Former WaMu boss says bank seizure unfair April 13, 2010 THE former chief executive of Washington Mutual yesterday accused the US government of unfairly seizing the bank in September 2008 and selling it for the bargain price of $1.9bn (£1.2bn) to JP Morgan. Kerry Killinger said the failed lender “should have been given a chance to work its way through the crisis” in testimony prepared [...]
Mobile phone users are noisy about service April 13, 2010 TELLYOUGOV, YouGov’s new service which allows people to tell us what they are thinking, has seen “tyggers” revealing how they feel about the nation’s mobile phone network operators. TellYouGov also shows us exactly which aspects people find good and bad about their mobile network operators, recorded in their own words. We analysed the sentiments contained [...]
Fortis liquidates banking arm remnants April 13, 2010 BELGIAN group Fortis drew a line under its involvement in the financial crisis yesterday, liquidating the holding company that housed its banking arm before it was sold off. The Brussels-based institution, which now focuses purely on insurance, said it would book a €11.7bn (£10.3bn) tax credit on losses incurred when the division was offloaded at [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS April 13, 2010 AIR FRANCE-KLM The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has upgraded its recommendation of Air France-KLM from “hold” to “buy” after brightening revenue trends in both passenger and cargo numbers. RBS has raised its forecasts, reflecting the stronger demand environment offset by higher fuel costs. It raises its target price to €14. MARKS & SPENCER Marks [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 13, 2010 Hoare Capital The agency broker has appointed Tim Cartmell as chief operating officer and promoted Sergio Marques and Andrew Sheppard to partner. Cartmell (pictured) currently runs the firm’s credit desk, having previously held positions as head of gilt sales at JP Morgan and head of UK credit sales at Dresdner Kleinwort. Marques is responsible for [...]
What to get if you don’t want an iPhone April 13, 2010 FOR APP FANS: HTC LEGEND HTC has also developed Google’s hotly-anticipated Nexus One phone, expected on these shores any time now. For now we have the HTC Legend, a groovy thing with a sharp aluminium body. Running on the Android operating system, it’s as powerful and app-friendly as they come, and cool design elements like [...]
UK goods trade deficit narrows April 13, 2010 THE goods trade deficit reduced in February to its smallest since June 2006 after exports recovered from a fall caused by the poor weather, according to official figures. Britain’s goods trade gap with the rest of the world fell to £6.179bn in February – lower than the £7.35bn forecast by analysts. The figure was also [...]
High street sales leap in bumper easter April 13, 2010 RETAIL sales growth surged last month after a booming Easter for high street trade. The total value of sales rose by 6.6 per cent in March – the biggest upturn since April 2006 – according to the data from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG. The figures follow positive results from john Lewis and Marks [...]
Debenhams profits jump after own brands boost April 13, 2010 DEBENHAMS has posted half-year profits before tax and exceptional items of £123.6m – a rise of 18.6 per cent. Higher group sales helped to fuel the rise as well as a focus on own-brand ranges – which have bigger margins than designer labels – in the 26 weeks to 27 February. The group’s net debt [...]
Business slams Labour pledges April 12, 2010 BUSINESS leaders and economists rounded on Labour’s election manifesto yesterday, accusing the party of refusing to face up to the terrible state of the public finances. Gordon Brown, who unveiled the manifesto at a hospital in Birmingham, claimed an historic fourth term for Labour would lead to a “fairer, greener … and more prosperous” country. [...]