Pru and C&W wrap up £1bn pensions deal September 4, 2008 Prudential and Cable & Wireless (C&W) have struck a landmark £1bn deal which will see the telecoms company transfer its pension liabilities to the insurer. In the largest bulk annuity deal in the UK this year, Prudential will assume responsibility for payments to 5,000 retired members of C&W’s defined-benefit pension scheme. The move, which paves [...]
Punch scraps its dividend as declining beer sales hit September 4, 2008 Pubs group Punch Taverns is scrapping its dividend, the group said yesterday. The move comes in the wake of reports of declining sales, which led to a plunge in the company’s share price. Punch shares closed down 12 per cent at 278.25p. Punch Taverns said the move was prudent given the “challenging market conditions”. The [...]
DSG cautious after sales dip at PC World September 4, 2008 Nine months into the job, John Browett, chief executive of DSG International announced yesterday he was not foreseeing a “chance for recovery until 2010”, following a first quarter slump in the market. Like-for-like sales in the 16 weeks to 23 August fell seven per cent on the same period last year, led by 12 per [...]
Microsoft beware: Google is moving into applications September 4, 2008 When Bill Gates stood down from Microsoft earlier this year, he was hoping his legacy would be secure. Windows Vista, the product of more than six years labour, was supposed to cement the firm’s hold on the computer desktop while the $10bn it had spent trying to topple Google should have at least allowed it [...]
Hedge funds braced for a major crisis September 4, 2008 Managers are facing their toughest year since 1990, finds David Crow Once seen as the best way to make money whatever the state of the market, the magic glue that held the hedge fund sector together is beginning to come unstuck amid the intense heat of the credit crunch. Barely a day goes by without [...]
Tokyo Mitsubishi is in the frame for a stake in Lehman as suitors drop out September 4, 2008 The saga over bids for a stake in Lehman Brothers assets entered a new chapter yesterday, as another potential suitor entered the fray and several parties rumoured to be interested dropped out. Reports from Japan suggested that the country’s banking powerhouse, Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, was monitoring the situation closely, with a view to making a [...]
Dresdner sale gets interest of UK broker September 4, 2008 British broker Collins Stewart is circling Dresdner Kleinwort, after Commerzbank admitted it would shrink the investment bank as part of its €9.8bn (£7.9bn) deal for fellow German bank Dresdner. Collins Stewart, itself the subject of a takeover approach from Japanese group Nomura Holdings, is thought to be eyeing several Dresdner Kleinwort businesses, including its advisory [...]
Auto maker GM mulls UK output cuts September 4, 2008 Troubled US carmaker General Motors said last night it is closely monitoring the UK, Spanish and Irish markets, to see whether it should cut production due to the economic turmoil. GM Europe vice president of sales and marketing Brent Dewar said: “The economic headwinds in these three markets are concerning. We have already cut production [...]
Sterling falls further September 4, 2008 Sterling continued its sharp decline yesterday as currency markets reacted to the worsening outlook for the UK economy and a slew of negative economic data. Surveys showed consumer confidence mired at a four-month low in August as food prices rose ten per cent year-on-year. Other data showed activity in the services sector still weakening. The [...]
Brown’s £1bn home market rescue gets a cool response September 3, 2008 Critics have rounded on prime minister Gordon Brown’s housing market rescue package saying it will do little to reverse the worst housing slump in 18 years. From today the government has scrapped stamp duty for a year on homes worth less than £175,000 as part of a package of measures designed to revitalise the flagging [...]