WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
HEDGE FUND PIONEER BACK FOR ASIA VENTURE
William Bollinger, one of the pioneers of London’s hedge fund industry, has come out of retirement to launch a new venture – in Singapore.
A protégé of the renowned investor Julian Robertson and a former donor to the Labour party, Mr Bollinger set up Egerton Capital, one of the UK’s first – and now most successful – hedge funds, with John Armitage in 1994.
SWISS ENGINEER ABB FACES PROFIT SQUEEZE
Shares in ABB dipped as the Swiss electrical engineering group warned that less profitable orders would weigh on margins in the first quarter, even as it posted record revenues for 2011. Zurich-based ABB reported full-year revenue of $37.99bn, although a 24 per cent rise in net income to $3.17bn still fell short of analyst estimates.
ROACH LEAVES MORGAN STANLEY
Stephen Roach is retiring as non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley’s Asia operations and moving into full-time academia after 30 years at the bank. Mr Roach is well known for predicting that China will eclipse the US as the world’s dominant economy by 2025. He became executive chairman of Asia in 2007 but moved back to New York in 2010 to join the faculty at Yale University, simultaneously becoming non-executive chairman of the bank’s Asia operations.
SHARES IN FINNISH MINER DROP
Shares in Talvivaara Mining, the Finnish nickel producer, dropped sharply after it announced plans to place nearly 25m shares – equivalent to 10 per cent of existing equity – to fund expansion and capital investment. Shares fell by 51 per cent in Helsinki and 14.5 per cent in London.
THE TIMES
US OWNERS OF CITY LANDMARK MISS LOAN PAYMENT
The American owners of City Point Tower have defaulted on a loan interest payment in a move that could trigger the sale of one of the Square Mile’s most recognisable buildings. Beacon Capital Partners has owned the 35-storey tower since 2007 after buying it for £650m from Tishman Speyer.
BRITONS JUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH PORRIDGE
The British appetite for porridge has led to another big expansion of the country’s largest oat-milling site. PepsiCo, Britain’s biggest porridge maker with its Quaker and Oat So Simple brands, is investing £14.4m in its Cupar site near Fife to increase production capacity by a third to 85,000 tonnes a year. The move comes in response to a growing demand.
The Daily Telegraph
UN PASSES RESOLUTION DEMANDING SYRIA’S ASSAD STEP ASIDE
Russia and China were left isolated after voting against a United Nations resolution calling for an end to the violence in Syria. The measure was passed at the UN General Assembly by 137 votes to 12. The curent crackdown is estimated to have cost 7,000 lives.
BANKS AND HEDGE FUNDS FACE SAME TAX PENALTY AS RANGERS
Banks and hedge funds are among around 300 companies that have been drawn into the tax crackdown that pushed Scottish football club Rangers into administration this week. HM Revenue & Customs investigation found it owed £43m in tax as a result of its use of employee benefit trusts to pay players’ wages. Experts say it will be the first of many cases as the taxman goes after high-earners in the financial sector.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
GERMAN STATE PROSECUTOR SEEKS TO INVESTIGATE PRESIDENT
A German state prosecutor requested that parliament lift the German President’s immunity to clear the way for an official investigation into allegations that he had accepted favors while a governor, before becoming head of state. The affair threatens to become a political embarrassment for Chancellor Angela Merkel, who hand-picked Christian Wulff.
SANTORUM TO FACE ROMNEY AD BLITZ IN MICHIGAN
Mitt Romney’s campaign and an independent group supporting his White House bid have booked nearly $2m in television and radio ads in Michigan alone, as they seek to blanket the airwaves ahead of the next primary. That contrasts with the $42,443 Rick Santorum, his main rival, has reserved in airtime for its own ads.