BAA losing up to £6m a day in ash crisis April 20, 2010 AIRPORTS operator BAA has said that the flight ban sparked by the volcanic ash cloud is costing it between £5m and £6m a day. The operator runs six airports in the UK, including Heathrow and Stansted. A statement said: “BAA entered this period of flight suspensions with sufficient available funds to mitigate the closure of [...]
Burberry raises profit forecast April 20, 2010 BURBERRY has reported a 14 per cent rise in second-half retail sales and raised its forcecast for the full year. The company new expects to deliver pre-tax profits of over the £200m figure predicted. Sales of spring lines have helped to trigger the rise. Second-half total sales in the six months to 31 March, rose [...]
Tesco sees £3.4bn profit after Clubcard boost April 20, 2010 TESCO has reported pre-tax profits of £3.4bn – 10 per cent up on the previous 12 months. The supermarket giants said the reasons for the gains included an 18 per cent rise in the use of Clubcards Group sales, excluding petrol, went up by 6.8 per cent to £62.5bn in the 52 weeks to 27 [...]
New cloud casts doubt on flights April 19, 2010 A NEW ash cloud erupting from the Icelandic volcano has endangered plans to reopen British airspace. Major carriers had planned to operate long haul departures and short haul flights scheduled to fly after 7pm in a bid to help stranded passengers. But last night hopes faded as a ferocious new blast of volcanic ash drifted [...]
FSA begins probe into Goldman April 19, 2010 GOLDMAN Sachs will be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused it of committing a $1bn (£650m) fraud. An FSA spokesman said: “As you would expect, the FSA is investigating the circumstances of this case and whether there are any implications for the UK-regulated entities of [...]
Conservatives change tactics April 19, 2010 THE TORIES were yesterday forced to change their campaign tactics at the last minute in a bid to counter a surge in support for the Liberal Democrats. Conservative leader David Cameron cancelled a party political broadcast attacking Labour at the eleventh hour, replacing it with a hastily-filmed video highlighting his credentials as the candidate of [...]
Tories in desperate fight for survival April 19, 2010 POLITICS has not returned to normality and may never do so; unless the Nick Clegg bubble is pricked in the next few days, the Liberal Democrats are about to overthrow the established order and hand Gordon Brown an astonishing opportunity to remain in Downing Street. Few investors and voters have properly digested the revolutionary implications [...]
Brown warns of double dip April 19, 2010 GORDON BROWN launched yet another attack on Conservative tax and spending plans yesterday, in a bid to convince voters that a Tory emergency budget would plunge the UK into a double-dip recession. Flanked by chancellor Alistair Darling and business secretary Lord Mandelson, the Prime Minister said Tory plans to “take money out of the economy” [...]
ELECTION2010 April 19, 2010 Tories call for lobby register Jeremy Hunt, the shadow culture secretary yesterday called for a “statutory” register of lobbyists in the wake of recent political scandals. The Tories say they favour a voluntary approach but would be willing to make it a statutory requirement if that does not happen. Miliband: Iraq wrong choice Foreign secretary [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 19, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES HCL FUELS DEBATE The head of one of India’s biggest IT outsourcing companies has waded into the debate on UK public sector efficiency savings, complaining of an “old boys’ network” in government procurement. Vineet Nayar, chief executive of HCL Technologies, hit out at the “stranglehold of a few companies” in Britain’s £17bn market [...]