RAB Capital narrows losses March 23, 2010 HEDGE fund firm RAB Capital has narrowed its full year net losses as new investors helped the business recover from the recession. The energy and commodities funds specialist posted an after-tax loss of £3.1m for last year compared with a loss of £17.1m in 2008. Assets under management improved to $1.35bn (£899m) at the end [...]
Legal & General raises dividend with profits boost March 23, 2010 INSURER Legal & General reported forecast-beating profit and has increased its dividend. L&G, the country’s sixth-biggest insurer by market value, said it had a 2009 operating profit of £1.3bn, ahead of the £1.1bn predicted by analysts. The figures were helped by a £69m cost-cutting programme, with a cull of 17 per cent of the workforce. [...]
Halfords eyes acquisitions after sales rise March 23, 2010 HALFORDS expects to beat full-year profit forecasts after a surge in by demand for car parts during recent bad weather and its acquisition of Nationwide Autocentres. The company said its pre-tax profit for the year ending in March would be around £116m – above analysts forecasts of £112.7m. Sales at shops in the UK and [...]
Google shuts its Chinese website in censorship dispute March 22, 2010 GOOGLE has sensationally closed its Chinese search engine in a row over censorship. The move could have global ramifications, exacerbating already strained relations between China and the US. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton waded into the debate earlier this year after a series of cyber-attacks on Google said to originate from government buildings. In turn, [...]
Darling set for offshore crackdown March 22, 2010 ALISTAIR Darling will use tomorrow’s Budget to step up the government’s crackdown on offshore tax evasion by doubling the maximum penalty. Treasury sources said that the chancellor thinks he can protect £1bn of revenue by increasing the penalty to 200 per cent of tax owed. The measures are tougher than the ones announced in the [...]
IoD demands spending cuts March 22, 2010 ALISTAIR Darling should learn a lesson from Labour’s first Budget in 1997 and announce “spending reductions which are faster and deeper than expected by financial markets”, according to the Institute of Directors (IoD). The group, which represents UK directors from a range of businesses, also want Darling to provide a credible long-term plan to reduce [...]
Credit is becoming easier to obtain March 22, 2010 THIS column has been quite gloomy about Britain’s prospects in recent months, and will be even more so for the remainder of this Budget week. So here is a positive story for a change: it is clear that credit is becoming steadily more available, albeit at a higher price than in the bad old days. [...]
Labour suspends MPs March 22, 2010 THREE senior Labour MPs were suspended from the party last night over allegations of swaying policy for cash. Chief whip Nick Brown took the decision after Stephen Byers, Patricia Hewitt and Geoff Hoon were caught discussing the possibility of working for what they thought was an American lobbying firm. The “cash-for-lobby” incident has been an [...]
Ford and Geely close to Volvo deal March 22, 2010 US carmaker Ford will sign a deal to sell its Volvo cars business to China’s carmaker Zhejiang Geely within days, sources close to the deal said last night. The Chinese carmaker will pay $1.8bn (£1.2bn) for Volvo, while a further $750m of working capital is being raised to develop the Swedish brand, famous for its [...]
Tories see lead cut by 3 points March 22, 2010 The Conservative lead in the upcoming general election has dropped by three points to four per cent, according to theYouGov/Sun daily poll. The Tories are on 36 per cent (down two per cent), Labour are on 32 per cent (up one per cent) and the Liberal Democrats are on 20 per cent (up one per [...]