SSL increases stake in condoms packager February 12, 2010 DUREX maker SSL has paid around £140m to up its stake in Russian condoms packager and distributor BLBV to 75 per cent. The firm, which also makes Scholl footcare products, said it had agreed an option to buy the rest of the business next year. Garry Watts, SSL’s chief executive, said: “We have been delighted [...]
Eurostar slammed in snow chaos report February 12, 2010 EUROSTAR has been heavily criticized in a report into the chaos caused when its services ground to a halt. The independent report said that inadequate emergency plans were in place when six trains broke down in December, leaving 2,500 passengers stranded in the Channel Tunnel. Heavy snow in northern France caused the trains to lose [...]
John Lewis starts the year on a high February 12, 2010 JOHN Lewis has reported one of its healthiest starts to a financial year. Total sales in the first week of February were up 32 per cent. Fashion, including lingerie snapped up for Valentine’s Day – led sales gains by rising 47 per cent as new season ranges came into stores. John Lewis’s flagship store in [...]
West End booming for landlord Shaftesbury February 12, 2010 WEST End landlord Shaftesbury has seen buoyant trading over Christmas and New year, with lettings exceeding predicted prices. The company, which owns large areas of theatreland, said the West End had enjoyed a booming Christmas period. Around 70 per cent of the company’s portfolio comprises shops, restaurants and leisure and property for leisure uses but [...]
Thumbs down for Greek rescue plan February 11, 2010 INITIAL City enthusiasm over an expected bailout for Greece quickly switched to disappointment yesterday as the 16 nations in the eurozone failed to come up with a solid rescue plan. The euro plunged almost one per cent against the dollar – at one stage breaching a fresh eight-month low –?and despite recovering slightly lost most [...]
US property loans may fail February 11, 2010 US banks face a fresh crisis as a wave of commercial property loans threatens to go sour. The US Congressional Oversight Panel (COP), which monitors government spending under the $700bn (£450bn) bailout programme, has warned that $1.4 trillion of loans covering commercial premises such as offices, shops and factories will mature between 2011 and 2014. [...]
Greek rescue doesn’t solve anything February 11, 2010 HOW predictable. Yesterday’s supposed bail-out of Greece was short on details and long on feel-good verbiage, as the City soon came to understand. And even if a loan guarantee from EU countries does eventually materialise, it would merely stave off a temporary cash flow crisis, allowing Greece to meet its next few bond repayments. For [...]
Meares set for Asia move February 11, 2010 HSBC is looking to relocate Chris Meares, the global head of its private bank, from London to Hong Kong in order to take advantage of Asia Pacific’s growing wealth. JP Morgan’s head of private banking, Douglas Wurth, successfully completed his move to the region this week and other financial institutions are now looking to follow [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 11, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES SHELL STAFF DETAILS LEAKED TO CAMPAIGN GROUPS Royal Dutch Shell has suffered a serious breach of security after contact details for more than 170,000 employees and contractors were e-mailed to environmental and human rights campaign groups. The database, from Shell’s internal directory, gives names and telephone numbers for all the company’s workforce worldwide, [...]
Clinton undergoes heart surgery February 11, 2010 Former US President Bill Clinton has undergone heart surgery at the Columbia Presbyterian hospital in New York. Clinton had two stents – tiny mesh scaffolds used to prop open an artery – inserted in one of his heart arteries. The 63-year-old had quadruple-bypass surgery in New York in September 2004 after experiencing prolonged chest pains [...]