Iceland asks for state mediation January 24, 2010 Iceland has approached several governments about the possibility of mediating talks over $5bn its owes to Britain and the Netherlands after the island’s banking crisis, Icelandic media reported yesterday. Local television said Norway was the most likely candidate for such a role. Oslo is seen as sympathetic to Iceland’s plight and mediated between London and [...]
Philips in profit boost January 24, 2010 GLOBAL electronics firm Philips has reported a net profit of €251m (£220m) for the last three months of 2009. The profit reverses a loss of €1.2bn in the same period a year ago as the recession took its toll on the Dutch firm. The company said its profits were higher at all divisions, despite sales [...]
Philips profits boosted by TV sales January 24, 2010 GLOBAL electronics firm Philips has reported a net profit of €251m (£220m) for the last three months of 2009. The profit reverses a loss of €1.2bn in the same period a year ago as the recession took its toll on the Dutch firm. The company said its profits were higher at all divisions, despite sales [...]
Shares fall as Obama wages war on Wall Street January 22, 2010 PRESIDENT Barack Obama launched his biggest attack yet on the banking sector, revealing plans for the toughest overhaul of Wall Street since the Great Depression. “If these folks want a fight, it’s a fight I’m ready to have,” Obama said, as he told retail banks they would no longer be able to take risky bets [...]
Retail sales figures “disappointing” January 22, 2010 RETAIL sales volumes rose by much less than expected in December as a large rise in prices deterred shoppers from splashing out over Christmas, official figures have shown. The Office for National Statistics said the figure rose just 0.3 percent last month, less than the 1.1 percent analysts had expected and the weakest for the [...]
EX-BANKING HOTSHOTS DON’T HOLD A GRUDGE January 21, 2010 ON the face of it, you’d have thought there would be a good deal of simmering resentment beneath the surface of the outward relationship between Sir James Sassoon – the investment banker-turned-Treasury finance guru-turned-Tory bank adviser – and Financial Service Authority (FSA) chief Hector Sants. Sassoon last year caused a storm when he authored that [...]
Car sales plunge despite scrappage scheme January 21, 2010 CAR production plunged last year despite a late surge fuelled by the Government’s scrappage scheme. Many companies cut back on manufacturing early in the year as recession-hit Brits cut back. Honda was one of the companies badly hit – reducing production at its plant in Swindon, Wiltshire, for four months from February. The introduction of [...]
Tube strike over Jubilee line pay row January 21, 2010 LONDON Underground maintenance workers on the Jubilee Line are to stage a series of 24-hour walkouts in a row over pay. Members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) employed by Alstom on the Jubilee line will walk out from 7.29pm next Wednesday. They will also strike each Sunday evening at the same time [...]
Rusal raises $2.2bn with Hong Kong listing January 21, 2010 RUSSIAN aluminium giant Rusal has sold $2.2bn (£1.36bn) of shares in a public listing in Hong Kong. Rusal sold 1.61bn shares at 10.80 Hong Kong dollars (86 pence) each. Shares in the company will start trading on 27 January. Rusal, which is the first Russian company to list in Hong Kong, is controlled by the [...]
Fraud costs UK economy £30bn a year January 21, 2010 FRAUD costs the UK £30bn every year – more than double previous estimates. The total equates to £621 per adult in the UK, according to the annual report buy the National Fraud Authority. A massive 58 per cent of fraud was in the public sector at a cost of £17bn. False insurance claims cost the [...]