Hornby set to reveal £1bn Boots profit May 16, 2010 ANDY HORNBY, the man associated with the near-collapse of HBOS, will return to the limelight today as he announces an estimated £1bn profit at the helm of Alliance Boots. Hornby is expected to say the private equity-owned healthcare and beauty products retailer’s trading profit for the year to 31 March grew at a faster pace [...]
Brussels bailout: markets must keep the faith May 16, 2010 A WEEK after the big Brussels bailout and its huge impact is becoming increasingly obvious. This time last week we watched in disbelief as the Eurozone, EU and IMF collectively did what the international markets never thought they had the stomach, pockets or political will to do – shock and awe, Tarp-style. Investors (by way [...]
ShoreBank future is in doubt as Wall Street discusses a rescue May 16, 2010 CHICAGO community development lender ShoreBank was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy yesterday as US authorities and Wall Street banks remained locked in talks over a potential financing package. ShoreBank faces closure if it cannot meet a deadline today to secure the $125m (£86m) in funding it needs to avoid a government takeover. Wall Street [...]
House sellers expect less as market floods May 16, 2010 A FLOOD of properties coming on to the housing market has depressed sellers’ price expectations, with average asking prices rising just 0.7 per cent in May in what is normally a bullish month for vendors, property website Rightmove will say today. Research by Rightmove has shown that there has been a sharp jump in the [...]
Business facing skills shortage May 16, 2010 EMPLOYERS are becoming increasingly concerned over a shortfall in skilled job candidates, despite the legacy of a recession that left large numbers of highly-qualified university graduates unable to get onto the career ladder. Over half of employers expect to have difficulties in filling posts requiring graduate or higher level skills in the coming years, according [...]
CMS Cameron outsources back office in £583m deal May 16, 2010 CITY law firm CMS Cameron McKenna is to outsource its entire support services function after signing a £583m deal with Integreon. The radical move is expected to generate a future model for law firms, which already outsource some back office functions, and will generate up to 15 per cent costs savings for Camerons. Under the [...]
Blank on the long list for M&S chair May 16, 2010 HEADHUNTERS searching for a replacement to Sir Stuart Rose at Marks and Spencer have earmarked former Lloyds chairman Sir Victor Blank as a potential candidate to chair the board. JCA Group founder Jan Hall is currently putting together a long list of candidates ready for the board to whittle down. Other names that have been [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 16, 2010 Greencore The convenience foods group has appointed business grandee Eric Nicoli, the chairman of cinema operator Vue Entertainment, as a non-executive director. In addition to his role at Vue, Nicoli is also currently senior partner at fund of hedge funds Sunningdale Capital. He was previously chief executive of United Biscuits and chairman and chief executive [...]
Italy takes EU lead on debt reduction May 16, 2010 ITALY is set to follow in Greece’s footsteps by being subjected to tough austerity measures to curb its ballooning deficit, the country’s economy minister said yesterday. Giulio Tremonti told the Italian Il Corriere della Sera newspaper that the austerity package, worth €27.6bn (£23.5bn) over the next two years, would include measures similar to those announced [...]
Anglo Irish Bank rejects the idea of 20-year wind down May 16, 2010 NATIONALISED Anglo Irish Bank expects to submit the latest version of its business plan to the European Commission this week, its new chairman said, with the aim of splitting it into a “good” and “bad” bank. Anglo Irish, which is being propped up by massive sums of state capital and which in March posted the [...]