CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 19, 2010 Permira The European private equity company has appointed Wulf Bernotat, the former chief executive of energy giant E.ON, as a senior adviser. Bernotat is one of Germany’s most experienced businessmen and retired from his position at E.ON in April this year. He is also a member of the supervisory boards at Metro, Allianz, Deutsche Telekom [...]
Government borrowing on the way down August 19, 2010 THE Government is cutting Britain’s record levels of borrowing despite tumbling into the red again last month. Official figures showed the state borrowed £3.8bn in July. That compares with the £6.1bn deficit clocked up in the same month last year. The improvement came as corporation tax receipts rose to £8.5bn up – from £6.2bn in [...]
Exports bounce back August 19, 2010 AN index of British factory orders rose to its highest level in two years in August after overseas demand rebounded from a dip in July, the CBI’s monthly industrial trends survey showed. The CBI survey showed how the total order book balance rose in line with expectations to -14 this month, up from -16 in [...]
France ratings fears put euro under pressure August 19, 2010 THE Euro dropped this morning after market fears that France could face a downgrade of its AAA credit rating in the long term. Fears were triggered after credit ratings agency Moody’s found earlier this week that the country’s rating was secure for now but could be under pressure in the future as uncertainty remains over [...]
Car production drops after end of scrappage scheme August 19, 2010 CAR production in Britain dropped by 8.9 per cent in July as the end of the scrappage scheme hit demand, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. Production for the year-to-date was still 41.7 per cent higher than in the same period in 2009, the SMMT data showed. Last month’s drop was the [...]
Retail sales up faster than forecast August 19, 2010 RETAIL sales volumes rose nearly three times faster than economists had forecast in July, with almost all non-food sectors showing strong growth, according to official data. Public borrowing measures, meanwhile, were lower than a year ago but still the revealed the uphill task the government has to face to bring down a 2009/10’s record budget [...]
Mastercard in £333m deal for DataCash August 19, 2010 MasterCard has agreed to buy British payment service provider DataCash Group for about £333m in cash to expand its e-commerce business. MasterCard, which makes money from processing credit and debit card payments on its network, said it would pay 360 pence per share, representing a 54 per cent premium to DataCash’s Wednesday close. “The acquisition [...]
John Menzies sees profit treble August 19, 2010 NEWSPAPER distributor John Menzies saw half-year profits almost treble. It made £20.6m compared with £7.4m for the same period last year. The company, which also distributes airport cargo worldwide, was boosted by new contracts with Lufthansa/bmi at London Heathrow. John Menzies started in Scotland in 1833 but is now a “time-critical logistics company” – a [...]
GM files for IPO and plots dual listing August 19, 2010 General Motors took a big step towards repaying a controversial taxpayer-funded bailout by declaring plans for a landmark stock offering that represents a critical test for the Obama administration. The car maker said it planned to list the shares on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange in an initial public offering [...]
Lib Dems face a rift over Green August 18, 2010 NICK Clegg pledged to crack down on tax avoidance yesterday, in a desperate bid to quell Liberal Democrat dissent over the government’s decision to appoint Sir Philip Green as a public spending tsar. The deputy prime minister, who is holding the fort while David Cameron is on holiday, used a high-profile speech to say the [...]