Cowdery to clinch deal for Friends August 9, 2009 CLIVE Cowdery, founder of buyout vehicle Resolution, expects to be toasting a major victory tomorrow when the board of insurer Friends Provident finally supports his takeover offer. Cowdery has had to raise his price to 0.9 new Resolution shares in return for each Friends share acquired, after weeks of wrangling with the board of his [...]
Tories will not rule out 20 per cent VAT August 9, 2009 THE CONSERVATIVE party denied reports it was considering raising the rate of VAT to 20 per cent yesterday, although it refused to rule the move out for future Treasury budgets. A spokesman for the party, likely to take over the government at a general election next year, said the idea of boosting the tax rate [...]
Branson all set to slam BA in the US August 9, 2009 SIR Richard Branson is set to air his grievances on the proposed tie-up between British Airways (BA) and American Airlines (AA) in the US next month, appearing in front of a key panel examining competition policy. The founder of Virgin group, who has been very vocal in his condemnation of the tie-up, was summoned as [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 9, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday TelegraphNON-EXECUTIVES’ FEES RISE BY 10PC DESPITE STAFF PAY FREEZESUK non-executives at leading FTSE companies earned an average of €142,000 (£121,000) for each board role in 2008, a 10pc increase year-on-year, according to AlphaValue, the independent equity research firm. IMF PUTS TOTAL COST OF CRISIS AT £7.1 TRILLIONThe cost of mopping up after [...]
SpinVox looks to mend its image August 9, 2009 SpinVox, the company that converts voice recordings into text messages, has hired public relations firm Brunswick to help fix its image, after allegations of financial mismanagement. The company, led by chief executive Christina Domecq, has been beset by problems ever since allegations surfaced that its messages were being transcribed in call centres abroad. SpinVox, which [...]
Chocolatier Patchi plans to float August 9, 2009 Lebanese family owned chocolatier Patchi is planning to list in Dubai and London to help it fund a drive for global expansion. The firm, owned by founder and chairman Nizar Choucair, has hired advisers to help it float up to 49 per cent of the company, after delaying initial plans for a listing due to [...]
House prices to rise next year August 9, 2009 British house prices are likely to fall just three per cent more over the rest of 2009 before growing by two per cent in 2010, says the Centre for Economics and Business Research.“Our view is that the extent of house price falls already seen means further significant falls are unlikely,” said CEBR economist Benjamin Williamson.The [...]
Financial services sees revival August 9, 2009 The volume of new financial companies seeking authorisation from the Financial Services Authority rose by 10 per cent in the second quarter, heralding a return to the activity seen prior to the recession. Independent financial advisers made up the largest group of the 282 new applicants, while boutique advisories also boomed as individuals left large [...]
FSA’s Sants: Not my job to set bonuses August 9, 2009 HECTOR Sants, head of watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA), will this week refuse to bow to pressure to bring in rules to cap City bonuses.Sants has said it is not the regulator’s job to set company pay levels, only to ensure pay does not encourage risk in the financial system. In the FSA’s guidelines [...]
UBS tax case hits new snag August 9, 2009 THE SWISS and US governments have hit a stumbling block in their efforts to settle a tax dispute between UBS and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over the transfer of details of 52,000 clients accused of tax evasion. The two nations are expected to reach an agreement under which Berne will provide some of the [...]