Network Rail debt jumps to £28bn November 22, 2012 Investment in the UK rail network pushed up infrastructure company Network Rail’s debt to more than £28bn, it said this morning. The funding of £2.06bn of capital expenditure over the six months to September – including on the Reading station redevelopment and works on the East Coast and West Coast main lines – helped push [...]
Chinese manufacturing accelerates in November November 22, 2012 Chinese manufacturing activity expanded in November, a sign that the pace of economic growth has rebounded, a survey showed this morning. The China HSBC Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index climbed above the critical 50 level – which separates growth from contraction – for the first time in 13 months. The index stood at 50.4 in [...]
Peroni sales boost UK arm of SABMiller November 22, 2012 Strong sales of premium lager Peroni boosted SABMiller in the six months to September, as its UK arm grew beer sales by five per cent. Miller Brands bucked the trend of a declining UK beer market – total volumes sank 4.6 per cent in the half year to September – as Peroni Nastro Azzurro volumes [...]
UK tech boss: My side of the story November 21, 2012 MIKE Lynch, the founder of British software giant Autonomy, yesterday hit out at the chief executive of Hewlett-Packard (HP) over claims the US company had been lied to during its $11bn (£6.9bn) acquisition of Lynch’s firm last year. The former Autonomy boss, who was forced out of HP in May, denied any wrongdoing, rejected claims [...]
New help for zombie firms as debts bite November 21, 2012 LLOYDS hopes it can save tens of millions of pounds by sending in turnaround experts to combat the horde of zombie firms plaguing the economy and bank balance sheets. But KPMG yesterday warned that thousands of struggling firms could starve to death, running out of cash over the next year if the economy does not [...]
Glencore set to win EU approval on Xstrata deal November 21, 2012 THE £56bn mega-merger between commodity giants Glencore and Xstrata looks set to clear another hurdle today, as EU antitrust regulators are expected to approve the deal. Glencore is understood to have improved its offer to secure an approval from European Commission antitrust regulators, which is set to be officially announced today. The commodity trading powerhouse [...]
What the other papers say this morning November 21, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Man Group gains from prototype Man Group, the world’s second largest hedge fund manager, has shifted $1.5bn (£940m) of its flagship computerised fund AHL into an experimental new portfolio to boost ailing returns. The new vehicle, which Man has internally dubbed “evolution”, has made 18 per cent so far this year, and made [...]
Hamas agrees ceasefire with Israel over Gaza November 21, 2012 ISRAEL and the Islamist Hamas movement agreed yesterday to a ceasefire to halt an eight-day conflict around the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 140 Palestinians and five Israelis. Announcing the ceasefire in Cairo, Egyptian foreign minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said it would come into force at 9pm (7pm GMT), which would give 1.7m [...]
Santander seeks US car loan IPO November 21, 2012 Santander is reportedly seeking to float its US car-financing unit just months after its successful Mexican IPO. The bank will seek a valuation of as much as $6bn (£3.8bn) people familiar with the matter said, according to the Wall Street Journal. The US car-financing unit, based in Texas, has a loan portfolio of around $18bn. [...]
Madoff victims appeal ruling November 21, 2012 A lawyer for the trustee seeking money for Bernard Madoff’s victims asked an appeals court yesterday to restore $30bn in claims against JPMorgan Chase and other banks, in a bid to overturn earlier court rulings that only Madoff victims, not the trustee, could sue third parties such as banks for damages. The trustee has said [...]