UPDATE 1-BAE Systems H1 earnings up 14 pct, sees FY growth

July 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

LONODN, July 29 (Reuters) – BAE Systems (BAES.L) reported a 14 percent rise in first-half earnings and said it expected to deliver growth in the full-year despite expected lower sales at its land vehicle unit and cuts in European defence budgets.

Europe’s largest defence contractor on Thursday posted underlying earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation of 1.11 billion pounds ($1.73 billion) on sales 9 percent higher at 10.64 billion pounds for the six months to the end of June.

The company, which on Wednesday signed a 500 million pounds deal to supply India with 57 Hawk jets, increased the interim dividend by 9 percent to 7 pence per share but said it “anticipates a challenging trading environment” ahead.

BAE wants to grow its customer support and services business to offset expected cuts in UK defence procurement as Britain moves to cut a massive budget deficit.

Shares in BAE, which have fallen 10 percent in the last three months on concerns about potential cuts to European defence budgets, closed at 317 pence on Wednesday, valuing the company at around 10.80 billion pounds.

Despite the looming cuts, BAE, which derives around a fifth of its sales from Britain, said it saw unprecedented levels of interest from Middle Eastern and Asian governments at last week’s Farnborough airshow. [ID:nLDE66K206]

(Reporting by Rhys Jones; Editing by Matt Scuffham)

($1=.6402 Pound)

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Liverpool put up for sale

April 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Liverpool’s American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have appointed British Airways chief Martin Broughton to oversee the sale of the English Premier League club.

Broughton has been brought in to supervise what Liverpool’s statement was a “formal sale process”.

Liverpool added it had engaged merchant Barclays Capital to advise on the sale “following numerous expressions of interest” from third parties, with some analysts reportedly valuing the club at 500 million pounds ($828 million).

Hicks and Gillett have owned Liverpool for the past three years, but their time in charge has been marked by disputes between the pair over the direction of the club.

And the duo have been heavily criticised by supporters for loading the Merseysiders with a debt of a reported 237 million pounds, which fans say has restricted manager Rafael Benitez’s room for manoeuvre in the transfer market.

Liverpool’s statement made much of how the club’s current commercial team had, since 2007, increased revenue by 55 per cent, boosted commercial revenues by 83 per cent and extended operating profit (before player trading and exceptionals) by 60 per cent.

But on the field, Liverpool, which last won the English title in 1990, has seen arch-rivals Manchester United continue to dominate the Premier League while plans to move the club from its Anfield home into a new state of the art ground have stalled.

“Owning Liverpool Football Club over these past three years has been a rewarding and exciting experience for us and our families,” Hicks and Gillett said in the statement.

“Having grown the club this far we have now decided together to look to sell the club to owners committed to take the club through its next level of growth and development.

“We are delighted Martin Broughton has agreed to take the position of chairman… Martin is a distinguished business leader of excellent judgment and with a great reputation.

“He is a genuine football supporter and will seek to oversee the sales process in the best interests of the club and its supporters.”

Liverpool has not won a trophy since lifting the FA Cup in 2006.

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UPDATE 1-Barclays to oversee sale of Liverpool FC -source

April 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

LONDON, April 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. owners of Premier British League Football team Liverpool are looking to sell the club and have appointed Barclays Capital to find a buyer, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.

American businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett are facing a demand to repay 100 million pounds ($153 million) of the club’s 237 million pounds debt to its lenders, Royal Bank of Scotland and U.S. bank Wachovia, in July.

That has prompted them to seek a buyer for the club, which has been English champions 18 times and won the European Cup five times.

The Sunday Times had reported that Barclays would back a 300 million pounds ($458.8 million) refinancing at Liverpool that would lead to the sale of the Premier League club.

The newspaper said the bank is this weekend finalising a deal that will see it replace the club’s current lenders, provide more money for manager Rafa Benitez to spend on players and install British Airways (BAY.L) chairman Martin Broughton as chairman.

However, the source told Reuters it would be up to the new owner to make a decision over whether to refinance the club’s debt. The source also declined to comment on what price the club could be sold for or when a sale is likely to take place.

Liverpool Football Club was not immediately available for comment. Barclays Capital declined to comment.

The Sunday Times said Barclays, the main sponsor of the Premier League, will replace RBS and Wachovia, and provide the Merseyside club with additional capital.

Analysts had suggested Liverpool is worth 500 million pounds but the paper said Barclays is understood to believe it would fetch far more if given time to improve its trading.

Benitez was quoted in British media on Sunday as saying Liverpool needed to bring in more players to compete and may even have to sell a few to be able to reinvest.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s four or five or three or five, the cost of a top class player is 15 or 20 million pounds. So with three or four players, you start counting and I think we need up to four new players,” he said in The People.

“I don’t think I will have to sell a big player, but it will depend on the investors so I cannot guarantee we won’t have to sell. Our idea is to keep the spine of the team.” (Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Additonal reporting by Ken Ferris; Editing by Greg Stutchbury, Mike Nesbit) ($1=.6539 Pounds)

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UPDATE 1-Barclays to oversee sale of Liverpool FC -source

April 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

LONDON, April 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. owners of Premier British League Football team Liverpool are looking to sell the club and have appointed Barclays Capital to find a buyer, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.

American businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett are facing a demand to repay 100 million pounds ($153 million) of the club’s 237 million pounds debt to its lenders, Royal Bank of Scotland and U.S. bank Wachovia, in July.

That has prompted them to seek a buyer for the club, which has been English champions 18 times and won the European Cup five times.

The Sunday Times had reported that Barclays would back a 300 million pounds ($458.8 million) refinancing at Liverpool that would lead to the sale of the Premier League club.

The newspaper said the bank is this weekend finalising a deal that will see it replace the club’s current lenders, provide more money for manager Rafa Benitez to spend on players and install British Airways (BAY.L) chairman Martin Broughton as chairman.

However, the source told Reuters it would be up to the new owner to make a decision over whether to refinance the club’s debt. The source also declined to comment on what price the club could be sold for or when a sale is likely to take place.

Liverpool Football Club was not immediately available for comment. Barclays Capital declined to comment.

The Sunday Times said Barclays, the main sponsor of the Premier League, will replace RBS and Wachovia, and provide the Merseyside club with additional capital.

Analysts had suggested Liverpool is worth 500 million pounds but the paper said Barclays is understood to believe it would fetch far more if given time to improve its trading.

Benitez was quoted in British media on Sunday as saying Liverpool needed to bring in more players to compete and may even have to sell a few to be able to reinvest.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s four or five or three or five, the cost of a top class player is 15 or 20 million pounds. So with three or four players, you start counting and I think we need up to four new players,” he said in The People.

“I don’t think I will have to sell a big player, but it will depend on the investors so I cannot guarantee we won’t have to sell. Our idea is to keep the spine of the team.” (Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Additonal reporting by Ken Ferris; Editing by Greg Stutchbury, Mike Nesbit) ($1=.6539 Pounds)

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Brit taxpayers spend 500m pounds annually on 30,000 government employees!

July 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, July 14 (ANI): According to figures revealed through Freedom of Information, British taxpayers are spending a whopping 500 million pounds on almost 30,000 government employees in a year.

The breaking up of employees include 4,700 people in Westminster, 500 Members of the European Parliament and their staff, 1,100 workers employed by devolved assemblies and 22,800 paid councilors, The Daily Star reports.

The figures would certainly leave taxpayers furious, as the reputation of MPs hit an all-time low with the publication of their obscene expenses claims.

“This is a vast bill that I think a lot of people will find extremely shocking when they hear about it. The fact is people don’t mind paying a reasonable amount for good work but what they do mind is this huge bill that’s grown very quietly without ever really consulting people,” said Mark Wallace of the Taxpayers’ Alliance.

However, he said that though the findings were shocking, the transparency had to be appreciated.

“For the first time, people can look over the whole national picture of what our democracy costs in terms of politicians – and that’s essential before we can work out whether we get a good deal or not,” Wallace added. (ANI)

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British aid to Afghanistan projects likely to fail: Report

May 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, May 22 (ANI): An audit commissioned by the Department for International Development (DFID) has found that over half of its large projects in Afghanistan are likely to fail because of staffing incompetence, corruption and overall lawlessness.

The DFID report looked at work from 2002 to 2007 when it was involved in 58 projects that were budgeted at 500 million pounds. Only a quarter of projects in 2006 were judged a success, with less than five per cent considered value for money.

DFID said many of the lessons revealed by the audit had already been addressed and its conclusions did not “reflect the significant progress and developments made since that time”. ANI)

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Kuwaiti tycoons to take over Liverpool soon

April 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Apr 5 (ANI): The Liverpool Football Club is soon expected to sign a whopping 450 million pounds Middle East take-over deal, which would give Kop boss Rafa Benitez more transfer funds.

According to the Daily Star, talks between American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to sell all or a majority of their Anfield investment to a mega-rich Kuwait family are very advanced.

However, none of the parties is admitting to the developments.

According to sources, Nasser Al Kharafi, who owns 9 billion bounds, is closing in on a deal to become the new owner of the club.

Kharafi’s nephew Rafed Al Kharafi, who was seen attending recent Liverpool games as a guest of the club along with his chief negotiator Abdulla Al-Sago, is confident of striking a deal in the coming weeks, the Daily Star reported.

The discussion on the percentage of the club to be sold to the Kuwaitis is still pending.

While Gillett has indicated that he would sell his entire holding for the right price, Hicks would like to still be involved – and could end up with 25 per cent of the club.

Both the partners are facing a July deadline to refinance a 350 million pounds loan that secured their ownership. They value the club at 500 million pounds.

The Gillett- Hicks are aware of the fact that, without a huge cash injection, the planned new stadium would have to remain on the back burner and Benitez would be handicapped in the transfer market.

This has been the prime reason of encouraging the offer from Kuwait. (ANI)

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Jaguar Land Rover may face devastating damages without UK Government’s help

March 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Mar 25 (ANI): Ratan Tata, head of Tata Motors, which bought Jaguar Land Rover for more than one billion pounds, has said that the JLR may face huge damages unless the British Government stumps up 500 million pounds worth of loan guarantees.

The group is not looking for a cash hand out, but needs government backing to squeeze much-needed working capital out of the UK’s frozen banking systems, Sky News quoted Tata, as saying.

Without the guarantees, the company’s massive research and development programmes will suffer, with a knock-on effect on its long-term future.

“If the attitude is to see who blinks first, then the damage is going to be quite devastating. What we have asked for is not a bailout. What we have asked for is help from the Government to facilitate commercial loans, because the banking system has come to a halt,” Tata said.

The group needs the money to run its day-to-day business, for its 400million pounds-per-year research programme and for the 800million pounds five-year product development plan, The Independent reported.

The company has been asking for help from the Government since before Christmas, but to no avail. The Department for Business said yesterday that it is still in talks with JLR about its long-term plans, but will not get involved in the day-to-day financing of the business.

JLR is one of the major manufacturers looking closely at its eligibility under the scheme. But the funds are only accessible for the research and development of low-carbon vehicles, and cannot be used for simple working capital requirements. (ANI)

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