Porsche boss axed as part of VW tie-up July 23, 2009 PORSCHE conceded defeat in a months-long power struggle with Volkswagen yesterday by axing its embattled chief executive, paving the way for VW to merge with the maker of the 911 sportscar. The luxury carmaker said Wendelin Wiedeking, its chief executive for the past 16 years and Germany’s best-paid executive, would leave the group immediately, along [...]
ING mulls private bank sale July 23, 2009 DUTCH bank ING is understood to have hired JPMorgan to manage the sale of its European and Asian private banking business, valued by the bank at more than €700m (£605m). The bank announced a plan earlier this year to dispose of up to €8bn worth of assets, as new chief executive Jan Hommen bids to [...]
World’s banks tighten up lending levels, says BIS July 23, 2009 THE world’s banks lent $6 trillion (£3.6 trillion) less in the year to March than they did in the previous year, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) said yesterday. Total lending worldwide shrank by $1.5 trillion, or over 4 per cent, in the first quarter of this year at current exchange rates, BIS said. However, [...]
GM and Berlin still locked in talks over European operations, Ford posts profit July 23, 2009 US carmaker General Motors said yesterday it was still in detailed talks with both Canadian car parts firm Magna and Belgian private equity outfit RHJ International, who are looking to buy its European arm. GM has been considering three final offers for GM Europe – which consists of Opel in Germany and Vauxhall in the [...]
Tamiflu swine flu drug boosts Roche but Genentech takeover dents profits July 23, 2009 SWISS drugs firm Roche yesterday booked a massive drop in profits due to its takeover of Genentech – despite increasing demand for its swine flu treatment Tamiflu. The group said its first half profit fell by 29 per cent to SFr4.1bn (£2.3bn) from SFr5.7bn a year earlier. The drop in profits was mainly due to [...]
Yell soars on restructuring hopes July 23, 2009 Shares in Yell surged yesterday after it said that talks to restructure its £3.8bn debt pile were on track and said that it had it outperformed guidance for the first quarter. The struggling directories publisher reiterated that it is seeking to extend the maturity of its debt, but made no mention of rights issues or [...]
Arqiva snaps up Kangaroo spoils July 23, 2009 Broadcast transmission group Arqiva has agreed to buy video-on-demand technology and intellectual property from Project Kangaroo – the defunct joint venture between the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV – for an undisclosed sum. The privately-owned firm said it plans to use the technology to set up a consumer video service. Project Kangaroo was blocked early [...]
Tate & Lyle buoyed by cost cuts July 23, 2009 Food producer Tate & Lyle said yesterday that first-quarter pre-tax profit was ahead of its expectations as it reaped the benefits from a series of cost cutting measures. The maker of Splenda said that, although its outlook was unclear in the short term, it had made a better-than-anticipated start to the year with demand from [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 23, 2009 LONMINInvestec said Lonmin reported solid third-quarter operational results, but has reduced its full-year 2009 sales guidance to 680-700 ounces, from 700 ounces. The broker had already cuts its forecast to 674 ounces but the news did not change its recommendation that investors “hold” the stock with a target price of 1,050p. BAE SYSTEMSAhead of BAE [...]
Cosmens and CVC team up for NatExp bid July 23, 2009 NATIONAL Express’ biggest shareholder, Spain’s Cosmen family, is understood to have linked up with private equity firm CVC to table an offer for National Express, in a deal which is thought to value the train and bus firm at £500m. The family, which has an 18.5 per cent holding in the firm, wants to acquire [...]