Editor: Pat Williams. E-mail pwilliams@creditman.co.uk
John Arnold. E-mail jarnold@creditman.co.uk
Site: Business Credit Management UK
URL: http://www.creditman.co.uk
Issue: Vol 4 Issue 19
Dated: 14 May 2000
Welcome to the Business Credit News UK.
In this weeks edition you will find the following topics.
UKUK OFFICIAL HOLDINGS OF INTERNATIONAL RESERVES
A further step in promoting the Government's agenda of openness, transparency and accountability is achieved with the introduction of improvements to the monthly publication of information about UK official holdings of international reserves.
The first publication in the amended format shows :
Part I: UK Government Foreign Currency Assets and Liabilities - April 2000
Part II: Bank of England Foreign Currency Assets and Liabilities - April 2000
The United Kingdom began to disclose additional information on its foreign currency assets and liabilities from July 1999: data for end-July 1999 onwards can be found on the Bank of England's web-site at www.bankofengland.co.uk/mfsd/reserves
The Bank of England's web-site also provides information on the methodology now used and definitions of the main conventions employed.
STRONG STERLING HITS THE CONFIDENCE OF MANUFACTURERS IN SEVEN OUT OF 11 UK REGIONS
CBI and Business Strategies publish regional trends survey
The strength of sterling has knocked the confidence of manufacturers in seven out of the 11 UK regions, according to a survey out last Tuesday.
The survey of regional industrial trends, by the CBI and Business Strategies, shows business confidence falling in the Yorkshire and Humber, South East, South West, West Midlands, Scotland and Wales. It shows confidence failing to grow in the East Midlands and increasing in the North East, East of England, North West and Northern Ireland.
Export orders fell in five regions over the past four months, with the decline particularly sharp in Yorkshire and Humber, the North East, and Northern Ireland. But in other parts of the country the picture was not so gloomy with export orders increasing in the East Midlands, West Midlands, the North West and Wales.
Many regions found that domestic demand offset a decline in export demand. The past four months saw a significant rise in total orders in the East Midlands, East of England, North West and South East. But there were also significant falls in Northern Ireland, North East and Yorkshire and Humber.
Manufacturers expect total orders to remain broadly stable over the next four months. Regions expecting a rise are the South East, East of England, North East, East Midlands and the North West. Regions expecting a decline are Scotland, the West Midlands and Northern Ireland.
Sudhir Junankar, CBI Associate Director of Economic Analysis, said: "There are worrying signs that the manufacturing sector is taking a turn for the worse. Our last regional analysis showed a fragile recovery spreading slowly across the UK. This survey suggests that sterling's strength could now bring the manufacturing recovery to a premature end."
Production figures reveal a mixed picture. Manufacturing output over the past four months continued to rise in eight regions but the pace of the increase slowed in six of these. Eight regions anticipate a rise in output over the next four months but firms expect marked declines in the Yorkshire and Humber, the West Midlands and Scotland.
Employment forecasts, based on the survey results, suggest a falling number of manufacturing jobs in all regions during the first quarter of 2000, except the North East. Worst affected are the East Midlands, East of England and the North West. Employment is set to continue falling in most regions during the second quarter of the year.
Andrew Schofield, Managing Economist at Business Strategies, said: "The employment trends are a cause for concern. On the whole, regions experiencing the fastest growth in orders are shedding jobs at the fastest rate. This indicates a drive to improve productivity as regions recover. If this is the case, job losses may intensify even as other regions pick up."
Companies cut domestic and export prices in all regions over the past four months, exacerbating the squeeze on profit margins, again in all regions. Unit costs rose in the North East, South East, Wales and Scotland. But they fell in Yorkshire and Humber, East Midlands, the North West and Northern Ireland.
Firms expect a significant decline in plant and machinery investment over the year ahead. Companies in the Yorkshire and Humber and the West Midlands are particularly pessimistic. Also anticipating a decline are companies in East of England, South East, South West, Northern Ireland and Wales. One of the main constraints on investment plans is uncertainty about demand, which has risen in importance in every region with the exception of Northern Ireland.
Richard Caborn, the Minister for Trade, announced on the 11 May 2000 that in the financial year 1999/2000 ECGD provided a record level of support for the UK civil aerospace sector.
Speaking at a dinner in London hosted by the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC), Mr Caborn said:
"I am delighted that ECGD's last financial year has proved to be a record one for supporting UK civil aerospace exports, one of the jewels in the UK's manufacturing crown. During the past twelve month ECGD issued some £1.3 billion of guarantees, the availability of which helped numerous UK companies maintain valuable overseas orders in the aerospace sector. This has got to be good news for jobs up and down the country.
"Most of these guarantees are related to the sale of Airbus aircraft for which BAE SYSTEMS have the responsibility for wing-design and manufacturing. Not only do these orders provide work for BAE SYSTEMS' operations at Bristol and Chestier but they also create valuable sub-contracts for more than 500 smaller manufacturers around the UK.
"Other aerospace exports backed by ECGD last year include AVRO RJ 100 aircraft and Rolls-Royce Trent engines. The engines themselves create work for over 1,000 companies as well as Rolls-Royce's main operation in Derby."
David Marshall, Director General of the SBAC, added:
"The UK Aerospace Industry is vital to the UK economy, employing 155,000 people across the country. In the ten years up to 1998, exports in the UK civil aerospace industry grew from £4.5 billion to £7.2 billion in real terms. The invaluable assistance provided by ECGD has played an important part in the continued success of the industry."
*** Forthcoming Creditors Meetings ***
Contributed byhttp://www.insolvency.co.uk
For more detailed information and ALL the British Isles insolvency's (liquidation's, receiverships, administrations, dividends, creditors) please visit http://www.insolvency.co.uk
For a full listing of creditors meetings please go to http://www.insolvency.co.uk/database.htm
From 15/05/2000 to 26/05/2000 Number of Creditor meetings : 70 Section Company Venue Liquidator 138 Scotland - Interim Liquidator calling Creditors Meeting 15/05/2000 John Smith (Transport Contract) Ltd W David Robb 16/05/2000 Arrina (Caledonia) Ltd Aberdeen Meston Reid & Co 48 Receiver calling unsecured Creditors Meeting 15/05/2000 Fire (Realisation) Ltd London HLB Kidsons Nationwide Security Group Plc London HLB Kidsons Services (Realisation) Ltd London HLB Kidsons Systems (Realisation) Ltd London HLB Kidsons 16/05/2000 Sport-Casual Direct Ltd London Gallagher & Co 17/05/2000 Kam Circuits Ltd London Kroll Buchler Kode International Plc London Kroll Buchler 19/05/2000 Paragon Nursing Home Ltd Manchester BDO Stoy Hayward 67 Scotland - Receiver calling Meeting of unsecured Creditors 23/05/2000 J.A.P Ltd Glasgow KPMG M.B.B.S. Export (Skye) Ltd Glasgow KPMG 84 N. Ireland - Creditors Voluntary Liquidation 15/05/2000 Total Business Improvements Ltd Belfast Grant Thornton 16/05/2000 James Nimmons & Sons Ltd Belfast Napier & Sons 98 Creditors Voluntary Liquidations 15/05/2000 A F S Engineering Ltd Birmingham K S Tan & Co Canard Foods Ltd Birmingham HKM Harlow Khandhia Casper UK Ltd London Smith & Williamson Century Seal Windows Ltd Manchester Leonard Harris Christys of Thames Ditton Ltd Kingston-u-Thames Industrial Roofing Services Ltd Bristol BKR Haines Watts Integrated Print Logistics Ltd London Kallis & Co Monoword Ltd Worthing Levy Gee PK Partitions Ltd Haywards HeathMoore Stephens R C M (UK) Ltd Liverpool BDO Stoy Hayward 16/05/2000 Ben Lomond Whisky Centre Ltd Glasgow Pannell Kerr Bransby & Son Ltd Hyde Hardy & Co British Landscape Ind Train Org Ltd Rushtons Copytech Business Machines Plc London Turpin Barker Cromcord Ltd London Panos Eliades Hayden Advertising Consultants LtdLondon Morley & Scott J & A (Northern) Limited Halifax Sargent & Co Len German (Wholesale) Ltd London Begbies Traynor O H F Ltd Southend-on-Sea P F S (Coventry) Ltd Birmingham Poppleton & Appleby Poseidon Pictures Ltd London David Rubin & Co Premier Controls (Bedfordshire) Ltd Pitman Cohen Shernwell Ltd Northampton Price & Co Toptarif Ltd Hyde Hardy & Co Victory Press Ltd Bromley Crane & Partners Visual Media Ltd Liverpool Parkin S Booth & Co 17/05/2000 All In One Environmental Services Ltd Marks Bloom B J Kayes Electrical (Medway) Ltd Chatham Moore Stephens Centurian Steel Services Ltd London B Mistry & Co Con-Creations Ltd Yarm John B Taylor & Co Control Connections Ltd St Albans Morton Thornton & Key Handling Services Ltd Birmingham Casson Beckman & Lasermine 98 Ltd Northampton Lines Henry Leech Manufacturing Company Ltd Bolton Cooper Lancaster Tyneside Callanetics Ltd Paisley Campbell Dallas World Leisure Corp. of Americal Ltd Langley & Partners 18/05/2000 Heritage Thermal Insulations Ltd Southend-on-Sea Prestige Glass & Board Ltd Southend-on-Sea 19/05/2000 Jacquet Weston Plant Ltd Pangbourne BKR Haines Watts Net Online Ltd London Kallis & Co Off The Bone Ltd London Jeffreys Henry Thamhill Engineering Ltd Ashby-de-la-Zouch 22/05/2000 Reality Services Ltd Grantham Downham Train Sentinel Packaging Ltd Newport Ray Purnell & Co Vending Solutions Ltd London Valentine & Co Yorkshire Boiler & Radiator Supp Ltd O'Hara & Co 23/05/2000 Double J Ltd London Lines Henry H Jones & Son (Ilkeston) Ltd Blackbrook John P Collins R P D (Farnham) Ltd London Valentine & Co 24/05/2000 Rider Products (UK) Ltd South Ruislip Pitman Cohen 25/05/2000 Brierley Son & Gray Ltd South Ruislip Pitman Cohen Britannia Security (Northern) Ltd London Harris Lipman 26/05/2000 Farben Textiles Ltd Lutterworth F A Simms & Microlec Systems Ltd London Valentine & Co Spinneyridge Ltd London Kallis & Co Worldcraft Graphic Design & Print Ltd Horwath Clark
TW LW TW LW
USA 1.54 1.51 Canada 2.25 2.30
Austria 23.82 23.13 Portugal 337.07 347.19
France 11.35 11.02 Belgium 67.82 69.85
Finland 10.29 9.9 Italy 3255.50 3353.15
Germany 3.38 3.28 Sweden 13.84 14.06
Holland 3.81 3.70 Switzerland 2.61 2.68
Spain 288.14 279.74 Ireland 1.32 1.36
Australia 2.61 2.62 Denmark 12.53 12.90
Hong Kong 12.02 11.83 Euro 1.68 1.73
Africa Com 10.80 10.82 Saudi Arabia 5.69 5.78
India 67.37 66.64 Malaysia 5.77 5.86
Singapore 2.65 2.62 Norway 13.79 14.05
Japan 166.86 165.27
TW This week LW Last week.
Reckitt Benckiser, the household cleaners company, announced pre-tax profits of 67 million pounds, on turnover of 748 million, for the three months ending 31st March 2000. Earnings per share stand at 6.6p.
BMW sold its loss-making British subsidiary, ROVER, to the Phoenix Consortium for a symbolic 10 pounds ($15) but BMW will throw in 500m pounds in loans. The consortium, headed by John Towers, hopes to maintain Rover as a volume car maker and minimise job losses at its main assembly plant at Longbridge. However, until Rover joins with a big car maker its long-term future remains in doubt.
Source - The Economist
BNFL, a subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuels, was fired as contractor for the clean up of Hanford Nuclear Reservation in America by Bill Richardson, the energy secretary. BNFL said that the cost for its 20-year contract would more than double to $15.2 billion. This may prove a terminal blow for the troubled state-owned nuclear reprocessor.
Source - The Economist
Talks between Young & Rubicam, an American advertising agency, and WPP, a British counterpart, resumed after twice collapsing this year. Publicis, a French advertising agency which had courted Y&R after the last breakdown, had decided not to bid for the firm, leaving the way open for a $4.7 billion acquisition by the British agency.
Source - The Economist
British Airways, along with Air France and nine other European carriers, announced plans to launch a joint Internet travel agency. The airlines hope to cut their high ticketing and distribution costs by moving online. Good news for travellers; bad news for traditional travel agents.
Source - The Economist
NIKE, better known as a manufacturer of sporting goods, said it planned a new division to combine sport and technology called TECHLAB. The American company hopes to produce a line of electronics products including digital audio players and other high-tech gadgets in order to attract free-spending teenagers.
Source - The Economist
Air Liquide and Air Products halted their 7.4 billion pounds ($11.3 billion) bid for Britain's BOC after failing to win agreement from America's Federal Trade Commission, a competition watchdog. Talks continue.
Source - The Economist
Euronext, born of the merger of the Dutch, Belgian and French stock exchanges, was reportedly discussing a link up with the New York Stock Exchange. The merged London and Frankfurt exchanges, IX, recently announced that they would join with the high-tech Nasdaq exchange.
Source - The Economist
MERGER CLEARANCE
The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has decided, on the information at present before him, and in accordance with the recommendation of the Director General of Fair Trading, not to refer the following merger to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission under the provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1973:Proposed acquisition by OSS Group Limited of Greenway Holdings plc
Addressing the Law Faculty at the University of West of England on the 8 May 2000 David Lock MP, Parliamentary Secretary at the Lord Chancellor's Department, outlined a vision of how new technology and Government reforms will effect the legal profession in the 21st Century.
"In the near future it may not be necessary for a lawyer to "go" to court in order to "appear". In fact appearing may be precisely what lawyers will do " through a video link" said Mr Lock.
"Technology already means that meetings, exchanging documents and even conveyancing could work faster, cheaper and more efficiently than before" said Mr Lock. "As part of the Government E-commerce and E-Government agenda we want to explore how far electronic communications can help not just in conveyancing but across the whole spectrum of our business."
"As we enter the third millennium," said Mr Lock, "I can see no reduction in the demand for the services that lawyers provide. But we are changing the way in which those services are provided."
"I see a more modern, accessible and technology based industry, which operates on a commercial basis, yet one which is responsive to the needs and aspirations of its clients. Legal services are changing and will change further."
Mr Lock explained how the Community Legal Service (CLS) was an example of how Government reform could transform legal services. The CLS, launched in April, will lead to members of the public finding it easier to resolve disputes, enforce their rights effectively, or seek the protection of the courts, with the confidence that they are receiving a quality assured service.
Closing his speech Mr Lock said "I have outlined some aspects of my vision for the future of the legal services industry. A future in which the fusty, even quill pen, image has no part to play. Instead I see a modern, accessible and technology based industry, which operates on a commercial basis, yet one which is responsive to the needs and aspirations of its clients. Legal services are changing and will change further. Those already in the industry, and those like you, who hope to join it, must respond positively to those changes."
23 May 2000 The ICM National Conference and Exhibition Cumberland Hotel, Marble Arch, London W1 Credit Management in the Electronic Age For more details of the Conference or to exhibit phone the ICM Training department on 01780-722907 23 to 25 May 2000 Internet World 2000 Earls Court 2, London www.internetworld.co.uk 16 June 2000 The ICM Fellows Luncheon Royal Air Force Club Piccadilly, London W1.Tickets are #39.50 plus vat each. To reserve tickets contact the ICM Training Department on 01780-722907 fax 01780 721271 e-mail training@icm.org.uk 20 June 2000 The ICM AGM at 3.30pm The Water Mill, Station Road, South Luffenham, Oakham, Leics, LE15 8NB 5 July 2000 E-Commerce for the Credit Manager New ICM Conference Kenilworth, Warwickshire Contact the ICM Training Department on 01780-722907 e-mail training@icm.org.uk Tuesday 3 October 2000 ICM Credit Scotland 2000 (Conference and Exhibition) Hampden Park Football Stadium, Glasgow Anyone interested in attending (or exhibiting) should contact David Ancliffe on (0131 200 8686). Friday 20 October 2000 Millennium Annual Dinner of the ICM Drapers Hall, City of London.
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Business Credit Management UK: John Arnold jarnold@creditman.co.uk
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