Italy auction calms bond market fears April 29, 2010 ITALY yesterday went some way towards soothing concerns over contagion of Greece’s debt woes, successfully completing a key auction of two of its bonds. The auctions of €6.5bn (£5.64bn) of Italian three-year and ten-year notes were both covered about 1.5 times, signalling strong investor demand for the debt despite the escalating crisis in Greece and [...]
US airlines set to merge April 29, 2010 CONTINENTAL Airlines and United Airlines (UAL) are on the brink of merging, according to industry sources. The boards of the two companies could sign a deal as early as today. A merger of the two US carriers would create the world’s largest airline, surpassing Delta Air Lines in traffic and revenue. The two US airlines [...]
Siemens ups forecasts on demand rise April 29, 2010 GERMAN industrial conglomerate Siemens raised its profit outlook on the back of cost cuts and higher demand from factories that are cranking up production amidst an economic rebound. Europe’s biggest engineering group said yesterday it expected total sectors profit – operating profit of all three core businesses – to top €7.5bn (£6.5bn) for the year [...]
UK firms hit by new global accounting rules April 29, 2010 PROPOSED changes to global pension accounting rules will make pension costs more volatile at UK firms, exacerbating the impact that pension deficits have on companies experts warned. The International Accounting Standard Board yesterday announced changes to the way pension deficits and surpluses are accounted for, which accountants KPMG forecast could wipe as much as £10bn [...]
Dubai offer not enough April 29, 2010 DUBAI World, which is in talks to restructure $26bn (£16bn) in debt, is offering lenders an additional one per cent in interest upon maturity of new debt, but the deal is unlikely to satisfy banks, analysts said yesterday. The state-owned conglomerate’s offer is for a one per cent interest rate and one per cent payment-in-kind, [...]
M Stanley Moore, UBS fined in US April 29, 2010 FINANCE giants Morgan Stanley and Moore Capital have been fined by the US futures regulator, after both were found guilty of foul play in the markets. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) fined Morgan Stanley $14m (£9m) for failing to report a big block oil trade and hedge fund Moore Capital $25m for attempting to [...]
US takes aim at Wall Street April 29, 2010 WASHINGTON opened talks on a wide-sweeping overhaul of Wall Street yesterday after Republican politicians abandoned their blockade of a Senate debate. In the coming days, Democrats and their opponents will thrash out the terms of what promises to be a highly controversial finance reform bill. The legislation could see derivatives forced onto regulated exchanges, investment [...]
Obama nominates trio to Federal Reserve board April 29, 2010 PRESIDENT Barack Obama yesterday nominated Janet Yellen as vice chairman of the US central bank. Yellen, the current president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, is renowned as a monetary policy “heavyweight”. He also nominated Sarah Raskin, Maryland’s financial regulation commissioner, and MIT economist Peter Diamond, who has written extensively about pensions and fiscal [...]
Forth Ports bidders get put up or shut up order April 29, 2010 A trio of Forth Ports’ shareholders has just under five weeks to make a formal offer for Britain’s only listed ports company or must walk away for six months, the Takeover Panel said yesterday. Forth on Wednesday rejected a new £640m takeover approach from the Northstream consortium – made up of AEIF General Partners, Peel [...]
Hobbycraft bought out for £100m April 29, 2010 THE private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital has bought Hobbycraft, the family owned arts and crafts retailer, in a deal worth around £100m. Bridgepoint beat off competition from private equity firm Exponent and retailer Halfords. Blackstone had expressed interest, but did not submit a bid in time for the deadline. Hobbycraft started out as one store [...]