land Rover after it was acquired by Tata Motors.

RISING METALS PRICES SET TO HIT INSURER OF CHURCHES

According to Ecclesiastical Insurance, the country's leading insurer of places of worship and stately homes, a recovery in the price of copper and lead has prompted a resurgence in the theft of metals from church roofs. In the year to December, the insurer moved from a small loss to a profit of 27 million pounds, based on an 11 percent increase in gross written premiums. The group attributed part of its recovery to favourable weather conditions. It also observed that metal theft from churches had eased, which helped the group to deliver a record grant to its charitable owner, the Allchurches Trust. However, metal claims are back on the rise. In the four months of this year, the group counted 427 claims costing 995,000 pounds, compared with 190 claims costing 450,000 pounds in the same period last year.

TUCKER IS TOUTED BY INVESTORS FOR RETURN TO PRU

Former Prudential chief executive Mark Tucker could replace the chairman or chief executive of the UK life assurer following its aborted 24.6 billion pound bid for rival AIG's Asian assets. Tucker emerged as a dark horse candidate ahead of Monday's annual general meeting. The AGM is likely to see Prudential chairman Harey McGrath and chief executive Tidjane Thiam face further criticism over the costs of the bid for AIA, which collapsed last week.

CAUTIOUS FACTORIES START TO TAKE ON WORKERS

For the first time in two years, more manufacturers are hiring than shredding workers, according to a quarterly industry survey. However, the EEF manufacturers' body, which conducted the survey with accountants BDO, warned employers' faith in the recovery is fragile and expectations for orders and output are muted. Despite this, the weak pound has helped orders and output rebound, with record improvements between April and June a contrast with record declines in the same period last year. The difference between companies reporting increases and those reporting decreases were 30 and 40 percent respectively. This result represents the strongest figures since the survey began 15 years ago.

HEDGE FUNDS WIN G20 SUPPORT

G20 ministers are backing Britain's hedge fund industry in their struggle against over-restrictive European regulation. Although measures for more improved "transparency, regulation and supervision of hedge funds" were supported by the G20 meeting, ministers said the new rules should be implemented in a "non-discriminatory way". Both George Osborne, the chancellor, and US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner fear that draft EU regulations would make it harder for funds based outside Europe to operate freely across the EU's 27 member states. ($1=.6831 Pound)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

LONDON, March 4 (Reuters) - House prices in Britain unexpectedly fell 1.5 percent in February, the first drop since June last year, mortgage lender Halifax said on Thursday.
That left prices 4.5 percent higher in the three months to February compared with a year ago, with the average house price 8.0 percent above a low hit in April last year.
The average price of a home stood at 166,587 pounds.

(uk.economics@reuters.com; Tel +44 207 542 7748)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - House prices in Britain rose 0.6 percent in January, the seventh consecutive monthly rise and leaving prices up 3.6 percent in the three months to January compared with a year ago, mortgage lender Halifax said on Thursday.
January's rise was smaller than in recent months, but still left house prices 9.9 percent above a low hit in April last year. The average price of a home stood at 169,777 pounds.
The recovery in house prices last year was mainly driven by a lack of supply and Halifax said signs that more people are putting their homes up for sale could dampen price rises this year. It stuck with its forecast that prices would flatline over the course of 2010.

(Reporting by David Milliken) Keywords: BRITAIN PROPERTY/HALIFAX (Reuters Messaging: david.milliken.reuters.com@reuters.net; david.milliken@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 5109)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - House prices in Britain rose 1.6 percent in September -- more than twice as fast as expected -- leaving prices down 7.4 percent in the three months to September versus a year ago, mortgage lender Halifax said on Tuesday.
Halifax said that price rises had been caused by limited supply in the face of increased demand driven by improved affordability.
((For a graphic comparing the Halifax and Nationwide house price indices, click here: http://r.reuters.com/vef32f))
Prices are now up 5.6 percent from their April low point on Halifax's measure, but at an average of 163,533 pounds ($260,400) are still no higher than in mid-2005.
"The recent revival in house prices is a consequence of sharply reduced mortgage interest rates and more affordable prices due to the substantial fall in house prices from their 2007 peak levels through to the early months of this year," said Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight.
"It is also clear that house prices have been supported supported appreciably in recent months by a lack of new properties coming on to the market," Archer added.
Analysts had forecast a rise 0.6 percent, for a three-month annual fall of 7.8 percent. Year-on-year, house prices are 4.8 percent lower.
Halifax did not expect prices to keep rising at the same monthly pace.
Continuing increases in unemployment and low earnings growth are likely to constrain the rise in demand," said Martin Ellis, Halifax housing economist.
"There are also some signs that the improvement in market conditions is encouraging more people to put their properties up for sale. This development could loosen market conditions by alleviating the current shortage of supply," Ellis added.

(Reporting by David Milliken) ($1=.6279 Pound) Keywords: BRITAIN PROPERTY/HALIFAX

(Reuters Messaging: david.milliken.reuters.com@reuters.net; david.milliken@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 5109)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.