Greece’s Prime Minister does not expect living standards to recover fully for another six years September 17, 2013 GREECE should return to economic growth in 2014, ending six years of recession, European Commission boss Jose Manuel Barroso predicted yesterday. But the country’s Prime Minister Antonis Samaras warned it will take another six years for living standards in the troubled Mediterranean country to return to pre-crash levels. He argues this is a more optimistic [...]
Mediobanca’s losses are lower than feared despite writedowns September 17, 2013 ITALIAN investment bank Mediobanca ended its financial year posting a net loss on the back of heavy writedowns on equity investments but the market yesterday welcomed moves to clean up its balance sheet. Mediobanca, which has for decades played a pivotal role in helping to forge Italian capitalism, announced in June a radical change of [...]
Royalty growth remains strong for Imagination September 17, 2013 IMAGINATION Technologies, the British graphics and microprocessor maker that counts Apple among its customers, said yesterday that its outlook for licensing revenue and royalty growth remain strong for the year. The company reaffirmed their guidance of £30m to £35m in licensing revenue, excluding the MIPS business that it acquired last year for $100m (£62.8m). “Our [...]
Winklevoss twins can see Bitcoin becoming a country’s currency September 17, 2013 CAMERON and Tyler Winklevoss, currently making headlines with plans to launch a Bitcoin fund, claimed yesterday that they could see the digital currency becoming a country’s official money. “The next step for Bitcoin is potentially becoming the currency of a country,” Tyler Winklevoss said. The twin brothers, famous for their history with Facebook, were speaking [...]
London falls to third in world for office costs September 17, 2013 LONDON is now the third most expensive city in the world to rent space for a business, having been knocked out of second place by New York in the first six months of the year, a report out today shows. Hong Kong has kept its title as the world’s dearest property rental market, though prices [...]
Brand Index: Account switching means banks must fight to stay current September 17, 2013 THIS WEEK, new rules took effect that will allow the UK’s 46m current account holders to switch banks in seven days. According to 2011 research from the Banking Commission, the average customer stayed with the same bank for 26 years, but with switching now easier than ever before, we could be entering a new era [...]
London’s skyline set for a new building resembling a toast rack September 17, 2013 LONDON’S iconic skyline is set for another overhaul after plans were unveiled yesterday for a new 34-storey office building to house up to 7,000 city workers. Henderson Global Investors, which manages more than $100bn in assets, wants to build the complex in the city’s insurance district at 40 Leadenhall Street. The 910,000 square feet building, [...]
Blair is surprise of the night at charity dinner September 17, 2013 TO VILLANDRY on Great Portland Street, to hear about Great Ormond Street Hospital’s £85m appeal for a children’s rare disease research centre, where former PM Tony Blair was the unannounced guest speaker. Over dinner Blair recalled how, even for him, being an unannounced speaker has its pitfalls. The politician recalled an occasion when in office [...]
Law firm BLP wants to hire a new associate: Spelling skills optional September 17, 2013 ANY BANKING and capital markets associates looking for a change of career last week might have spotted a typo-filled advert for a qualified solicitor, posted online by law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner. There were several bizarre errors in the online advert, including an opening paragraph that read: “Working with Partners who are home grown, have [...]
IAG boss stops eyeing Europe for acquisitions September 17, 2013 EUROPEAN airlines will have to cut costs at existing short-haul businesses to compete with budget airlines or struggle to stay aloft, IAG boss Willie Walsh said yesterday, adding that his firm is not looking for further acquisitions in Europe. So-called legacy carriers such as IAG, Lufthansa and Air France-KLM are cutting jobs, renegotiating staff contracts [...]