Virgin in price fixing inquiry April 22, 2010 SIR Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic has said it will “robustly defend” itself against accusations of price fixing by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The competition watchdog alleges, Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific may have illegally co-ordinated prices for passenger flights between London and Hong Kong. The body said it had issued a statement of [...]
Blackstone offers support as Goldman prepares to testify April 22, 2010 PRIVATE equity firm Blackstone Group stood by Goldman yesterday saying it would remain a major client of the bank and has never had reason to question its behaviour on any deal it has worked on with them, chief executive Stephen Schwarzman said. “We’ve been working with Goldman Sachs since Blackstone was founded almost 25 years [...]
Kindle sales help to fuel profits at Amazon, but forecasts weigh April 22, 2010 AMAZON, the online retailer, yesterday reported a 68 per cent rise in net profits for the first quarter of the year to $299m (£194.5m). Resilient demand for online goods supported by sales of its Kindle e-reader fuelled the sales growth. However it also forecast lower-than-expected earnings, raising concerns about the online retailer’s future margins. Amazon [...]
OBAMA ATTACKS WALL STREET April 22, 2010 PRESIDENT Barack Obama yesterday chastised Wall Street for “reckless risk taking” and “loosely monitored gambling” as he promised to impose “common sense reforms” on the financial industry with or without its backing. He warned a “free market” did not mean “a free license to take whatever you can get, however you can get it.”
Cameron was winner, say our panellists April 22, 2010 DAVID Cameron won last night’s debate convincingly, according to a rapid response panel of City A.M. readers. We asked a rapid response group from our panel of London’s financiers and business professionals to score each of the leaders out of 10 for their performance in the debate, and to give them a second mark for [...]
Borrowing at highest level since WWII April 22, 2010 THE BRITISH government borrowed £163.4bn during the last financial year, the highest amount since World War Two but still slightly below government forecasts. The level of borrowing, which is at more than 11 per cent of national income, was £3.6bn lower than Alistair Darling’s Budget forecast of £167bn. The huge budget deficit pushed public sector [...]
Economy grew faster under the Tories, says think-tank April 22, 2010 GORDON Brown’s claim to economic competence will receive another blow today, when a respected think-tank says the economy performed better under Tory rule between 1979 and 1997 than it has under Labour. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) will say that the economy under Labour has grown at an average of two [...]
Lib Dems release Nick Clegg’s bank details in bid to prove innocence April 22, 2010 THE Liberal Democrats last night released records of Nick Clegg’s private bank statements in a bid to refute allegations that he acted improperly by accepting party donations in his private account. The accounts show that the Liberal Democrat leader received payments from three private donors directly into his personal account. The payments were made between [...]
ELECTION2010 April 22, 2010 Tories warn on credit rating David Cameron yesterday warned that a hung parliament would put Britain’s much coveted AAA credit rating at risk and cause a spike in government borrowing costs. And he said that unless one party emerges with a clear majority, interest rates will increase while sterling will come under pressure. His comments [...]
Credit Suisse results fail to wow market April 22, 2010 CREDIT Suisse disappointed investors with declining margins in its private client business yesterday, even though net profit ticked up slightly, in line with expectations. Group income in the first quarter was SwFr2.06bn (£1.27bn) – marginally higher than the SwFr2.01bn generated this time last year. The group, which has missed the bounce enjoyed by its American [...]