Ocado says sales hit by Jubilee June 26, 2012 Online supermarket Ocado said trade in its third quarter was disrupted by celebrations to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee as it posted a 4.5 per cent rise in underlying first half earnings. “The third quarter is particularly hard to forecast as we have already seen some disruption from the Jubilee events, and there is [...]
Nein Nein Nein June 25, 2012 The Eurozone crisis escalated last night as credit rating agency Moody’s slashed the ratings of 28 Spanish banks, while earlier in the day German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared to rule out plans to mitigate the euro area’s troubles with more debt sharing. The mass downgrades followed the lowering of Spain’s sovereign rating to Baa3 on [...]
Online blunder puts Hester’s bonus under threat again June 25, 2012 As the computer meltdown at NatWest entered another week, pressure mounted yesterday to make senior management pay the price for the disruption. Liberal Democrat peer Lord Oakeshott told Sky News that there was “no question that [RBS boss] Stephen Hester should not be eligible for a bonus after this fiasco.” Interviewed yesterday, Hester said management [...]
RBS customers may reach for the switch after fiasco June 25, 2012 Furious customers were searching for a way out of their relationship with part-nationalised banking group RBS yesterday as promises of further extensions to normal opening hours failed to reassure. Comparison site Moneynet.co.uk reported a 10 per cent jump in hits from those searching for alternative current account providers. One business leader told City A.M.: “This [...]
Credit Suisse to cut investment banking staff June 25, 2012 SWISS bank Credit Suisse is to cut senior staff in its European investment banking department by up to a third, sources said yesterday, as tighter regulation and weak markets hit the sector. “In the European investment banking business, they are going to get rid of 60 directors and managing directors,” one said. The investment banking [...]
WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE BEEN AFFECTED June 25, 2012 First steps The Payments Council, the voluntary industry body that sets strategy and standards for payment systems and services industry in the UK, provided the following advice yesterday: • Speak to your bank or building society. They should help to resolve your problems as quickly as possible • Make a note of all communication and [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 25, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES EU plan to rewrite budgets The European Union would gain far-reaching powers to rewrite national budgets for Eurozone countries that breach debt and deficit rules under proposals likely to be discussed at a summit this week, according to a draft report seen by the Financial Times. State-backed cyber attack cost UK company £800m, [...]
Meissner hires co-heads for BofAML Europe June 25, 2012 CHRISTIAN Meissner, the global corporate and investment banking head at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, has appointed two of his former charges to become co-heads of the bank’s investment banking arm for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Meissner is hiring Diego de Giorgi from Goldman Sachs and is promoting Bob Elfring, with whom he [...]
Impact of immigration on the labour market is exaggerated June 25, 2012 IMMIGRANTS are better-educated than their UK counterparts and less likely to be in social housing, research from the London School of Economics revealed yesterday. The study from the Centre for Economic Performance follows a speech from Labour leader Ed Miliband last week in which he argued that worrying about immigration should inform policy more. The [...]
BP to sell $1bn US gas fields to Linn Energy June 25, 2012 BP ANNOUNCED yesterday it has agreed to sell its stake in two US natural gas fields to Linn Energy for $1.03bn (£642m) as part of the oil giant’s $38bn disposal programme to help pay for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The sale of its Jonah and Pinedale upstream operations in Wyoming will bring [...]