Old Mutual is considering whether it should sell the operation

Old Mutual is considering whether it should sell the operation.Mike Levett, the chairman, speaking as the group unveiled a 23 per cent rise in operating profits to £656m for the year just completed, said: “We did put in a bid [for Gartmore]… We did not get through The bid we put in met our hurdle rates. Clearly, there are other bidders who were able to justify a higher price.” Mr Levett said the group was still on the lookout for opportunities to grow the business.Old Mutual is believed to have offered around £550m for Gartmore. The fact that it was not accepted suggests that Royal Bank of Scotland, which formally took control of NatWest on Monday, is likely to get at least £1bn for the operation.CGU, the composite insurer which backed RBS’s bid for NatWest, and Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street investment bank, are still believed to be in the running. Credit Suisse, and Robeco, the Dutch bank, have also put in bids.Although Old Mutual has spent the £560m it raised at the time of its London listing last year, it has considerable scope to raise money in the debt markets.The group is planning to buy back up to 10 per cent of its capital on African exchanges, but it likely to be a net consumer of capital in the UK as it seeks to raise its share of earnings that come from outside Africa from 10 per cent to 20-30 per cent over the next few years.Yesterday’s profits showed the benefits of Old Mutual’s restructuring under its Project 500 programme. Around a third of the £640m cost savings came through last year with the bulk to come in 2000 and 2001.Group profits would have been £94m higher but for an extraordinary charge at Nedcor, its listed South African banking subsidiary. This follows changes in international capital requirements which forced it to set aside a further 1 per cent of risk-weighted assets to cover potential bad debt risks.Old Mutual fell by 2.75p to close at 144.75p.. The spate of business mergers has proved a boon for property developer Canary Wharf by increasing demand for office space, the company said today.

The spate of business mergers has proved a boon for property developer Canary Wharf by increasing demand for office space, the company said today.
Paul Reichmann, chairman of the group which owns the famous tower in London’s Docklands, said quality offices in Central London continued to be in short supply.”At the same time merger and acquisition activities in many company sectors is driving unprecedented demand,” he added.Existing customer Citigroup, the expanding global financial conglomerate last month agreed to lease a further 315,000 square feet from Canary Wharf.Other activity from existing residents and hectic tie-ups from outside companies were also helping demand for the office space rise.Headline rental prices at Canary Wharf during the last half-year had set new highs and the level of pre-let enquiries was very strong, Mr Reichmann said.And the increased bookings will see Canary Wharf build new leisure facilities to entertain the workers.It is planning to expand its existing retail complex by increasing the number of shops, restaurants and health facilities, and aims to make Canary Wharf a destination mall with increased weekend trading.The plans came as Canary Wharf announced pre-tax profits for the last year of £36.4 million against a £36.5 million loss for the same time the previous year.This year’s figure included a one-off profit of £39.1 million on sale of completed properties.Turnover also jumped, up from £35.6 million last time to £47.7 million.. Chancellor Gordon Brown said today that helping Britain’s manufacturing industry was one of the mainstays of his financial policy and he was looking to build on the current “foundation of stability” in the economy. Chancellor Gordon Brown said today that helping Britain’s manufacturing industry was one of the mainstays of his financial policy and he was looking to build on the current “foundation of stability” in the economy.
On a visit to Smethwick, near Birmingham, to see a project designed to help youngsters into jobs in the construction industry, Mr Brown said the Government supported both traditional firms and fledgling e-commerce and Internet-related businesses.At the Smethwick Enterprise Centre, Mr Brown said: “We’ve got a situation where we’re getting more and more people into work and obviously I want to see the new companies doing well and I want to see existing companies doing well also.”I have said that I am determined that we support business, enterprise and investment in this country.”The Chancellor refused to go into detail about what would be in his forthcoming Budget speech, but he added: “We have an opportunity with the stability we’ve got in the economy to build a high investment, high jobs, high growth, high employment economy where people have more prosperity.”I will be looking at measures in the Budget where we can do better.”I have already said we will be looking at the capital gains tax. We are looking at where we can help with investment incentives.”I’m determined to support a modern, manufacturing strength in this country. And this region (West Midlands), with 30% of employment in manufacturing, is right at the heart of the industrial economy of Europe and it is vitally important to us that we do what we can to help industries invest in the future.”We get the new technologies and we are able to compete with the rest of the world.”I have always been cautious about the way I view the economy. This is not an economy we want to take risks with in the future We want the basis of stability, the foundation of stability.

We’ve provided that,” he said.The Construction Skills Training Unit at Smethwick Enterprise Centre is a project run by Sandwell Council to train youngsters with bad records of attendance at school in building skills.The Prince’s Trust also operates from the centre and has advised more than 200 young people from the Black Country, with 37 businesses now up and running.. The Post Office is to team up with companies in Holland and Singapore in a “ground breaking” deal to create the world’s biggest business mailing partnership, it was announced today. The Post Office is to team up with companies in Holland and Singapore in a “ground breaking” deal to create the world’s biggest business mailing partnership, it was announced today.
The alliance, the first of its kind, is between the Post Office, TNT Post Group and Singapore Post.The new company will have its head office in Belgium and service 200 countries.John Roberts, chief executive of the Post Office, said: “This innovative venture heralds a new era in the global mail market.”It links the Post Office’s established international mailing expertise and experience with the worldwide delivery ability and access of our partners – and that’s good news for our customers.”. Lex service, the motoring services group which bought the RAC last year, has agreed a £78m deal to sell its car dealerships and repair shops to Pendragon. Lex service, the motoring services group which bought the RAC last year, has agreed a £78m deal to sell its car dealerships and repair shops to Pendragon.
The sale will see 32 car dealerships and four repair shops in the Midlands, south-east and north-west of England go under the hammer.

Selling the sites, which include Porsche, Rolls-Royce and Mercedes Benz dealerships, will see Lex withdraw from franchised car retailing to focus on business and motoring services.Andy Harrison, chief executive of Lex Service, said: “This transaction is another major milestone in transforming Lex into a high-quality business and motoring services group.” He added the dealerships had performed well in difficult market conditions.The deal follows Lex’s sale of its higher volume car dealerships to Pendragon in 1997. Pendragon, one of the UK’s largest car dealership groups said that the buy would boost its presence geographically and would achieve cost savings.Lex shares ended 2.5p up at 335p, while Pendragon finished unchanged at 97.5p.. Rail industry regulators yesterday signalled a sea-change in their approach to the industry by indicating that several mini-franchises might be on offer. Rail industry regulators yesterday signalled a sea-change in their approach to the industry by indicating that several mini-franchises might be on offer.
Announcing a round of bidding for licences to run three key networks, the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority(SSRA) made clear that there could be a two-tier approach to the system, with trunk routes operated by big companies and shorter regional routes by local interests. Until now the received wisdom in the industry has been that bigger is better.Under the proposal, parts of the present franchises run by National Express’s subsidiary Central Trains, Stagecoach’s South West Trains and Arriva’s Northern Spirit could be operated as separate businesses.Officials at the authority said that such an approach would be considered for several other franchises due to be renegotiated over the next few years.A spokeswoman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said: “It’s clearly all up for grabs. It shows that the SSRA is not necessarily wedded to the idea of huge geographical areas.”The SSRA yesterday asked for proposals for services between Basingstoke and Paignton, currently part of the South West Trains’ franchise, although passengers’ representatives expressed the fear that the line would be allowed to wither and die if it was not part of a larger system. Routes west and north-west of Shrewsbury in Wales and the Borders, presently run by Central Trains, could also become a distinct franchise or part of a new Wales and the Borders operation.Additionally, commuter services operated by Central into Birmingham could be operated as a separate business unit within Central Trains.Officials said that local lines around Newcastle, Leeds and Sheffield, part of the Northern Spirit network, could be taken over by other companies or run as one commuter franchise.

The remaining network of longer-distance routes would then be redesignated the Trans-Pennine Express network.Mike Grant, the authority’s chief executive, said smaller franchises might give greater opportunity for integrated transport systems.Many of the possible mini-franchises represent the least lucrative parts of the three companies’ operations. If they were separated off it would leave the existing franchisees with the most profitable services.. The Bank of England was urged to keep interest rates on hold yesterday after figures showed a surprise fall in manufacturing output in January The Bank announces its decision at noon today. The Bank of England was urged to keep interest rates on hold yesterday after figures showed a surprise fall in manufacturing output in January. The Bank announces its decision at noon today.
A record 5.5 per cent monthly fall in the output of traditional industries making durable goods wiped out gains in trendy hi-tech businesses such as mobile phones, medicines and computer and telecoms equipment.Output fell 0.4 per cent in January, the Office for National Statistics said, disappointing City forecasts of a 0.2 per cent rise. The fall left an annual growth rate of just 1.8 per cent, compared with 2 per cent in December and forecasts of a 2.5 per cent rise. On a three month basis, it rose just 0.1 per cent.The fall – particularly the slump in traditional industries that are more exposed to a strong pound and cheap imports – is expected to push the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee towards keeping rates on hold at 6 per cent.The head of the white collar union MSF criticised the Bank for using “excessively” high rates to drive inflation well below its target.