Former Tesco Chairman MacLaurin takes swipe at Leahy's legacy

Tesco’s former chairman Lord MacLaurin used the stage of Tesco’s annual meeting to defend the record of current chief executive Philip Clarke and criticise the legacy left behind by former chief executive Sir Terry Leahy.

Leahy presided over a hugely successful 14 years for the firm as it increased sales, stores and market share from 1997 to 2011 and expanded globally. Sir Terry became chief executive when Lord MacLaurin was still chairman. He was chairman from 1985 to 1997.

The firm enjoyed growth of more than 10 per cent each year during Leahy’s time as chief executive.

He also led Tesco to start businesses in 11 different territories.

However, MacLaurin said that the move to expand overseas helped to cause the current problems and insisted that Mr Clarke requires three years to turn the fortunes of the supermarket around.

He said: “You have to judge a CEO not just by day-to-day performance, but by his legacy. It is sad to see the legacy of the former chief executive in the US. It has led to enormous writedowns.”

Lord MacLaurin said that the performance of a chief executive should also be judged on the legacy that was left for his successor.

He said: "And I think that we are all very sad in this hall to see the legacy that Terry Leahy left.

"It is a very sad situation - your enormous writedowns, and the situation in America.

"This job is going to be probably two or three years," he added.

Tesco was forced to axe its US business, ‘Fresh & Easy’ earlier this year after five years in which it had never made a profit and cost £1 billion in write-down costs.

Tesco was forced to issue its first profit warning for 20 years after poor Christmas trading in the run-up to Christmas 2011.

Last year, Tesco saw its annual profits fall to £120 million from £2.8 billion the year before as it began a huge investment programme to try and revitalise its stores and product range.

Mr Clarke said that Tesco will slow down on large new store openings and focus on smaller convenience stores, improving customer service and online retail.
Sir Terry Leahy was not available for comment.
Source: http://www.myfinances.co.uk/cut-your-bills/2013/06/29/former-tesco-chairman-maclaurin-takes-swipe-at-leahy-s-legac

AVENTURIER PORTFOLIO SUGGESTION OF THE DAY 28/06/2013

TAHO $14.15 2.0516.94%*Delayed - data as of Jun. 28, 2013

 

Tahoe Resources Inc [TAHO] is traded on New York Stock Exchange in USA. It is located in Reno, NV and employs 447 people. The company currently falls under 'Mid-Cap' category with current market capitalization of 2.06 B. Tahoe Resources Inc conducts business under Basic Materials sector and is part of Industrial Metals and Minerals industry. This company has 145.7 M outstanding shares of which 685.9 K shares are at this time shorted by private and institutional investors with about 7.6 trading days to cover.

Use Tahoe to enhance returns of your portfolios. The stock experiences very speculative upward sentiment.Analyze Tahoe Resources Trend or Check current 30 days Tahoe correlation with market (S&P 500)

1 Month Beta   0.93
Highest Price: 15.17
Lowest Price:  12.05
Tahoe returns are very sensitive to returns on the market. As market goes up or down, Tahoe is expected to follow.

The median price of Tahoe for the period between Thu, May 30, 2013 and Sat, Jun 29, 2013 is 13.94 with a coefficient of variation of 6.73. The daily time series for the period is distributed with a sample standard deviation of 0.92, arithmetic mean of 13.74, and mean deviation of 0.74. The Stock received some media coverage during the period.

(Aventurier Ltd will not be responsible and or liable for any action or actions taken following the suggestion above)

The Difference Between U.S. and Emerging Markets

Newedge USA Chief U.S. Credit, Equity and Policy Strategist Larry McDonald discusses U.S. and emerging markets on Bloomberg Television's "Lunch Money." (Source: Bloomberg)

The Top Market Moves for June 28

On today's "The Roundup," Alix Steel, Dominic Chu and Julie Hyman wrap up the day's top market stories on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)

The Top Ten Stocks for June 28

Bloomberg’s Trish Regan, Dominic Chu and Adam Johnson report on today’s ten most important stocks including Nike, GameStop and BlackBerry. (Source: Bloomberg)

Church-backed bid for RBS arm could herald creation of ethical bank on high street

The Church of England is backing a bid for hundreds of branches being offloaded by Royal Bank of Scotland, raising the prospect of a new, ethical bank on the high street.

The Church Commissioners, who manage the Church's investments, are helping to fund a consortium led by the former banker and trade minister Lord Davies looking to take control of 315 RBS branches.

With investment decisions by the Church Commissioners taking into account the advice of the Church of England's Ethical Investment Advisory Group, this would suggest consumers will have a new, ethical banking option if the consortium is successful.

That would be a fillip for ethical financial firms following last week's forced bailout of the Co-op Bank.

RBS is selling the branches after being ordered to get rid of them by the European Commission as a consequence of being bailed out by taxpayers. They were due to be sold to Santander, but the £1.65bn deal collapsed last October more than two years after being agreed.

As well as the Church Commissioners, the consortium contains the private-equity firms Corsair – of which Lord Davies is a partner and vice-chairman – and Centerbridge, plus Standard Life, and the City veteran Lord Rothschild's investment trust, RIT Capital.

There are believed to be two other interested groups still in the running for the business: a tie-up between private-equity company AnaCap Financial Partners and US giant Blackstone, as well as a collection of more than 20 asset management firms led by Andrew Higginson, a former finance director of Tesco.

Earlier this week, Virgin Money's chief executive, Jayne-Anne Gadhia, said it was "totally out of the running" for the business.

The Church of England and RBS declined to comment.

The Church of England already holds a small stake in Barclays, and criticised the bank in its annual report last month, saying it had "repeatedly let down society with its conduct".

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has become a major figure in the struggle to reshape Britain's banking sector due to his position on the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards.

He clashed with RBS's chief executive, Stephen Hester, last November in the role, asking: "What is the duty of an enormous bank like yours – approaching 100 per cent of GDP, well into the hundreds of billions of pounds – what is your duty to society, and why didn't you mention it?"

On the side of angels

No pornography, arms or booze are some of the guidelines by which the Church Commissioners' investment decisions are made. Advice is taken from the Church of England's Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG), which was behind the Church's decision last year to sell its stake in News Corporation in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal. The EIAG entered into a year of talks with News Corp, and put forward recommendations, but in the end said the media giant had not "brought about sufficient change".

source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/churchbacked-bid-for-rbs-arm-could-herald-creation-of-ethical-bank-on-high-street-8677708.html

British Government Takes Step in Selling Stakes of Bailed-Out Banks

LONDON – The British government’s long-awaited sale of its stakes in the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Lloyds Banking Group is inching closer.

UK Financial Investments, the organization that manages the holdings on behalf of the British government, has asked investment banks to make their pitches to help sell the stakes in the two lenders, which both received multibillion-dollar bailouts during the financial crisis.The tender offer, released on Thursday, comes as the future of the government’s holding in both banks is at a crossroads.

The banks have shed billions of dollars of assets, reduced their exposure to risky assets and, in the case of the Royal Bank of Scotland, slashed its investment banking unit to refocus on its retail operations. British taxpayers own a 39 percent stake in Lloyds and a 82 percent holding in the Royal Bank Scotland.Earlier this month, George Osborne, the country’s chancellor of the Exchequer, said the government was “actively considering options for share sales in Lloyds,” though he played down a similar offloading of Royal Bank of Scotland shares. Other local lawmakers have called for the breakup of the Royal Bank of Scotland to separate the firm’s toxic assets from its healthy banking operations.

By inviting investment banks to help sell the British taxpayers’ stakes in the two lenders, UK Financial Investments has moved the ball forward on the privatizations, though questions remain over how long the eventually share sale will take.

The tender, for which pitches must be submitted by July 8, asks investment banks to apply for four roles in the pending process: bookrunner, co-lead manager, capital markets adviser and financial adviser. Last year, Deutsche Bank helped UK Financial Investments to sell its stake in struggling British lender Northern Rock to Richard Branson’s Virgin Money.

The potential privatization of the banks is likely to be highly contentious, as local politicians and analysts continue to battle over what to do with British taxpayers’ stakes. Some British lawmakers have called for the shares to be sold directly to retail customers to allow them to benefit from any potential increase in the firms’ future share prices. A similar process in the 1980s led many British taxpayers to buy shares in former state-owned companies like the energy utility British Gas.

Lloyds is likely to be the first to be privatized, as its current share price is above the government’s breakeven price of 61.20 pence, or 93 cents. Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland, however, are still trading 33 percent below what the British government says it needs to recoup its investment.

On Friday, Lloyds’ shares rose 1.6 percent, to 63.88 pence, in early afternoon trading in London, while the Royal Bank of Scotland’s stock price traded up slightly.

The prospect of the British government selling its stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland took a hit earlier this month when its chief executive, Stephen Hester, abruptly announced that he would leave the bank by the end of the year.

Mr. Hester had been widely praised for overseeing the bank’s restructuring, though the timing of any potential share sale had become highly politicized ahead of Britain’s general election to be held in 2015.

The bank’s board said they had asked Mr. Hester to step down so that they could appoint a new leader to oversee the privatization process, which could take the rest of the decade to complete.

source: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/06/28/british-government-takes-step-in-selling-stakes-of-bailed-out-banks/?_r=0

Morning Movers; BlackBerry, Ford - 28/06/2013

Bloomberg's Scarlet Fu, Sara Eisen and Tom Keene highlight the news you need to follow for today's trading. They speak on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg Surveillance."

The Top Ten Stocks for June 27

On today's "The Roundup," Alix Steel, Dominic Chu and Julie Hyman wrap up the day's top market stories on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)

BlackBerry's 'Brutal' Results Spur Takeover Talk

Bloomberg News' Hugo Miller recaps disappointing results from BlackBerry as the mobile phone maker was hurt but sluggish demand and currency restrictions in Venezuela. He speaks on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg Surveillance."

AVENTURIER PORTFOLIO SUGGESTION OF THE DAY 26/06/2013

DUST $160.5817 19.3817  13.73%
*Delayed - data as of Jun. 26, 2013 12:15 ET 

 

Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 3X Shrs [DUST] is traded in USA and was established in December 7, 2010. The fund is listed under Trading-Inverse Equity category and is part of Direxion Funds family. This fund currently have 41.04 M in assets under management (AUM). Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 3X Shrs is currenly generating year-to-date return of 62.46%, while the total return for the last year was 10.91%.

Use Direxion to enhance returns of your portfolios. The etf experiences very speculative upward sentiment.

As returns on market increase, returns on owning Direxion are expected to decrease by larger amounts. On the other hand, during market turmoil, Direxion is expected to significantly outperform it.

The median price of Direxion for the period between Mon, May 27, 2013 and Wed, Jun 26, 2013 is 88.02 with a coefficient of variation of 22.84. The daily time series for the period is distributed with a sample standard deviation of 21.45, arithmetic mean of 93.94, and mean deviation of 16.82. The ETF received some media coverage during the period.

(Aventurier Ltd will not be responsible and or liable for any action or actions taken following the suggestion above)

Spending review 2013 – the key points

Everything you need to know about today's crucial announcements from chancellor George Osborne



In his own words

• “Britain is moving out of intensive care and from rescue to recovery,” George Osborne says.

• There are three principles to the spending review: reform, growth, and fairness, the chancellor says. “We are all in it together … Those with the broadest shoulders bear the largest burden.” Treasury analysis shows that the top one-fifth of the population lose most as a result of this spending round, Osborne says.

• The eurozone crisis, oil crisis, and banking crisis have had negative effects on Britain, he says.

Headline figures
• Biggest single saving is £6bn a year less the UK is paying to service its debts than previous government budgeted for.

• Borrowing for this year is set to be £108bn, compared to £157bn under the last government, Osborne says.

• Until 2017-18, he says, the total amount of government spending will continue to fall in real terms at the same average rate as today.

• Total government expenditure for 2015-16 will be £745bn. Would have been £120bn higher under Labour, he says.

• But government needs £11.5bn of further savings, Osborne says. some £5bn of this will come from efficiency savings.

• Public sector pay rises will be limited to an average of up to 1% for 2015-16 and automatic progression pay in the civil service will be ended by 2015-16. The government aims to remove automatic pay rises for time served for staff in schools, NHS, prisons and the police – but not in the armed forces.

• Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts total number of people working for the government to fall by a further 144,000 by 2015-16.

Capital investment

• Osborne announces more than £3bn of capital investment in affordable housing. He commits to £50bn capital investment in 2015 – adding up to more than £300bn for infrastructure including roads, railways, bridges, broadband, science and schools by 2020. Tomorrow Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, will announce more than £100bn of infrastructure projects.

• The government will "look at the case for" a Crossrail 2 line in London and give mayor Boris Johnson almost £9bn of capital spending and additional financing power by 2020.

Department by department
• 2015-16 Treasury resource budget reduced by 10%. Cabinet Office resource budget reduced by 10%.

• Local government department budget has been reduced by 60% - Eric Pickles is “the model of lean government”. He has agreed to another 10% reduction in his resource budget. The council tax freeze, due to come to an end next April, will be extended for the next two years.

• The governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are required to find resource savings of 2%, with a budget for Scotland of £25.7bn, Wales £13.6bn and Northern Ireland £9.6bn. The Scotland, Wales and NI offices in London are required to find savings of 10%. New capital borrowing powers of almost £300m for Scotland and an additional £31m to help Police Service of Northern Ireland tackle terrorism were also announced.

• Culture, media and sport department resource budget cut 7% - elite sport protected, Arts Council England and national museums cut by 5%.

• Further savings in the Foreign Office budget of 8% in 2015-16.

• The defence resource budget will be maintained in cash terms at £24bn, while the defence equipment budget will be £14bn and will grow by 1% in real terms in following years. There will be no reduction in the numbers of soldiers, sailors or airmen, but there will be cuts in the civilian workforce.

• There will be an increase of 3.4% in the intelligence services budget.

• The Home Office resource budget will be cut by 6%. The counter-terrorism budget will not be cut.

• The Ministry of Justice budget will be cut by 10%.

• HM Revenue and Customs's resource budget will be cut by 5%, but extra resources will be provided to tackle tax evasion.

• The Department for Transport will make a 9% saving in its resource budget, but its capital budget will rise to £9.5bn.

• The Department for Energy will see an 8% reduction.

• The Department for Environment will see a 10% reduction. But spending on flood defences will be protected.

• The Department for Business will see its budget cut by 6%. There will be a 9% increase in capital investment by the Department for Business, including a huge increase in science spending.

• The budget of the education department will increase to £53bn and school spending will be protected in real terms. The pupil premium for poor students will be protected in real terms. The schools capital budget will be set at £4.6bn in 2015-16. Osborne also announced funding for an unprecedented increase in the number of free schools - 180 in 2015-16.

• Department for International Development budget will be £11.1bn in 2015-16, allowing government to keep its commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on aid.

• The health budget in 2015-16 will be £110bn, while capital spending will rise to £4.7bn. A significant proportion of health and social care spending will be merged. The budget for this will be £3bn.

• Department for Work and Pensions is committed to 9.5% savings in running costs. A welfare cap will be set each year at the budget for four years, as a cash sum. When the government is forecast to breach the cap, the Office for Budget Responsibility will issue a warning. The government will either have to take action, or explaining why it is going to breach the cap. Osborne says state pensions will not be included in the cap, but housing benefit, tax credits, disability benefits and pensioner benefits will be. Winter fuel payments for Britons who live in hot countries will be scrapped. Total additional welfare savings for 2015 up to £4bn, he says.
source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jun/26/spending-review-2013-the-key-points

Rising Gilt Yields Can Negate Budget Cuts: Lamont

Norman Lamont, former U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer, examines the U.K. economy ahead of current U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne's budget address and looks at the influences affecting the Gilt market. He speaks on Bloomberg Television's "The Pulse."

Apple Falls Below $400 as Workers Seen Leaving

Apple dipped below $400 for the first time since April as a glut of unsold iPhones prompted Jefferies & Co. to lower its target price, and Global Equities Research said low morale is causing employee departures. Angie Lau reports on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)

The Top Ten Stocks for Wednesday, June 26

Bloomberg's Betty Liu, Dominic Chu and Michael McKee report on today's ten most important stocks including Synaptics, Pandora and Microsoft. They speak on Bloomberg Television's "In The Loop."

AVENTURIER PORTFOLIO SUGGESTION OF THE DAY 25/06/2013

YRC Worldwide
 
 
YRC Worldwide Inc [YRCW] is traded on NASDAQ in USA. It is located in Overland Park, KS and employs 32,000 people. The company currently falls under 'Small-Cap' category with current market capitalization of 174.54 M. YRC Worldwide Inc conducts business under Services sector and is part of Trucking industry. This company has 8.58 M outstanding shares of which 860.32 K shares are at this time shorted by private and institutional investors with about 8.4 trading days to cover.

Use YRC Worldwid to enhance returns of your portfolios. The stock experiences very speculative upward sentiment.

The median price of YRC Worldwid for the period between Sun, May 26, 2013 and Tue, Jun 25, 2013 is 20.93 with a coefficient of variation of 9.17. The daily time series for the period is distributed with a sample standard deviation of 1.93, arithmetic mean of 21.02, and mean deviation of 1.7. The Stock received substential amount of media coverage during this period.

(Aventurier Ltd will not be responsible and or liable for any action or actions taken following the suggestion above)

The Top Ten Stocks for Tuesday, June 25

Bloomberg's Betty Liu, Julie Hyman and Dominic Chu report on today's ten most important stocks including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Barnes & Noble and Sprint. They speak on Bloomberg Television's "In The Loop."

Narrowed Horizons: The fiscal choices at Spending Review 2013 and beyond

The government's plans for deficit reduction have increasingly stark implications for public spending as their deadline draws nearer. The Resolution Foundations senior economist Matthew Whittaker explains the implications of current spending commitments and forecasts to the next election and beyond.

George Osborne sets June Spending Review date

Chancellor George Osborne has announced the next Spending Review, which is expected to outline further cuts, will take place on 26 June.

It will cover government expenditure from April 2015 onwards.

The last review took place in October 2010 and saw Mr Osborne unveil some of the the biggest UK public spending cuts for decades.

The chancellor told MPs the "spending envelope" for the review would be set in next week's Budget.

The Ghost Town of Silicon Valley

Bloomberg Businessweek's Ashlee Vance visits Alviso, California, a forgotten town at the edges of Palo Alto and Mountainview that's a destination for Silicon Valley engineers looking for good Mexican food.

Morning Movers: Oracle, Lennar, Carnival Corp.

Bloomberg's Scarlet Fu, Sara Eisen and Tom Keene highlight the news you need to follow for today's trading. They speak on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg Surveillance."

100 Gigawatts: EU Bets Big on Ocean Wave Energy

Bloomberg News' Louise Downing talks with Francine Lacqua about the European Union's investments in wave energy projects and how utilities are coming on board to expand use of the ocean's power generating potential. She speaks on Bloomberg Television's "The Pulse."

U.S. Dollar Will Remain Broadly Strong: Su

Compass Global Markets CEO Andrew Su discusses the outlook for currencies with Zeb Eckert on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)

Steve Jobs Movie: A First Glimpse at the Biopic

Five Star Feature Films has released the trailer for "Jobs," its new movie about the life and work of Apple founder Steve Jobs, starring actor Ashton Kutcher.

Favor Bonds in Emerging Markets: Kantor

Barclays' Larry Kantor discusses the outlook for the fixed-income market, Japanese stocks and his investment strategy with Anna Edwards on Bloomberg Television's "Countdown."

Starbucks Pays $15.4 Million U.K. Corporation Tax Amid Backlash

Starbucks Corp., (SBUX) the world’s biggest coffee chain, said it will pay 10 million pounds ($15.4 million) of U.K. corporation tax this year and in 2014 in response to criticism of its money-losing British business.

The company has paid 5 million pounds already and will pay the same amount later this year after forgoing unspecified tax deductions, according to an e-mailed statement. Starbucks, based in Seattle, will also pay 10 million pounds of tax next year.

The payments come amid criticism levied at the company by U.K. lawmakers and activist groups such as U.K. Uncut over complex accounting methods used to minimize its British tax burden. At this year’s World Economic Forum, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said companies need to “wake up and smell the coffee” on the issue, and tax avoidance was discussed at this month’s Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland. Politicians have also grilled executives at Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN)

Starbucks said it will close or relocate unprofitable stores, and rely more on franchised or licensed stores rather than company-owned locations to become profitable in the U.K.

“Six months ago, we felt that our customers should not have to wait for us to become profitable before we started paying U.K. corporation tax,” the company said in the statement. “We listened to our customers in December and so decided to forgo certain deductions which would make us liable to pay 10 million pounds in corporation tax this year and a further 10 million pounds in 2014.”

Starbucks, which has more than 700 stores in the U.K. and more than 18,000 worldwide, said in December that it would pay “a significant amount” of tax in the U.K. in 2013 and 2014. There has been no suggestion that Starbucks has broken any law.

source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-24/starbucks-pays-15-4-million-u-k-corporation-tax-amid-backlash.html

Serious tax evasion reports fall to five-year low

Cases of serious tax evasion reported by local tax offices are at their lowest level in the last five years, according to law firm Pinsent Masons.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) defines tax evasion as "serious" when the sum involved is higher than £50,000 or it is worthy of prosecution.

Serious cases identified by local HMRC offices fell 16% between the two most recent tax years.

The report comes as governments have vowed to cut corporate tax evasion.

HMRC's local offices reported 2,888 suspected cases of tax evasion, down from 3,456 in the previous 12 months, it said.

However, this is only one avenue used to highlight and report tax evasion.

Specialist teams, and campaigns to disclose offshore cases could also pinpoint evasion cases.

As a result, the law firm was unable to conclude whether evasion as a whole was rising or falling.

It said that HMRC has stepped up its anti-evasion efforts considerably in recent years, including having new powers, such as being able to impose penalties of up to 200% of the original tax owed if an individual does not declare any income or capital gains that has been hidden from HMRC in an offshore bank account.

'Tools'

There have been threats of more focus being placed on prosecutions for evasion, and there was a suggestion that this could be preventing some evasion that might have taken place otherwise.

"This decline in suspected tax evasion doesn't tally with the rhetoric from some quarters that the British economy is being undermined by a chronic under-collection of tax revenues," said Phil Berwick, a partner at the law firm.

"HMRC has plenty of tools at its disposal to catch tax evaders which serves as a huge deterrent to those considering tax evasion."

Pinsent Masons advises clients who may face investigations into their tax affairs by HMRC. Mr Berwick admitted that by the very fact of its secretive nature, it is almost impossible to quantify the total amount lost to tax evasion.

Last week, the G8 major economies agreed new measures to clamp down on money launderers, illegal tax evaders and corporate tax avoiders.

And on Sunday, US coffee giant Starbucks said it has paid £5m in UK corporation tax - its first such tax payment since 2009. It announced late last year it would pay more corporation tax after a public outcry and an investigation by MPs.

Starbucks has only reported taxable profit once in 15 years in the UK.

"International co-operation has been stepped up significantly as HMRC has striven to curb tax evasion," Mr Berwick added.

"Tax evaders are now realising that HMRC has a much greater ability to tackle evasion, even if individuals conceal their assets abroad.

source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23020508