Shell axes jobs and costs to save $1bn March 16, 2010 Royal Dutch Shell pushed ahead with plans to streamline its business yesterday when the oil major said it would cut 2,000 jobs over two years and shed more than a third of its global petrol stations. Shell chief executive Peter Voser outlined the changes at the group’s annual strategy briefing, and this means the number [...]
Public spending cuts: now or later? March 16, 2010 WITH a yawning budget deficit of £178bn, all parties agree that spending cuts are needed if the UK is to avoid a sovereign debt crisis. But they differ on when fiscal tightening should commence. We want to know what you think. To tell us, apply to join our special panel of members of London’s business [...]
Voser predicts a brighter future March 16, 2010 THERE was little change in Peter Voser’s message to shareholders yesterday: stick with us, it will be alright in the end. Updated targets and forecasts suggest he’s correct. Shell thinks exploration and production volumes will grow to 3.5m barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2012, a rise of 11 per cent on 2009. That’s [...]
Deutsche boss nets €10m for 2009 upturn March 16, 2010 DEUTSCHE Bank unveiled an overhaul of its compensation policy yesterday even as it paid chief executive Josef Ackermann the highest salary of any German blue-chip boss for 2009. Ackermann took home €9.6m (£8.7m) after helping the bank bounce back to a €5bn net profit for the 12 months. The payment was part of a €39m [...]
Bumper bonuses for the City but use of deferrals on the rise March 16, 2010 A survey on the bonus payouts of 180 financial services professionals in London has found 47 per cent of respondents received a higher payout in 2009/10 than in 2008/09. A significant 33 per cent said their 2009/10 bonus included a deferred payment element, up from only 13 per cent last year. In 2009/2010, a quarter [...]
Babcock in closing stage of due diligence on merger target VT March 16, 2010 DEFENCE engineer Babcock is at an advanced stage of carrying out due diligence on rival VT Group after the companies entered into friendly merger talks a fortnight ago. Babcock is understood to have identified cost savings well ahead of the £27m it estimated before VT allowed access to its projected profit and revenue figures. Analysts [...]
Merrill trader is struck off by the FSA March 16, 2010 Former Merrill Lynch banker Alexis Stenfors has been banned from trading by the FSA. His career is in tatters after the watchdog said he was not a “fit and proper person” to work in financial markets. Stenfors says he will not refer the matter to a tribunal. The inquiry centered around undisclosed losses of around [...]
Double dip recession a real possibility, say property firms March 16, 2010 Property investment managers and developers have warned that the threat of a double dip recession in the UK is real and would force banks to sell off their property portfolios. Delegates at MIPIM, Europe’s largest property fair, said the UK has survived on government aid since the recession and that a cut in spending could [...]
Greece avoids downgrade from S&P but risks remain March 16, 2010 Greece escaped the threat of an immediate downgrade by Standard & Poor’s yesterday, sending the euro to a session high and helping push US stocks up. S&P affirmed the debt-ridden country’s BBB+ rating but warned Greece was still at risk of a rating cut within the next 18-24 months if it failed to implement its [...]
General Electric expects profit March 16, 2010 General Electric expects its profit and dividend to rise in 2011, the largest US conglomerate’s chief financial officer said. The world’s largest maker of jet engines and electricity-producing turbines expects its results to improve after the first quarter of 2010, chief finance officer Keith Sherin told an investor conference yesterday. GE shares rose almost five [...]