The Times

SVG EAGER TO EASE PAYMENTS TO PERMIRA AS CLOUDS GATHER

The private equity investor SVG Capital has requested its parent company, the buyout firm Permira, to renegotiate existing contracts relating to funding given by SVG. SVG is in its own difficulties due to the effect of the credit crunch on raising equity and wants to scale back the amount given to Permira, which is facing concerns about its ability to sell portfolio companies and get a reasonable return for its investors. Last week SVG had commitments of 1.25 billion pounds to its parent, but had only one billion pounds of cash and bank facilities available to meet these commitments.

INEOS ASKS BANKERS TO WAIVE COVENANTS.

The chemical company Ineos has been hit hard by an abrupt decline in demand for plastics, and is now asking its creditors for a revision of the terms of its loans. The company has requested a waiver of two covenants worth seven billion euros that it made with a banking syndicate led by Barclays and Merrill Lynch. Ineos has been caught unawares by the global economic downturn and reports that shipments to customers are at between a third and a quarter of their normal levels. "We have seen something unprecedented", stated the company's chief executive Tom Crotty. "Our customers are closing their plant or destocking".

FORMER EXECUTIVES OF MG ROVER STALL PUBLICATION OF REPORT

Four former directors of the defunct British carmaker MG Rover have held up the independent inquiry into their conduct by claiming that the Department for Trade and Industry (now the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) did not assist the company enough as it failed. The "Phoenix Four" were initially welcomed when they took over the business from BMW in 2000, but quickly caused fury by awarding themselves a total of up to 42 million pounds in pay and pensions (whilst the workers' pension fund sank further into debt). The report was meant to be published some months ago, but the former directors' claims had resulted in a need for investigators to interview a number of fresh witnesses.

The Independent

BARCLAYS BOARD TO SEEK RE-ELECTION IN FUNDS ROW

Barclays' entire board will stand for re-election in 2009, enabling shareholders to pass judgement on a 7 billion pound capital raising designed to meet government capital requirements. The capital raising plan would dilute existing investors and leave the bank almost one-third owned by Middle East funds. It has provoked the fury of shareholders, with leading investor group Pensions & Investment Research Consultants having recommended voting against the plan.

TAYLOR WIMPEY SHARES RISE ON TAKEOVER TALK

Shares in Taylor Wimpey, Britain's largest house builder, were up 10 per cent on Monday on rumours of possible private equity interest. Potentially interested parties include US private equity firms Oaktree Capital and Apax, and UK groups 3i and Permira. Housebuilders are suffering the effects of the current economic crisis, and Taylor Wimpey posted losses of 1.54 billion pounds for the first half of this year and has debts of 1.9 billion pounds.

ENERGY FIRMS UNDER PRESSURE TO PASS ON NEW LOW OIL PRICES

Energy Minister Ed Miliband has put Britain's energy suppliers under intense pressure to pass on the fall in oil prices to customers. Oil is on a steep downward trend and has reached a new two-year low and Mr Miliband has urged the chief executives of the big six energy suppliers to use the fall to cut domestic bills. It is estimated that the companies could reduce energy bills by 3.5 billion pounds, the equivalent of 150 pounds for every British household.

The Daily Telegraph

FALLING OIL PRICE KNOCKS INEOS

British chemical company Ineos warned yesterday that it is seeking consent from its lenders to waive covenants on loans worth around five billion pounds until the second quarter of 2009. The move comes after year-to-date EBITA fell 24 per cent to 1.3 billion euros; the company is also expected to lose 400 million euros this year due to the falling price of oil. Chief executive Tom Crotty said: "The reason we're asking for the waiver is that we are assuming we aren't selling any assets." The company faces a fee of 30 million euros and an increase in interest charges of 50 million euros if its lenders agree to the proposals.

JOHN LEWIS SALES FALL ADDS TO CHRISTMAS TRADING FEARS

Sales at John Lewis were down 14 per cent in the week to November 14. The retailer had announced last week that sales were down 9.7 per cent year-on-year, and said that trading had been hit by "economic uncertainty and grim weather." Anecdotal evidence shows year-on-year like-for-like sales at leading retailers down 20 per cent last week, but retailers have stressed that comparisons are difficult due to Christmas falling two days in the week later than last year.

MISERLY BANKS CUT SAVINGS ACCOUNT RATE

A study by price comparison website Uswitch.com has found that 24 savings account providers have cut their rates since the Bank of England cut its base rate by 1.5 per-cent earlier this month. The research showed that 14 providers reduced rates by more than 1.5 per cent prompting experts to accuse the banks of acting fast to cut rates when it served their purpose, but failing to pass on the full cut to their mortgage borrowers. Louise Bond of U-Switch said: "In the wake of the base rate cut, numerous savings providers have taken drastic action in an attempt to safeguard their margins." The research showed that LloydsTSB reduced its E-Saver 2012 by 1.5 percentage points, and that Anglo Irish Bank reduced its fixed rate bonds by up to 2.4 percentage points

The Guardian

ASOS DEFIES SHOPPING GLOOM BY REACHING HEIGHT OF ONLINE

FASHION

Sales at online fashion retailer Asos have more than doubled in the past seven weeks. The company reported a 107 per cent rise in sales to 65.7 million pounds for the six months to end of December, increasing half-year pre-tax profits to 4.1 million pounds. The number of customers who have bought from the site in the past six months increased 95 per cent on last year to 947,000. "If you just look at the most recent numbers, during the seven weeks of doom and gloom we continue to trade through it" said Asos chief executive, Nick Robinson.

UBC CUTS COSTS AFTER EARNINGS DIP FIFTEEN PERCENT

UBC Media has reported first-half losses of 464,000 pounds. Britain's largest independent radio production company blamed an "extremely challenging" few months for a decline in revenues which fell to 6.42 million pounds -- down 15 per cent on the same period in 2007. The company said it had significantly reduced its exposure to digital radio and implemented a cost cutting scheme saving 500,000 pounds annually. Chief executive Simon Cole said: "This has been a testing six months".

UNION ATTACKS REGULATOR FOR SEEKING RAIL DEMERGER

The Communications Workers Union has accused the Post Office regulator Postcomm of incompetence over its calls to demerge Post Office Ltd from Royal Mail. The regulator repeated its suggestion on Monday -- that there was a strong case for a split on the grounds of commercial freedom -- in a report to the government. CWU's general secretary, Billy Hayes, said the spilt would increase the uncertainty over the network's future adding that a demerger was not necessary to allow the Post Office to give private operators access to the network.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants

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