GE settles in bribery case July 27, 2010 GENERAL Electric will pay $23.4m (£15m) to settle bribery charges over government contracts in Iraq, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said yesterday. The SEC alleged that the largest US conglomerate, and firms it later bought, paid $3.6m in illegal kickbacks to Iraqi officials from 2000 to 2003, to win contracts funded by the [...]
Honeymoon is over for the coalition July 27, 2010 IT is time for the markets and investors to start paying attention to Westminster once again. Ever since the election, and especially since the Budget, sentiment towards the UK has improved markedly. Gilt yields have fallen and sterling has soared; the pound even reached a four-month high against the dollar yesterday, with asset allocators now [...]
Vodafone’s Bond survives July 27, 2010 VODAFONE chairman Sir John Bond survived a shareholder rebellion yesterday that tried to oust him from the telecoms group. Just 6.5 per cent of shareholders voted against the re-election of him to the board yesterday. A further six per cent also voted against the re-election of deputy chairman John Buchanan. But more protest votes had [...]
LVMH profit shows luxury is back July 27, 2010 French luxury goods behemoth LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton reported a 53 per cent jump in first half net profit yesterday, suggesting a strong return of high-end consumption. The world’s largest luxury goods company posted net profit for the first six months of €1.05bn (£875m), up from €687m a year ago as all divisions posted [...]
CBRE sees concrete growth July 27, 2010 CB Richard Ellis, one of the world’s largest commercial real estate service companies, posted a second-quarter net profit yesterday and its strongest revenue growth since 2007. The company said its net income was $54.8m (£35.2m), compared with a net loss of $6m a year ago after a major restructuring. Revenue for the Los Angeles-based company [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 27, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES SOROS SET TO BUY STAKE IN BOMBAY EXCHANGE George Soros, the billionaire investor, is in final talks to buy Dubai Holding’s 4 per cent stake in the Bombay Stock Exchange, as foreign investor interest in India’s fast-growing financial markets rises, people close to the matter said. Soros Fund Management is planning to pay [...]
Tomkins gets flak for £3bn takeover deal July 27, 2010 INDUSTRIAL components manufacturer Tomkins faced another headache from one of its leading shareholders yesterday after recommending a £2.9bn takeover offer from a Canadian consortium. Tomkins chairman David Newlands urged investors to accept the 325p per share bid from private equity player Onex and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, saying it reflected “both the value [...]
Manchester United may face probe into its season tickets July 27, 2010 MANCHESTER United could face an anti-competition appeal over the way it sells season tickets, City A.M. has learned. A top City law firm is looking into the way the Old Trafford club bundles European and cup games with its season tickets, forcing fans to shell out more if the team progresses. A source close to [...]
Hayward: I was vilified over spill July 27, 2010 OUTGOING BP boss Tony Hayward yesterday claimed he was “demonised and vilified” over the firm’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis. But the embattled leader, who is set to hand over the chief executive role in October to BP’s managing director Bob Dudley, accepted the company could not move forward with him at the helm. [...]
BP reports a record $17bn quarterly loss July 27, 2010 BP IS to launch a $30bn (£19bn) asset sale in a bid to offset some of the Gulf of Mexico spill costs after the group reported record quarterly losses of $17bn for the last three months, one of the worst in corporate history. The asset sale, mainly in BP’s upstream business is likely to take [...]