British Gas slashes bills by 7 per cent February 4, 2010 BRITISH Gas has cut average gas bills by 7 per cent after a dip in wholesale prices. Customers will save an average £55 a year as a result of the move, according to the company. Energy companies have been under fire for not passing on wholesale reductions to customers. Managing director Phil Bentley said: “At [...]
Santander sees UK profits surge February 3, 2010 THE UK operations of Spanish banking giant Santander saw full-year profits leap 30 per cent in 2009 as the group grew its share of the mortgage market and signed up more than expected new customers to its bank accounts. Pre-tax profits hit £1.54bn for the year to 31 December with new acquisitions Bradford & Bingley [...]
EU shows Greece who is in charge February 3, 2010 GREECE was yesterday told to begin a spate of savage public sector wage cuts, tax hikes and reduced welfare spending, as the European Commission tries to stave off the worst crisis in the eurozone’s history. Brussels yesterday gave its backing to the desperate measures offered up by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou aimed at tackling [...]
Bank body slams funds directive February 3, 2010 AN influential body backed by the Bank of England has warned that EU plans to regulate hedge funds and private equity could cause chaos. The Financial Markets Law Committee (FMLC), whose members include partners from Linklaters and Clifford Chance, said the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) directive was riddled with ambiguities. Central concepts such as [...]
UK must cut state spending February 3, 2010 BRITAIN needs a more radical programme of spending cuts to slash the budget deficit over the next few years, a leading think-tank urged yesterday. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) called for an extra £13bn worth of tightening by 2015-16 – or five per cent of GDP. Doing more of the required consolidation sooner would [...]
Pain ahead for the British economy February 3, 2010 WE simply don’t realise how painful the next few years are going to be – that, in a nutshell, was the message grim-faced analysts from the Institute for Fiscal Studies delivered yesterday. The Institute’s Green Budgets have become something of an institution in Westminster and the City; the reports are jam-packed with useful facts and [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 3, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES AXA PUTS SPOTLESS UP FOR SALE Spotless, the French maker of laundry and cleaning products, could become the latest “pass-the-parcel” deal between private equity groups, after Axa Private Equity put it up for sale with a €600m-€700m price tag. A recent recovery in debt markets has encouraged private equity groups to become more [...]
Cisco Systems beats forecasts February 3, 2010 Cisco Systems yesterday forecast revenue growth accelerating to a range of 23 per cent to 26 per cent in the current quarter, against the average Wall Street forecast for an increase of 16.5 per cent year-on-year. Revenue for the quarter rose eight per cent to $9.8bn. Profit rose to $1.9bn, or 32 cents a share, [...]
Uganda backs Tullow oil buy February 3, 2010 Tullow Oil’s purchase of Heritage Oil’s oil fields in Uganda is set to be approved by the government, ending its dispute with Italy’s Eni. Last year, Eni struck a $1.35bn deal on Heritage’s oil fields in Uganda’s Lake Albert basin, but was last month pipped to the post by Tullow – Heritage’s partner in Uganda. [...]
Lazard pays out bonuses to lure staff February 3, 2010 Lazard, the Investment bank, yesterday said it would pay staff more in cash and less in equity in a bid to retain key workers and lure top banking talent away from rivals. While other Wall Street firms have deferred bonuses under pressure to align rewards more closely to long-term performance, Lazard has eliminated deferred cash [...]