Sage boss Walker weighs up options April 19, 2010 SAGE chief executive Paul Walker says he is weighing up a number of options as he prepares to leave the IT company he has led for 16 years. Walker, who first joined the FTSE 100 firm with a market value of £3.3bn in 1984, told City A.M.: “I will look at a chief executive’s or [...]
Taxpayer is in profit on RBS April 19, 2010 ROYAL Bank of Scotland shares have jumped higher than the price the government was forced to buy them up at to save the bank from going under. As things stand the tax payer would make a profit of £180m on the 84 per cent government stake. It is thought the spike in share price was [...]
Ex-Lehman boss defends record April 19, 2010 THE former chief of Lehman Brothers Dick Fuld will today tell the US financial services committee that details about the bank’s collapse were distorted by a court appointed adviser. The hearing on the spectacular demise of the bank will also hear from Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, Mary Schapiro, chairman of the SEC, [...]
Airlines feel heat of Icelandic volcano April 19, 2010 AIRLINES grounded by the eruption of an Icelandic volcano are set for further losses if airspace is closed again, with the airline industry yesterday reporting daily losses of more than £5m. “If the shutdown of the airspace in the UK and large parts of Europe [returns], it will almost certainly lead to some carriers, especially [...]
TUI is losing £6m a day in travel chaos April 19, 2010 TUI TRAVEL, one of the UK’s largest holiday groups, has estimated that the impact of the ash-spewing volcano in Iceland has cost it up to £6m a day. The Crawley based group said yesterday that it had incurred a cumulative cost of £20m from Thursday to Sunday last week and estimated that daily costs thereafter [...]
Limited near-term economic impact April 19, 2010 WITH no aircraft allowed to enter or leave the UK since 15 April due to the volcanic ash, disruption and problems for the economy have been widespread. But the overall impact for the UK should be limited, especially as British airspace is poised to reopen. There is, however, a not insignificant risk the problem could [...]
United Airlines continues its tie-up talks April 19, 2010 UNITED Airlines is continuing separate merger talks with US Airways and Continental Airlines. United is also discussing the option of deepening a three-way marketing alliance between the carriers if a merger is not agreed. Continental restarted merger talks with United last week, two years after walking away from a deal that was very nearly agreed. [...]
CITY VIEWS: HAVE THE AVIATION AUTHORITIES OVER-REACTED? April 19, 2010 RICHARD TAYLOR | WATKINS SYNDICATE “Yes they are over-reacting. The airlines are already doing test flights, which have been fine. The stoppage is disruptive to a large extent, and is slowing business down. Some companies are saying they might go bankrupt as a result.” JAMES SPENCER | ANGLO IRISH BANK “They have not over-reacted because [...]
Citi storms to biggest profit in three years April 19, 2010 THE US government is tipped to kick-start its sale of Citigroup shares soon, after the bank beat Wall Street expectations to nearly triple its profits in the first quarter. Citi’s stock climbed seven per cent to $4.88 on news the bank made $4.4bn (£2.9bn) in the three months to March, up from $1.6bn a year [...]
Citigroup April 19, 2010 IT IS hard to overstate the symbolic importance of Citigroup’s first quarter earnings, which have smashed analyst expectations. Of those banks that managed to survive the banking crisis, it was by far the biggest casualty. “On the brink” is a phrase that is used far too much in the wake of the near-meltdown – but [...]