The Seattle Mariners institute s latestAbsence Management Survey

The relates baseball tickets institute's latestAbsence shows Management Survey, to be released on Monday, foundprivate sector workers took an average of 6.4 days off due toillness last year, down from 7.2 days in 2007. The Times Stocks  |  China FEARFUL WORKFORCE CLAIMS FEWER SICK DAYS According to research by the Chartered Institute ofPersonnel and Development, workers in the private sector aretaking less time off sick during the recession amid fears toomuch time off may cost them their job. [ID:nHKG22741](Reporting by George Chen and Samuel Shen; Editing by JonathanHopfner) Private Capital. Reutersreported in Feburary that CIC was in talks to buy up to half ofCITIC Capital. Beijing's influential Caijing magazine first reported thealliance between CITIC Capital and CIC at the weekend. Private Capital CITIC Capital, backed by the powerful CITIC Group, which isdirectly led by the cabinet, will issue new shares only to CIC,and the deal could help the fund manager boost its capital baseto HK$5 billion from the current HK$3 billion, said the sourceswith direct knowledge of the matter.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) was up2.62 percent at points as of 0318 GMT (Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner) ken griffey jr . HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, July 20 (Reuters) - China Investment Corp(CIC), the country's $200 billion sovereign wealth fund, hasagreed to invest HK$2 billion ($258.1 million) for a 40 percentstake in private equity fund manager CITIC Capital, sources saidon Monday . Shares in Samsung were up 3.58 percent and Hyundai rose 3.47percent . SEOUL, July 20 (Reuters) - Seoul shares extended gains onMonday, rising 2.5 percent as upward momentum fueled by earningshopes continued, led by technology and auto issues includingSamsung Electronics (005930.KS) and Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) . Due to thedefensive nature of the industry, banks are more willing tofinance leveraged buy-outs in the sector than in more riskyareas, such as retail. TSC also bought out its partner this yearin the Glorious brand of fresh soups Prepared for Reuters by Durrants Stocks. The announcement shows deal-makers are stillhungry to acquire food and drinks companies.

KCP BUYS SOUP MAKER FOR 24 MILLION POUNDS TSC Foods, the maker of chilled and frozen soups, has beenbought by private equity group Key Capital Partners for 24million pounds mariners quilt . The agreement said former JJB chief executiveChris Ronnie had approached Mr Ashley in October 2007 about apossible short-term loan for Sir David, who was allegedly facing"temporary personal financial difficulties" . JJB hasbeen under scrutiny in relation to a 1.5 million pound loanextended to Sir David by Mr Ashley, who released an agreementsigned by the two rivals last weekend that detailed how the loancame to be made . JJB STANDS BY JONES AFTER NEW DISCLOSURE JJB stood by Sir David Jones, its chairman, after thedisclosure of further details of a loan agreement with rivalMike Ashley, the chief executive of Sport Direct(SPD.L) .

Mr Jenkins' new venture isexpected to have offices in London, the Gulf and Los Angeles seahawk tickets . Itis thought that one of its first deals could be to arrangeMiddle Eastern backing for a London-listed hedge fund firm . Tesco isplanning to launch a current account within the next 18 monthsand also a mortgage account, possibly within the next two years.The chief executive of Tesco's retailing services business,Andrew Higginson, said: "We are very much moving to being astandalone bank." TOP-EARNING BARCLAYS BANKER TO SET UP SOVEREIGN WEALTHVENTURE Top-earning Barclays(BARC.L) executive Roger Jenkins is dueto leave the bank to set up his own business working withsovereign wealth funds on corporate investments and takeovers.The news is likely to negatively impact Barclays' shares, whichclosed at 313 pence on Friday . The supermarket hopes the move will give the groupmore clout for its aggressive assault on banking .

TESCO SEEKS TO BOOST BANK ARM The largest retailer in Britain, Tesco(TSCO.L), isconsidering seeking a separate credit rating for its financialservices arm seahawks . According to the CIPD's annualabsence management survey, while private sector absence hasdropped from 7.2 days to 6.4 days per employee per year, publicsector absence has remained high, averaging 9.7 days, comparedwith 9.8 days for the previous year . WORKER ABSENCES DROP IN PRIVATE SECTOR The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)has observed a sharp drop in employee absence in the privatesector, which has opened up a wider gap with the public sector."There is no simple explanation for the public/private absencegap, with a number of factors in play including differences indemographic profiles, with a higher proportion of women andolder workers in the public sector," said CIPD's senior publicpolicy advisor, Ben Willmott . "These figures are bad, but the worstis yet to come," said KPMG's Hitesh Patel . The numbers, which at 163 cases are the highestseen in a six-month period during the 21 years the accountingfirm has run a "fraud barometer", are expected to rise evenfurther in the recession.