Foreign Vessel Storm Avoidance

Newspaper Briefing, including 'Markets pricing in endgame for the Euro, warns ...

Newspaper Briefing informs you of what is happening in the news before the market opens. We believe our Newspaper Briefing is an invaluable tool to set up your trading day, therefore giving you an edge. Our Newspaper Briefing is just the start of our trading day at Guardian. We work with our clients to provide them with information and guidance to enhance their trading decisions. Guardian will provide you with an individual service together with the most suitable and expert advice at a fair and reasonable cost. NHS is wasting millions in deals with drug giants: The NHS is being overcharged by 100 million a year for vaccines to immunise British children against diseases such as measles and tuberculosis, according to the worlds largest manufacturer of vaccines. Cyrus Poonawalla, whose company Serum Institute of India produces half the worlds vaccines by volume, said that British taxpayers were suffering because of excessive profits earned by big Western drugs companies. Prices in rip-off Britain are not as bad as you think: Rip-off Britain is a myth, according to research showing that retail prices are 5% lower in the U.K. than in the Eurozone. Indeed, according to research carried out by Oxford Economics and commissioned by the British Retail Consortium, British prices can be as much as 20% lower. MF Global administrator sets deadline for claims: The administrator of the British division of MF Global is planning to return the first tranche of cash to the brokers clients by the end of next March. KPMG called on clients whose money or assets were frozen when the broker went into administration last month to make a claim for their cash as soon as possible. Spectres of Irelands past loom large over its hopes for a brighter future: The scars of the failed Celtic Tiger economy are laid bare for all to see. On one side of the River Liffey stands the domineering skeleton of a building that was meant to morph into the headquarters of the doomed Anglo Irish Bank; on the other is the development that was destined to become Bonos plush tower hotel. IMF prepares to arm Italy with a bailout bazooka: Italys new Government is close to requesting a bailout from the International Monetary Fund in a move that could require the European Central Bank to lend money to the Washington-based body. The development came as Germany and France explore radical ways to reach fiscal integration without going through the time-consuming process of seeking European Union treaty changes. House prices fall as would-be buyers stay at home: House prices fell more quickly last month as buyers retreated from the market in the face of deepening economic gloom. Hometrack will say this morning that average house prices fell by 0.2% in October, compared with a decline over the past five months of 0.1%. This takes the total house price fall for the year to 2.8%. City must wait for skyscrapers to revive moribund demand for offices: The aftermath of Lehman Brothers collapse and falling business confidence mean that new office space in the Square Mile has hit a record low. And, according to a survey by Drivers Jonas Deloitte, it will stay that way until two landmark buildings the Leadenhall Building, known as the Cheesegrater, and 20 Fenchurch Street, dubbed the Walkie Talkie are completed in 2014. FSA maintains hard line on City wrongdoing but total fines fall: Fines levied on companies by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) are set to fall this year for the first time since the economic crisis began, its figures show. With the year end approaching, the City watchdog has imposed 49 million of penalties compared with the record 89 million haul for all of 2010. Decline in consumer services at two-year low: U.K. consumer services companies suffered their biggest fall in activity in the last quarter for two and a half years, further fuelling fears of a double-dip recession for the economy amid the Eurozone debt crisis. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) also said that levels of activity in the business and professional services sectors also fell over the three months to 16 November, albeit at a less severe rate than expected. Sales fall again at John Lewis as warm weather takes its toll: John Lewis sent a chill down the high street, posting another decline in sales for last week, as the unseasonably warm weather continues to hit crucial pre-Christmas trading. The department store chain said its total sales fell by 1.2% to 98.7 million for the week ending at closing time on Saturday, following a 3.3% fall the previous week. Increase in Overseas Directors in U.K.: The proportion of overseas board members at the U.K.s biggest companies has risen by one-third in the past year, according to new research. A study by Spencer Stuart, the headhunter, shows that Foreign Directors now make up 32% of boards in Britains 150 largest quoted groups, compared with 24% in 2010. Big U.K. groups trail financials on risk: Big U.K. corporations lag far behind financial groups in establishing board-level risk committees and Chief Risk Officers, new research by Deloittes consultancy arm and recruiting firm Hedley May has found. The two firms surveyed top executives and Non-Executive Directors at 36 large companies, including 30 of the largest non-financial FTSE 100 groups, and found only four had Chief Risk Officers at executive committee level or just below, and eight more had a lower ranking person responsible for risk. Appeal for EU to stick by accountancy reforms: The heads of several midsized audit networks have issued a last-ditch appeal to the European Commission not to dilute sweeping proposals aimed at reducing the dominance of the four biggest accountants and improving audit quality. In a joint interview with the Financial Times, the Chief Executives called on Michel Barnier, EU internal market commissioner, to hold his nerve as he finalises his recommendations for reforming the sector, which are expected next week. Signal green for Varsity line reopening: Ministers are expected to give the go-ahead to re-open part of the Oxford to Cambridge railway line, closed in the wake of the Beeching cuts in the 1960s, as part of a key infrastructure announcement. Under the 250 million scheme, passenger services between Oxford and Bedford withdrawn by British Rail in 1967 will resume by 2017. The main part of the project involves re-laying and upgrading mothballed track between Bicester and Bletchley that was last used for freight services in the mid-1990s. Hedge Fund Chief backs transaction tax plans: The founder of one of Londons biggest hedge funds has given qualified support for a European tax on financial transactions, breaking ranks with many of his peers fiercely opposed to such a measure. David Harding, the Chief Executive of the $26 billion Winton Capital, said he did not object to moves by European Union politicians to levy the tax dubbed by U.K. Chancellor George Osborne a bullet aimed at the heart of London earlier this month. BNP considers private equity portfolio sale: BNP Paribas is weighing a sale of a more than $700 million private equity portfolio, underlining how Banks are looking to dispose of such assets to shrink their balance sheets and bolster their capital base. Europes largest bank by assets may dispose of the basket of more than 50 private equity fund interests to capitalise from rising demand for such portfolios, people close to the situation said. More calls for reform of executives pay: Shareholders and industry trade bodies have thrown their weight behind calls for radical reform to executive pay and restraints on spiralling remuneration packages. Legal & General Investment Management, one of the largest investors in U.K. shares, said: LGIM is happy to reward good long-term performance but there is a disconnect between shareholder value and remuneration. Sacha Sadan, head of governance at LGIM, said: It is up to shareholders to come up with a constructive solution to the problems. Vales giant carriers whip up a storm: A plan by Vale, the worlds second-largest miner by volumes, to take control of its iron ore shipments to China by building a fleet of giant new bulk carriers is in doubt amid fierce opposition from Chinese shipping lines. The Vale Brasil, the first of a proposed fleet of 35 Valemaxes, as the vessels are known, has been unable to dock in China since coming into service in May because of the dispute, according to a person familiar with the matter. Santander: winter sale fails to convince: Tests on a sample of Santander staff aged 40-54 show that about half have signs of early-stage artery disease, which can cause heart attacks, Bloomberg reports. But after Santanders own health check by the European Banking Authority, it needs to boost its core tier one capital ratio by 90 basis points by June to meet a 9% minimum. The Spanish bank plans to top that by 100bp. It needs to find 5.2 billion to do so, and pronto. But that only partly explains its flurry of capital-raising measures. The Banks real capital consumers in Spain are its dud property loans and, increasingly, stress in the flatlining real economy. Then there is its exposure to Spanish sovereign debt. Santander dare not tap investors or scrimp on dividends. Instead it plans to tweak Basel risk weightings, and use retained profits from foreign operations to boost its capital. Even the latter may be hard if the coming slowdown hits its outposts in Latin America. Santander is selling about 8% of its Chilean business for $1 billion and floating a similar stake in its Brazilian bank, which could raise twice as much. Tax those gains and add the 1.5 billion already booked by selling its Latin American insurance assets into a joint venture with Zurich Financial Services, and the sale of part of its U.S. vehicle finance unit, and Santander is about two-thirds of the way to its target. Vertex: competition fears hit hard: Vertex reported $660 million in sales and $150 million in net profits in its last quarter, against $24 million in sales and a steep loss a year ago. The difference is Incivek, its new protease inhibitor for hepatitis C infection, which generated $420 million in North American sales. (Johnson & Johnson has European rights to the drug.) Incivek has taken 80% of the protease inhibitor market, leaving Mercks Victrelis with the scraps. Analysts expect the winning streak to continue, estimating $2.5 billion in sales and earnings per share of more than $5 for Vertex next year. All this prosperity makes what has happened to the companys share price remarkable: it has fallen by more than a half from its May peak and, at $27 now, amounts to six times 2012 earnings. Pharmasset, which has a hepatitis C product in clinical trials, has just been bought at a huge premium by Gilead. Giants such as Johnson & Johnson, Abbott and Bristol-Myers Squibb, along with start-ups including Inhibitex, Achillion and Idenix, all have potential rivals to Incivek in the clinic. Farepak fees reach 8.2 million: The great majority of customers are still waiting to receive some of their money back, which is expected to total 5.53 million. However, this is dwarfed by 8.2 million earned by lawyers, administrators, insurers and media relation executives during both the administration and liquidation of the company, according to fresh documents filed at Companies House. Asian import boom to benefit Europe: The continuing shift towards global outsourcing of production, as well as the growth of regional supply chains to serve the rapid expansion of demand from rapid-growth markets, will compress the share of the advanced economies in global trade from a little over 60% in 2010 to around 55% by 2020, according to new research by Ernst & Young and Oxford Economics. Severn Trent is a hold: The market did not like Severn Trent s interim results, which were issued on Friday, one bit. The shares fell as much as 4.5% in morning trade, before clawing back some losses to finish the day 1.7% lower. In the six months to September, group revenues rose 2.1% to 886 million, with pretax profits down 35.4% to 65.3 million. However, Underlying profits fell 1.9% to 155 million when exceptional items are stripped out. These items included a 21.9 million exceptional charge on its Italian business in Severn Trent Services called ATO. The companys dividend policy for the current regulatory period to 2015 is to increase the dividend by the retail price index plus 3% points. The interim payment was increased by 7.7% to 28.04p and this will be paid on 13 January. The shares are trading on a March 2012 earnings multiple of 17.1 times, falling to 14.2 next year. The prospective yield is 4.7%, rising to 5.2%. This is certainly good, but United Utilities is yielding 5.3% rising to 5.6% and it does not have the issues Severn has in its non-regulated business. Pennon is yielding less, at 3.9% rising to 4.2%, but it does have a fantastic growth opportunity in its Viridor waste operation. Severn Trent at 14.97. Questor Says Hold. Belgium forms government as four Eurozone states plan bond auctions: A bond auction in Belgium will kick off another week of fear and loathing in the Eurozone as four key countries including France, Italy and Spain hope to raise 17 billion in the coming days. Elio Di Rupo, a Francophone socialist due to become the next Prime Minister of Belgium after a 600-day wait for a new government, said the 11.3 billion (9.3 billion) of budget cuts agreed by six parties met EU demands in advance of Mondays auction. George Osbornes 5 billion gamble to stave off recession: An extra 5 billion of capital investment, funded by spending cuts elsewhere, will form the centrepiece of an overall 30 billion national infrastructure programme due to be announced by George Osborne on Tuesday as part of an attempt to prevent the country from sliding back into recession. The Chancellor will unveil nearly 500 public sector projects, many of them to be funded by commercial pension fund investments. Shell signs 11 billion deal to fuel Iraqs power stations with gas: Shell has signed a breakthrough contract to exploit $17 billion (11 billion) of gas thrown off by the oilfields of southern Iraq over the next 25 years. The surplus gas is currently burnt off in a process known as flaring, which is estimated to cost $5 million a day in lost fuel. Its capture and use in power stations has been billed as the answer to Iraqs domestic power shortages. Lloyds Banking Group mulls 5.6 million payout: Lloyds Banking Group is in discussions over a possible 5.6 million golden hello so that George Culmer, the Finance Chief it has poached from insurer RSA, can cut short his 12-month notice period. The bank may pay a proportion of Culmers multi-million pound package, plus a transfer fee in compensation. M&S clothing Boss Kate Bostock tipped for move as sales crunch looms: She was overlooked for the Chief Executives position at Marks & Spencer . She has spent much of her time in the shadow of charismatic male Bosses. But Kate Bostock, Executive Director for clothing and general merchandise and arguably the most powerful woman on the High Street, now looks ready to head out for a top job on her own. Publicans left high and dry after pub reforms are dropped: Publicans have been left high and dry after the Government failed to implement reforms. The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee had called for an alternative to tied contracts that force pub landlords to buy products at high prices. Angelique Elliot went into debt to take on the Royal Oak pub in Blisworth, Northamptonshire, in 2007, on a 70,000 lease. Pressure mounts on Murdoch to quit: Satellite TV and broadband group BSkyB will face a shareholder revolt when James Murdoch will come under pressure to quit as Chairman. A growing number of investors want him to stand down because of concerns that he is not fully independent while some believe he has been tainted by the phone hacking scandal at the News of the World. Businesses downgrade U.K. growth prospects: Businesses have urged Chancellor George Osborne to stick to his deficit reduction plans and unveil a pack- age of measures to kick-start growth. With the Chancellors Autumn Statement, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has down-graded its prediction for U.K. growth for 2011 to 2013 saying it would be minimal until mid-2012 before gradually picking up. High Court to rule on pension unlocking: The fate of people who have been lured into pension unlocking to free up cash, many in Scotland, will be decided in the High Court this week amid concerns that they could suffer heavy losses. Pension reciprocation schemes have lured hard-up savers by offering to turn up to 50% of their pension into cash before the minimum vesting age of 55. Scots energy logistics firm Asco sold in 250 million deal: Asco Group, the Aberdeen-based energy logistics specialist, has been sold in a private equity deal understood to be close to 250 million. The firm, which has almost half of its 1,600-strong workforce based in Scotland, said it had been acquired by Doughty Hanson, one of the largest private equity players in Europe. Troubled sectors performance under the spotlight: Two of Britains biggest pub operators and retailers B&Q and Topps Tiles will fall under the investor spotlight this week. Marstons and Greene King , like many pub companies, were squeezed by the recession when a toxic cocktail of the smoking ban and consumers tightening their belts led to thousands of closures across the country. Eurozone disaster without bond plan: The eurozone risks real disaster if the European Central Bank (ECB) does not ignore the fears of Germany and act as the currency blocs lender of last resort, an adviser to the German government said. Peter Bofinger, who counsels Angela Merkels government on the economy, wants Europe to start issuing joint eurozone bonds and the ECB to buy large amounts of sovereign bonds. New collection drives up Ultimo sales: Ultimo, the lingerie brand set up by Scots entrepreneur Michelle Mone, claims sales this month are up 25% after it unveiled a racy new collection modelled by the wife of Canadian crooner Michael Bubl. Argentine actress Luisana Lopilato has given the brand a boost in the run-up to Christmas and sales so far this month have already outpaced those achieved in November 2010. Rose on the starting grid in F1 race to replace Ecclestone: Former Marks & Spencer Boss Sir Stuart Rose has been linked to the top job at Formula One (F1) as motor racing veteran Bernie Ecclestone prepares to retire. The retailing guru, who spent seven years in the driving seat at M&S, is said to have been short-listed to take the helm at F1 by private equity heavyweight CVC, which owns the company.

Oil workers missing off stormy Mexico coast

Mexico’s state oil company said Friday it was searching for 10 workers from a Texas-based company who evacuated from a platform in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Tropical Storm Nate.

Petroleos Mexicanos said it has two ships searching in the area where the workers, employed by Houston-based Geokinetics Inc., called for help Thursday afternoon after leaving a “jack-up” structure, the Trinity II, on an evacuation vessel.

Victor Manuel Perez, captain of the port of Frontera, only could confirm that the majority of the missing are foreigners.

Geokinetics specializes in seismic studies for the oil and gas industry.

Pemex said its ships couldn’t reach the area about 8 miles (13 kilometers) off shore of the southeastern Mexican state of Tabasco because of high winds and waves.

Tropical Storm Nate was drifting slowly northwestward over the southern Gulf Friday with maximum sustained winds of near 65 mph (100 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was centered about 140 miles (225 kilometers) west of Campeche. Forecasters said it was expected to become a hurricane later Friday or Saturday and hit Mexico’s Gulf Coast Sunday or Monday.

A hurricane watch was declared from Tampico to Veracruz.

The boat carrying the 10 employees called for help Thursday afternoon as it was trying to reach the nearby oil port of Dos Bocas, Perez said.

“The boats are in place, we have enough equipment, but is not an easy rescue because of the rain, strong winds and high waves recorded in the area now,” he added, and the operations are being coordinated by Pemex from Dos Bocas.

Jackup structures are tugboat-towed rigs with legs for offshore drilling.

Gulf of Mexico ports were closed to navigation Friday and preparation were underway in the neighboring Gulf state of Veracruz, where civil protection authorities decreed a tropical storm alert Friday for 212 municipalities.

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