BAA wins appeal on airports February 25, 2010 An attempt by the Competition Commission to force airports operator BAA to sell more of its airports suffered a setback yesterday when a tribunal stood by an earlier decision to overturn a ruling made by the Commission last year ordering the sale of more airports. The Competition Appeal Tribunal rejected an application from the Competition [...]
Iceland quits Icesave talks February 25, 2010 TALKS have broken down between Iceland, Britain and the Netherlands over Reykjavik’s duty to repay the £3.8bn lost by depositors in failed online bank Icesave. Icelandic representatives walked out last night after turning down preferential repayment terms. The failure to reach an agreement means the Icelandic government will press ahead with a referendum on whether [...]
Blackstone bounds into black with surprise earnings boost February 25, 2010 PRIVATE equity giant Blackstone Group posted better-than-expected earnings yesterday, driven by increased performance fees and improved valuations of its portfolios. Private equity firms suffered in 2008/9 from sliding stock markets, which reduced the values of their investments, and from the limited availability of credit for new deals. But both have improved, with valuations higher and [...]
Lebedev close to Independent buyout with competition request February 25, 2010 RUSSIAN oligarch Alexander Lebedev and Independent News & Media (IMN) have approached the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over the planned sale of The Independent newspapers. In a move indicating an imminent deal, the submission invited competition-related comment on the “anticipated acquisition of The Independent and The Independent on Sunday by Lebedev Holdings Limited”. Exclusive [...]
MADOFF NET EXPANDS February 25, 2010 AN AIDE to jailed fraudster Bernard Madoff was charged with fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday. Daniel Bonventre (above), Madoff’s former director of operations, was charged with conspiracy, tax fraud, falsifying accounting records and stealing investor funds in relation to the $65bn (£41bn) Ponzi scheme.
February sees bumper sales on high street February 25, 2010 BRITISH consumers returned to the high street in their droves in the first half of February, after January’s cold snap kept them at home. The Confederation for British Industry (CBI) said that in early February retailers had seen the strongest annual growth in sales volumes since May 2007. Almost half of all firms surveyed (46 [...]
Collapse in UK business investment gathers pace February 25, 2010 BUSINESS investment slumped in the last three months of 2009 by an annual 24.1 per cent – the worst since 1967 – as firms have been forced to cut costs and improve cash flow to survive the worst post-war recession. Official figures showed that investment in the fourth quarter declined at an accelerated quarterly pace [...]
MPC may need to extend QE February 25, 2010 Further quantitative easing may be needed, the Bank of England’s David Miles said yesterday. He said: “It is entirely plausible that as economic events unfold it will become clear that an even more expansionary monetary policy will be appropriate.” Miles had voted in November for a £15bn extension but earlier this month agreed it should [...]
German jobless rate rises February 25, 2010 The number of people out of work in Germany has risen by less than expected in February, according to official figures. The Federal Labour Office said yesterfday that the number of jobless rose by 7,000 from the previous month, taking the unemployment total to 3.43m. The country’s unemployment rate rose to 8.7 per cent, from [...]
Losses at RBS are slashed to just £3.6bn February 25, 2010 Royal Bank of Scotland claimed its darkest days have passed as it posted annual losses of £3.6bn – down from £24bn in 2008. The group’s core business – which includes only the departments that will remain after the bank is forced to restructure – saw profits jump from £4.4bn in 2008 to £8.3bn last year. [...]