FLYING HIGH February 15, 2010 VT GROUP yesterday won the contract to provide support to the Royal Air Force’s fleet of Tucano training aircraft. The in-service support contract is worth up to £35m for an initial period of four years, with two further one-year options. Work will begin this April. VT will guarantee the functioning of the Tucano fleet of [...]
Pensions are two thirds bigger for men than women February 15, 2010 MEN’S pensions will be nearly two-thirds bigger than women’s among those planning to retire this year, research from Prudential has shown. Men who start drawing a pension during 2010 can expect an annual average income of £12,169 – while women will receive only £7,424. Pensions dropped for both men and women over the past year, [...]
Chi-X boss covets top slot among bourses February 15, 2010 Pan-European share trading platform Chi-X Europe, Europe’s third-biggest trading platform after just three years in business, has broken into profit and aims to become Europe’s number one exchange, its new chief executive said. Chi-X has become profitable on a daily basis this year, making it the first European multilateral trading facility (MTF) to do so, [...]
Market technology firm Fidessa beats profit expectations February 15, 2010 Fidessa said competition between exchanges and new trading venues boosted demand for its systems software, enabling it to beat profit expectations and return cash to shareholders. The British IT firm, whose systems are used by brokers and banks, has benefited from a proliferation of trading venues and the increasing competition between European exchanges and multilateral [...]
Tui optimistic for summer as bookings rise February 15, 2010 TUI, owner of Europe’s largest travel company TUI Travel, was yesterday optimistic for 2009/10 as recent bookings showed holiday-makers do not want to miss out on summer breaks. “Bookings in the key source markets have improved notably in the past few weeks,” TUI said after impressing investors with a better-than-expected net loss for its fiscal [...]
Mobile firms unite to offer apps platform February 15, 2010 A GROUP of 24 telecom companies are clubbing together to build a mobile phone application platform in a bid to compete with Apple. The alliance – which includes O2, Orange and Vodafone – is hoping that its combined customer base of 3bn will allow it to steal market share from Apple’s App Store. Mobile applications [...]
Microsoft to launch new mobile service February 15, 2010 MICROSOFT boss Steve Ballmer yesterday unveiled Windows Phone 7 as the latest weapon in his fight against Google and Apple. The much-anticipated mobile operating system will start appearing on handsets in the second half of 2010, Ballmer said at Mobile World Congress, the industry’s annual trade fair. He added: “Windows Phone 7 marks a turning [...]
Accounting body sets out policy stance February 15, 2010 The world’s leading accounting standards setter yesterday bolstered its defences from political pressure and reinforced its role as an independent guide to investors rather than a tool for policymakers. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) sets accounting principles that are effectively law in over 100 countries but has been criticised for being aloof and slow [...]
BA shares surge on AA ruling February 15, 2010 SHARES in British Airways yesterday surged after the lucrative tie-up between the struggling carrier and potential partner American Airlines moved a step closer. The US Department of Transportation (DoT) proposed granting the Oneworld alliance immunity from anti-trust competition laws. It says the move would enhance competition within the airline industry where the SkyTeam alliance and [...]
Promethean confident of successful £500m listing February 15, 2010 EDUCATION technology company Promethean is confident of its ability to list at a market value of up to £500m in March despite a spate of aborted initial public offerings (IPOs). Research analysts from Gleacher Shacklock, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Cazenove began knocking on potential investors’ doors yesterday before the prospectus is published and bookbuilding begins [...]