Michael Page grows on US and Asia fees October 7, 2010 MICHAEL PAGE said that its profits improved by more than a third yesterday, mainly bolstered by stronger job markets in Asia and the Americas. The white-collar recruitment giant saw third quarter gross profits – also known as fee income – climb by 37 per cent to £112.7m compared with the same period in 2009. This [...]
Cairn shareholders approve purchase of Vedanta stake October 7, 2010 Vedanta Resources cleared some hurdles to its $10bn (£6.3bn) plan to take a sizeable stake in Cairn India yesterday but concerns of potential delays to the deal weighed on Cairn Energy shares. Cairn Energy agreed in August to sell London-listed miner Vedanta Resources a stake of between 40 and 51 per cent of Cairn India, [...]
Australia pushes Hays’ fees up as the UK continues to struggle October 7, 2010 HAYS said buoyant economies in Australia and Asia boosted first quarter results, offsetting a limp UK market which was dragged down by public sector job cuts. The UK-based recruitment business said in a first quarter trading update yesterday that overall fee income during the period rose reported a 21 per cent, and 18 per cent [...]
West LB’s bad bank records €1bn in losses October 7, 2010 GERMANY’S first bad bank, WestLB’s EAA, posted risk provisions of €1.44bn (£1.2bn) for its 2010 fiscal year and expects more to come as its markets show little signs of recovery. EAA (Erste Abwicklungsanstalt) posted a net loss of €1.05bn in its shortened fiscal year from December 2009 to June 2010, co-head Matthias Wargers said yesterday. [...]
Vatican Bank turns to courts to have €23m in assets freed October 7, 2010 THE Vatican Bank has asked an Italian court to free €23m (£20.1m) of funds frozen in Italian banks when magistrates opened an investigation into suspicion of money laundering. Vincenzo Scordamaglia, the lawyer representing the Vatican Bank, said a panel of three judges will hold a hearing within two weeks to decide on the request. Scordamaglia [...]
Bristol City boss raises £58m on Hargreaves Lansdown share sale October 7, 2010 STEPHEN Lansdown, co-founder of financial advisory firm Hargreaves Lansdown, raised £58m yesterday by selling a 2.86 per cent stake in the company. Lansdown, who sits on the Hargreaves Lansdown board as a non-executive director and founded the firm almost 30 years ago, sold 13.5m shares at 429p, reducing his personal stake to 20.1 per cent, [...]
MILIBAND JOINS IN THE FAMILY MAKEOVER October 7, 2010 MUCH has been made of the image transformation undergone recently by Justine Thornton, Ed Miliband’s long-term partner, who stepped out at the Labour party conference last week sporting a fresh make-up style and new elfin haircut. But not much has yet been said about the woman responsible for said makeover – who The Capitalist can [...]
Castel denies bid talks with SABMiller October 7, 2010 A SENIOR executive at French drinks group Castel yesterday denied reports that it was in talks to sell its African beer operations to global brewer SABMiller. A Deutsche Bank report on Wednesday said Castel was a natural target for SABMiller’s mergers and acquisitions ambitions, and a more compelling option than acquiring the Foster’s Group beer [...]
Ted Baker revenue rise is fuelled by womenswear October 7, 2010 FASHION chain Ted Baker yesterday reported a 25 per cent leap in half-year profits but issued a cautious outlook for the full-year due to the “uncertain economic environment”. For the 28 weeks to 28 August, pre-tax profits rose to £7.5m while group revenues came in at £88.1m, up from £76.6m the year before. Womenswear sales [...]
MULBERRY BAGS FASHIONISTAS October 7, 2010 Sales at fashion retailer Mulberry have soared by 79 per cent in the past 10 weeks, as its bags have flown off the shelves. Classic handbag styles sported by celebrities including TV presenter Alexa Chung – have helped fuel the rise