Stagecoach buoyed by British rail performance March 1, 2012 Transport group Stagecoach said recent trade had been good, driven by strong growth at its rail businesses, and that it was hopeful of winning more rail franchises in Britain. “Overall current trading remains good and we believe the prospects for the group remain positive,” the company said in a statement on Thursday. “The overall profitability [...]
WPP profits rise as it awaits Olympics boost March 1, 2012 WPP, the world’s largest ad group, posted a better-than-expected 19 rise in 2011 profit, and reaffirmed its targets for 2012, when it will benefit from the Olympics, European Soccer Championships and the US presidential election. The company, whose portfolio includes Young & Rubicam, Ogilvy & Mather, and Group M, posted headline pretax profit of £1.229bn [...]
GOLD SLUMPS AS FED COOLS ON QE3 February 29, 2012 GOLD plummeted yesterday as traders gambled that the American recovery is set to rule out further monetary stimulus, dubbed QE3. Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke appeared more upbeat than usual during his testimony to politicians in Washington DC, giving no hint that more quantitative easing is on the cards. Ultra-loose money has previously been one [...]
James Murdoch quits as News International chairman February 29, 2012 JAMES Murdoch has quit his job as executive chairman of News International, in a move that cements his exit from the British newspaper industry and his recent relocation to parent firm News Corp’s New York headquarters. A News Corp statement said his departure would allow him to concentrate on the company’s expanding global television branches. [...]
Barclays in key hiring from rival February 29, 2012 BARCLAYS Capital has demonstrated its ambition to become a leading player in UK investment banking, hiring Mark Astaire, head of corporate broking, from rival Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Astaire, who is now on three months’ gardening leave, joins his former colleague Richard Taylor at BarCap, where he will be charged with driving the team [...]
Nasdaq hits 3,000 at last February 29, 2012 THE NASDAQ Composite index skimmed the 3,000 mark yesterday for the first time in over a decade, propelled by Apple’s surge, before sinking back below the line. In a hopeful hint that investor faith could be returning to a pre-dotcom level – the Nasdaq was last above 3,000 as the shutters closed on the internet [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 29, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES ATTARA CAPITAL TO LIQUIDATE OPERATIONS Attara Capital, the hedge fund co-chaired and founded by Nat Rothschild and the successor to the now-defunct activist fund Atticus Capital, is to liquidate its operations. Attara, which is run by David Slager, a former Atticus partner, is shutting as a result of adverse trading conditions and difficulty [...]
Calls to cut 50p tax rate February 29, 2012 HUNDREDS of business owners and entrepreneurs have called on the chancellor to scrap the 50p tax rate in his Budget this month, claiming the levy is an “unfair, politically motivated tax”. The business owners and directors said the top rate introduced by Labour is “penalising high earners” and cutting it would “contribute to the government’s [...]
More Lehman clients to get refund February 29, 2012 Britain’s highest court yesterday ruled that billions of dollars earmarked as belonging to clients when Lehman Brothers collapsed should be divided up among all its clients, including those whose cash the investment bank had mixed with its own. By law, firms must keep money they trade on clients’ behalf separately to their own, keeping it [...]
Wall Street bonuses in fresh fall February 29, 2012 Wall Street cash bonuses for 2011 fell to their lowest level in three years as volatile trading and stiffer regulations took a toll on profits, said New York State’s comptroller yesterday. The securities industry’s bonus pool was expected to total $19.7bn, comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said. That would be down 14 per cent from 2010 but [...]