Halliburton back in profit after a $1bn spill charge April 22, 2014 OIL services firm Halliburton swung to a profit of $623m (£370.9m) in the first three months of the year, propelled by extra work in the Middle East and Asia that offset slower activity in the USA. The result compares to a $13m loss a year ago, when Halliburton booked $1bn in charges for ongoing lawsuits [...]
RBS keeps quiet on small firms until watchdog probe is finished April 22, 2014 RBS is not planning any further action on its treatment of small businesses in the hope that Clifford Chance’s report clearing the bank of wrongdoing will satisfy its critics, City A.M. understands. City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is conducting its own investigation, and RBS is not expected to make any announcements until that [...]
Microsoft to take over Nokia’s handset business this week April 22, 2014 MICROSOFT has finalised the deal to buy Nokia’s devices and services business after months of fine-tuning on the acquisition. The US computing giant is paying €5.4bn (£4.4bn) for the troubled phone firm’s handset arm, in a deal first announced in September 2013. The deal will complete this Friday, 25 April. Microsoft hopes it will help [...]
Ukip membership hits a record high as new posters unveiled April 22, 2014 MEMBERSHIP of Nigel Farage’s Euroskeptic Ukip party has hit 36,000 people, a record for the organisation. New figures revealed yesterday show that Ukip now has 36,015 members and more are expected, after the party said it was coping with a backlog as a result of Farage’s TV debate with Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg. “This [...]
Tech giants in jobs pact case April 22, 2014 TECHNOLOGY giants Google, Apple, Intel and Adobe are set to face claims next month that they colluded to keep executives’ wages down by signing agreements barring them from poaching each other’s staff. The Silicon Valley titans face calls for around $9bn (£5.4bn) in compensation for $3bn lost wages among 64,613 software engineers. They say the [...]
Banks unable to meet tougher leverage rules April 21, 2014 EUROPE’S banks would have to raise another $196bn (£116.7bn) if regulators increased the minimum leverage ratio to five per cent, according to a study by SNL Financial, published yesterday. Under current plans banks have to meet a three per cent ratio, holding capital amounting to three per cent of their total assets. Some regulators have [...]
UK firms go on shopping spree to acquire more overseas assets April 21, 2014 UK COMPANIES had a healthier appetite for buying and merging foreign companies in the first quarter of this year, spending $3.3bn (£1.96bn) more than they did last year on overseas deals. Businesses headquartered in the UK spent a total of $35.4bn between New Year’s day and the end of March on outbound M&A, helping boost [...]
National Union of Teachers votes for another day of school strikes April 21, 2014 THE National Union of Teachers has voted for a strike that could close schools in England and Wales in the week beginning 23 June. The union’s conference in Brighton also agreed to consult teachers on further action in the autumn term. The strikes are part of a bitter campaign over teachers’ pay, pensions and workload. [...]
Boston stays strong for Marathon April 21, 2014 THE Boston Marathon was yesterday won by an American male runner for the first time in three decades, an emotional performance in a city still recovering from last year’s fatal bomb attack on the 118-year-old race. Meb Keflezighi, born in Eritrea but now a US citizen, held off a late challenge by Kenya’s Wilson Chebet [...]
Cost of moving in London soars above £20,000 April 21, 2014 LONDONERS are shelling out over £20,000 on average to move house, according to research released this weekend, with the cost of moving rising by nearly £3,000 between 2012 and 2013 alone. The report by Lloyds Bank shows that the average cost of moving house in London ran to £20,825 in 2013, more than double the [...]