IT consultant ordered to pay £50,000 after being accused of stealing Soho House members’ personal details
German confidence slips February 16, 2010 Confidence among German investors slipped for the fifth month in a row in February amid dim prospects for the retail, consumer goods, steel and chemical sectors. The ZEW Institute’s closely watched confidence index showed yesterday that optimism about the next six months dropped to 45.1 points from 47.2 points in January. That is still well [...]
Astra buys up arthritis drug February 16, 2010 AstraZeneca and Rigel Pharmaceuticals have signed a deal to develop a product for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The London based pharmaceutical company will pay Rigel $100m (£63m) up front in a deal worth up to $1.245bn if the product is a success. Chemically known as fostamatinib disodium, the Rigel product failed in a mid-stage [...]
LCH.Clearnet slumps to a loss after cutting transaction fees February 16, 2010 LCH.Clearnet, Europe’s largest independent central clearer, has recorded a net loss of €91m (£79.4m) for 2009 caused by fee cuts and a fall in exchange trading volumes. It is Clearnet’s first loss since it formed from a merger of the London Clearing House and Clearnet SA in 2003 and follows a €220m net profit in [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 16, 2010 RIGHTMOVE Collins Stewart’s “buy” note comes off the back of an unscheduled positive trading statement from the property website – implying market forecasts for 2010 were materially too low. It said Rightmove’s business model delivers very strong cash flows, with minimal marginal costs, or capital requirements and should be valued on the basis of its [...]
Kraft revenue misses forecasts but Cadbury set to boost growth February 16, 2010 Kraft Foods posted quarterly revenue that fell short of Wall Street expectations yesterday, but said its $18.4bn (£11.6bn) takeover of rival chocolatier Cadbury would accelerate long-term growth. Kraft reached a deal to buy Cadbury and create the world’s largest confectioner last month. Investors are waiting to see how the deal boosts Kraft’s growth, especially since [...]
HSBC client pleads guilty at US tax evasion hearing February 16, 2010 A US client of London-based HSBC pleaded guilty to conspiracy yesterday in connection with assets stashed abroad to evade taxes, part of a widening crackdown on foreign banks and their customers. The plea is the first among the US government’s recent tax prosecutions that involves a major bank other than Swiss banking giant UBS. Last [...]
AIRBUS IN CRISIS TALKS February 16, 2010 AN AIRBUS Beluga Transporter unloads the cockpit of an A400m military airplane. Airbus parent EADS is studying a new offer of aid for the delayed and over-budget A400M military transporter plane from seven buyer nations. There is renewed speculation of a long-awaited rescue deal this week. One source described the talks as “serious”, after weeks [...]
Shell bows to revolt over pay and bonuses February 16, 2010 Shell’s shareholders scored a victory yesterday after last year’s revolt on remuneration forced the oil titan to freeze pay and curb bonuses. In a letter to shareholders, Hans Wijers, new head of the group’s remuneration committee, said salaries have been frozen from July 2009 to January 2011 in an effort to increase the “alignment between [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 16, 2010 Amati Global Investors The newly-formed investment manager, which manages the Noble Aim VCT and CF Noble UK Smaller Companies funds, has appointed Eddie Edmonstone as a director. Edmonstone is something of a veteran in the City, having previously been director of corporate broking at stockbroking group FinnCap. He was also formerly a founder of Peel [...]
Exxon’s gas focus helps it to bolster 2009 oil reserves February 16, 2010 Exxon Mobil added 2bn barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) to its proved reserves in 2009, or 133 per cent of its production for that year, the largest US oil firm said yesterday. Exxon used long-term pricing to estimate its reserves instead of using the 12-month averages required under rules from the US Securities and Exchange [...]