Ofcom lifts rules on BT sales September 15, 2009 OFCOM said yesterday that it will remove the last piece of regulation that has prevented BT from selling discounted fixed-line voice, broadband and TV packages. Other network providers – such as Virgin Media, BSkyB and Carphone Warehouse’s TalkTalk – are already able to offer reduced rates to customers who take more than one of their [...]
Watchdog says that ITV contract rules must stay September 15, 2009 THE COMPETITION Commission said yesterday that rules governing how ITV charges advertisers cannot be removed, but could be adapted for the changing market. The contract rights renewal (CRR) system links advertising prices to viewing figures and was introduced in 2003 when ITV formed from a merger of Granada and Carlton. ITV has campaigned to have [...]
1,100 jobs to go at defence colossus BAE September 15, 2009 DEFENCE giant BAE Systems is to axe 1,100 jobs and close an aircraft factory in Cheshire, it emerged yesterday. The group said it planned to close its Woodford, Cheshire plant at the end of 2012 with the loss of 630 jobs. Other jobs will go at various sites across the country, including in Farnborough. BAE [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 15, 2009 BARRATT DEVELOPMENTSInvestec said that Barratt Developments is geared up disastrously to pay peak values for land and Wilson Bowden. The broker said that, at £1.3bn, net debt is still surprisingly high. With the firm reported to be considering a highly dilutive £500m rights issue at the end of the month, the broker rates the stock [...]
JD Wetherspoon, Carlsberg unite September 15, 2009 Pub group JD Wetherspoon and brewer Carlsberg UK have announced a new partnership to supply Carlsberg and Tuborg beers in all Wetherspoon’s outlets. The deal was unveiled yesterday at a launch at the new O2 Academy in Birmingham. JD Wetherspoon said the move was timed perfectly to exploit Carlsberg’s sponsorship of the FA and the [...]
Conygar to raise 60m in placing September 15, 2009 Property trading and development group Conygar said yesterday it intends to raise at least £60m via a share placing at 105p per share, to position it to take advantage of UK investment opportunities as the property market begins to show signs of recovery. The firm, which has just agreed a £28.8m takeover of The Advantage [...]
Anite warns on first half profit September 15, 2009 IT services firm Anite warned yesterday it expects first half profit to come in significantly lower than last year, due to less favourable currency movements and seasonality as well as the impact of the economic downturn. “As we expected, trading for the year to date has been challenging,” the firm said in a statement. “The [...]
PROPERTY FUND GURUS HEDGING THEIR BETS September 15, 2009 ISN’T IT astonishing to discover the lengths to which advisers will go to finesse their PR message? Yesterday, City A.M. ran a piece about the UK Strategic Income Property Fund. It will be managed by Coba Asset Management’s Graham Gould and BDO Stoy Hayward Investment Management, while advisers include industry veteran and former Slough Estates [...]
City warns of flaws in living wills proposal September 15, 2009 THE CITY yesterday flagged up flaws in proposals that will force banks to write “living wills” to help regulators wind them up in the event that they collapse.Chancellor Alistair Darling said yesterday that the government was planning to introduce legislation in November which would require banks to make their corporate structures more simple and provide [...]
WOULD LIVING WILLS FOR BANKS BE A GOOD IDEA OR NOT? September 15, 2009 NIC CLARKE CHARLES STANLEYLiving wills would not be simple to draw up and might prove to be far more complicated for some banks to implement than others. But a safety valve needs to be imposed which would mean that no institution is ‘too big to fail’, as a bank could be wound up quickly, with [...]