Building outfit Carillion welcomes era of austerity August 26, 2010 BRITISH building and support services firm Carillion said first-half underlying pre-tax profit rose 17 per cent to £58.8m and it expected to benefit from outsourcing as governments try to cut costs. Sales were down 11 per cent on last year, however, to £2.5bn for the first half as a result of the company disposing of [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU THINK YOU WILL WATCH MORE TV ONLINE? August 26, 2010 BEN ARAM | KENNEDYS “I am from Germany and so I use such websites to catch up on shows I have missed. I am also a frequent YouTube user. Websites such as BBC iPlayer strike me as very useful and I see myself using them more in the future.” TOM SPILLER | WILKINS BEAUMONT AND [...]
A CAAN-DO ATTITUDE IN FLOODED PAKISTAN August 26, 2010 AT a time of year when many City folk are sunning themselves on beaches abroad, it’s good to see that James Caan, the entrepreneur most famous for his appearances on Dragons’ Den, is putting his cash to good use. Last week he flew out to Pakistan to help with the flood relief efforts there. His missive [...]
SANTANDER SUSPENDS TOP ANALYST August 25, 2010 US authorities will step up their investigation into insider trading at Banco Santander today as the scandal threatens to engulf BHP Billiton’s $39bn (£25bn) bid for PotashCorp. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has secured powers to seize documents, emails and phone logs from Santander’s Madrid office after charging senior executive Juan José Fernández García [...]
Standard Life supports Minerva in board battle August 25, 2010 CITY stalwart Standard Life threw its weight behind the board of Minerva yesterday, after the property investor and its activist shareholder KiFin traded another round of inflammatory statements. “It is not clear to us that the KiFin nominated board candidates would act in the best interests of all shareholders,” said Andrew Jackson, an investment director [...]
Coalition hits back at IFS August 25, 2010 THE coalition government hit back yesterday against claims its austerity budget is regressive and will hit the poorest hardest. The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) claimed poorer families will suffer most from stringent welfare cuts such as slashing housing benefits. But deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, whose reputation relies on convincing the electorate that the [...]
Kloppers won’t fall into the bid trap August 25, 2010 BHP chief executive Marius Kloppers was determined yesterday to play down fears that he is about to over-pay for PotashCorp, the Canadian fertiliser group. As Kloppers unveiled healthy annual results, most people’s minds were focused on what he had to say about the group’s pursuit of Potash, for which he has made a $39bn bid. [...]
Nadir is back after 17 years August 25, 2010 ASIL NADIR, the multimillionaire businessman, who fled the UK after facing a series of significant fraud charges, is to return after almost two decades to face the courtroom. Nadir will arrive at Luton from his native North Cyprus today to face multimillion-pound fraud charges linked to the collapse of his Polly Peck business, according to [...]
Unions set Tube strike dates August 25, 2010 Transport unions RMT and the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) yesterday confirmed dates for a series of 24-hour strikes to be launched by 10,000 London Underground staff in what will bring severe disruption to London’s commuters. The unions said the first staff walk out will start at 5pm on 6 September, with similar action planned [...]
Plus gets derivatives facelift August 25, 2010 Plus Markets, the small-cap listing and price-reporting platform, is to relaunch as a full blown derivatives and stock exchange. The move, which is part of a strategy set out in March, will put Plus against the London Stock Exchange, Chi-X Europe and similar trading venues.