Mothercare raises dividend despite flat profit May 20, 2010 MOTHERCARE posted flat profit for the year but raised its dividend 16 per cent and said it was well placed to drive forward. The group, which trades from over 1,100 stores in 52 countries, said it made an underlying pre-tax profit of £37.2m for the year to 27 March. Group sales increased 5.9 per cent [...]
Dubai World in debt restructure deal May 20, 2010 DUBAI World, the state-owned conglomerate, has reached an agreement “in principle” with most of its bank lenders to restructure debt worth $23.5bn (£16.4bn). It said in a statement it would be left with debts of $14.4bn after the restructuring. Dubai World asked for a six-month delay on debt repayments in a move which shook world [...]
National Grid in £3.2bn rights issue May 20, 2010 NATIONAL Grid has said that it will launch a £3.2bn rights issue. The company’s two for five issue will see 990.4m new shares at 335 pence each. National Grid will use the money raised for a “significant increase in UK capital investment”, it said in a statement. It is also aimed at maintaining the company’s [...]
Osborne unveils company tax cut May 20, 2010 POLITICAL EDITOR GEORGE Osborne yesterday said he would lower the headline rate of corporation tax, but bowed to pressure from his Liberal Democrat coalition partners and promised to protect manufacturing allowances. In his first major speech as chancellor, Osborne said he would use an emergency Budget on 22 June to kick-start a five-year plan to [...]
Markets in chaos after Merkel ban May 20, 2010 MARKETS worldwide were plunged into turmoil yesterday as Germany’s panic move to ban naked shorting triggered fears of a fresh financial meltdown. The FTSE 100 crashed by almost three per cent to 5,158.08, mirrored by similar falls in Paris with the Cac 40 dropping 2.9 per cent to 3,511.67, and Germany’s Dax plunging 2.7 per [...]
Liberal-Cons unveil final plan May 20, 2010 DAVID Cameron and Nick Clegg will today unveil the final text of their coalition agreement, outlining their programme for government for the next five years. The pair will herald a “historic” moment in British politics as their Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties join forces for the first time in over half a century, but will [...]
Merkel’s actions will weaken the EU May 20, 2010 ANGELA Merkel has no clue about economics. Her silly decision to slap various restrictions on short-sellers, even though shooting the messenger in this way never works, triggered pandemonium in the markets. It even led to capital flight to Switzerland, according to BNP Paribas. Merkel is panicking, trying to prevent her government from imploding and doing [...]
BVCA: Private equity repays investors’ faith May 20, 2010 PRIVATE equity and venture capital continue to outperform other asset classes, according to new research. A survey by industry body BVCA and PricewaterhouseCoopers found that the combined ten-year rate of return for private equity and venture capital was 13 per cent, compared to three per cent for pension fund assets and only 1.2 per cent [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 20, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES GOOGLE DEBATES OVER FACE RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY Google executives are wrestling over whether to launch controversial facial recognition technology after a barrage of criticism over its privacy policies. Eric Schmidt, chief executive, said a series of public disputes over privacy issues had caused the management team to review its procedures and the launch of [...]
Davies says no to Lloyds May 20, 2010 LORD Davies, the former chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank, has been asked whether he might consider taking the same position at Lloyds Banking Group. Davies, who held a government role until the election, was asked the question by Lloyds chairman Sir Win Bischoff at a recent meeting, revealed first by Sky News. Davies gave [...]