A father heard on television that his son had died of hypothermia after becoming stuck in a drain at the height of the summer’s floods, an inquest heard yesterday.

Firefighters and members of the public fought for four hours to free Michael Barnett, 28, but he died after being trapped in cold water on June 25. He had gone into the drain behind the tropical fish business where he worked in Hull to try to clear debris.

His father, also named Michael, said in a statement read to the inquest in Hull that his son had come home drenched earlier in the month after going into the drain to clear debris during a different flooding incident. “I remember thinking he shouldn’t be there. I told him to stay away from the drains,” he said.

Barnett said he had gone to the scene after being telephoned by his son’s boss. Police officers kept him back and advised him that he should either stay in a police car or go home. As he watched television, he heard “that the male trapped in the drain had died”. He then waited for a number of hours for police to come and confirm what had happened.

He said an officer came to his door and said “Sorry” before leaving. “I didn’t know what he was sorry for. Was it an apology for the excessive water on the road or the death of my son?”

In his statement, Barnett said he had talked to a journalist who came to his house after his son’s death and before the police had arrived because he wanted to say something about the state of the drains. He was angry about the council’s maintenance of them. “I did not want my Mike to die in vain,” he said. “I wanted the council to see the results of their inaction.” He added: “Nobody expects to bury their son. I cannot understand why he had to die.”

Barnett said Michael had gone to Kingston Koi in Hessle, Hull, on June 25 even though he was not due to work that day. The inquest heard how the permanent screen at the drain had been removed by a mechanical digger 10 days before.

Kevin Lees, a mechanical fitter with the Environment Agency, went to the flooded area on June 15. “Every site I came to, every dyke, there were floods of water everywhere,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything so horrific in my life.”

A man who worked at the fish farm in the area was so concerned that he hired a digger to remove a screen he thought was causing the flooding by blocking the watercourse.

But when the screen was taken away, there was no difference to the amount of water in the street, with only “twigs and a bin bag” caught in the bars.

The screen was also broken, with twisted bars. Later that week it was replaced by the temporary piece of park fencing in which Michael Barnett became entangled on June 25.

The hearing is expected to last nine days.

HONG KONG: The rebound in the Hong Kong share market has renewed hopes among capital-hungry Chinese companies seeking to list in Hong Kong, but investors are wary after the poor trading performance of this years market newcomers.

That skepticism means that two China retailers, E-Land Fashion China Holdings and Maoye International, face challenges as they begin marketing deals this week that would be Hong Kongs first initial public offerings since March.

“If the stocks debut or postmarket performance trades below the offering price, why should I buy during the IPO? I can buy after it lists,” said Adam Tam, fund manager at Pacific Sun Investment Management in Hong Kong.

Six companies have listed in Hong Kong this year but only one, China Railway Construction, trades above its offering price.

Even shares in once-hot consumption investments, which provide exposure to surging domestic demand in China, have cooled. The snack maker Want Want China, for example, trades 3.7 percent below the offering price in its $1 billion IPO last month.

That kind of performance has meant eight Hong Kong IPOs worth a combined $7 billion have been withdrawn or postponed since the start of the year, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The Hang Seng index lost 18 percent in the first quarter of the year but has gained 9 percent in April.

“Though IPO valuations are attractive now, they are not must-buy, as upcoming listing candidates are not market leaders,” said Tam, who attended Maoyes scaled-back investor presentation on Monday.

Maoye, the department store operator, is raising as much as $420 million, less than half its earlier target, in a deal handled by Goldman Sachs, HSBC and UBS.

Maoyes IPO price range represents a price/earnings multiple of 19.7 to 25.8 times the IPO sponsors earnings forecast for 2008, compared with its P/E valuation of 29 to 37.7 when it originally began a $905 million offering in January.

By comparison, Chinas top department store, Parkson Retail Group, trades at 34.8 times 2008 prospective earnings, while Golden Eagle Retail Group trades at 27 times.

“Chinese consumption stocks are not defensive plays anymore, as some of them face price cap policies imposed by the Chinese government - they are also facing policy risk,” said Michael Chung, fund manager at Iventure Investment Management.

Beijing caps the retail prices of some goods in order to curb inflation, meaning retailers cannot pass higher costs onto customers, which squeezes margins.

Chung said he was choosing consumption-related stocks based on fundamentals instead of buying the entire sector. He also said demand for new issues would be crimped by investor reluctance to lock up funds for IPO applications if there were only prospects for low returns on their IPO shares.

Numerous Hong Kong investors have been burned after borrowing heavily to apply for shares in hot IPOs.

Last year, the Hong Kong exchange was third busiest for IPOs, after London and Shanghai.

“Investors buying IPOs closely track market sentiment,” said Antonny Cheng, managing director at Gain Asset Management.

“Last year, everyone flocked into IPOs no matter whether the company quality was weak. Now, there is no such sentiment.”

Institutional investors, meanwhile, have grown risk-averse as they manage the global credit crunch, he added.

Chinas department store sales are expected to total 682 billion yuan, or $98 billion, in 2010, an increase of 72.5 percent from 2005, or a compound annual growth rate of about 11.5 percent, Euromonitor says.

Several Chinese retail operators hope that kind of growth is enough to entice investors.

The womens apparel retailer E-Land, a unit of the South Korean E-Land World Group, plans to kick off its $369 million Hong Kong IPO roadshow on Wednesday, according to a document obtained by Reuters that details the terms of the deal. Its deal is being handled by Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and UBS.

Artini International Group, which sells fashion accessories, began premarketing for its $100 million to $200 million Hong Kong IPO on Monday and plans to start its formal roadshow on April 28. The company is scheduled to start trading on May 16.

ATLANTA: Delta Air Lines Inc., the third-largest U.S. carrier, said Wednesday its loss widened in the first quarter to a whopping $6.39 billion (\4.01 billion) because of soaring fuel prices and the steep decline in the companys market value.

Northwest Airlines, which will combine with Delta to create the worlds largest airline, reported a $4.1 billion (\2.57 billion) loss in the first quarter.

Deltas results badly missed Wall Street expectations, despite a 12 percent increase in sales.

The Atlanta-based company said the loss is equivalent to $16.15 (\10.13) a share. That compares with a loss of $130 million (\81.56 million) that Delta reported in the year-ago January-March quarter, when it was still in bankruptcy.

Excluding special items, primarily a $6.1 billion (\3.83 billion) non-cash charge relating to the decline in Deltas market value due to sustained record fuel prices, the airline lost $274 million (\171.89 million), or 69 cents a share, in the first quarter.

Analysts were expecting a Delta loss of 49 cents a share, excluding one-time items.

Revenue in the quarter rose to $4.77 billion (\2.99 billion), compared with $4.24 billion (\2.66 billion) recorded in the same period a year ago.

Delta said its first-quarter loss before special items was driven by a $585 million (\367 million) year-over-year increase in the cost of fuel.

When it exited Chapter 11 protection, Delta projected its stock would be worth $9.4 billion (\5.9 billion) to $12 billion (\7.53 billion) in all, but that was assuming the price of crude would be at $70 (\43.91) per barrel.

Gas and oil prices pushed further into record high territory Tuesday, with crude nearing $120 (\75.28) a barrel. Retail gas reached a national average of $3.51 (\2.20) a gallon for the first time. Deltas current market value is roughly $2.6 billion (\1.63 billion), based on 395.6 million shares outstanding, which include shares not yet distributed to some creditors from its bankruptcy case.

Delta announced last week that it would acquire Northwest Airlines Corp. in a stock-swap deal that, if approved by regulators and shareholders, will create worlds largest airline.

“Our need to respond to the pressures of dramatically rising fuel costs and a softening U.S. economy drove us to take a closer look at all options to protect Deltas future,” Chief Executive Richard Anderson said in a statement. “The merger with Northwest will create an airline with the size, scale and global presence to weather economic downturns and compete long-term in the global marketplace.”

The airlines are trying to sell the deal to the public, employees, federal regulators and Wall Street. So far, investors appear unconvinced.

The stock declines since the deal was announced have shaved roughly $1.3 billion (\0.82 billion) off the value of the deal to Northwest shareholders, who would get 1.25 Delta shares for every Northwest share they own.

Anderson will head the combined airline, which would be called Delta and be based in Atlanta.

The carriers have said they have no current plans to cut more U.S. flights beyond what they have disclosed separately. Analysts have said that limits the cost savings or higher fares the airlines could reap from the deal.

The companies havent ruled out further capacity cuts in the future if fuel prices continue to rise. Delta reiterated that sentiment Wednesday, saying it is continuing to evaluate the fuel and demand environment “and will make proactive changes quickly if economic conditions warrant.”

As of March 31, Delta said it had $3.6 billion (\2.26 billion) in unrestricted liquidity, including $1 billion (\0.63 billion) available under a revolving credit line.

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