The Festival of Words: From Gyles Brandreth to Anthony Scaramucci – all you need to know about the Fleet Street Quarter festival
Insurers lobby to avoid paying out to cover airline losses April 20, 2010 UNCERTAINTY over who will foot the losses generated by the flight restriction mounted yesterday as it remained unclear how insurance cover would be given to the airlines. Airlines impacted by the closure of airspace could have cover, according to Holman Fenwick Willan lawyer Paul Wordley, but only if they have business interruption triggers in their [...]
BAA loses up to £6m a day from airport closures April 20, 2010 AIRPORTS operator BAA yesterday said that the flight ban sparked by the volcanic ash cloud is costing it between £5m and £6m a day. The operator runs six airports in the UK, including Heathrow and Stansted but all have remained out of action since air traffic control group NATS closed British air space to commercial [...]
ICELAND’S VOLCANIC ASH COMES FULL CIRCLE April 20, 2010 YOU’RE not going to believe this, ladies and gentlemen, but that’s the beauty of pure irony. A little bird whispers in The Capitalist’s ear that the latest victim of the Icelandic volcano belching ash over Europe is none other than Malcolm Walker, who runs – you guessed it – frozen food supermarket chain Iceland. It [...]
TUI seeks to raise £500m for warchest April 20, 2010 TUI Travel, Europe’s biggest travel firm, says it plans to raise £500m in new financing to fund acquisitions. The company behind Thomson and First Choice has taken a hit of £26m as a result of the subsequent disruption caused by the volcanic ash. But the group remains bullish and said yesterday the fund-raising would ensure [...]
Swine flu booster for Novartis April 20, 2010 SWISS drugmaker Novartis is confident about meeting its 2010 goals after governments buying up its vaccines during the H1N1 pandemic lifted the group to forecast-beating first-quarter results. Earnings per share rose to $1.29 (84p) in the first quarter, beating anaylysts estimates of $1.11, thanks also to strong sales of new blood pressure drugs Exforge and [...]
Global pharma sales to top $1 trillion by 2014 April 20, 2010 GLOBAL pharmaceutical sales are expected to reach $1.1 trillion (£717bn) in 2014 as growth in emerging markets helps offset the impact of generic competition for many of the world’s top selling drugs, according to a forecast by IMS Health. The five per cent to eight per cent compound annual growth rate for prescription drugs expected [...]
Nomura hires new chief and top execs April 20, 2010 JAPANESE investment bank Nomura today announced the appointment of Tarun Jotwani as chief executive and head of the firm’s Europe, Middle East and Africa divisions. Jotwani will be responsible for more than 4400 bankers. He joined Nomura in December 2008 after serving as Lehman Brothers’ head of capital markets for the Asia-Pacific region. He was [...]
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.