Hundreds face axe at O2 as firm shakes up management December 8, 2010 HUNDREDS of jobs are set to be axed at O2 as the firm completes one of its biggest structural shake-ups in recent years, City A.M. has learned. The telecoms giant will start a consultation period in January to determine how many positions will go. The firm will merge its customer sales and customer services departments [...]
Profits down 83pc at troubled hedgie Marshall Wace December 8, 2010 LONDON-BASED hedge fund Marshall Wace saw its profit and bonus pool plunge 83 per cent last year, as the firm’s investments reeled from the continuing global financial crisis. The firm made £66.6m in fees for the 12 months to February, according to papers filed at Companies House, leading to a pool of £45.5m to be [...]
Martin Broughton poised to bet against Reuben brothers on Tote December 8, 2010 MARTIN Broughton, who oversaw the recent sale of Liverpool Football Club, is putting together a bid to buy the Tote. Broughton is assembling an offer for the state-controlled betting firm through Sports Investment Partners (SIP), the private equity firm he recently launched with his son, Michael. The racing fan, who is a former chairman of [...]
McDonald’s growth disappoints December 8, 2010 McDonald’s reported a smaller-than-expected rise in global sales at established restaurants in November as demand was weaker than anticipated in its key domestic market and Japan. Worldwide November sales at restaurants open at least 13 months were up 4.8 per cent. In the US, sales were up 4.9 per cent. Wall Street had expected global [...]
Treasury to sell down AIG stock December 8, 2010 The Treasury plans to sell about one-fifth of insurer AIG through a stock offering in the first half of 2011, an important test of the governmen’s ability to profitably exit one of its most controversial bailouts. AIG and the Treasury would both sell stock in the offering, which could total $10bn to $15bn, sources said. [...]
Asset sell-off could pay for lower taxes December 8, 2010 GEORGE Osborne yesterday revealed he could have tens of billions of pounds to spend on tax cuts or spending projects before the next election. The chancellor has not factored the proceeds from selling off state-owned assets – including the government’s stake in RBS and Lloyds – into his deficit reduction plan. If the government can [...]
MPs: Labour wasted £1bn on PFI projects December 8, 2010 ALISTAIR Darling, the former chancellor, wasted over £1bn by using the private finance initiative (PFI) to fund a series of vote-winning projects in the run up to the election, according to a report by an influential group of MPs. The Public Accounts Committee found the taxpayer had to pay an extra £1bn for PFI deals [...]
CSC clashes with investor over mall bid December 8, 2010 A ROW between Capital Shopping Centres (CSC) and one of its biggest shareholders boiled over yesterday over the property firm’s plan to buy the Trafford Centre. Simon Property Group, which owns five per cent of CSC, has slammed the bid and says it will rethink its plans to make an offer to buy the whole [...]
Government backs down as limits private pensions cuts December 8, 2010 NEW rules that would have significantly reduced the pensions of millions of private sector workers were abolished yesterday after the government backed away from plans to reduce the inflation-proofing of retirement benefits. In an abrupt U-turn to plans announced just six months ago that private sector pensions could be tied to the consumer price index, [...]
Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe in deal December 8, 2010 ANGLO-AUSTRALIAN miner Rio Tinto and Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines said yesterday they had reached agreement on the joint development of the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in Mongolia. The agreement ends a dispute between the two companies dating back to 2006 and will also see Rio Tinto increasing its stake in Ivanhoe to 49 per [...]