‘The world of Cat TV is more cut throat than you would ever imagine’ – inside the strange business of TV… for cats
BP part of new Azerbaijan gas supply contract September 19, 2013 OIL MAJORS including BP and Statoil are part of a consortium that yesterday unveiled a new multi-billion pound sales agreement that would bring gas directly from Azerbaijan to Europe for the first time. Just over 10bn cubic metres a year of gas will be produced from the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan each year, in [...]
ING maps out insurance float September 19, 2013 DUTCH finance company ING came to London yesterday to spell out plans for an initial public offering of its insurance division next year. The firm, led by Jan Hommen, said it had accelerated the planned float of its newly minted subsidiary ING Insurance and said that it would now take place between March and December [...]
Billabong gets new debt deal September 19, 2013 AUSTRALIA’S Billabong International yesterday accepted a sweetened refinancing proposal from US hedge funds Oaktree Capital Management and Centerbridge Partners, and appointed an industry veteran as its new chief executive. The funds have been vying with US private equity firm Altamont Capital Partners to refinance the business, with Billabong previously accepting a proposal from Altamont. New [...]
UK car manufacturers shrug off summer lull with 16.2pc growth September 19, 2013 THE BUOYANT car manufacturing industry in the UK is still going from strength to strength, with another strong increase recorded in August. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), UK manufacturers built 91,282 cars last month, over 12,000 more than in August last year, an increase of 16.2 per cent. Both domestic [...]
Retailers record unexpected dip in August sales September 19, 2013 RETAILERS failed to match July’s strong activity last month, with a 0.9 per cent month-on-month drop in sales revealed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday. However, sales were still up in comparison to August 2012, rising by 2.1 per cent over the 12-month period. August’s drop was driven by a decline in food [...]
London leads UK as optimism on house prices rockets again September 19, 2013 BRITONS are more upbeat on house prices than at any point in the last three and a half years, according to the Knight Frank sentiment index out today, as the economy recovers. And they believe prices are rising at their fastest pace since 2009. More than one-fifth of those surveyed believe their house’s value has [...]
Ireland pulls out of recession as exports help recovery strengthen September 19, 2013 THE IRISH economy climbed out of recession in the second quarter, official figures showed yesterday, as the struggling Eurozone nation showed signs of life. National accounts reveal a 0.4 per cent increase in GDP in the three month period, driven by growth in exports which soared 4.3 per cent. However, GNP – which excludes some [...]
Greek unemployment drops for the first time in four years September 19, 2013 GREEK unemployment fell for the first time in four years during the second quarter, according to official figures released by the government yesterday. Though unadjusted for seasonal effects, the number of people out of work dipped from 27.4 per cent in the first three months of the year to 27.1 per cent between April and [...]
Factories reveal order books at a six-year peak September 19, 2013 MANUFACTURERS reported the fullest order books in six years this September, as the most recent Confederation of British Industry (CBI) survey reveals a strong performance. A full 28 per cent of firms said their order books were busier than normal, while only 19 per cent said they were below their usual level. Orders have risen [...]
Meet the poster child for new euroscepticism September 19, 2013 Iceland’s PM tells Tim Wallace the country only recovered because it is not in the Eurozone ICELAND is back from the brink, and Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson wants the world to know it. The tiny mid-Atlantic nation’s outsized banking system fell apart in the financial crisis in such dramatic style that the country became [...]