Google posts first quarter revenue jump April 15, 2010 GOOGLE’S first-quarter profit jumped 37 per cent as the Internet search giant’s revenue rose 23 per cent, highlighting how the online-advertising market continues to rebound. Google’s chief financial officer Patrick Pichette said the company performed well in the first quarter, with year-on-year sales growth driven by strength across all major verticals and geographies. Google generated [...]
US vows to crack down on tax evaders April 15, 2010 TWO clients of HSBC were among nine people charged by US prosecutors with concealing offshore bank accounts, cases potentially roping in a second major bank to a US crackdown on wealthy tax cheats. The other seven were all former US clients of Switzerland’s UBS, the bank at the centre of enforcement efforts over the past [...]
Premier League to defend Sky April 15, 2010 THE Premier League has announced it will challenge Ofcom’s ruling to slash the price Sky can charge its rivals to show matches. It says investment in the sport will suffer as a result. Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said: “Having taken time to study the Ofcom decision we have concluded we have no option [...]
Goldman Sachs director in probe April 15, 2010 PROSECUTORS are examining whether Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta gave inside information about the bank to Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. “Mr. Gupta is unaware of any examination of any such issue and has done nothing wrong,” a spokeswoman for Gupta said in a statement. Rajaratnam has pleaded [...]
FORD OVERTAKES VW April 15, 2010 ROELANT de Waard, Ford’s head of European sales, said yesterday the carmaker had unseated Volkswagen as Europe’s best-selling car brand in March. The US carmaker said it sold 192,500 cars in Europe last month and reported market share of 10.4 per cent, its best since August 1998.
Flight chaos in wake of volcano blast April 15, 2010 THE vast cloud of volcanic dust blasted into the atmosphere by a gigantic underwater eruption in Iceland was still causing flight chaos this morning. All commercial flights were scrapped yesterday after the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, situated under a glacier, sent a noxious dust-cloud drifting South across Europe. Flight delays are now expected to last for several [...]
Q&A: ICELANDIC VOLCANO April 15, 2010 Q. HOW MANY FLIGHTS WERE CANCELLED? A. Every single commercial flight out of the UK was grounded yesterday. At least 600 British Airways flights were included. Flights in Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Russia were also affected. Q. WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I AM FLYING TODAY? A. Airports owner BAA and airlines recommend [...]
Essar close to attracting big City director April 15, 2010 ESSAR Energy, the Indian resources group that is gearing up for a £2bn-plus London flotation, is set to hire a well-known City director to address some of the corporate governance concerns that have dogged the early phase of its flotation process. Sources close to Essar say the new director should be in place within the [...]
Still time for Essar to get this right April 15, 2010 THE London Stock Exchange’s biggest flotation in four years should be a cause for celebration in the City. The fact that the flotation is that of an Indian group that might have otherwise chosen Hong Kong or New York or anywhere else in the world to list its oil, gas and energy division, should make [...]
LIB DEMS SET TO RIDE CREST OF BEER WAVE April 15, 2010 A WELCOME pre-election boost for Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, from the most unusual of quarters – the traditionally right-leaning environs of the City. It’s just 20 days before polling day and Clegg’s policies haven’t exactly met with rapt enthusiasm from the Square Mile, what with proposals to slap a “mansion tax” on homes worth [...]