New FSA Rules Prompt Internet Bank Rethink

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

A new retail bank which has been struggling to secure funding and regulatory approval for more than three years has restarted talks with potential investors, buoyed by new rules governing start-up lenders.

I have learnt that Home & Savings Bank, which has been seeking as much as £250m of external capital since 2009, has in recent weeks resumed canvassing private equity firms, hedge funds and wealthy individuals about backing its launch plans.

The company, which would be a telephone and internet-based lender, is the brainchild of a group of former bank executives and Martin Finegold, the boss of Cambridge Place Asset Management, a London-based hedge fund.

People familiar with Home & Savings Bank's business plan said it had scaled back its ambitions and was now aiming to raise between £100m and £150m.

The nascent bank's management team includes Stuart Sinclair, former head of Tesco Personal Finance, and Peter Birch, one-time head of Abbey National.

Its new fundraising objective has been galvanised by the imminent publication of guidelines by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which will allow banking start-ups to operate with much less capital than established high street rivals.

Mr Finegold's fund has already burned through millions of pounds in costs incurred by the development of Home & Savings Bank.

Over a three-year period it has held talks with dozens of possible investors, including Advent International and Blackstone, the buyout firms, and Magnetar Financial, the hedge fund. Home & Savings Bank also tried to pursue a stock market flotation but without success.

All of those discussions proved fruitless amid what many analysts see as a vicious circle hindering such embryonic projects: regulators will not approve new lenders until they have sufficient capital, while investors are reluctant to commit capital when there is uncertainty about whether a bank will receive regulatory approval.

Since the financial crisis a number of new retail banks have launched in Britain, the most prominent of which has been Metro Bank. Despite its public relations success, however, even it has made only modest competitive in-roads against the likes of Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Last month, Sky News revealed that talks over the FSA reforms were being held up by demands from the Treasury to accelerate further the timetable for authorising new banks.

A spokesman for Home & Savings Bank declined to comment.

00.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Google Ivory Adverts 'Against Own Policies'

Google has been accused of helping to increase the demand for ivory by running adverts promoting the sale of the product.

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) said illicit ivory traders in China and Thailand were benefiting from the killing of African elephants at record levels.

Google was a party to the trade because there were around 10,000 ads on Google Japan's shopping site that promote the sale of ivory, the conservation group said.

About 80% of the ads are for "hanko", small wooden stamps that are widely used in Japan to affix signature seals to official documents. The rest are carvings and other small objects.

Hanko are used for everything from renting a house to opening a bank account. The stamps are legal, and are typically inlaid with ivory lettering.

The EIA said Japan's hanko sales were a "major demand driver" for elephant ivory and had contributed to the widescale resumption of elephant poaching across Africa.

It said it had written a letter in February to Google CEO Larry Page urging the company to remove the ads because they violate Google's own policies but Google had neither answered nor taken down the adverts.

Over the past 70 years, millions of elephants have been slaughtered

"While elephants are being mass slaughtered across Africa to produce ivory trinkets, it is shocking to discover that Google, with the massive resources it has at its disposal, is failing to enforce its own policies designed to help protect endangered elephants," said EIA president Allan Thorton.

In an email to the AP news agency, Google said: "Ads for products obtained from endangered or threatened species are not allowed on Google. As soon as we detect ads that violate our advertising policies, we remove them."

Curbing the trade in so-called "blood ivory" is at the top of the agenda of the 178-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or Cites, which is meeting in Bangkok this week to discuss how to protect the planet's biodiversity by regulating the legal trade of flora and fauna and clamping down on smuggling.

In a video message played at the opening of the summit, the Duke of Cambridge urged delegates to do more to tackle the illegal killing of the African elephant and rhino.

 "We must do more to combat this serious crime if we are to reverse the current alarming trends. If not, we could soon see some populations of these creatures, or even an entire species, disappear from the wild," he said.

"We simply must not let this catastrophe unfold. Our children should have the same opportunity that we have to experience wildlife in its many beautiful and varied forms."

Around 70 years ago, up to five million elephants are believed to have roamed sub-Saharan Africa. Now, just several hundred thousand are left.

Over the past few years, as Asian economies have grown and demand for ivory has risen, the slaughter of elephants has reached its worst level in more than two decades.

Last year alone, some 32,000 elephants were killed in Africa, according to the Born Free Foundation, which says black-market ivory sells for around $1,300 (£858) per pound. Much of it ends up as tourist trinkets and carvings.

Cites banned the international ivory trade in 1989, but the move did not address domestic markets.

00.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

China Spending Billions More On Defence

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent

China is to increase its defence budget spending by 10.7%, the country's government has announced.

The increase means a total of RMB720bn (£76.4bn) will be allocated to the Chinese military. 

The announcement said: "Funds will be used to support efforts to improve the working and living conditions of officers and enlisted personnel, make the armed forces more mechanised and information-based, and safeguard national security."

The announcement comes on the first day of China's National People's Congress (NPC).

The annual event holds more significance this year because it coincides with the once-in-a-decade leadership transition in the ruling Communist Party.

Some 3,000 delegates from provinces around the country gather in Beijing's Great Hall of the People for the 12-day event. 

Together they create the world's largest parliament, whose job, in theory, is to vote on and enact laws proposed by the ruling party.

In practice though, the NPC is widely seen as nothing more than a rubber-stamping body which gives a nod to decisions that have already been made by the Communist Party.

The defence budget increase comes at a time of significant regional tensions.

China is locked in an increasingly bitter territorial dispute with Japan over a set of tiny islands in the East China Sea.

The two countries both hold a territorial claim to the islands and have come close to clashing on several occasions in recent months.

The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) has warned that the dispute is a threat to regional peace.

China has made no secret of its desire to project its power beyond its borders, but it is not alone in increasing its defence budget.

Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did the same in January and America has pledged to realign its forces towards the Asia-Pacific region over the coming decade.

The US annual defence budget in 2012 was £418bn, significantly more than China's publicly-stated increase to £76bn.

Senior British diplomatic sources have told Sky News of their concern over the China-Japan dispute.

Premier Wen Jiabao officially steps aside during this congress

The fear is that an accidental clash between the two navies could escalate matters very quickly.

A Japanese diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, recently told Sky News that there was currently no "hotline" between the two militaries, increasing the chances of a "misunderstanding".

The opening day of the National Party Congress is traditionally the moment for the outgoing Premier to deliver a speech reflecting on the achievements of the past 5 years.

Premier Wen Jiabao outlined a "truly extraordinary period of time in the course of China's development."

He ran through the figures which characterise China's continued rise over the past five years:

:: GDP up from £2.8tn to £5.5tn.

:: 58.7 million jobs created.

:: 18 million government-subsidised houses built.

:: 19,700km (12,241 miles) of railway laid.

:: 609,000km (378,415 miles) of roads constructed.

:: 31 new airports opened.

Premier Wen, who steps down during this congress, predicted the economy would grow by "around 7.5%" in 2013 but warned of challenges.

"Our country still faces many difficulties and challenges in its economic development in 2013, an we need to work hard if we want to attain a growth target of around 7.5%," he said.

The economy remains the biggest challenge for China. It has largely avoided a direct hit by the global economic crisis but the knock-on effects have slowed manufacturing and exports.

00.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Navy's Tennis Ball-Hunting Radar Revealed

A new radar that can detect a tennis ball travelling at three times the speed of sound from more than 15 miles away has been fitted to a Royal Navy warship.

The Artisan system, which was developed by BAE Systems, was installed on HMS Iron Duke, a Type 23 frigate.

BAE says the medium range 3D surveillance radar is five times more efficient than any other radar currently used by the fleet.

HMS Iron Duke is the first ship in the class to have received the new radar as part of its five-yearly refit and will return to service next year. 

Iron Duke has carried out anti-drug smuggling operations in the past

The Artisan system is designed to detect smaller and quicker targets against a background of electronic noise and interference that can affect radar efficiency.

The new radar is also able to navigate its way through environments that are densely populated by other signals.

BAE said another major advantage of the Artisan system is the spread and range of targets it can track.

The system is capable of monitoring more than 800 objects at the same time - from the very small to the largest aircraft carriers and destroyers - at a range of between 200 and 200,000 metres.

The radar is being installed as part of a £100m programme to equip Type 23 frigates and amphibious ships.

Artisan was tested in a special chamber before being fitted to the warship

It will also be used on the new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, where it can be used to help the ships' air traffic controllers.

Artisan has been proposed for the new Type 26 frigates, which are due to come into service after 2020.

The radar is made out of the same lightweight carbonfibre materials found in Formula One racing cars.

Weighing 700kg, the Artisan system is designed to take a single team of engineers 21 days to fit, which is said to be a vast improvement on previous systems.

00.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Americans Line Up For NHS Blood Plasma Firm

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

A pack of American biopharmaceutical companies and financial investors has entered the race to acquire the principal supplier of blood plasma to the National Health Service (NHS).

I understand that Baxter International, a specialist in the treatment of blood-related disorders as well as kidney disease and trauma, was among the parties which last week submitted first-round offers for Plasma Resources UK (PRUK).

Other bidders include Bain Capital, the US-based private equity firm, according to insiders.

It is unclear precisely how much PRUK is worth although analysts have suggested that £200m is a realistic price-tag for the organisation, which employs hundreds of people in the UK and a further 1000 in the US through a subsidiary there.

Simon Burns, the health minister, said last summer that a sale was necessary to ensure PRUK "can successfully compete in the global market".

"An independent review found that the best interests of the company, the taxpayer and patients would be met by investment from private sector," he said.

Mr Burns insisted that patients "will not be affected by any changes", although the sale of such a sensitive asset by the Government is likely to attract close scrutiny. PRUK supplies about one-third of the blood plasma used by the NHS.

PRUK, which also supplies blood plasma to a number of international health bodies, has been restructured several times in recent years.

It owns a US-based plasma supply company called DCI Inc and operates a production facility in the UK called Bio Products Laboratory Limited.

Sky News revealed last July the Government's plan to attract private investment into PRUK.

"Any future partner of investor would be chosen through a fair and open process … We will be ensuring that any option continues to safeguard the interests of patients, that supplies of current products are secure and that resources are available to develop new products, such that NHS patients continue to receive the best possible care," Mr Burns said last year.

The auction process is being overseen by Lazard, the advisory firm which is also involved in helping the Government prepare the privatisation of Royal Mail.

00.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Nissan Boss: 'European Car Market Depressed'

The president of Renault and Nissan has told Sky News dwindling demand in Europe is the main concern of global carmakers.

Speaking at the Geneva Motor Show, Carlos Ghosn also admitted that overcapacity in the region was a serious issue.

"There is no doubt that there is overcapacity at the level of the European car market," he said.

"But the problem of overcapacity is not the number one problem. The number one problem is the fact that the market is depressed and continues to be depressed."

Wide-spread austerity measures across Europe have hit consumer sentiment, and car sales in particular.

Sales of Nissan's electric Leaf have disappointed

Europe's automotive industry association said demand for new cars slumped by 8% last year, hitting its lowest level since 1995.

Renault sales fell 18% in the region, while Nissan saw a decrease of 2.4% in 2012.

Mr Ghosn, who heads up the Renault-Nissan Alliance, called for a Europe-wide strategy to deal with the industry's issues.

"There should be some kind of European strategy encompassing support for specific technologies, support for the development of specific products," he said.

It should also address overcapacity, but not be limited to this problem, he added.

His comments come as Nissan unveiled two new cars - the first of 15 models to be launched in Europe over the next three years.

Jaguar Land Rover said it would create 700 new jobs in Wolverhampton

Its new Note and Leaf models will both be built at the company's Sunderland plant, which produced more than 500,000 units in 2012.

In more good news for UK manufacturing, Jaguar Land Rover announced plans to create 700 new jobs at its new engine factory near Wolverhampton.

The car company said it would invest £165m more at the plant which opens later this year, with the first engines coming off the production line in 2015.

The company's chief executive Ralf Speth said: "Jaguar Land Rover's new engine manufacturing centre in the UK is a clear demonstration of our business strategy guiding our investment plans.

"Not only does it bring our engine supply back to our production doorstep, but it gives us significant new resource as we continue to innovate with new products and markets."

Unite's general secretary Len McCluskey described the move as a "fantastic boost" for British manufacturing.

Also in the spotlight at the motor show were electric cars, which have failed to meet sales expectations in recent years.

Nissan, for example, has only sold 50,000 electric Leaf models over the past two-and-a-half years.

But Mr Ghosn remained upbeat about the market, defending his earlier prediction that by 2020 one in ten new cars would be electric.

"If you take countries like China, like Japan, like France, like the UK or like the US it is very likely that you will see electric powered vehicles representing up to 10% of the market," he told Sky News.

"What is missing today is the development of infrastructure."

00.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Dow Industrial Average Reaches All-Time High

By Sky News US Team, in New York

The Dow Jones industrial average has reached an all-time high, powered by China's strong economic growth targets and a jump in European retail sales

It surpassed its previous record high of 14,198 set on October 11, 2007.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 12 points, also 0.8%, to 1,538. The S&P is also within striking distance of its own record close of 1,565. The Nasdaq composite gained 32 points, or 1%, to 3,213.62.

Stocks have rallied this year on optimism that the US housing market is recovering and companies are slowly starting to hire again. Strong corporate earnings have also helped increase demand.

The market has also benefited from economic stimulus from the Federal Reserve and other global central banks.

The US central bank is buying $85bn each month in Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities to keep long-term interest rates very low.

Home builder PulteGroup rose 42 cents to $20.12 following news that home prices rose at the fastest pace in almost six years in January, a sign that the housing market is gaining momentum as it nears the spring selling season.

Home prices rose 9.7% in January from a year ago and had the biggest gain since April 2006, according to data released by CoreLogic

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, rose one basis point to 1.89%.

Among other stocks making big moves, Ascena Retail Group gained $1.73 to $18.30 after the clothing store reported stronger-than-expected sales in its most recent quarter.

00.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Identity Crime Pushes Fraud To A Record High

Fraud in the UK has risen by 5%, with more crimes recorded in 2012 than in any previous year, according to the UK's Fraud Prevention Service.

CIFAS recorded 248,325 frauds last year, with identity crime - when people misuse the personal data of victims - accounting for almost two-thirds of this total.

The internet remained a key tool for the fraudster, with 80% of identity crime perpetrated online, the organisation said in its Fraudscape report.

Men were most likely to be victims of impersonation, CIFAS said, as were people living in large, urban areas.

It identified the Gosport/Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Peterborough and Manchester regions as fraud hotspots in 2012.

In London, boroughs in the east of the city - Newham, Barking and Dagenham, Greenwich and Bexley - were described as "fraud epicentres".

The tough economic environment in Britain played a "prominent role" in driving up fraud, the report said, acting as a likely incentive for many different types of the crime.

But CIFAS's Richard Hurley said this was just one factor contributing to the increasing amount of fraud.

"Fraud is a complex subject, affected by a wide range of factors, and the variations recorded during 2012 are proof of that," he said.

"The role of organised crime, consumer awareness, the economic situation in the UK, changing business practices and the rapid development of digital technologies are just a few of the influencing factors."

Identity fraudsters most commonly targeted bank, credit card and mail order accounts, with fraud relating to plastic cards up 44% in 2012, the organisation said.

Fraud against loan products was also up by around 45% in 2012 compared with the year before, which the report said was due in part to the increased popularity of payday loans.

Mr Hurley added that the question of whose responsibility it is to defeat fraud needs to be addressed because the crime remains a threat both to organisations and individuals.

"By examining the ways in which frauds are attempted, CIFAS is able to cast light on the murky realities of the problem," he said.

"This underlines the need for more public and private organisations to act responsibly and share data to prevent fraud before having to recover losses, together with greater moves made by individuals and law enforcement."

00.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Retail Sales Driven Up By Tablet Demand

Electronic goods helped drive up last month's retail sales, which grew at their fastest rate in more than three years, new figures have shown.

Like-for-like retail sales in February were up 2.7% on the previous year - the highest figure since December 2009, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

It said the main "growth engine" of the sector continued to be the 'other non-food' category, which was led by sales of electrical goods including tablets and computers.

Helen Dickinson, director general of the BRC, said: "There are certainly highly-welcome signs here of gradual improvement and customers feeling a bit more positive.

"February saw growth across all parts of retailing, with big-ticket goods and items for the home recovering particularly well, possibly reflecting better conditions in the housing market.

"But it's too soon to assume this represents the permanent turnaround we need."

Despite the recent horsemeat scandal in the UK and Europe, underlying food sales were up 1%, the organisation said.

Traces of horsemeat were discovered in frozen burgers, and have since been found in processed beef products and prepared meals across the European Union.

The horse meat scandal has not put consumers off

Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive of IGD, which provides food data, said: "Although there was a lot of 'switch buying', such as a fall in frozen burger sales in favour of more ingredients to cook from scratch, the overall effect on food and drink sales was neutral."

But the BRC's most recent sales figures are at odds with the latest survey from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

The CBI found that food stores suffered their worst performance for more than five years in February, with sales falling for the first time since last April.

Grocers in particular were hit by freezing weather in the UK after the January snow ensured a difficult start to 2013.

Official figures for January showed that food sales saw the biggest month-on-month fall since May 2011, down 1.6%, as many small grocers were forced to shut up shop.

But the continuing cold weather boosted sales of cold and flu remedies, as well as knitwear last month, according to the BRC.

It said clothes sales grew at the fastest rate for five months, also driven by demand for jackets and casualwear for children.

Valentine's Day perfume demand helped the health and beauty sector post it strongest performance since December 2011, while the improved housing market conditions meant beds and sofas were "standout performers".

David McCorquodale, head of retail at survey partner KPMG, warned that the Budget later this month would be a "pivotal" moment for retailers and if the proposed rise in business rates went ahead retailers would be placed under "inexorable pressure".

00.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hotel Room Rates Slide Despite Olympics

Hotel prices slipped by 4% in 2012 as the year's wet weather hit bookings, research by Hotels.com has revealed.

Guests paid on average £100 a night according to the company's Hotel Price Index, which is based on the amount paid by those booking through the website.

In the capital, rates fell 3% to an average of £126 - despite concerns that the Diamond Jubilee and Olympic Games would push up prices.

Hotels in St Andrews were the priciest at £135 on average, although this was 12% lower than the town's rate of £154 in 2011.

Prices also fell by more than 10% in Jersey and Perth, and were down by 9% in Scarborough

Hotels.com said 2012's wet weather affected the number of visitors to the UK, with seaside resorts especially badly hit.

After St Andrews and London, the location with the highest rates last year was Windsor at £114, although this was down 4% on the year before.

The location with the cheapest rooms was Coventry, with an average rate of £50 per night - exactly half the national average.

A Hotels.com spokesperson said that although London's profile was boosted by the summer's events, it did not translate to a rise in prices.

"The number of visitors during the Games did not meet expectations and hotels lowered their prices in subsequent months to stimulate demand," they said.

"This price still placed the capital at number two in the table and the city will be one to watch in 2013 to see whether its moment in the global spotlight has an impact on its average hotel prices going forward, particularly as the royal birth keeps the country in the public eye."

Although flat or falling prices were recorded across the majority of the UK, some areas did buck the trend.

The Titanic Centenary helped push room rates up 10% in Belfast, and Aberdeen - which saw a 9% rise - was boosted by those visiting the city on business in the energy sector.

Marriott's boss said its Moxy hotel rooms would be modern and stylish

The research comes as Marriott International reveals plans to launch a budget hotel chain called Moxy.

Its president and chief executive, Arne Sorenson, told Sky News the company planned to "go after" its rivals in the low-cost sector.

"As we look across this space, what we see is a couple of million rooms in the economy space which have been sort of under-demolished - they're past their prime," he said.

"We think there's an opportunity to bring something new; that has a sense of style, which will perform well in these markets."

He said Moxy hotels would have better bedrooms and bathrooms than its competitors, despite a room size of around 17 square metres.

"It's going to be modern and it's going to be current in terms of its design," he added.

"And I think if you bring these things to this space, we ought to perform really well against the hotels that are already in this segment in Europe."

00.25 | 0 komentar | Read More