business news and markets_ as it happened, june 20, 2013 - telegraph

8/12/2019 Business News and Markets_ as It Happened, June 20, 2013 - Telegraph

1/24

3/29/2014 Business news and markets: as it happened, June 20, 2013 - Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/business-news-markets-live/10131484/Business-news-and-markets-as-it-happened-June-20-2013.html 1/24

Business news and markets: as it happened, June 20, 2013

Stock, bond and commodities markets around the world have slumped this morning asinvestors take flight at news the Fed's QE3 could end by mid-2014.

Asian stocks outside Japan suffered their biggest daily loss in nearly 18 months, while India's currency hit a recordlow. Speaking to Reuters, aPhoto: AFP

By Denise Roland, Szu Ping Chan and Ben Martin

6:03PM BST 20 Jun 2013

Fed calling time on QE3 sparks global market sell-off

Eurogroup meets to decide on bank bail-out fund

China cash crunch deepens as central bank stands ground

Gold slumps to two-and-a-half year low

Five of Britains biggest lenders have 27bn capital shortfall

Asian markets go "kaboom" after Bernanke speech

Latest

18.03 That's it from us today. We'll be back tomorrow morning.

Have a great evening.
http://-/?-http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10131483/Barclays-Co-op-Nationwide-RBS-Lloyds-responsible-for-higher-than-expected-capital-shortfall-of-27.1bn.htmlhttp://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-


2/24



17.25 US airline Delta has won approval from regulators to buy a 49pc stake in Virgin Atlantic.

The US Justice Department and European Commission said the deal did not pose an antitrust threat.

The stake is currently owned by Singapore Airlines.

In a statement, the EC said:

The Commission's investigation confirmed that in all markets the combined entity would

continue to face competition from several strong competitors, notably British Airways

and American Airlines.

Delta and Virgin Atlantic's non-stop services overlap on the London-New York and London-

oston routes. In addition, Delta's one-stop services overlap with Virgin Atlantic's non-stop

ervices on several routes between the UK and North America.

On each of the transatlantic routes where both Virgin and Delta operate, sufficiently strong

layers in particular British Airways and American Airlines, which joined forces in a joint

venture - are present and capable of exercising a significant competitive constraint on the

combined entity. Moreover, Delta and Virgin are currently not particularly close competitors,

but primarily compete against British Airways and American Airlines.

Delta still needs approval from the US Transportation Department, which it hopes to get later this

ear.

17.01 Commenting on today's market movers, Brenda Kelly, senior market strategist at IG, said:

Given that the UK benchmark has given up what was recently a buy on the dips level, any
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-587_en.htm


3/24



relief rally will run into trouble at what is now probable resistance. The big question

now is whether we are in for a watershed moment in equities. Investors have spent May

canning anxiously for signs that the rally is over, but Federal Reserve chairman Ben

ernanke may just have fired the starting pistol on a wave of selling that might go on for

weeks. Todays market action was like a day out at Alton Towers only with more spills than

thrills and a plethora of nauseating effects. Stocks in the green were few and far between with

only Lloyds managing to hold firm on the day (and only barely) as plans to return the bank

into private hands get underway.

16.51After a horrible day for stock markets, dealers can finally take a breather. Trading has come

to a close in London, and the FTSE 100has tumbled 3pc, or 189.31 points, to 6,159.51. That takes

the index to its lowest level since January and its biggest one-day fall since September 22, 2011,

when it dropped 4.7pc. The Dow Jones Industrial Averageis currently down 1.4pc in the US,

while French, German and Spanish stock markets are all sharply lower.

16.49 Meanwhile, the former boss ofEnronis another step closer to being released early from

prison.

Jeffrey Skilling was jailed for 24 years and four months in 2001 for his part in one of the largest

fraud scandals in US history. ButMr Skill ing'slawyers will ask on Friday that his sentence be

reduced to around 14 years if he drops all remaining appeals. Here's CNBC with more:

Under the proposal to be presented to Lake, Skilling's 24-year, four month prison

sentenceone of the longest ever at the time in a white collar casewould be reduced to

around 14 years. With credit for time served and for good behavior, Skilling could be out of

rison in 2017. At that point, he will have served a little over 10 years.

n exchange, Skilling would drop all remaining appeals, including a potentially explosive

motion for a new trial based on alleged misconduct by the Justice Department's elite Enron

task force that prosecuted the case. Skilling's convictions on 19 criminal counts including

conspiracy, fraud and insider trading would stand. What's more, $40 million that Skilling had

agreed to forfeit if his appeals were unsuccessful would be turned over to victims.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100830825


4/24



16.14 Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer is at it again with those gifs. Here's the latest one from her

blog, where she writes that the Tumblr and Yahoo! deal has closed:

As promised, Tumblr will continue to operate as a separate business, led by David Karp

as CEO. Their product roadmap, their team, and tone will all remain the same as will

their mission to empower creators and curators alike to do what they love best: create.

David and his team are redefining creative expression online, and we cant wait to see what

they come up with next.
http://yahoo.tumblr.com/post/53441093826/tumblr-yahoo-its-officially-official


5/24



16.00 Market bloodbath update:

FTSE 100 in London: -3pc

CAC 40in Paris: -3.2pc

DAX 30in Frankfurt: -3.15pc

FTSE Mibin Milan: -3pc

IBEX 35in Madrid: -3.4pc

Dow Jones in New York:-1.4pc

S&P 500 in New York: -1.6pc

Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange in this file photo (Photo: AP).

15.50 Commenting on the data, Amna Asafat Capital Economics, said:

[Today's data] contrast with the message from June's Empire State index (released on

Monday) and together the two regional surveys suggest that the ISM manufacturing

index may not have improved much from the sub-50 reading in May. We expect the

manufacturing sector to continue to struggle from soft global activity. While the recession in

the euro-zone is easing, activity in China has continued to slow. Indeed, the national US

arkit PMI (also released today) was broadly unchanged for the third month in a row at 52.2

in June, down from 52.3 in May.

15.36 Better-than-expected US manufacturing datahave failed to lift markets.


6/24



The US Philly Fed manufacturing surveyrose to a two-year high of 12.5 in June, from May's

reading of -5.2, as new orders jumped.

However, the survey showed that employers are still reluctant to hire staff, while the inventories

index fell to -6.6 in May, from +4 in April. The number represents the balance of positive and

negative responses.

While the survey is a regional one, the index is closely watched for clues as to how the rest of the

world's largest economy is performing.

15.28The Dutch finance minister Jeoen Dijsselbloemcreated waves during the fraught Cyprus

bail-out negotiations by suggesting the bail-in model, where bank depositors shoulder losses,

would become the new normal. Unsurprising, then, that he's taking a similarly hard line on

Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades' plea for easier bail-out terms.

15.16Developing economies are among those which could fare worst from the Fed "turning off

the taps". World Bank President Jim Yong Kimadmitted there was "deep, deep concern" about the

implications for developing countries' access to capital, but said his bank would be ready to provide

funding to keep these economies growing.

14.57Missed this earlier. Slovenia, the nation widely expected to be the next target of a eurozone

bail-out, hascut its official growth forecastto predict a deeper contraction this year and anextension of recession into 2014.

The government predicted a 2.4 contraction in GDP this year, more than the 1.9pc of earlier
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9952979/Cyprus-bail-out-savers-will-be-raided-to-save-euro-in-future-crises-says-eurozone-chief.html/


7/24



estimates. It also reversed its forecast for 2014, saying the economy would likely shrink 0.2pc

instead of growing 0.2pc.

Slovenia is hoping to avoid bail-out from the EU through aggressive cost-cutting measures and a

restructuring of its heavily indebted banking sector. Its prospects of doing so without external help

were cast into doubt following the Cyprus bail-out when it came perilously close to being locked

out of the bond markets. But its borrowing costs have since retreated.

14.55Olli Rehn, the EU's top official for economic and monetary affairs, has all but confirmed

that the Cypriot President's plea for a reworking of the tough bail-out conditions will be

ignored. Asked aboutNicos Anastasiades' demands ahead of the eurogroup meeting, Mr Rehn

simply said:

We have just recently agreed the programme for Cyprus and we will work on the basis o

that programme.

14.25Kathleen Brooks of Forex notes that, although for the last month rising yields have not

corresponded to a rising dollar, that relationship seems to have broken in the last 24 hours.

14.33It's been a weak start to trading in the US, where the Dow Jones Industrial Averagehas

dropped a further 0.9pc, or 135 points at the open, adding to the fall it suffered yesterday. The

FTSE 100is still down 2.4pc.

14.15 More signs that the US is sti ll far from a steady economic recovery.

Latest survey data on the manufacturing sector showed growth in the sector slowed in June. Markit

said its preliminary gauge of manufacturing activity gave a reading of 52.2, down from 52.3 and

well below analysts' expectations of 52.7. While, coming in over 50, this still indicates growth, the

pace is slowing.

This, together with the slightly worse-than-expected jobless figuremight act as a brake on sell-

offs when the US markets open in a quarter of an hour.
http://-/?-


8/24



14.02There's less than half an hour to go before the US stock market opens, which is likely to

provide the FTSE 100with its direction of travel for the rest of the afternoon. The benchmark

index is currently down 2.4pc, following the 1.6pc fall in the Dow Jones Industrial Average last

night.

13.58Closer to home, 300 British jobs have been put on the line after upmarket furniture retailer

Dwell said it was calling in the administrators. It is reported to be close to appointing Duff &

Phelps as administrator. In a statement, the company said:

The business had been working with its advisers to secure further working capital for

the business and was actively in the process of talking to a number of interested parties

who saw the value of the Dwell brand and product, its customer base and its multi-channel

roposition.

owever, despite this interest it did not progress. As a result we have been left with no option

but to close the business with immediate effect.

13.54A spot of bad news for the US economy has, in the strange and startling world of QE-

addiction, reeled in US Treasury yields from a near two-year high. Latest weekly figures on newobless claims in the US - the number of newly unemployed people- came in at 354,000. Analysts

had expected a figure of around 340,000.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes pared back to 2.39pc, after rising as high as 2.47pc, the

highest level since August 2011.

13.37 Spain picked the wrong day for a bond auction. Today, it raised 4bn by selling threebonds, after its 10-year yield jumped more than 30 basis points to around 4.83pc. While this is still

well below the 7.6 peak prior to the ECB's bond-buying pledge, it is a worrying sign for a country

which relies on the bond markets to meet its funding needs.

Speaking to Reuters, Nick Stamenkovic of RIA Capital Markets warned that today's jump in bond

ields may not quickly be reversed:

Investors are staying away from (euro zone) periphery and carry trades at the moment.

With all that's going on in the States, at least in the near term, Italian and Spanish bonds

are likely to struggle.


9/24



13.25 Is there a spot of nominative determinism going on?

13.18And what of the emerging markets, which have been among the greatest beneficiaries of

the Fed's aggressive easing of recent years? MCSI's emerging markets index, which tracksequities in the emerging countries of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, fell4.7pc. Turkey's

Istanbul stock exchange is down more than 4pc.

Speaking to Reuters, trader Maarten Jan Bakkum, warned that today's moves are just the

beginning.

Currencies have also been hit, with the Russian rouble falling moret han 1pc to the dollar. The

Turkish lira hit an all-time low, whilet he Polish zloty hit a one-year low against the euro.

12.28 But returning to the story of the day - the great global market sell-off. Ambrose Evans-

Pritchard notes in his blog that the combination of imminent tapering by the Fed and a

refusal of the Chinese central bank to run to the rescue of its liquidity-starved banks, is a

"synergy of nastiness" for the markets.

The term "Perfect Storm" is banned by the Telegraph as a lamentable clich, so let us just say

that this is the moment we long been fearing or waiting for depending on taste when

markets are no longer given what they want.

The Bernanke Put has become the Bernanke Call. The Politburo Put has become the Politburo

Call. Rather than putting a floor under asset markets whenever there is trouble, they are

instead putting a roof on asset price rises.

t is hard to know which matters most right now: the PBOC or the Fed. It is certainly a synergy

of nastiness.

What we do know is that the start of Fed tightening is a dangerous inflection point for those

markets and countries around the world that relied on the flood of dollar liquidity.

The whole process that flattered their profiles for so long is going into reverse, and it is

happening just as the most overextended Brazil, South Africa, Turkey, Serbia, to name a few


10/24



have exhausted their own internal credit cycles. This is where we can expect the stress to

appear. The real is down to 2.21 to the dollar today. I see they are already talking about 3 to

the dollar at O Globo. Querido Deus.

Read his whole piece here.

12.24 But the eurogroup are optimistic that they will round up talks on the direct recapitalisation

rules today, according to Reuters citing a eurozone official.

The direct recapitalisation, or common resolution mechanism, rules will lay out the terms for a

eurozone bail-out fund to inject capital into struggling banks, and constitute a key cornerstone for

banking union in the single currency bloc. Up until now, crisis-ridden banks have only been

recapitalised indirectly via the government of the member state concerned.

12.17As eurozone finance ministers gather in Brussels to thrash out details of the direct bank

recapitali sation rulestoday, Italy's new prime minister Enrico Lettavoiced his concerns over

delays to achieving the first pillar of a banking union - establishing the ECB as the bloc's single

supervisor.

The date for passing laws granting the ECB powers to become the single supervisor for eurozone

banks will likely be pushed back three months due to a hold-up in getting the legislation passed in

the German parliament. Now, Mr Letta has questioned whether the second pillar of banking union -

a common resolution mechanism, due to be discussed by the eurogroup today - will face a similar

fate.

If we don't discuss a common resolution of banks in crisis at the next meeting I have a

feeling that the December 2013 deadline for this will also not be met.

12.03The fall in the FTSE

100has steadily worsened,

with the blue-chip index down

2.4pc, or 152 points at 6,196.

11.58Here's ex-UBS trader

Tom Hayesleaving

Westminster Magistrates
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100024952/time-to-sober-up-as-america-and-china-remove-punch-bowl/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter


11/24



Court, where he appeared to hear the eight charges brought against him by the Serious Fraud

Office. Mr Hayes is accused of conspiracy to defraud in connection with a global

investigation into the Libor interest rate rigging scandal .

11.50 TheFinancial Times'Gavyn Davieswrites in his blogthat while bond yields have clearly

reacted swiftly to indications the Fed's asset purchase programme could taper soon, that it this is

unlikely to descend into a bear market. The reason, he says, is that the economic conditions don't

yet exist to justify a tapering of asset purchases on the Fed's own terms- Mr Bernanke

repeated his pledge of December last year that QE3 will only wind down when the unemployment

rate drops below 6.5pc.

He uses this chart from Fulcrum Asset Management to illustrate the point, where the dark circle

represents conditions consistent with a healthy labour market, and the origin indicates the worst

levels reached during the recession. The red line shows how the various measures fared when QE3

was announced in September, and the blue line shows the latest readings.
http://blogs.ft.com/gavyndavies/2013/06/20/the-fed-begins-its-long-and-gradual-exit/?


12/24



11.29 Edward Hadas, economics editor at Reuters Breakingviews, explains the situation in China

in this video. He reckons the People's Bank of Chinais merely conducting a very controlled

experiment. It can afford to keep the banking sector on its toessince it has much more control

over the financial system than its Western equivalents. As Mr Hadas says, the PBOC is "unlikely to

let the Lehman moment happen in China".

11.25It's not all doom and gloom out there in London's stock market, particularly on the mid-cap

FTSE 250, where there are some bright spots for investors. Clothing retailer Ted Bakerhas

umped 13.1pc on an encouraging trading update, in which it posted a 32.7pc increase in revenue

for the 20 weeks ending June 15. Machinery rental group Ashtead has risen 4.6pc on well-received

annual results and Dixons, the electroncis retailer, has gained 4.3pc on the back of its own full-

ear numbers. Inter-dealer broker Tullett Prebonis also 2pc higher, boosted by an upgrade to

"buy" from "neutral" at heavyweight broker Goldman Sachs. The FTSE 250 itself is down 1.9pc, or

some 265 points.

11.14 All the action in global markets would make it easy to forget the drama unfolding in

China, where the central bank's refusal to inject more liquidity into the system has seeninterbank

lending grind to a halt.

This is a problem because, as Ambroseexplains in his blog, more than half of the $2 trillion in

wealth management products - described by Fitch as a second hidden second balance sheet of the

banks has to be rolled over every three months.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/author/ambroseevans-pritchard/http://reut.rs/16iCFLL


13/24



11.04US Treasury yields spiked this morning, hitting their highest in almost two years. At lastcheck the yield had hit 2.438pc.

10.56Gold update: prices crossed the $1300/oz mark at around 10.45am.

10.53 Yusef Heusen, sales trader at IG, says it's difficult to predict when the sell-off we're

seeing in global markets will end:

Ben Bernanke has put the cat well and truly among the pigeons with his statement thatasset purchases would begin slowing by the end of this year. It does feel as if the Fed

chairman has pulled the rug from underneath the stock market rally, and he certainly seems to

have dealt a killer blow to gold.

r Bernanke might have said that the Fed wasnt looking to apply the brakes on easing, but he

certainly had that effect on stocks. The US economy might be getting better but this will be cold

comfort for investors today. Until the dust settles, it is hard to say where the latest bout of

elling will end.


14/24



10.50 Earlier we got someencouraging economic datafrom Germanyand France. In Germany,private sector activity picked up slightly in June, while in France, the private sector's decline

slowed right down.

So perhaps it comes as little surprise that the overall eurozone private sector figures show signs

that the slowdown is mellowing. The Markit PMI, a key gauge of activity in the combined

manufacturing and services sectors, came in at 48.6, up from 47.2 in May. While this is still below

the 50 mark dividing growth from contraction, it is the highest reading in 15 months.

Here'sChris Wil liamson, chief economist at Markit, who conducted the survey:

At this rate, the region could stabilise in the third quarter and return to growth in the

fourth quarter.

t is particularly welcome news that the rate of decline outside of France and Germany has

lowed sharply in recent months, and is now the weakest for two years. The rate of contraction

has also slowed sharply in France, while Germany is showing signs of faster, albeit still

modest, growth.

uro area policymakers will no doubt be encouraged by these improving indicators,

uggesting the ECB will see no need for any further action in the near term.

10.45Good timing from analysts at Bank of America Merri ll Lynch, who have released a note

modelling the impact of lower gold prices on London-listed miners. They said:
http://-/?-http://-/?-


15/24



We stress test free cash flow under a $1200/oz scenario, and believe that African Barrick,

ochschild and Petropavlovsk could struggle to maintain their current level of cash dividends.

Shares in Petropavlovskare down 8pc, the biggest faller on the FTSE 250, Hochschildis 4.2pc

lower and African Barrick Goldhas lost 4.2pc.

10.42A reminder of why this is going on. As Ambrose Evans-Pritchard wrote a couple of days

ago, the world's financial asset prices have become a plaything of central banks.

The Fed's $85bn-a-month asset buying programme has largely focussed on government bonds.

Therefore once the taps are turned off, demand, and prices, will fall sharply. The other effect of the

Fed's QE3 has been to pump an enormous amount of liquidity into markets, liquidity which has

served to keep all asset classes artificially buoyant. Once this flow is stemmed, there'll be less

cash around to invest.

Investors were holding their breath yesterday on the hope that Fed chair Ben Bernanke would bow

to their wishes and avoid calling time on QE. As Ambrose said prior to Mr Bernanke's comments:

Investors seem to think he will indeed blink, or at least blink enough to put off the day of

reckoning for another three month investment cycle, which is what hedge funds careabout, and that if he doesnt blink it will be because the economy is picking up speed. They

cling to the Bernanke Put, when the new reality may instead be the Bernanke Call.

Perhaps Bernanke will oblige one more time, knowing that the US economy has yet to absorb

the full shock of fiscal tightening, the biggest squeeze for half a century. Besides, core PCE

inflation is down to 1.1pc. Jim Leaviss from M&G says the Fed would normally be cutting rates

by 1.5pc under the Taylor Rule in these circumstances, not tightening.

But, as we now know, Mr Bernanke did not blink.

10.33This chart, tracking the spot gold price over the last three days, illustrates gold's rather

astounding tumble this morning:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100024895/if-bernanke-really-shakes-the-tree-half-the-world-may-fall-out/


16/24



10.10The US dollaris one of the only assets that isenjoying a boost from a QE wind-down.

The Fed's asset purchases have massively increased the supply and weakened the value of the dollar,

so any tapering of this activity will have the opposite effect.

09.55Market analyst Michael Hewson of CMC Markets notes that UK retail sales have shown a

lot of volatility in recent months. It's worth noting that the figures do not quite charm with

household income, which has is increasingly squeezed as wages lag inflation.

09.43In the midst of the market sell-off, a bright piece of news from the UK economy, where

retail sales rebounded strongly in May, rising 2.1pc. That's the figure for the value. The quantity of

goods bought rose 1.9pc, to hit a record high. The main drivers were discounting at supermarkets

and more growth in online shopping, according to the ONS.

09.28Gold has pared back some losses and has returned to around $1314/oz.

09.24Let's not forget European stock markets, which have fallen in line with the UK, US and Asia.

The Cac 40in France is down 2.1pc, Germany's Daxis off 2.3pc and the Spanish Ibexindex is

1.4pc lower.

09.18Now gold is at its lowest since October 2010.


17/24



09.16The slide in the FTSE 100has worsened now, with London's benchmark index off 2.1pc, or

130 points, at 6,218. Hit by the falling gold price, shares in the precious metals miners have

tumbled. Randgold Resourcesis down 5.5pc, the heaviest decline on the blue-chip index,

Fresnillohas lost 4.5pc and Polymetal International is down 4.3pc.

09.03Gold's freefall is part of the wider picture we're seeing in markets today. Yields on

governmenet bonds are also spiking.

08.58 Gold is falling further - now around $1314 per ounce.

08.54 Gold has taken a spectacular tumble this morning to an two and a half year low, following

Ben Bernanke's strongest signal yet that QE3 is coming to an end. Its currently hovering around

$1318 per ounce.

08.41Meanwhile in Germany, a key survey of businesses indicates that the manufacturing and

services sectors picked-up incrementally in June, but not enough to significantly boost GDP

growth in the second quarter. Markit's gauge of private sector activity came in at 50.9 in June from

50.2 the previous month, where any reading over 50 indicates growth.


18/24



08.35Shares in Lloyds Banking Groupare the only FTSE 100 ri serat the moment, up 0.2pc on

news the lender will not have to sell shares to meet new capital requirements. But mining stocks

are down across the board on the back of the disappointing economic news from China, the world's

largest consumer of industrial metals. BHP Bill itonis off 3.6pc, Antofagastais 3.4pc lower and

Vedanta Resourceshas declined 3.2pc.

08.33A rare helping of good (or at least not bad) economic news for France. While activity in the

private sector fell June, the pace was slower than expected, mostly due to an improvement in

manufacturing.

Here's Chris Wil liamson, chief economist at Markit, who compiled the survey:

Businesses are thinking maybe the worst is over, things are showing signs of stabilising.


19/24



08.21Here's Gerard Lane, strategist at stockbroker Shore Capital , on Fed chairman Ben

Bernanke's statement and what it means for investors:

The thought of QE / Methadone withdrawal appears to be hitting the markets, with

shakes and shivers after the Bernanke press conference. The FOMC statement was

anodyne, with slightly improved economic forecasts with regards to 2014 growth and

unemployment rates. However, in the press conference, Bernanke highlighted that the pace of

QE would ease as the unemployment rate headed towards 7pc.

f economic growth does accelerate then the unemployment rate may fall further and faster

than currently expected, which may bring forward not only tapering, but also the consideration

of the trauma of rate increase by the Federal Reserve, a trauma for the market we suggest.

08.18Scary stuff from Patrick Chovanec, managing director and chief strategist at Silvercrest

Asset Management. He reckons that unless the People's Bank of China injects emergency

li quidity tonight or tomorrow , wealth management products will default en masse, which could

lead to all-out bank failures.

08.13We're hearing that the cash crunch is reaching fever pitch in China - there is so little

liquidity available that banks have just stopped lending to one another.


20/24



08.07The FTSE 100has followed US and Asia markets lower this morning and is down 84 points,

or 1.3pc, at 6,264. Not a single share rose on the benchmark index in early trade.

08.04 There's been quite a bit of board reshuffling this morning, too. Compasshas confirmed the

appointment of Paul Walsh, the former Diageo boss, as chairman replacing Sir Roy Gardner who

is stepping down at the next annual meeting.

Adrian Marsh,director of treasury and tax at Tesco, has been appointed finance director at DS

Smith, the recycled packaging company.

08.00In corporate news, Dixons Retail has announced a 115.3m pre-tax loss in its annual

results, only marginally better than 118.8m last year. The owner of PC World and Currys has said

underlying profits are much better - up 39pc - while group sales rose 4pc in the full year with like-

for-like sales rising 13pc in the UK&Ireland. Sebastian James, chief executive, said he was

"pleased with the progress we have made although I am, of course, impatient for us to achieve even

more, even faster."

The digger hire firm Ashsteadhas announced an impressive 65pc jump in annual pre-tax profits to

215.5m from 134.8m last year. Revenues were up 19pc to 1.4bn and the dividend has morethan doubled from last year to 7.5p. In an interview with the Telegraph two weeks ago, Geoff

Drabble, chief executive of Ashtead, said good results would result in "life-changing bonuses" for

hundreds of staff.

07.43Britain's banks have been found wantingby stress tests carried out by the Bank of England's


21/24



PRA. As Harry Wilsonreports, five of Britains biggest l enders have been told by the Bank

of England they must raise more than 13bn between themto close a 27bn blackhole in their

balance sheets.

Lloyds Banking Group was found to have the largest individual shortfall of 7bn, more than

double the 3.2bn Royal Bank of Scotland has been told it must raise, while Barclays will have

to find an additional 1.7bn of new capital and Co-op Bank 1.5bn.

The capital raisings follow a stress test exercise on the lenders conducted by the Prudential

egulation Authority (PRA), which found a total capital shortfall in the British banking system

of 27.1bn.

BS was identified as having the largest capital shortfall of 13.6bn, however the bank has

already put in place plans to raise 10bn.

Lloydss had the second largest overall shortfall of 8.6bn and currently has plans in place to

raise an additional 1.6bn of capital this year.

Harry has more details here.

07.40While it was Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's news that the end was in sight for the

central bank's massive stimulus programmethat sparked the sell-off as trade opened in Asia, it

was not the only cause for the market slump.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/10130518/Federal-Reserve-could-start-tapering-QE-later-this-year.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10131483/Barclays-Co-op-Nationwide-RBS-Lloyds-responsible-for-higher-than-expected-capital-shortfall-of-27.1bn.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10131483/Barclays-Co-op-Nationwide-RBS-Lloyds-responsible-for-higher-than-expected-capital-shortfall-of-27.1bn.html


22/24



The Chinese economy is under pressure from a refusal of its central bank to pump more liquidity

into the system, causing interbank lending rates to spike to multiyear highs, and a slowdown in

factory activity, which is according to a key survey has fallen to a nine-month low.

07.34 Here's a round up of the equity markets in Asia. In the Japanese markets, the Nikkei closed

down 1.74pc, and the Topixfell1.33pc.Seoul's Kospi fell 2pcovernight. Markets in China are

still trading, with the Shanghai Compositedown2.17pc and the Hang Sengin Hong Kong down

2.56pc.

07.20 Asian markets took a tumble overnight, as investors digested comments from Fed chairman

Ben Bernanke signalling a slowing down and end to QE3 by the middle of next year.

Asian stocks outside Japan suffered their biggest daily loss in nearly 18 months, while India's

currency hit a record low. Speaking to Reuters, a Manila-based trader said:

Kaboom is a better word to describe the market.

07.15 Here's a quick look at our top business news this morning.

Harry Wilsonreports on George Osborne's Mansion House Speech in which he fired the

starting gun for Lloyds privatisation while announcing that RBS could be split into a good

bank and bad bank.

Katherine Rushtonwrites that Ben Bernanke indicated that the Federal Reserve could start

'tapering' QE later this year.

Germany's hegemony in Europe is a power illusion, a confluence of fleeting advantages

soon to be overwhelmed by the delayed effect of error and the crush of historic forces, writes

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard.

Ian Livingston's departure from BT to become a government ministerlater this year will

mark the end of a tenure which saw deep cost-cutting and BT's investment in fibre-optic cables to

upgrade the national broadband network, writes Christopher Willi ams.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/telecoms/10129834/BT-chief-Ian-Livingston-quits-to-become-trade-minister.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/10131074/Germanys-ascendancy-over-Europe-will-prove-short-lived.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/10130518/Federal-Reserve-could-start-tapering-QE-later-this-year.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10130925/Lloyds-privatisation-is-active-says-George-Osborne.html


23/24



07.05This morning's business pages are dominated with news of George Osborne's announcement

that the Treasury is exploring options for splitting RBS into a good bank and bad bank.

The Times also reports that accounting rules governing how banks report their accounts

could fail to give a "true and fair reflection" of their finances. The issue was raised by a group

of the largest shareholders in British banks and could mean that more than 50bn of dividends

distributed by British banks in recent years could have been paid illegally, says the paper.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/banking/article3795541.ecehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10130925/Lloyds-privatisation-is-active-says-George-Osborne.html


24/24


Dolce and Gabbana, the Italian high fashion designers, have been handed 20-month suspended

prison sentences and fined nearly half a billion euro for evading mil lions in taxes, reports

theFinancial Times. The pair were found to have sold their brand to a Luxembourg-based holding

company nearly ten years ago, enabling them to avoid declaring more than 100m in royalties.

TheIndependentreports that Sean Combs, aka Puff Daddy, is close to launching his own

television channel, aimed at so-called "millennials" - those born just before the new millennium.

A ballot of Royal Mail workers showed they are overwhelmingly against the government's

privatisation plans for the service, reports the Guardian. The poll, conducted by the

Communications Workers Union, is likely to lead to a vote on strike action.

07.00Good morning and welcome to our daily business and markets live blog, your one stop shop

for all the breaking business stories of the day.

How we moderate

Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2014
http://my.telegraph.co.uk/aboutus/mytelegraph/12/moderation-faqs/http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jun/19/royal-mail-vote-against-privatisationhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/sean-combs-gears-up-to-launch-his-music-television-channel-for-young-millennials-8665944.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ab958622-d8f4-11e2-a6cf-00144feab7de.html

business news and markets_ as it happened, june 20, 2013 - telegraph

Documents