Relationships before business June 29, 2009 Maintaining face-to-face relationships remains of vital importance to businesses in the face of the recession, according to the findings of a report for Barclays Commercial Business Travel. The survey found 75 per cent of business people expect to travel more, or the same amount, this year compared with 2008. And 50 per cent said they [...]
Home lending still difficult, warns Bank June 29, 2009 MORTGAGE lending saw its weakest rise on record last month, according to the Bank of England, signalling the squeeze on home lending is far from over, despite recent signs that the property slump could be levelling out. The number of home loan approvals rose for the fourth consecutive month in May, climbing from 43,191 in [...]
Asos sales double as the website defies downturn June 29, 2009 ONLINE fashion store Asos yesterday said it had defied the retail recession, announcing that sales doubled last year thanks to the trend towards shopping for clothes online. Chief executive Nick Robertson – who owns 14 per cent of the business – hailed the “phenomenal” results, but warned that the group is anticipating more conservative growth [...]
US merger for Towers Perrin, Watson Wyatt June 29, 2009 CONSULTING firms Towers Perrin Forster & Crosby and Watson Wyatt Worldwide plan to merge in an all-stock deal valued at about $3.5bn (£2.1bn), as they hope to cut costs amid an economic slump that caused clients to curb discretionary spending. Under terms of the deal, announced yesterday, Watson Wyatt’s shareholders will get half of the [...]
JUSTICE IS DONE AS MADOFF GETS 150 YRS June 29, 2009 DISGRACED financier Bernie Madoff will die in jail after he was yesterday sentenced to 150 years in prison, the maximum punishment allowed for what the judge called “extraordinarily evil” crimes. US district attorney judge Denny Chin handed down the punishment to Madoff for perpetrating a $65bn (£40bn) investment fraud – Wall Street’s biggest and most [...]
Ponzi victims left penniless June 29, 2009 JUDGE Denny Chin yesterday said that Bernard Madoff deserved the maximum sentence, typically handed down to organized crime bosses, saying that the fraud was “staggering”. Investigators will not know for some time where all the billions went, or how much was actually stolen, though they believe that some cash may be hidden in offshore tax [...]
Money supply makes world go round June 29, 2009 NOT since the 1980s have the Bank of England’s monthly monetary statistics been this closely followed in the City. Yet money has always mattered and has always moved markets – and had economists and investment bankers spent more time monitoring this data in the noughties, it might have been a little more obvious to them [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 29, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES BT’S PENSION SCHEME TO HOLD LESS IN EQUITIESThe BT Group Pension Scheme had only enough money at the end of 2008 to pay about 57 per cent of promised benefits if the telecommunications company were to become insolvent, and said it intended to pare back sharply its future investments in equities in the [...]
Facebook announces new CFO June 29, 2009 Social network Facebook has hired the former chief financial officer of Genentech as its chief financial officer (CFO), filling a spot that has been empty for about three months. Facebook said yesterday that David Ebersman will join the company in September. Ebersman served as CFO of Genentech from 2006 until April this year, when the [...]
Candover gets bids for Ontex June 29, 2009 Private equity group Candover has received interest from a number of parties for its Belgian-based nappy maker, Ontex. The sale of the nappy maker, which is understood to be worth around £808m, would raise much-needed capital for Candover, which yesterday said that it had ended takeover talks after securing its own finances and extending its [...]