Recovery on track, firms say September 6, 2009 THE UK economy is on the road to recovery but is still at risk of a “relapse”, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said yesterday. The BCC said in its September 2009 Economic Forecast that rallying stock markets, fiscal stimulus measures and sharp falls in sterling would support an initial upturn. David Kern, chief economist [...]
US claims win in Airbus row September 6, 2009 THE World Trade Organisation (WTO)has partly upheld a US complaint that European loans to Airbus worth $15bn (£9.13bn) were illegal subsidies, according to a confidential report. Now Baroness Ashton, the EU’s trade commissioner, says Europe is willing to negotiate with America in the long-running battle over state aid to Airbus and Boeing. The US filed [...]
UK set for square root-shaped recovery September 6, 2009 IT is almost official: we are out of recession. The economy is growing again, albeit at a snail’s pace, the equity and debt markets have bounced back, some firms are posting higher profits and there has been a mini-renaissance in City deal-making. All of which is great news but certainly not enough to uncork the [...]
RBS closer to Asian exit September 6, 2009 ROYAL Bank of Scotland is nearing a £200m deal to sell off its remaining Asian assets, as chief executive Stephen Hester continues his efforts to streamline the lender. The bank is to sell its retail and commercial banking businesses in India, China and Malaysia to emerging markets-focused bank Standard Chartered, sources said yesterday. The deal [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 6, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday TelegraphG20 WILL CURB BANK BONUSESBonuses for bankers throughout the Western world will for the first time be subject to limits and checks as soon as next year after the G20 pledged to embark on an international crackdown on financiers’ pay. Banks will have caps imposed on the size of the bonus pot [...]
Munich Re to unify its brands September 6, 2009 The world’s largest reinsurer Munich Re is to bring together its reinsurance operations under one brand. “Munich Re will position itself as a comprehensive provider of all types of reinsurance and capital market solutions under the worldwide brand of Munich Re,” the company said in a statement. The group intends to take advantage of new [...]
Executive bonuses hold up September 6, 2009 Executive directors in FTSE 350 companies have not seen reduced bonus payouts, even though 70 per cent will not get a pay rise this year, according to a Deloitte report. More companies are now paying non-cash bonuses and are deferring portions of the bonus or placing clawback provisions. Deloitte said the typical bonus payout is [...]
Lehman fee gives boost to PwC revenue September 6, 2009 THE worldwide accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers saw its revenues creep up by less than half a per cent over the past year, thanks to a strong performance from its advisory business in turbulent economic conditions. Its results were boosted by £100m in revenues from the administration of Lehman Brothers’ European arm, after the bank failed last [...]
Mobile phone operators eye T-Mobile UK September 6, 2009 VODAFONE and Spain’s Telefonica, the owner of O2, are understood to have tabled conditional offers of around £3.5bn to buy T-Mobile UK. The sale of the Deutsche Telekom unit to either party would create the UK’s largest mobile operator – once its 16.6m customers were added to theirs – and both offers are believed to [...]
BROWN SEEKSAFGHANISTAN SUPPORT September 6, 2009 PRIMEminister Gordon Brown and German chancellor Angela Merkel last night called for an international political conference on Afghanistan. The summit aims to tackle the growing public concerns in a number of Nato countries about the cost and effectiveness of the eight year long fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. It is hoped the [...]