BMW cheers investors with plan to sell more than 2m cars a year March 19, 2014 BMW shares soared 7.3 per cent yesterday after the German car group pledged to expand its production plant in the United States and repeated its confidence in selling more than 2m cars in the coming year. Boss Nobert Reithofer said BMW expects to post “a significant rise in sales volumes” in 2014 with a corresponding rise [...]
Slaughter and May names seven new partners to London office March 19, 2014 MAGIC circle law firm Slaughter and May has promoted seven lawyers to its partnership, it said yesterday. From 1 May dispute resolution specialist Jonathan Clark, competition duo Jordan Ellison and Anna Lyle-Smith, corporate lawyer Susannah Mackney and tax expert Dominic Robertson will become partner. They will be joined by Azadeh Nassiri, a financing lawyer, and [...]
Intertek boss’ pay cut by £2m March 19, 2014 THE CHIEF executive of product testing firm Intertek had his pay packet reduced by around £2m last year, after the FTSE 100 firm said its full-year results did not meet internal targets. Dr Wolfhart Hauser’s bonus was halved to £639,000 in 2013, while performance-linked pay fell from £2.9m to £1.6m. He received a total of [...]
Rogue trader Kerviel to go to jail March 19, 2014 FRANCE’S highest appeal court upheld a three-year jail term for former Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel yesterday but also ruled that he was no longer liable to pay SocGen €4.9bn (£4.1bn) in civil damages to compensate the French bank for the losses from risky bets.
Inditex to open more shops as profits edge up March 19, 2014 ZARA-owner Inditex is to ramp up spending on new stores this year after currency movements outside of Europe and refurbishment costs dented full-year profits. The Spanish clothing giant, which also owns the Massimo Dutti and Pull and Bear chains, said yesterday that net income for the year to the end of January rose by just [...]
Samsonite sales break $2bn mark March 19, 2014 SAMSONITE, the Hong Kong-listed luggage-maker, said net sales topped $2bn (£1.21bn) for the first time last year thanks to a continued recovery in the world travel market. The firm yesterday posted an 18.6 per cent rise in profit to $176.1m for 2013 on sales up 16.1 per cent to $2.04bn, driven by a strong performance [...]
Gulf Keystone gears up for its first bond March 19, 2014 OIL AND gas explorer Gulf Keystone Petroleum yesterday said that it has asked banks to line up investors ahead of an inaugural $250m (£150m) bond issue. It has mandated Deutsche Bank and Pareto Securities to arrange a series of investor meetings in the US, Europe and Asia, from 20 March. The Aim-listed firm, which starts [...]
Outsourcery upbeat despite £7.2m loss March 19, 2014 OUTSOURCERY co-chief executive Piers Linney, star of the Dragon’s Den, described the company’s first year on the stock market as “getting our ducks in a row” yesterday, after reporting revenue growth alongside continuing losses. The cloud computing firm’s revenues grew 44 per cent to £5.2m , but it reported a narrower loss of £7.2m compared [...]
Budget funnies: George’s Magna Cart-ha ha ha March 19, 2014 SO HE CAME wearing a blue tie and his newly slimmed-down physique (thanks to the 5:2 diet we hear) but George Osborne garnered most attention at yesterday’s Budget speech with a Magna Carta gag. While announcing plans to commemorate the famous script, Osborne took a swipe at Ed Miliband, pointing out how King John was a, “weak [...]
Iron Lady wins at book awards March 19, 2014 THE BUDGET was by no means the biggest event on the political calendar yesterday. Oh no, the Paddy Power sponsored Political Book of the Year Awards took place last night as well and a certain Iron Lady was the winning subject of the night. Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography by Charles Moore won the top gong, [...]