Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg says privacy controls ‘missed their mark’ May 24, 2010 FACEBOOK chief executive Mark Zuckerberg yesterday said the Internet social network will roll out new privacy settings for its more than 400m users, amid growing concerns that the company is pushing users to make more of their personal data public. “Many of you thought our controls were too complex,” said Zuckerberg in an opinion piece [...]
Chloride powers to strong fourth quarter on pipeline May 24, 2010 POWER protection firm Chloride reported results at the top end of expectations yesterday, thanks to a record order book. The results statement made no mention of last month’s takeover bid by US rivals Emerson, with finance director Neil Warner commenting that “the only thing I can tell you is that we’ve heard no more directly [...]
IBM’s $1.4bn move to buy software firm May 24, 2010 IBM plans to buy Sterling Commerce from AT&T for about $1.4bn (£970m) in cash, extending the technology behemoth’s portfolio of business software. The move comes amid a flurry of software acquisitions by International Business Machines, Oracle and SAP, as they look to sell a broad set of products and services to large corporations. IBM, led [...]
Campbell soups up US sales May 24, 2010 CAMPBELL Soup posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as a promotional spending push led to increased sales in its key US soup market after two straight quarters of declines. The world’s largest soup maker also said yesterday that it expected full-year earnings to come in at the high end of its previous forecast, keeping a cautious [...]
American house sales jump to a five month high on the back of tax credit May 24, 2010 AMERICANS rushed to benefit from a tax credit for first-time homeowners during April, pushing house sales up 7.6 per cent. The five-month high is due in part to an $8,000 (£5,540) offer of government-funded credit for new homeowners, which expired on 30 April. The increase in sales was the highest jump in a decade and [...]
China strikes conciliatory note over currency fears May 24, 2010 CHINA struck a conciliatory note in talks with the United States yesterday. It vowed to spur domestic demand and keep a guarded opening to exchange rate reform, which the Obama administration says is needed to rebalance the global economy. The US treaded softly on the subject and welcomed Beijing’s long-standing pledge to reform the yuan [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 24, 2010 IMPERIAL TOBACCO Nomura upgrades Imperial Tobacco to a “buy” rating from “neutral” and has a new, “conservatively realistic” price target of 2,000p, providing upside potential of 14 per cent. It said that although it has concerns over low- to medium-term underlying profit growth these are reflected in the current price. ANGLO AMERICAN UBS retains a [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 24, 2010 Matrix Group Matrix Group has expanded its investment banking business after appointing Paul James as chief operating officer (COO) of the investment banking arm. James moves into the role with immediate effect and joins after 20 years experience in investment banking. He was most recently COO of global banking and markets HSBC and has previously [...]
Chancellor details £6bn cuts May 24, 2010 CHANCELLOR George Osborne has announced a £6bn cuts package which will hit government departments. He detailed deep cuts with the department of transport to see £683m shaved from its budget. Meanwhile the business department will be cut to the tune of £836m. The education department will take a £670m hit but the savings will be [...]
Business leaders call for cuts to red tape May 24, 2010 BUSINESS leaders have called the Government to cut back on red tape which cost companies an estimated £88.3bn last year. The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) said in a report that regulations were costing businesses dear. Director general of the BCC said: “The Burdens Barometer highlights a clear problem for UK business. ‘The cost of [...]