BlackBerry confirms it is considering a sale August 12, 2013 BlackBerry shares jumped up nine per cent today as the company announced it would be looking into strategic alternatives to boost the deployment of its Blackberry 10 – including a possible sale of the company. The mobile phone company reported that its board of directors has formed a special committee to explore its strategic options, [...]
BlackBerry to explore strategic options – including a possible sale August 12, 2013 BlackBerry has said announced that its board has formed a special committee to explore its strategic alternatives to enhance value and increase scale – including the possibility of a sale (release). Rumours that the phone company was to go private have been circulating for month, and shares jumped last week after sources reportedly said the [...]
Prudential climbs higher as operating profits rise and Asia soars August 12, 2013 British insurer Prudential was the highest climber on the FTSE this morning after reporting a better-than-expected 22 per cent boost in first half operating profits to £1.42bn. Basic earnings per share also increased 22 per cent, rising to 42.2p from 34.6p in the same period the year before. The share price this morning increased by [...]
21 British babies named after Game of Thrones character Khaleesi August 12, 2013 Harry, Oliver and Jack held on to their top spots as most popular boy's names in 2012, while Amelia, Olivia and Jessica were most popular for girls, according to the Office for National Statistics. Taking the different forms of spelling into consideration, Muhammed (also, Mohammed and Mohammad) was the second most popular boy's name last [...]
Capita appointed as servicer to Irish government bad bank in €80m contract August 12, 2013 British business process outsourcer Capita been appointed servicer to the Irish government’s “bad bank” in a contract worth around €80m (£69m) over four years. Capita Asset Services will act as primary and special loan servicer on loans held by the Natioanl Asset Management Agency in Ireland (NAMA), currently being managed on behalf of NAMA by [...]
Labour’s immigration speech overshadowed by Tesco/Next row August 12, 2013 Labour’s shadow immigration minister Chris Bryant was forced to defend his criticisms of Tesco and Next made in a speech on Labour’s immigration policy earlier today (today's speech in full). In the leaked version of the speech, Bryant criticised “unscrupulous employers” who choose to use cheaper foreign workers over British candidates in an attempt to [...]
German finance ministry: Second Greek debt cut not on the agenda August 12, 2013 The German finance ministry has responded to better-than-expected Greek GDP data out this morning, saying that a second debt haircut is not on the table. The Greek figures come at a critical time for German politics, as much of the public are against further aid for the stricken country – a key issue on the [...]
Goldman Sachs now expects the Eurozone economy to have grown in the second quarter August 12, 2013 Goldman Sachs has revised up its second quarter GDP forecast for the Eurozone from 0.0 per cent to 0.2 per cent growth. This was primarily due to surprise positive data from Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The Eurozone got another boost this morning with better than expected second quarter GDP results from Greece.
Greek economy contracted by less than expected in second quarter August 12, 2013 The Greek economy contracted at a better-than-expected annual rate of 4.6 per cent in the second quarter of the year, down from the 5.6 per cent contraction in the first quarter. Analysts had expected to see it shrink by five per cent. Earlier today, the Greek government reported it had hit a primary budget surplus [...]
Greek government managed primary budget surplus in January to July period August 12, 2013 The Greek government had a primary budget surplus of €2.6bn (£2.2bn) in the period January to July 2013, significantly beating the interim target of a €3.1bn deficit, deputy finance minister Christos Staikouras reported today. This will be a boost for finance minister Yannis Stournaras, who has said the Greek government is more concerned with producing [...]