CELEBS ARE VERSED IN WHEELER DEALER ART September 13, 2009 A RAFT of celebrities got the chance to try their hand at wheeling and dealing last Friday, as inter-dealer broker BGC Partners held its annual charity trading day over in Canary Wharf. Among the famous guests were sporting heroes Sir Ian Botham, Linford Christie, Martin Johnson and Jade Johnson, as well as tens of others [...]
Thomson Reuters buys Abacus September 13, 2009 Thomson Reuters has said it is to buy tax-software firm Abacus Enterprise from Deloitte, in a deal expected to be worth around $45m (£27m). The group has snapped up the London firm, which supplies tax products to half the firms in the FTSE 100, as part of ongoing expansion of its professional services activities. Thomson [...]
GREYHOUND LEAVES THE STALLS September 13, 2009 GREYHOUND will take off in the UK today, as its first bus, Peggy Sue, embarks on her maiden voyage. The journey, from Southampton to London, will depart at five thirty this morning. Greyhound, part of transport company FirstGroup, will run £1 services between London Victoria and Portsmouth and Southampton, in a bid to compete with [...]
P&G plans to cut prices in bid for growth September 10, 2009 CONSUMER goods giant Procter & Gamble said yesterday that it plans to cut prices and increase promotions, and that it expects to return to organic sales growth by the end of the year. P&G shares rose after its chief financial officer Jon Moeller said the company expects organic sales to rise one per cent to [...]
US trade gap widening September 10, 2009 THE US trade deficit increased the most in more than 10 years in July as rebounding consumer demand led to a record increase in imports, a government report showed yesterday. The trade gap expanded 16.3 per cent in July to $32bn (£19.2bn), the biggest month-to-month increase since February 1999. Imports leapt a record 4.7 per [...]
Hapag-Lloyd set for state bailout September 10, 2009 Hapag-Lloyd is set to be rescued by the state, the first time that a big shipping line has been granted a bailout by a government. German transport secretary Wolfgang Tiefensee said he agreed in principal with shipper’s application for €1.2bn (£1.05bn) in state-backed loan guarantees was justified. The move could put pressure on other states [...]
As the runt of the mobile litter, 3 will not survive September 10, 2009 AND then there were three. Or at least there will be, because Hutchison Whampoa’s 3 will find it extremely tough to survive following the merger of T-Mobile and Orange in the UK. That would leave what analysts are dubbing “T-Orange”, with a 37 per cent share of mobile revenues in the UK, O2 with 27 [...]
Hedgies launch Ucits funds September 10, 2009 Planned new European Union regulation has spurred some of London’s biggest hedge funds on to launch funds onshore. Fund manager Cheyne Capital, which looks after $6bn (£3.6bn) is the latest big name to roll out an “Ucits III fund”, while Man Group, Europe’s biggest hedge fund, is poised to launch a similar operation on Monday. [...]
SEC apologises over Madoff September 10, 2009 Contrite US Securities and Exchange Commission officials last night apologised for bungling five probes that should have uncovered Bernard Madoff’s $65bn fraud, and its internal watchdog told top regulators to be more aggressive in investigating tips. A scathing report issued last week by SEC inspector general David Kotz found that the agency missed numerous red [...]
Galliford Try plans 126m rights issue September 10, 2009 CONSTRUCTION group Galliford Try yesterday announced plans for a £125.6m rights issue to raise funds for new developments and take advantage of the property sector upturn. “The rights issue proceeds will allow us to take advantage of the improved land market liquidity we are witnessing and build homes at attractive margins,” said chief executive Greg [...]