Air demand up as flight losses halve March 11, 2010 AIRLINES in emerging markets will lead a global rebound in air traffic, as commercial carriers worldwide see collective losses halve this year, according to an airline trade body. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said forecasted losses for 2010 will reach $2.8bn (£1.86bn), marking an increase from 2009 profit losses of $5.6bn. IATA said the [...]
BMW records a fall in profit March 11, 2010 BMW’S cost cutting measures have begun to gain traction as the German premium automaker posted a better-than-expected 2009 profit despite lower vehicle production. BMW said yesterday its pre-tax profit rose 18 per cent to €413m (£375m), easily beating the €253m forecast by analysts, even though car production fell 13 per cent during the same period. [...]
Superfast broadband roll-out March 11, 2010 TECHNOLOGY that allows superfast broadband to be transmitted using telegraph poles is being trialled. If successful the scheme could be rolled out to allow London commuters in key towns to increase their broadband speed ten-fold. The trial, being carried out by Virgin Media, is part of a movement to bring next generation digital services beyond [...]
Arbuthnot strikes out at government for damaging prospects at small banks March 11, 2010 ARBUTHNOT Banking Group yesterday hit out at the government for crippling smaller banks with a “one-size-fits-all” approach to punitive regulatory policy. Arbuthnot has avoided the Bank Payroll Tax altogether by not paying any bonuses over £25,000, but it said the new rules – including the bonus tax and changes to capital requirements – could damage [...]
Conservatives pledge to invest in a high-speed Internet network March 11, 2010 INVESTING in a high-speed Internet network would open up a new global trade route for Britain, boosting economic recovery and creating thousands of jobs, the opposition Conservative party claimed yesterday. The party plans to stimulate £29bn of private investment in the broadband network by opening up access to infrastructure currently dominated by BT and providing [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 11, 2010 Alexander Proudfoot The consultancy has hired a slew of City heavyweights to its new UK advisory board, chaired by Sir Patrick Brown, chair of the Go-Ahead Group. The board also includes Schroders chairman Michael Miles (pictured); AON UK chairman Paul Manduca; Regus Group chairman John Matthews; and Christopher Sheridan, a non-executive at Standard Bank. Lexicon [...]
HSBC admits that data theft hit up to 24,000 accounts March 11, 2010 HSBC has confirmed that a theft of data by a former employee affected up to 24,000 Swiss client accounts. The bank had previously said “less than 10 clients” were compromised after a former HSBC computer specialist stole client data from the bank which he handed over to French tax authorities. HSBC said in a statement: [...]
John Lewis to give staff £151m bonus March 11, 2010 JOHN Lewis will hand its staff a 15 per cent bonus after reporting a surge in annual profits. The retailer made a profit before the staff bonus and tax of £306.6m in the year to the end of January – up from £279.6m in the previous year. It owns 28 department stores, one John Lewis [...]
JD Wetherspoon restores dividend after record profit March 11, 2010 PUB chain Wetherspoon today announced the end of a year-long dividend freeze after successfully completing its debt refinancing. Shareholders will receive a 12p dividend on 1 April for the year to July 2009 with a further special dividend of 7p a share. Last year it scrapped its dividend payment as negotiated its refinancing. It has [...]
Home Retail Group ups forecasts but Argos slumps March 11, 2010 HOME retail Group – which owns Argos and Homebase – has tipped its pre-tax profit for the year to come in at £290m The figure is slightly ahead of market forecasts for the year to 27 February. Argos sales fell 9.4 per cent while sales at its home improvement operation Homebase declined 0.6 per cent [...]