Finsbury spins another healthy profits increase October 6, 2009 CADBURY’S financial public relations adviser Finsbury has increased profits despite the downturn in the economy, according to documents filed at Companies House. Profits have reached £8.8m against £8.75m last year and founder Roland Rudd has seen his pay package reach £2.9m against £2.25m the year before. Rudd, a former financial journalist with the Financial Times, [...]
Tories detail plans for later retirement October 6, 2009 THE TORY party softened its stance on bringing forward planned rises to the state retirement age yesterday, while the City attacked the cost-cutting plan as insufficient. Shadow chancellor George Osborne addressed the party faithful in Manchester, setting out his proposed measures to tackle what he calls “Labour’s debt crisis”. He confirmed plans, leaked on Monday [...]
Blackstone in windfall from oil field stake October 6, 2009 BLACKSTONE shares rose by more than 4.5 per cent yesterday as the firm came in line for a giant windfall, after energy giant Exxon Mobil agreed to buy a stake in an oil field the private equity firm jointly controls. Exxon has snapped up a large interest in the Jubilee field in Ghana, which is [...]
Hodges to head Aviva UK as insurer announces management reshuffle October 6, 2009 Aviva yesterday announced that its head of UK life insurance Mark Hodges is to become chief executive of its entire domestic business, bringing all its UK life and non-life operations under one leader. The move is part of a management shake-up which has been prompted by the retirement of Aviva’s chief executive of North America, [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 6, 2009 ThreadneedleThe asset management firm has appointed Kris Haber as global head of hedge funds and head of the North American business. Haber, who will report directly to the firm’s chief executive Crispin Henderson, joins after a 13-year spell working for Lazard Asset Management, where he was most recently a managing director for global alternative investments. [...]
BY TORY CUTS MUST GO FURTHER, SAYS CITY October 6, 2009 ECONOMISTS yesterday welcomed Tory plans to cut public spending by £23bn over the next parliament, but warned that the party would need to make much deeper cuts to plug the massive budget deficit. Speaking at the Tory party conference in Manchester, shadow chancellor George Osborne set out plans to shave £7bn a year from existing [...]
Gold surges as traders ditch dollar October 6, 2009 THE PRICEof gold surged to an all-time high of over $1,040 a troy ounce yesterday, as falls in the USdollar caused investors to go on the hunt for alternatives. A surprise interest rate rise in Australia contributed to the US currency falls, as the higher yields on offer Down Under caused traders to ditch the [...]
Economy flat in UK but… October 6, 2009 BRITAIN’S economy failed to expand in the third quarter of 2009, a leading think tank forecast yesterday, dashing hopes that the UK would start to experience modest growth. The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said that the disappointing figures were because of much weaker than expected industrial production in August. Figures from [...]
Osborne’s cuts are merely the first step October 6, 2009 IT was Philip Hammond, the Tory shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, who put it best last night. He readily explained that the package of spending cuts and reforms outlined by his party yesterday were only a start and that there would be more to come. His frankness came as something of a relief after [...]
SocGen ready to repay aid October 6, 2009 SOCIETE Générale launched a €4.8bn rights issue yesterday as it seeks to repay €3.4bn (£3.1bn) worth of state aid and build a war chest for possible acquisitions. The bank joined French rival BNP Paribas in seeking to exit government support, saying that the cash call would allow it to pursue “external growth opportunities”. However, SocGen [...]