ELECTION2010 April 21, 2010 IMF hurts Brown with forecast The International Monetary Fund yesterday slashed its 2011 UK growth forecast, delivering a pre-election blow to the government. The Washington-based fund cut its growth forecast for next year from 2.7 per cent to 2.5 per cent. It maintained its 2010 forecast. Its forecast is signficantly lower than that of chancellor [...]
CITY EYE April 21, 2010 JUBILATION reigned in the City yesterday as an airborne passenger jet streaked through the skies, a sight which has become all too rare over the past week
London office rents set to boom in 2010 April 21, 2010 COMMERCIAL property surveyors expect rents for London offices to shoot up in the second quarter of 2010 as space in the capital continues to decline. Commercial property rents will rise at the fastest rate in two years, surveyors predicted yesterday in a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) report, confirming signs that the property market [...]
Calvert in battle over payback April 21, 2010 JAILED Cazenove partner Malcolm Calvert will learn his financial fate this week as lawyers prepare to battle in court over how much the convicted banker will pay back to the government for his illegal activity. The Southwark Crown Court will decide what proportion of the £103,883 in profits the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said Calvert [...]
Northern Rock director quits over FSA probe April 21, 2010 Northern Rock’s finance director quit yesterday after becoming the focus of a Financial Services Authority (FSA) probe. The watchdog is investigating allegations David Jones was aware of a deal struck between executives to hide almost 2,000 problem loans from investors. The FSA confirmed he is the subject of an investigation. Jones was the last surviving [...]
Sky ready for round one with Ofcom April 21, 2010 SKY and Ofcom will tomorrow begin what promises to be a long and tortuous legal battle over the future of pay TV. Sky will appear before the Competition Appeal Tribunal to request a stay of implementation on Ofcom’s new rules forcing the broadcaster to slash the prices it can charge rivals for Premier League football. [...]
Qatar in $70m hotel investment April 21, 2010 State-owned Qatar National Hotels said yesterday it would invest $70m (£45m) in a luxury hotel resort in Comoros, one of the largest injections of foreign investment into the poor Indian Ocean archipelago. Owned by the Qatar government, the Qatar National Hotels deal is part of a $540m pledge to support development in one of the [...]
Coke chief in union talks April 21, 2010 Coca-Cola chief executive Muhtar Kent yesterday sought to ease concerns by the Teamsters union that the company’s acquisition of the North American operations of Coca-Cola Enterprises would result in fewer jobs. Even before the deal’s expected closure in the fourth quarter, fears have been raised by news that Coke Enterprises will test a programme to [...]
Top execs quit Game Group as profits dive April 21, 2010 THE chief executive and chief operating officer of Game Group stepped down yesterday after the retailer said that full-year profits had fallen by nearly a third to £90m and sales had continued to tumble. Game, which in January issued a second profit warning just over a month after poor Christmas sales, said Lisa Morgan had [...]
Heineken in beer sales slump April 21, 2010 HEINEKEN’S beer sales fell more than expected in the first quarter as western consumers drank less, underlining the group’s increasing reliance for growth on sales in emerging markets in Africa and Asia. Its shares fell more than 2.5 per cent to their lowest in eight weeks. The Dutch-based company, whose chief brands are Heineken and [...]