LONDON (ShareCast) - The main threat to ARM Holdings may turn out to be ‘home-grown.’ Imagination Technologies, the British designer of graphics and video microchips for gadgets such as the iPhone is gearing up for a foray into ARM´s main market, making the processors that go into smartphones and other devices. Hence the recent acquisition of US outfit MIPS Technologies, whose architecture, it claims, has advantages over ARM´s. Crucially, MIPS microchips are supported by Google´s Android operating system, which accounts for around 70 per cent of smartphone sales and is making its way into televisions, cars and other devices, according to The Sunday Telegraph.
The Chancellor is said to believe that the time has come to return Lloyds to the private sector, although it is not known whether the state is looking to offload its entire stake or not. Osborne is expected to use his Mansion House speech, in just ten days´ time, to announce the sale. The lender´s share price has doubled over the last year. The stock is expected to be offered at a discount, with incentives included so as to encourage longer term investments, The Financial Mail on Sunday reports.
Water giant Severn Trent will probably receive a fourth takeover offer from the Canadian-led consortium Longriver. Its suitors have until this next Tuesday to table a final bid or they will have to wait six months before being able to do so again. Meantime, Severn is thought to be holding out for a price of £23 per share. A third offer from the consortium was rejected on Friday. The water company believes the £22 a share offered does not take into account the planned dividend of 45.51p due to shareholders. It said this meant the bid was worth only £21.54 a share, The Financial Mail on Sunday says.
Royal Mail´s planned flotation has come under threat from possible industrial action. Following the company´s move to cap increases in pensionable pay at the rate of inflation, or up to a maximum of 5% regardless of pay rises, the Deputy Chairman of The Communication Workers’ Union union has threatened a national industrial action ballot. The company explains that if it does not do so then it will soon see the cost of maintaining the current scheme rise to £700m, from £400m now, explains The Sunday Times.
Lord Levene, the chairman of the failed NBNK bid for the Lloyds branches known as “Verde”, has written to the Chancellor, alleging that he has been told that political pressure played a part in the approval of the Co-op´s bid for Verde. That claim has been backed up by Lord Forsyth, Lord Forsyth, the former Scottish Secretary and another member of the NBNK board, The Sunday Telegraph writes. Both the Chancellor and the Treasury, however, have denied the allegation, The Sunday Telegraph reports.
Companies are usually not keen to talk about Directors who sell stock in the firm. This is surely the case at Prudential, where late last month eight directors sold shares worth more than £20m in total. The Chief Executive, Tidjane Thiam, himself, sold just over 30% of his holding, generating a one-off gain of £4.7m. Investors who bought shares when they were half today’s price may wish to follow the directors’ lead. Nevertheless, existing shareholders should keep most of their shares while potential investors may want to take a closer look, says The Financial Mail on Sunday´s Midas column.
Punch Taverns, one of Britain´s biggest pub companies, is set to make another attempt this week at restructuring its debt pile. While most of Punch’s debt, built up during an acquisition spree, is held in long-term bonds, any spare cash the company generates is used to pay interest. After an influential set of bondholders refused to taking write-downs or accept later payments the company will now offer them cash - possibly funded by Goldman Sachs - in exchange for walking away, The Sunday Times reports.
Friday´s lacklustre US employment report tempered fears of a repeat of 1994, when a sharp rise in US interest rates sparked a correction on global capital markets. That comes as Britain’s bond funds have lost nearly £8bn in just four weeks. The sterling corporate bond fund sector, in which retail investors have about £75bn salted away, has lost 2.6% in value over the past month, while global bond funds, where £148bn is invested, are down 2.59%, according to data provider Morningstar, according to The Sunday Times.
Keywords Studios, which tests games such as Halo and Pro Evolution Soccer and produces local language versions for developers such as Electronic Arts, Konami and Microsoft, plans to raise about £10m from a listing on AIM. This will value the company at between £50m and £60m. The funds will de deployed to push into new markets such as Latin America and extend its range of services. Keywords generated sales of €14.3m (£12.2m) last year and achieved a pre-tax profit of €2.7m, The Sunday Times says.
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