World Economies

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SAP admits Oracle data downloads
SAP has admitted its TomorrowNow unit carried out "inappropriate downloads" of documents from its rival Oracle, but said SAP had not accessed the material.
Oracle is suing SAP, accusing it of hacking into its computer network and stealing vital product information.

In a written legal response to Oracle's claims of intellectual property theft, SAP said the downloaded material had stayed in TomorrowNow's systems.

SAP said changes had now been made to TomorrowNow's management.

"Even a single inappropriate download is unacceptable from my perspective. We regret very much that this occurred," SAP's chief executive Henning Kagerman said in a statement.

Lucrative market

Oracle has claimed the German firm is guilty of "corporate theft on a grand scale" by gaining illegal access to one of its customer support websites.

Oracle and SAP compete in the business software sector, selling programs that help firms to run more efficiently.

Oracle's lawsuit claims that SAP resorted to illegal activity to maintain its leadership in the market for business applications software.

It alleges that staff at TomorrowNow, a firm bought by SAP in 2005, accessed Oracle's computer network last year and illegally downloaded a wide range of copyrighted software and other material.

The software was part of the Peoplesoft business that was bought by Oracle in 2005.

The Peoplesoft deal was one of a $20bn series of takeovers that Oracle has pulled off in the past three years, exerting greater pressure on market leader SAP.

Through its actions, TomorrowNow had assembled a "storehouse of stolen Oracle intellectual property", Oracle says.

"This theft appears to be an essential, and illegal, part of SAP's competitive strategy against Oracle," the complaint - lodged with a federal court in San Francisco - alleges.



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Published: 2007/07/03 06:15:43 GMT

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Chinese shares in renewed slump
Chinese shares have fallen by more than 5% on fears that the rising number of listings and new share issues will weaken the value of existing stock.
The Shanghai Composite Index closed at 3,615.87 after its biggest one-day decline for 10 weeks.

A government plan to issue 1.5 trillion yuan ($200bn; £100bn) in special bonds to fund its foreign reserve investment agency also hit sentiment.

The losses could mean China's soaring market has peaked, analysts say.

"With huge new share supplies pouring into the market and under the pressure of the upcoming special bond issuance, investors see no hope for the market to reverse its recent weakness in the near term," said Zheng Weigang, a senior analyst at Shanghai Securities.

Inflation fears

Investors have been wary since late May, when Beijing moved to cool the market by increasing stamp duty on share transactions.

The Chinese government is keen to prevent rising inflation from spiralling out of control and to curb its soaring trade surplus, which has been the source of much contention with its key trade partners, such as the US.

Before the recent falls, the index had doubled in value this year alone and had pushed through the 4,000 mark.

Private investors have raced to transfer money from their savings accounts into shares over the past 18 months, with a quarter of the 102.5 million stock-trading accounts opened in that time.

This has prompted an increasing number of firms to seek initial public offerings on the main Shanghai market to take advantage of investor demand, such as China's biggest coal miner, Shenhua Energy, which plans to raise up to $6.3bn (£3.1bn) from a listing.

But this trend could have the opposite effect, as state-owned firms are seeking to dump loads of shares on the market to dilute existing prices.

And in May, China paved the way for corporate investors to acquire overseas assets, which could weaken further the appeal of the domestic market, analysts say.

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Published: 2007/07/05 12:21:59 GMT

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Eurotunnel shares slide continues
Newly issued shares in Channel tunnel rail operator Groupe Eurotunnel (GET) have fallen 21.5% in their second day of trading in Paris.
And Deutsche Bank downgraded its stance on GET shares to "hold" from "buy", and set a target price of 40 euro cents.

It comes after GET shares lost 42% on their first day of trading on Monday.

Existing Eurotunnel shares were swapped for shares in the newly created Groupe Eurotunnel after the firm agreed a deal with its creditors to cut its debt.

But analysts set a target price for the new GET shares well below the level at which they were issued.

Analysts at Societe Generale envisage the newly issued shares trading at about 26 euro cents within one year.

Old Eurotunnel shares, which are set to be delisted, were down 7% to 67 cents early on Tuesday morning.

Decades of problems

Since its formation in 1986, the Channel tunnel operator has struggled to make cash, owing to larger-than-expected construction costs and lower-than-estimated traffic through the tunnel.

Existing shareholders were able to swap their shares on a one-for-one basis in the new entity.

The share swap followed tough negotiations with creditors and put a line under 20 years of financial problems for the group.

Since the tunnel opened in 1994, losses sustained during its construction were never recovered through car and freight traffic or through its high-speed train user, Eurostar, which meant the debt could never be paid back.



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Published: 2007/07/03 17:56:42 GMT

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New Eurotunnel shares in meltdown
Newly issued shares in Channel tunnel rail operator Groupe Eurotunnel (GET) have fallen by more than 40% on their first day of trading in Paris.
Existing Eurotunnel shares were swapped for shares in the newly created Groupe Eurotunnel after the firm agreed a deal with its creditors to cut its debt.

But analysts set a target price for the new GET shares well below the level at which they were issued.

GET shares were trading down 42%, at 45 euro cents, at close on Monday.

Analysts at Societe Generale envisage the newly issued shares trading at about 26 euros cents within one year.

Eurotunnel shares, which are set to be delisted, fell 6.5% to 72 cents.

Decades of problems

Since its formation in 1986, the Channel tunnel operator has struggled to make cash, owing to larger-than-expected construction costs and lower-than-estimated traffic through the tunnel.

Existing shareholders were able to swap their shares on a one-for-one basis in the new entity.

The share swap followed tough negotiations with creditors and put a line under 20 years of financial problems for the group.

Since the tunnel opened in 1994, losses sustained during its construction were never recovered through car and freight traffic or through its high speed train user Eurostar, which meant the debt could never be paid back.



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Published: 2007/07/03 05:48:39 GMT

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China to search for oil in Sudan
China's biggest oil company CNPC has reached a deal with Sudan to search for oil and gas in the north of the country on the coast of the Red Sea.
The exploration will be carried out jointly with the Indonesian state oil and gas company PT Pertamina.

China has been under pressure from Western countries to reduce its investment in Sudan because of the humanitarian crisis there.

China is Sudan's top foreign investor and also supplies it with weapons.

It has argued against taking sanctions against Sudan, saying that what is needed is measures to address poverty, which it sees as the cause of the violence in Darfur.

The agreement calls for six years of exploration and 20 years of shared production.

The exploration rights cover about 3.8 square kilometres of shallow water on the Red Sea.

The financial details of the deal have yet to be finalised, according to officials at the Chinese embassy in Sudan.

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Published: 2007/07/02 14:37:07 GMT

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O2 'to get iPhone contract in UK'
Half a million phones were sold on the first weekend in the US
iPhone in action
Mobile phone operator O2 is reported to have won the sought-after deal to sell Apple's iPhone in the UK.
Press reports said that O2 is set to sign an exclusive contract shortly and should have the new phones on sale in time for Christmas.

However a spokesman for O2's owner, Spain's Telefonica, said that a deal had not been signed.

More than 500,000 iPhones were sold in the first weekend in the US by AT&T, which has exclusive rights there.

Vodafone, which had previously been tipped as the likely winner of the contract, saw its shares fall 2.4%.

The agreement with O2 is reported to include Apple receiving a continuing share of the revenue generated for the network operator.

The handsets are expected to be sold for about £300 and O2 will be hoping that the lure of the fashionable phone is enough to win customers from rival networks.



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Published: 2007/07/05 22:38:33 GMT

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Gulf banks discussing mega-merger
Emirates Bank International and National Bank of Dubai are discussing a merger to create the Gulf's largest bank by assets and market value.
It would have a combined capitalisation of $11.25bn (£5.6bn), topping National Bank of Abu Dhabi - the largest bank by market value in United Arab Emirates.

The banks have asked the Dubai bourse to halt trading in their shares.

The stocks will remain suspended until the two lenders announce details of the deal after consulting regulators.

State involvement

It is thought that process of consultation could take about two weeks.

The two lenders said in March they would merge and appointed investment bank Goldman Sachs to advise them on the deal.

The government of Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates, owns roughly three-quarters of Emirates Bank and 14% of National Bank.

"Both boards are going to go back to their shareholders and discuss with them the conditions," said Essa Kazim, chairman of the Dubai Financial Market.

"The shares will be suspended until all that information becomes public."

The banks had assets worth $48.7bn at the end of the first quarter of the year.

This would make any new entity bigger than Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank as the Gulf's largest lender by assets.

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Published: 2007/07/02 08:34:43 GMT

© BBC MMVII

 

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"O"peration "I"raq"L"IBERATION="OIL"!

Iraqi cabinet backs draft oil law

Iraq's government has approved an amended draft law on how to share the country's oil wealth, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has said.
Mr Maliki said the bill, which will now be passed to parliament to be debated, was the "most important law in Iraq".

However, the cabinet is yet to endorse deals such as revenue sharing and the creation of a national oil company.

In addition, a parliamentary boycott by some Sunni and Shia factions is expected to slow the bill's passage.

'Varied views'

The US has been pressing Iraq to pass an oil law, as part of efforts to promote reconciliation among the country's religious and ethnic groups.

But the BBC's Jim Muir, in Baghdad, says that Iraqi politics is in greater disarray than at any time since the 2003 invasion, and the bill's progress is unlikely to be smooth.

Despite assurances from Mr Maliki that the bill will be debated in parliament shortly, all Sunni factions and the 30 MPs allied to radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr are boycotting the chamber.





In addition, rival groups - including Kurdish factions - also disagree on key elements of the bill.

Oil ministry spokesman Assim Jihad said different groups had "varied views on the role of the state-run oil company, the ministry, and on discovered and undiscovered oil fields".

He said these would be debated during the bill's passage through parliament.

The distribution of oil revenues is also a key concern for Sunni Arab groups, who live in areas which are mostly without oil reserves.

The original draft, approved by the cabinet in February, stipulated that a state oil company would take control of oilfields away from regional governments.

But Kurdish organisations said such moves were unconstitutional.

They reached agreement with the government in June that the authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan would receive 17% of all oil revenues.

Iraq's known oil reserves have been estimated at 115 billion barrels, but production has fallen drastically since the US-led invasion on 2003.

'Intense attack'

News of the draft law came as the US military said it was investigating the alleged killing of 10 civilians in air strikes on insurgents in the southern Iraqi city of Diwaniya to see whether "proportionate force" was used.

F-16 fighter planes bombed a street in the city on Monday after militants reportedly fired up to 75 mortars and rockets at the Camp Echo coalition military base.

Separately, the US said 23 insurgents were killed in a weekend operation in the western Anbar province.

US-led forces there said they found militants preparing for suicide attacks in the provincial capital, Ramadi.

Two US pilots were also slightly hurt when their helicopter was shot down by enemy fire near Baghdad.

After the incident, a US warplane destroyed the wreckage of the aircraft with two laser guided bombs.

In other developments:


At least 18 people were killed and 35 injured in a car bomb attack at a market in the Shia al-Shaab district of Baghdad, police said.

Human Rights Watch issued a report detailing torture and abuses at security facilities in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq

Two US troops died in an accident during combat operations in Anbar on Sunday

A car bomb targeting a police patrol in the northern oil city of Kirkuk killed two and injured at least nine people.
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Published: 2007/07/03 18:16:32 GMT

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Australia 'has Iraq oil interest'
Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has admitted that securing oil supplies is a key factor behind the presence of Australian troops in Iraq.
He said maintaining "resource security" in the Middle East was a priority.

But PM John Howard has played down the comments, saying it was "stretching it a bit" to conclude that Australia's Iraq involvement was motivated by oil.

The remarks are causing heated debate as the US-led Iraq coalition has avoided linking the war and oil.

Oil concerns

Australia was involved in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and has about 1,500 military personnel still deployed in the region.

There are no immediate plans to bring them home.

In comments to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Mr Nelson admitted that the supply of oil had influenced Australia's strategic planning in the region.

"Obviously the Middle East itself, not only Iraq but the entire region, is an important supplier of energy, oil in particular, to the rest of the world," he said.

"Australians and all of us need to think what would happen if there were a premature withdrawal from Iraq.

"It's in our interests, our security interests, to make sure that we leave the Middle East, and leave Iraq in particular, in a position of sustainable security."


Australians and all of us need to think what would happen if there were a premature withdrawal from Iraq
Brendan Nelson


This is thought to be the first time the Australian government has admitted any link between troop deployment in Iraq and securing energy resources.
But Prime Minister John Howard was quick to play down the significance of his defence minister's comments.

"We didn't go there because of oil and we don't remain there because of oil," he told a local radio station.

"A lot of oil comes from the Middle East - we all know that - but the reason we remain there is that we want to give the people of Iraq a possibility of embracing democracy," he added.

Opposition criticism

Opposition politicians, though, have chastised Mr Howard's government over the comments.

"This government simply makes it up as it goes along on Iraq," Labor leader Kevin Rudd told reporters.

Anti-war protesters say the government's admission proves that the US-led invasion was more of a grab for oil rather than a genuine attempt to uncover weapons of mass destruction.

But ministers in Canberra have brushed aside the criticism, saying they remain committed to helping the US stabilise Iraq and combat terrorism.

They have also stressed that there will be no "premature withdrawal" of Australian forces from the region.

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Published: 2007/07/05 09:50:08 GMT

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Equity firm targets Virgin Media

By Robert Peston
Business Editor, BBC News




Virgin Media, the UK's leading cable television company, could be taken private for more than £5.5bn.
Carlyle, one of the world's biggest private equity groups, has made a preliminary offer of between $33 (£16.50) and $35 per share for Virgin.

Virgin shares, which are listed on the US Nasdaq rather than in London, at one point, jumped 23.10% to $30 per share.

Sir Richard Branson's group confirmed it had received a takeover proposal, which it said it would consider.

But Virgin Media did not identify the bidder, believed to be Carlyle, in its statement and also said it had not engaged in negotiations with the suitor.

Subject to conditions

"The proposal is based on public information and is subject to various conditions, including a due diligence examination and a period of exclusivity," the company, which was created by the merger of NTL, Telewest and Virgin's mobile phone operations earlier this year, added.

Virgin Media said it had asked its investment bankers, Goldman Sachs, to conduct a "strategic review" of the company prior to the receipt of the offer, which could be withdrawn if its terms are publicly disclosed.

"The proposal will be considered as part of the review," it said, but added: "There is no assurance that any transaction will occur or, if so, at what price."

Sir Richard Branson is the largest investor in Virgin Media, which has 9 million customers and a £4bn annual turnover.

If successful, the merger would value Virgin at approximately £5.6bn.

The total value of the takeover deal, including Virgin's debt of almost £6bn, would be about £11.5bn.

If it goes through, it would be the second biggest takeover of a British business by private equity, after Boots.

Auction plans

However, it is too early to say whether Carlyle will end up as the owner of Virgin Media, since other private equity firms are interested in making their own offers for it.

It is believed Virgin's managers feel the business would be in a better position to grow as a private company.


The tidal wave of private-equity takeovers shows no sign of abating
Robert Peston,
BBC business editor


They would be freed from the onerous requirement to make quarterly announcements of earnings and could be less fettered in the way they invest in the business.

Providence, another private equity group, is believed to have put together a consortium of private equity players to make an offer for Virgin.

A banker said there was likely to be interest in Virgin from "several other private equity groups".

Sources close to Sir Richard Branson say he would like to remain a shareholder in Virgin if it were to be taken private.

It is believed that most of the other leading Virgin shareholders would be keen to sell at somewhere around the price offered by Carlyle, although the Virgin board believes the business could be worth up to $40 a share.

Legal dispute

In May, following pressure from leading shareholders, Virgin asked Goldman to carry out detailed research on what the business is worth - known as a valuation exercise.

Virgin is in a bitter legal dispute with British Sky Broadcasting following the failure of the two businesses to reach an agreement on terms for Sky to be carried on Virgin's cable channels.

In its last results, Virgin said it had three million users of its television services, 3.4 million broadband customers, 4.5 million subscribers to its mobile phone service and 4.1 million fixed-line telephone customers.

It is believed that Goldman will take around six weeks to whittle down the actual and potential bidders for Virgin to a definitive short list.

Shares in Virgin closed up 17.64% at $28.67 at the end of the trading day in New York.

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Published: 2007/07/03 00:23:38 GMT

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Blackberry to go on sale in China
Research in Motion (RIM) has won approval to sell its Blackberry handheld e-mail device in China - the world's largest mobile phone market.
The Canadian company said Beijing had given the green light to sell the handsets after an eight-year battle.

The device is expected to be available in shops in the country from August, according to reports, with 5,000 advance orders already received.

The plans come as US regulators investigate the firm's stock options.

In April, the firm announced that an informal internal probe into backdated options approved after RIM's initial public offering in 1997 had become a formal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Backdating can increase the value of the shares to the owner. While it is legal, a company has to fully inform shareholders of the practice and make sure it is properly accounted for.

Demand strong

Despite the investigation, RIM continues to perform strongly as customer demand for the Blackberry continues to grow.

Earnings for the first three months of the year rose 10-fold, soaring to $187m (£94m) from $18.4m a year earlier. Its subscriber base grew by about 1.2 million during the quarter, taking the total number to 9.2 million.

However, industry observers say the product's market share could now be threatened by Apple's much-hyped iPhone, which launched last week and offers phone calls, e-mail, internet access, music and video access.

The firm has linked up with China's biggest mobile phone network China Mobile to launch the Blackberry.

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Published: 2007/07/05 07:17:33 GMT

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Infosys gains on 'Capgemini bid'
Shares in Paris-based consultancy Capgemini and Indian software firm Infosys Technologies have jumped on reports of a possible merger.
Infosys declined to comment on "market speculation" that it planned to bid for the European group, bolstering its position in the technology market.

But investors chased the Bangalore firm's shares up 2.5% in India. Shares in Capgemini rose 4.61% in Europe.

A tie-up would help Infosys prepare for an outsourcing slowdown, analysts said.

Outsourcing slowdown

Infosys has grown exponentially over the past five years, capitalising on the demand for IT outsourcing from India's large and well-trained English-speaking engineering workforce, whose wages are on average a fifth of those in the West.


Margins are very high in consulting business as compared to other commoditised business Infosys has
Tejas Doshi, Sushil Finance

Infosys said its fourth quarter net profits leaped 70% to 11.4bn rupees ($267m; £134m) in the three months to 31 March, from 6.73bn rupees a year earlier.

But it recently said it expected earnings growth for the coming financial year to be more modest amid rising wage pressures and a strengthening rupee, which makes India a less attractive bet for outsourcing.

"Margins are very high in consulting business as compared to other commoditised business Infosys has," said Tejas Doshi, an analyst with Sushil Finance.

"If the deal with Capgemini actually happens, Infosys will be able to successfully compete with other biggies in the consulting space," he added.

Indian outsourcing companies have increasing looked to expand their operations overseas, with TCS buying into the UK insurance business, and other firms setting up offshore centres in Eastern Europe.

Capgemini has larger revenues but lower profits than Infosys. For the whole of 2006 it reported net income of 293m euros on income of 7,700m euros.

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Published: 2007/06/29 07:46:00 GMT

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Volatility haunts global shares

By Jamie Robertson
Business presenter, BBC World
These are nervous times and volatile markets.
The bailing-out of one hedge fund by Bear Stearns and the closure of another by Cambridge Place of the UK sent nasty shivers through the markets, which have become increasingly nervous about the infamous sub-prime mortgage market.

Interest rates threaten to go higher in Europe and everywhere is the talk of a "flight to quality".

The Global 30 well demonstrates the volatility that is affecting the markets.

The biggest loser of last month was Tesco, falling almost 9%, while the biggest gainer, the Chinese oil producer CNOOC, was up 18%.

In between, there were huge differences in performance. Yet it's hard to divide the winners and losers into camps.
BBC GLOBAL 30 BIG GAINERS
CNOOC (Red Chip): 18.09%
EDF: 15.24%
China Mobile (Red Chip): 13.27%
BHP Billiton: 12.28%
Siemens AG: 7.67%
Tesco should be described as a defensive stock, but its forecasts disappointed the market and it said its sales were growing at the slowest pace in a year.

The mining and oil companies have done well, thanks to rising oil and metals prices, although Anglo American was dragged down 3% by threats of a strike at its Chilean Collahuasi mine.

Two of the world's biggest power companies, Exelon (down 8.2%) and Tokyo Electric Power (down 4.9%) have fallen sharply, while Electricite de France (up 15.2%) goes from strength to strength.

It is enjoying what is considered to be a bright future for its nuclear power plants, which currently provide about half of all of Europe's nuclear power.
BBC GLOBAL 30 BIG LOSERS
Tesco: -8.77%
Exelon Corporation: -8.23%
Citigroup: -7.20%
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial: -5.53%
Microsoft: -5.27%
What's more, there are hopes that the liberalisation of the energy markets will allow it to increase its artificially low charges to companies.
On the negative side, the French competition authorities have ruled that EDF must provide its rivals with power at a price that allows them to compete.
To add to the confusion, the Global 30 index shuffled around three of its members, with two changes in Asia and one in the US.
NEW ENTRANTS
The arrival of East Japan Railway , not just the country's biggest railway operator but the world's, is symptomatic of renewed interest in defensive stocks in Japan.

But it has also benefited from its large building development programme and expanding interests in shops, station restaurants, hotels, shopping centres and office building management. Its shares are up 11% this last year.

Canon was bumped out of the Global 30 two years ago but is now back in again, as it expands its global lead in digital camera sales, and its shares are up 30% over the last year.

It is projecting an eighth year of record profit, thanks to lower production and component costs for its cameras.

In the fourth quarter, Canon will also start sales of a new type of flat-screen television, surface-conduction electron-emitter display, or SED, which produces clearer images and consumes less power.
Pfizer , the pharmaceuticals giant in the US, left the Global 30 a year ago and is also back in.
Its shares have hardly performed well, up just 9% since last June. That was when the company booted out Chief Executive Officer Hank McKinnell to help quell mutinous investors.
But it has outperformed Johnson and Johnson over the last twelve months and so ranks as the biggest US healthcare company by market capitalisation.
Mr McKinnell's replacement, Jeffrey Kindler, has announced plans to slash 10% of Pfizer's workforce.
ON THE WAY OUT
Johnson and Johnson lost its place at the top table, largely because of safety concerns over its treatment for anaemia, Procrit, and demands to have its use restricted.
The drug brought in some $3.18bn in sales last year.
Both it and Epogen, made by Amgen, are to be examined by a US House Committee hearing on kidney treatment, as the two drugs are the biggest single expense in the US Medicare health plan for the elderly and disabled.
Its shares are up just 3% over the last year.
With interest rates rising in Japan, retailer Seven & I Holdings , the owner of Seven-Eleven convenience stores, hit a slump in spending, as its convenience store profit dropped for the first time in 27 years.
The group is closing some 450 Seven-Eleven stores across the country. Its shares have dropped some 8% over the last year.
Samsung Electronics , having been one of the stars of the global 30 in its first year, became, in its second year, a casualty of a 33% fall in DRAM memory chip prices, and also the strong local currency, the won, against the dollar.
As a result, it said it was lowering its spending on Liquid Crystal Display production by 44% this year. Its shares are down 6% this last 12 months.
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Published: 2007/07/03 10:43:31 GMT
© BBC MMVII

 

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World rich 'keep getting richer'
The world's richest people have increased their wealth at the fastest pace in seven years, a report suggests.
Merrill Lynch and Capgemini reported that the total wealth of high-net worth individuals rose 11.4% to $37.2 trillion (£18.6 trillion) in 2006.

There were 9.5m people with assets of more than $1m (£500,000), while the number of super-rich, with assets in excess of $30m, was 94,970.

The report comes amid concerns that the gap between rich and poor is widening.

Spending power

In previous weeks, a number of policymakers and high profile bankers have warned that the world's poor risk being left behind.

A number of factors have combined to make people wealthier.

Firstly there has been steady economic and corporate profit growth in developed nations such as the UK and US, and a recovery in Japan and Germany.

Secondly, emerging economies including China and India have been powering ahead, while Russia and many other producer nations have been benefiting from record commodity prices.

At the same time, a shift in financial markets and a boom in the number of takeovers and mergers has helped boost shares and bonuses for workers in the City of London and on Wall Street.

The UK saw the number of its high net worth individuals climb by 8.1% to 484,580 in 2006, the report said.

The UK is now home to 16.7% of Europe's high net worth individuals.

In Germany, the rate of growth was 4.1% and in France it was 6%.

China and Russia were among the top 10 fastest growing countries, with high net worth individuals up by 7.8% in China and 15.5% in Russia.

Singapore was another nation that saw its rich club expand quickly.

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Published: 2007/06/27 13:51:26 GMT

© BBC MMVII

 

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Wealth of UK richest 'rises 20%'
The fortunes of Britain's wealthiest 1,000 people grew 20% in a year, the Sunday Times Rich List has revealed.
It shows the combined wealth of the top 1,000 now stands at £360bn and there are 68 billionaires in the country - three times as many as in 2003.

Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal is Britain's richest person with £19bn.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was ranked second. The Duke of Westminster, ranked third, was the only one in the list's top five born in the UK.

Mr Mittal's fortune grew more than £4bn from £14.8bn in 2006, while Mr Abramovich's wealth remained at a hefty £10.8bn, the list suggested.

The Sunday Times said Britain's richest had seen their fortunes grow faster than their equivalents in Europe and worldwide.

The list compilers said the 20% rise in the UK's most wealthy compared to a 14.8% rise in wealth of Europe's top 50 and an 8.3% increase in wealth of the world's richest people over the past 12 months.

Property boom

The boom was underpinned by the "continued buoyancy of the property market", with 221 of the richest having made their money from property, the Sunday Times analysts said.

This was up from 211 who made their money from property in 2006, they said.

They are led by the Duke of Westminster whose fortune grew from £6.6bn to £7bn, based on his property in London's Mayfair, Belgravia and estates in Cheshire, Lancashire and Scotland.



Sunday Times Rich List
1. Lakshmi Mittal...£19.2bn
2. Roman Abramovich..£10.8bn
3. Duke of Westminster...£7bn
4. Sri & Gopi Hinduja...£6.2bn
5. David Khalili...£5.8bn
6. Hans Rausing....£5.4bn
7. Sir Philip and Lady Green..£4.9bn
8. John Fredriksen...£3.5bn
9. David and Simon Reuben..£3.4bn
10. Jim Ratcliffe...£3.3bn


The list suggested there were now 68 billionaires, born, living or making their money in the UK, 14 more than in 2006 and treble the number four years ago.

Scotland also has its first homegrown billionaire in Sir Tom Hunter, whose £1bn fortune has been made from property and sports goods.

Meanwhile, analysts said a growing number of super-rich foreigners were attracted to the UK by a generous tax regime.

As well as Russia and India, the wealthy from Scandinavia and France are also looking to base themselves in the UK.

The Sunday Times said Russian billionaire Mr Abramovich, 40, had endured a tough year that included his divorce from wife Irina.

However, the divorce settlement was "small change" for the Chelsea football club owner, who now spends most of his time in the UK, it said.

Irina joined the 2007 Rich List on her own at 452, with a fortune of £155m.

Model and clothes designer Kate Moss joined the list's 100 richest women in Britain with her fortune of £45m.

Other climbers include Easyjet's Stelios Haji-Ioannu in 49th place with a personal worth of £1.29bn, singer Robbie Williams, ranked 755th with £95m, and David Beckham, placed 619th with £112m.

X Factor and American Idol judge Simon Cowell saw his wealth balloon by £40m to about £100m.

Sir Richard Branson slipped two places to number 11, with his £3.1bn fortune.






Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/6603893.stm

Published: 2007/04/28 18:12:29 GMT

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