EU Commission considers probe of Liberty Global offer for Ziggo March 17, 2014 THE EUROPEAN Commission could examine Liberty Global’s planned €6.9bn (£5.8bn) takeover of Dutch cable operator Ziggo, the antitrust authority announced yesterday. The deal, if it completes, would turn Liberty into a telecoms giant in the Netherlands due to its ownership of the second largest cable operator UPC. “The proposed transaction will create a near national [...]
Jupiter’s Bonham Carter vacates hot seat March 17, 2014 JUPITER Fund Management boss Edward Bonham Carter moved upstairs yesterday to take on his role as vice chairman. Bonham Carter will report to new boss Maarten Slendebroek, who has taken the chief executive’s chair. Separately, the group revealed that Michael Wilson, who represented Jupiter’s financial backer TA Associates at board level, will leave the boardroom [...]
Morrisons employee arrested as grocer suffers payroll data theft March 17, 2014 Morrisons confirmed yesterday that one of its employees has been arrested in connection with the theft last week of payroll data covering thousands of its staff. The arrest by the West Yorkshire police yesterday morning comes after details of about 100,000 employees, including salaries and bank account details, were published on a website on Thursday [...]
New interim boss for the Coventry March 17, 2014 The Coventry Building Society yesterday appointed Colin Franklin as its interim chief executive from 1 April. He is currently the mutual’s sales marketing director as well as the managing director of Godiva Mortgages. Franklin will stand in for outgoing boss David Stewart until a permanent replacement can be found for the role.
Microsoft may launch Office for iPad March 17, 2014 Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella may unveil an iPad version of the company’s Office software suite on 27 March, a source said yesterday, potentially using his first major press outing to launch the company’s most profitable product for Apple’s popular tablet. Nadella replaced longtime chief executive Steve Ballmer earlier this year.
Eurozone price growth hovers at four year low March 17, 2014 INFLATION in the Eurozone stayed at a four year low during February, despite early indications that price growth was slightly firmer during the month. The currency union’s harmonized index of consumer prices has risen by 0.7 per cent between February 2013 and last month, significantly below the European Central Bank’s target of close to two [...]
US factories rebound from winter freeze March 17, 2014 US INDUSTRIAL output hit a record high in February, official figures showed yesterday. The upbeat numbers reassured economists that the disappointing figures of recent months were caused by the bad winter weather, rather than any underlying slowdown in the world’s largest economy. Industrial output increased by 0.6 per cent in February, according to data from [...]
UK’s exporters forecast good times to come March 17, 2014 BRITISH exporters are expecting robust growth in the next two years, as economies on either side of the channel provide a better climate for trade, despite the UK’s poor investment in research and development. Exports from the UK are projected to increase by five per cent during each of the next two years, and confidence [...]
Tech firms grab the most office space in London’s Square Mile March 17, 2014 TECHNOLOGY, media and telecoms (TMT) firms have stepped up their presence in the Square Mile after taking up almost of a quarter of all office space lettings in the City last year, figures out today show. According to research for the City of London by property agents JLL and DTZ, tech firms snapped up 1m [...]
Smartphones push spending online to £7.2bn March 17, 2014 ONLINE retailers took £7.2bn of sales in February as the number of people using their smartphones and tablets to shop soared, new figures released yesterday show. According to e-tail industry body IMRG and advisory firm Capgemini, online retail sales increased by 18 per cent in February compared with the same time last year thanks to [...]