Iberia said to be nearing a deal with BA May 25, 2009 SPANISH Airline Iberia said yesterday that it could conclude its merger talks with British Airways (BA) within months, but fell short of giving an exact date for completion of the deal. Speaking before a presentation in Madrid, Iberia’s commercial director Manuel Lopez Colmenarejo said that corporate governance and the financial impact of BA’s pension deficit [...]
Philips gets a boost from Saeco espresso buy out May 25, 2009 THE electronics giant behind the Senseo brand of coffee makers, Philips, has agreed to buy Europe’s largest maker of espresso machines, Saeco, for an undisclosed sum. The Italian based firm Saeco had sales of €318m (£280m) over the 12 months ended 31 March, Philips said. Saeco makes machines branded under the Saeco and Gaggia names, [...]
Cheap Nano is a no-go in India May 25, 2009 Just 20 per cent of Tata Motors’ orders for the world’s cheapest car are for the bargain basement $2,600 model, it emerged yesterday. Chairman Ratan Tata spent four years designing the budget car with 500 engineers, saying the Indian customer would rather have a cheap car with no air-conditioning. Half of the customers booked the [...]
Car industry could lose 6m jobs May 25, 2009 Up to 6m workers could lose their jobs as the automotive industry continues to fail, the general secretary of the International Metalworkers’ Federation said yesterday. “Worldwide, maybe we will lose something between 20 per cent to 25 per cent of our membership,” Marcello Malentacchi said. Malentacchi said that the car market’s contraction is likely to [...]
Casualties provide opportunity May 25, 2009 The retailers that survive the recession will be able to snap up a total of £3.9bn worth of fallen firms to boost their revenues and market share, according to research out today from Verdict. It says £6.5bn of sales, 9,500 stores, and 24m square feet of space has become available due to the downturn, which [...]
MTN Bharti tie-up revived May 25, 2009 INDIAN mobile operator Bharti Airtel and South African network MTN have restarted tie-up talks, rekindling hopes of a $23bn (£14.5bn) transaction to create a telecoms giant. The complex deal, which would eclipse HM Treasury’s purchase of a $22.3bn stake in Lloyds Banking Group and be the largest non-pharmaceutical sector merger in 2009, would see both [...]
Key German sentiment indicator reports a welcome May boost May 25, 2009 GERMAN corporate sentiment rose in May amid further cheer about prospects of an economic recovery, according to a key measure. Think tank Ifo’s business climate index, based on a poll of 7,000 firms, rose to 84.2 in May from 83.7 in April. Commerzbank economist Joerg Kraemer said: “This is a further clear signal that the [...]
City Moves who’s switching jobs May 25, 2009 WolseleyThe plumbers and builders merchant has appointed Michael Wareing, chief executive of accountancy firm KPMG, and Alain Le Goff, a former executive at consumer giant Reckitt Benckiser, as non-executive directors. Wareing, pictured, 55, joined KPMG in 1973 and became chief executive in 2005. Le Goff, 57, retired as executive vice president of supply at Reckitt [...]
Collins Stewart hunts for successor to Terry Smith May 25, 2009 CITY stockbroker Collins Stewart has appointed headhunters to recruit two new non-executive directors, one of whom will be groomed to become the long-term successor to executive chairman Terry Smith. One of the non-executives is expected to become executive deputy chairman, with the potential to take the helm at the firm when Smith eventually steps down [...]
Travelzest is undeterred by libel lawsuit May 25, 2009 TOUR operator group Travelzest is pressing ahead with its investigation into the alleged theft of company money, despite a defamation lawsuit filed by founder and former chief executive Chris Mottershead. Mottershead launched libel proceedings last week, almost a month after the group announced it had suspended him pending the outcome of an investigation into “a [...]