Optimism returns as flood of firms set for London flotations February 18, 2010 GOLD mining giant Barrick Gold yesterday led a spirited charge by companies back into the London initial public offering (IPO) markets, after quavering demand from investors sank prospects for three new flotations in the space of just over a week. Barrick announced plans to spin off its African assets into a new company, African Barrick [...]
Darling’s £3bn Icesave punt February 18, 2010 ALISTAIR Darling rejected advice from the civil service when he controversially went ahead and guaranteed all the UK deposits of those who had savings with Icesave, the Icelandic bank, it emerged yesterday. Darling was advised by permanent secretary Nick Macpherson that bailing out Icesave carried with it the prospect of having to do the same [...]
The Beatles were right about taxes February 18, 2010 BEATLEMANIA is back – or at least that is what it is starting to feel like when one reads the endless coverage of the proposed sale of the Abbey Road studios by EMI, Guy Hands’ troubled music giant. Let me join in: the current political climate reminds me increasingly of that described so beautifully in [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 18, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES RIPOSTE BY 60 ECONOMISTS TO CALL FOR CUTS More than 60 leading economists have backed Alistair Darling’s decision to delay spending cuts until 2011, creating a dividing line within the profession on the crucial general election issue of how to tackle the UK’s huge public debt. Two letters in today’s Financial Times warn [...]
Babcock keeps heat on VT February 18, 2010 SHIPBUILDER Babcock ratcheted up the pressure on services company VT Group yesterday by publicly calling on the board to enter into discussions over its £1.26bn takeover approach. In a move designed to stir up VT shareholders, Babcock said it was “disappointed” chief executive Paul Lester and his team had refused to engage. Babcock reiterated its [...]
Boeing plans to regain top spot February 18, 2010 Boeing is expected to become the world’s biggest civil aircraft maker again within four years, according to the head of the US group’s commercial aircraft business. Boeing lost the top spot to Airbus in 2003 when the European manufacturer overtook its US rival for the first time. Boeing, maker of the 747 jumbo jet, the [...]
EasyJet pay angers investors February 18, 2010 EasyJet pushed through an executive pay deal yesterday despite significant opposition from its investors. In the latest sign that investors are determined to keep executive pay in check, nearly 30 per cent of voters opposed or abstained from a vote on the discount airline’s pay policy at its annual meeting at Luton airport. Much of [...]
Google and Tesco to rival estate agents February 18, 2010 TESCO and Google are poised to offer real estate listings in the UK, radically reshaping the landscape of Britain’s housing market. The consumer giants’ onslaught on the property market comes after a report from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) suggested that legislation dating back to 1979 should be relaxed to allow more online estate [...]
Lloyds Banking Group to dole out £200m to staff February 18, 2010 LLOYDS Banking Group is set to dish out around £200m to staff in its upcoming annual bonus round, it emerged yesterday. The bonus pool is significantly lower than the pot at Barclays and RBS, due to the fact that most of Lloyds’ 120,000 UK staff work in the retail and commercial bank and earn an [...]
Toyota boss to appear before US Congress February 18, 2010 Toyota’s global president has caved in to mounting pressure and announced he will testify to US politicians next week about the carmaker’s global recall of its Prius hybrid cars. Akio Toyoda said last night he was looking “forward to speaking directly with Congress and the American people”. He had previously refused to travel to Washington. [...]