Apple seeks Samsung injunction February 12, 2012 Apple has asked a California court to issue a preliminary injunction to block sales of Samsung’s new Galaxy Nexus smartphone, alleging the device infringes four Apple patents. The move marks another escalation of the legal battle between the world’s top two sellers of smartphones, with Apple re-focusing its arguments to account for Samsung’s rising position [...]
Cracks could cost Airbus €100m February 12, 2012 Dealing with the wing cracks found in Airbus A380 superjumbos could cost the European plane maker up to €100m (£83.6m), a German magazine reported. Checking and repairing the wings of the 69 aircraft already in service could cost about €70m, weekly Der Spiegel said yesterday, citing unidentified industry experts and people at Airbus.
MERYL STREEP AND THE ARTIST TRIUMPH AT BAFTA AWARDS February 12, 2012 SILENT film The Artist was the big winner at last night’s 56th annual Bafta awards, taking home seven of the 12 gongs it was nominated for, including best film. Its leading man Jean Dujardin (above left with the film’s producer Thomas Langmann, centre) was named best actor at the ceremony, which was held at London’s [...]
Cable under fire over lost Eurofighter deal February 12, 2012 BUSINESS Secretary Vince Cable has come under fire for not lobbying hard enough to save the sale of BAE Systems’ Eurofighter jets to India. Fylde MP Mark Menzies said he had tabled questions to the Department of Business over its backing of the bid. BAE thought it had secured a contract to part assemble the [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 12, 2012 The Salamanca Group Jeremy Wrathall has been appointed as managing director of Salamanca Resources, the recently formed division of the group that will focus on the metals and mining sector. He joins Salamanca from Renaissance Capital, where he was head of investment banking for the firm’s London operation and had responsibility for metals and mining, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 12, 2012 DIAGEO Nomura raises its price target from 1,470p to 1,520p, and kept its rating as “neutral” after the world’s biggest spirits group posted a seven per cent rise in first-half operating profits last week to £1.87bn. Nomura said top and bottom line growth was marginally better than expected and raised its target price to reflect [...]
Treasury to scrap Project Merlin lending targets February 10, 2012 The UK government will not extend a deal with banks requiring them to meet fixed lending targets to businesses, scrapping the ‘Project Merlin’ scheme designed to assist the economic recovery. Since the financial crisis of 2007, many smaller firms not able to raise funds on capital markets have found it difficult to borrow to finance [...]
US trade deficit widens February 10, 2012 The US trade deficit widened by 3.7 per cent to $48.8bn in December, official figures showed. That was up from a $47.06bn figure for the month earlier. Imports rose 1.3 per cent to a record $227.56bn. Meanwhile US exports edged up by 0.7 per cent, buoyed by the weak dollar.
Greeks strike in face of austerity cuts February 10, 2012 Greek workers are once again striking against their state’s austerity measures – just hours after eurozone finance ministers said Athens needed to make more cuts to convince them to release a financial bailout. Before they release more aid, Greece’s financial backers have demanded parliamentary ratification of the new austerity package this weekend, the identification of [...]
Lloyds beats lending targets February 10, 2012 Part-nationalised British bank Lloyds said it had beaten targets laid down by the government for lending to small businesses, as authorities keep the country’s banks under pressure to lend out more to boost the faltering UK economy. Last year, the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government struck a deal with the major British banks known as “Project [...]