GM agrees union deal as losses soar October 18, 2005 General Motors, the world’s biggest automaker yesterday said that it had agreed a deal with the United Auto workers union to slash its healthcare costs. The announcement came as GM revealed widening losses for the third quarter of $1.6bn (£910m), or the equivalent of $2.89 per share. Chief executive of the embattled group, Rick Wagoner, [...]
Partygaming winners are the founders October 17, 2005 PartyGaming, the online poker company, reveals its hand on Friday and investors in this summer’s flotation will be able to see the cause of their losses. The company came to market on the back of rapid growth: this week it will reveal that growth has ground to a halt. Do not compare this week’s revenue [...]
Brown’s luck has ‘run out’ October 17, 2005 Gordon Brown cannot hide behind high oil prices, according to Ernst & Young’s influential ITEM Club. The group — which uses the same economic modelling system as the Treasury — said that the chancellor’s luck has run out and that the poor shape of the British economy is solely down to domestic failings. Chief economic [...]
Advisers in all night Refco talks October 17, 2005 Refco held a second day of weekend meetings yesterday as a group of about 50 advisers gathered in New York in an effort to salvage the disgraced group’s regulated futures brokerage arm and determine the fate of its ailing operations. The advisers had begun emergency meetings on Saturday that stretched late into the night to [...]
BCC slams Brown’s ‘alarming’ trade figures October 14, 2005 The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) piled the pressure on Chancellor Gordon Brown yesterday, calling Britain’s manufacturing figures “alarming”. Even worse, the struggling manufacturing sector missed out on a much-needed boost from Britain’s bigger service sector, which simply failed to materialise. Manufacturing’s domestic balance fell from 19 per cent in the second quarter to 3 [...]
What’s outside your window? October 13, 2005 The price of property is soaring in Thailand despite laws preventing foreigners owning land. Since the Asian tsunami struck on 26 December last year, the number of tourists visiting Thailand has fallen dramatically. About a year ago, 192 holiday flights landed at Phuket airport every week – last week that figure was only 35. Hotels [...]
US drier for SAB Miller October 13, 2005 Shares in dual-listed global brewing company SABMiller fell yesterday despite a relatively strong trading statement from the group. Despite announcing a performance in line with management expectations, the group warned that trading conditions in America were increasingly difficult. Shares in the Anglo-South African company fell by 14p to 1044p a share early yesterday. The company [...]
Pithy returns for AIM’s Chinese newcomers October 13, 2005 Two AIM newcomers from China both reported strong trading performances yesterday. Asian Citrus, the largest orange plantation owner and operator in China and the biggest Chinese firm on AIM, reported its first full-year results since floating on 3 August. Pre-tax profits for the year to 30 June soared by more than 60 per cent to [...]
JJB Sports declares a new price war October 13, 2005 Sportswear retailer JJB Sports said yesterday it was not afraid to start a price war by adopting a “more aggressive pricing policy”. Like smaller rival JD Sports the retailer has been a victim of the slowdown in consumer spending with like-for-like sales falling 8.8 per cent in the 26 weeks to 31 July. Operating profit [...]
OECD gloomy over 2005 growth October 13, 2005 The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) sided with hawks in the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee yesterday, saying there was no need for an interest rate cut despite a flagging economy. It also cut its 2005 forecast for British economic growth from 2.4 to 1.7 per cent in a report released yesterday. [...]