WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 24, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES EUROZONE DIVISIONS HIT SINGLE CURRENCY The euro came under heavy pressure yesterday, falling to a 10-month low against the dollar, as doubts intensified about the 16 eurozone member states agreeing on financial assistance for Greece – and Portugal suffered a credit downgrade. Sentiment soured towards the European single currency after Fitch, the rating [...]
Portugal is downgraded March 24, 2010 FITCH Ratings cut Portugal’s sovereign credit rating by one notch to AA- yesterday, citing budgetary underperformance in 2009 and warning that further underperformance this year and next could cause another downgrade. Fitch said the government’s long-term budget austerity plan was broadly credible and it did not expect political instability to upset the passage of the [...]
Conservative lead narrows to just two points March 24, 2010 The Conservative lead over Labour has fallen to just two points, according to the latest YouGov/Sun poll. The Tories are on 36 points and Labour on 34, while the Lib Dems dropped one point to 17, and other parties are on 13. Notably, the fieldwork was conducted before respondents could react to yesterday’s Budget.
EasyJet boss McCall to see pay doubled March 24, 2010 CAROLYN McCall, former Guardian Media Group boss, will see her pay almost double once she takes over as chief executive of low cost airline easyJet. It is understood that McCall, who in 2009 earned a salary of £498,000 at the Guardian, will step into a similar pay package as former easyJet chief Andy Harrison, whose [...]
Search for new Guardian chief starts in earnest March 24, 2010 GUARDIAN Media Group (GMG) yesterday began the search for a new chief executive after Carolyn McCall’s shock defection to easyJet. A Guardian spokesman said McCall would remain in place while a replacement is found. Several names have emerged as early contenders for the post. Tim Brooks, managing director of Guardian News and Media (GNM), is [...]
Lloyd’s reaps record profit but fears 2010 March 24, 2010 LLOYD’S of London was bracing itself for a “very tough” 2010 yesterday, despite releasing a record set of results that showed pre-tax profit doubled to £3.9m last year. A lack of natural disasters and strong investment performance helped the insurance market boost the figure from £1.9bn in 2008, when hurricanes Ike and Gustav forced to [...]
Alstom directors arrested in SFO raids in foreign contract bribes probe March 24, 2010 three directors of French engineering group Alstom arrested by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on suspicion of bribery and corruption after raids on nine properties were last night released without charge. The SFO said in a statement it suspected bribes were paid in order to win contracts overseas and that this had involved associated money [...]
IRISH BANKING ARREST March 24, 2010 IRISH police yesterday arrested William McAteer, former finance director of Anglo Irish Bank, the second man to be held in a fraud probe into events preceding the bank’s nationalisation. Last Thursday, police arrested Sean FitzPatrick, 61, former Anglo Irish chairman but later released him without charge after a day of questioning.
LSE welcomes £900m flood of new floats March 24, 2010 FOUR separate companies raised a total of over £900m yesterday as they floated on the London Stock Exchange, the best day for listings in the City since May 2008. African Barrick Gold (ABG) raised £581m as it came to the market at 575p per share – the largest initial public offering on the LSE in [...]
Dubai set for crunch talks March 24, 2010 Bankers yesterday gathered in Dubai to hammer out a $26bn debt plan with state-owned Dubai World as a repayment deadline loomed, adding to pressure on the glitzy emirate to settle the conglomerate’s debt. Core creditors representing 97 banks met to finalise months of talks on how Dubai World can restructure the debt, about a quarter [...]