Infineon faces battle over chair February 10, 2010 Infineon could see its chairman-designate blocked today by shareholders in what would be a milestone for corporate governance in Germany. Shareholders in the German chipmaker – led by Hermes, the UK fund manager owned by the BT pension scheme – have led a month-long campaign to bar Klaus Wucherer, a long-time Infineon non-executive director, as [...]
De Beers set to reap £1bn cash February 10, 2010 De Beers is set to announce a $1bn (£641m) cash injection today to recapitalise the diamond miner. Mining company Anglo American, which owns 45 per cent of De Beers, will contribute $450m, South Africa’s Oppenheimer family will add $400m and the government of Botswana will contribute $150m. The cash injection is similar to a rights [...]
NY Times beats profit forecasts February 10, 2010 The New York Times warned yesterday that print newspaper advertising will continue to decline, sending shares down nearly nine per cent, even as the company slashed costs to reach a higher-than-expected fourth-quarter profit. Total fourth quarter revenue fell 11.5 per cent to $681.2m (£436m), compared with the average analyst estimate of $653.2m. Income from continuing [...]
Goldmans Sachs keeps bonuses February 10, 2010 Goldman Sachs last night refused to commit to slashing future bonuses. David Viniar, chief financial officer said: “People ask me if this is the new normal … There is no formula. We tried to strike the balance right and we’ll try to strike the balance right this year.”
Bernanke will tighten fiscal screws on US February 10, 2010 Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke indicated the central bank will soon begin tightening the screws on the US money supply. He said the central bank will reduce the stimulus package by removing some cash from the financial system and then raising interest rates. The cuts will not be implemented for some time but the statement [...]
China trade jump reveals solid exit from downturn February 10, 2010 Imports to China surged by a massive 85 per cent in January, and the trade surplus fell to $14.17bn (£9.4bn), down from $18.43bn in December. Exports continued to grow by 20 per cent, exceeding analyst expectations. A favourable comparison to last year helped to boost imports in January, but overall, the trade data released yesterday [...]
Pantheon is sold to US rival AMG in £500m deal February 10, 2010 Affiliated Managers Group yesterday said it plans to buy British private equity group Pantheon Ventures, in the US money manager holding company’s fifth acquisition in seven months. AMG, which has been pushing hard into alternative assets like hedge funds and into foreign markets in the last years, also said it has millions on hand to [...]
Greek workers strike as talks on debt crisis begin February 10, 2010 Thousands of Greek civil servants staged a 24-hour strike shutting schools and grounding flights yesterday, but a protest march was poorly attended, offering some hope Athens can tackle a debt crisis shaking the eurozone. Today’s meeting among the EU’s 27 leaders, economic advisers, the central bank chief and other senior EU officials is expected to [...]
Bank: Bumpy UK recovery February 10, 2010 BRITAIN’S path to recovery will be much slower than previously predicted and inflation will fall further below target over the next few years, the Bank of England said yesterday as it unveiled its new growth and inflation forecasts as part of the quarterly Inflation Report. The Bank said the pace of growth was weaker than [...]
Strong manufacturing data boosts hopes of GDP revision February 10, 2010 BRITISH manufacturing output surged an impressive 0.9 per cent in December, strengthening hopes that the dismal fourth quarter GDP data would be revised upwards. The strong industrial and manufacturing data vindicated survey evidence, which has suggested that the recovery was stronger in the second half of 2009 than official data showed. The Office for National [...]