Reed Elsevier revises down forecasts as its legal division feels the squeeze April 20, 2010 ANGLO-DUTCH publishing and exhibitions group Reed Elsevier confirmed its forecast for a slightly lower 2010 operating margin as it invests to win back market share in its US legal business. Reed said clients of its core legal, scientific and medical information products continued to pare back spending, as they had begun to do late last [...]
Aviva looks to close final salary pensions April 20, 2010 Aviva , Britain’s second largest insurer, has opened talks with staff about closing its final salary pension schemes, which offer staff the most secure form of retirement income. Aviva wants to migrate its final salary schemes’ 7,600 members towards alternative money purchase schemes in April next year, although they would hold onto the final salary [...]
Private equity property funding down April 20, 2010 Private equity property funds raised $9.8bn (£6.4bn) globally in the first quarter of 2010, down 37.5 per cent on the year, research shows. Funds raised have been below $10bn for three consecutive quarters, since halving to $20bn in the third quarter of 2008, said research and consultancy firm Preqin.
IMF: Bank financing needs to hit $5trn April 20, 2010 GLOBAL banks will face $5 trillion in refinancing needs over the next 36 months, a senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said yesterday. “The funding pressures that banks are going to be facing over the next couple of years have to do with the fact that during the crisis banks had to issue shorter-term debt. [...]
Deloitte weighs up contenders in hunt for chief executive April 20, 2010 DELOITTE is on the hunt for a new chief executive, as chief executive and senior partner John Connolly is set to step down next spring after a decade in the role. Connolly will leave the post after serving three terms, and he will be leading the campaign to fill the role within the coming months. [...]
Charles Schwab’s legal settlement almost wipes out first quarter profit April 20, 2010 US Brokerage Charles Schwab yesterday agreed to pay $200m to settle a federal class-action lawsuit related to a money-losing bond mutual fund, erasing nearly all of its first quarter profit. Schwab in March 2008 became the target of litigation and regulatory probes focused on its YieldPlus Fund, a short-duration bond fund that plunged in value [...]
Desire to drill in Falklands again April 20, 2010 Oil explorer Desire Petroleum expects to resume drilling in the Falklands in the third quarter after using further detailed analysis from the first disappointing well to determine where to drill next, it said yesterday. Desire and Rockhopper which has a 7.5 per cent working interest in the Liz well, said earlier this year that they [...]
Soco sees profits rocket April 20, 2010 Oil and gas firm Soco International yesterday posted record revenues and profits for the year after reporting its first return to full-year production since 2007. Pre-tax profit jumped to $93.4m (£60.8m) from $37.3m before, demonstrating the impact of a full year’s earnings from its two new producing assets in its South East Asia portfolio. Revenue [...]
Greece close to aid as bond yields surge April 20, 2010 GREEK borrowing costs hit a 12-year high yesterday as Athens prepared to launch talks on an EU/IMF bailout package aimed at rescuing Greece from a debt crisis rocking the eurozone. The yield on Greek ten-year government bonds rose to 7.807 per cent, more than double the level for German debt and far beyond the level [...]
Nick Clegg wins on performance, not policy April 20, 2010 THE question in everyone’s mind: will the Nick Clegg bounce last? Will we get a hung parliament? Is this the start of a new politics or a fun moment before we return to politics-as-usual? Let’s look at a new kind of data to see if it suggests anything about Clegg’s strengths and vulnerabilities, from our [...]