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Wednesday newspaper round-up: Barclays, Tesco, Alliance & Leicester

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Date: Wednesday 20 Aug 2008

LONDON (ShareCast) - The computer games industry has launched an unprecedented assault on illegal downloads, demanding payment from thousands of families who obtained the latest releases over the internet without paying.

Five of the world’s top games developers will serve notice on 25,000 people across the UK, requiring each one to pay £300 immediately to settle out of court. Those who refuse risk being taken to court. The companies will target their initial legal actions on 500 people who ignore the letters. The companies involved – Atari, Topware Interactive, Reality Pump, Techland and Codemasters, reports the Times.

Barclays would consider buying a US wealth management company but is “highly unlikely” to bid for an investment bank, even with the depressed share prices of many Wall Street firms, Bob Diamond, the bank’s president, says. Diamond, who runs Barclays Capital, the UK bank’s investment bank, told the Financial Times that the credit crunch offered an unprecedented chance to take business from more established US rivals.

Tesco exaggerated the cheapness of its products in the battle for budget shoppers, the advertising watchdog has ruled. The Advertising Standards Authority said Britain's largest supermarket suggested it was up to 53% cheaper than Asda and Morrisons for a basket of common items. But, the ASA ruled, the ads gave a misleading impression because Tesco's "cheap" products were on a promotion for a limited time and the biggest savings came from less common items such as branded dishwasher tablets and dog food, reports the Independent.

The chief executive of Alliance & Leicester will receive a bonus of up to £750,000 if he remains with the company after it is taken over by Santander, according to documents released to shareholders yesterday. Meanwhile, the bank's 7,500 workers will each receive more than £900 of shares in Santander, the Spanish bank that is buying A&L for £1.3bn, when the deal is completed, writes the Times.

The hedge fund group that took a huge bet on Northern Rock as it was imploding last autumn has reportedly lost 85% of its investors' money, amid evidence of a terrible spell this summer for many hedge funds. SRM, the Monaco-based group that raised $3illion from investors in September 2006, is down by 85%, according to The Wall Street Journal, including a minus 77% performance in the past year. Tight lock-up terms prevent investors from withdrawing their money, reports the Times.

Brixton chief executive Tim Wheeler has compared the state of the commercial property market to the "apocalyptic" atmostphere of Bob Dylan's 1967 song, All Along the Watchtower. All the jokers and thieves of the industry are contributing to a state of confusion where no one can "know what any of it is worth", he says, reports the Telegraph.

The Serious Fraud Office may launch an investigation into the collapse of business class-only airline Silverjet, after receiving a complaint. The airline collapsed weeks after it announced it had arranged a loan of up to $100m (£53.6m) from Viceroy Holdings, an Abu Dhabi-based investment house. The first instalment of $5m failed to arrive and days later Silverjet grounded planes, leaving business travellers stranded, reports the Telegraph.

Mortgage lending will contract by almost 20% this year, reflecting the market uncertainty, falling house prices, and rising arrears, market analyst Datamonitor has warned. In the first six months of this year, gross lending amounted to just £149.5bn, a steep fall of almost 19 per cent from £178bn in the first half of 2007, reports the Independent.

The world's biggest brick-maker, Wienerberger, is mothballing two British factories as part of 25 closures across Europe, after profits fell 31% during the property slowdown. The Austrian company blamed the construction slump in the UK, America and Germany for "disappointing developments", which will lead to the loss of 80 jobs at plants in Devon and Surrey, reports the Telegraph.

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