Spain sees strong demand at bond auction June 7, 2012 Spain met strong demand when it sold 2.1bn euros (£1.68bn) of medium- and long-term bonds, passing a key test of its ability to tap investors after a minister said earlier this week the country was being cut off from the markets. The Treasury sold 638m euros of a two-year bond, 825m euros of a four-year [...]
UK services industry in solid growth June 7, 2012 Britain’s services sector continued to grow at a steady pace in May, confounding expectations for a slowdown, and increasing uncertainty over whether the Bank of England will inject more stimulus. The headline activity index of the Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ survey out on Thursday came in at 53.3 for May, the same as in April and [...]
Vodafone and Telefonica to set up shared 4G grid June 7, 2012 Mobile operators Vodafone and Telefonica announced plans to create one shared grid in Britain to improve existing coverage and speed the roll out of superfast broadband networks. The two groups, who already had an agreement to share new network sites, said they would strengthen their partnership by pooling their basic network infrastructure to take their [...]
Johnson Matthey pays special dividend June 7, 2012 The chemicals company Johnson Matthey said robust truck sales in North America helped drive a 23 percent jump in full-year underlying profit, prompting the world’s largest supplier of catalytic converters to pay a special dividend. The British speciality chemicals company said that underlying profit before tax for the year to the end of March rose [...]
Australia approves Glencore takeover of Viterra June 7, 2012 Australia’s competition regulator approved a friendly takeover bid by Swiss commodities trader Glencore International of Viterra, clearing another hurdle for the biggest deal in years in the global agricultural sector. Glencore offered Viterra C$16.25 per share, or C$6.lbn, in March for the company, which owns the biggest share of Western Canada’s grain storage and farm [...]
Over to you, Merkel June 6, 2012 Europe’s political leaders must act now to restore confidence and stop their ravaged economies from collapsing any further, European Central Bank (ECB) boss Mario Draghi insisted yesterday as he again refused to cut interest rates. Draghi stressed the Eurozone’s problems could not be solved by monetary policy, and that politicians must stop hesitating and take [...]
LeakedIn: six million logins posted online June 6, 2012 LINKEDIN, the social network for professionals, yesterday admitted it was looking into claims that millions of its users’ passwords had been leaked online. What seemed to be almost 6.5m encrypted LinkedIn passwords were posted in a Russian forum – without the corresponding usernames – by someone claiming to have hacked into the website. LinkedIn took [...]
Former BlackRock City offices set for major redevelopment June 6, 2012 PLANS to redevelop BlackRock’s City headquarters into a new 319,000 square feet office block were recommended for approval yesterday, as the latest office block in the Square Mile takes a step closer to construction. The island site at 33 King William Street on the north side of London Bridge is owned by Topland, the property [...]
FTSE pension fund black hole soars to £120bn June 6, 2012 THE collective pension fund deficit of FTSE 350 companies has risen threefold to £120bn in just a year as historic final salary schemes continue to take their toll. The research, from Barnett Waddingham, showed that more than 220 companies in the index sponsor a defined benefit scheme. The sharp rise in the deficit at the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 6, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Mittal reduces China steel ambitions Lakshmi Mittal has signalled a dramatic scaling back of ArcelorMittal’s ambitions to expand in China’s steel industry through an agreement to cut the company’s stake in one of the country’s top metals producers. The chairman, chief executive and main owner of the world’s biggest steelmaker had hoped to [...]