SILVER SCREEN STAR COULD GO FURTHER INTO RED February 20, 2012 Weinstein Co, the film studio behind Bafta boardsweepers The Artist (pictured) and The King’s Speech, is said to be looking to raise $150m (£94.7m) to support operations and pay off debt. The company has struggled financially since its 2005 birth, but is rising to success on a string of Oscar nominations. Union Bank is managing [...]
Fizz to fall out of Carlsberg profits in 2012 February 20, 2012 DANISH brewer Carlsberg yesterday warned its operating profits will be flat in 2012, hit by declining beer markets in northern and western Europea while its biggest market, Russia, will show a slow recovery. The world’s fourth largest brewer said yesterday it expects the Russian beer market to return to modest growth this year after a [...]
Divestments to soar 92pc, says Deloitte February 20, 2012 DIVESTMENTS will rise to a value of £250bn throughout the world in 2012, Deloitte predicted yesterday, as companies spin off non core assets to bolster their balance sheets. The total value of the spin-offs would represent a staggering 92 per cent rise from last year, when the total came to £130bn. “Investor appetite for spin-offs [...]
Concerns over Chinese slowdown after imports from Japan slump by a fifth February 20, 2012 JAPAN logged a record trade deficit with China in January as exports dropped by a fifth, underscoring concerns about how sharply China is slowing and its ability to buffer a frail global economy against European turmoil. The 20.1 per cent annual slump in exports to China, Japan’s main export market, condemned Tokyo to a record [...]
Government to pay firms and charities to get jobless teenagers back on track February 20, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT is to pay companies and charities to improve prospects for young unemployed people, deputy PM Nick Clegg will announce today. Firms will be able to bid for contracts worth up to £2,200 for every young person that they provide with skills for the jobs market. The £126m of state funds will be targeted [...]
Thailand GDP decimated by 2011’s heavy flooding February 20, 2012 THAILAND’s economy crashed in the final quarter of last year, with fresh data revealing a contraction of 10.7 per cent compared to the previous three months. Devastating floods caused the economy to plummet by more than “in either the 2008-09 global crisis or the Asian financial crisis of the late-1990s”, Capital Economics said yesterday. Capital [...]
Half of the UK either cut or quit saving last year February 20, 2012 THE ECONOMIC squeeze on households caused nearly half of UK adults to reduce or cut their savings over the past year, new research claims. A survey from the Money Supermarket website showed that the main reason for reducing saving activity was to fund everyday life. Of those who have reduced savings, 18 per cent cited [...]
CITY VIEWS: HOW WORRIED ARE YOU ABOUT THE IRANIAN NUCLEAR THREAT? February 20, 2012 GEORGE LYLE | ECS “To be honest I haven’t thought about it very much. Obviously it’s a concern as I’ve read about it and seen it on the news, but the question is how much of what we hear is the truth?” ZE LIM | LINKLATERS “I’m not too worried yet. There are lots of [...]
Rio Tinto aims for driverless trains growth February 20, 2012 MINER Rio Tinto yesterday unveiled a $518m (£327m) plan to pioneer the use of driverless trains in Australia in a bid to ramp up its production. The company, which already has driverless trucks, plans to run fully automated trains across its 1,500 km (930 mile) iron-ore rail network in north west Australia from 2014, to [...]
Kingfisher summoned to explain scrapped flights February 20, 2012 AVIATION chiefs in India yesterday summoned executives from struggling airline Kingfisher to explain a string of flight cancellations. The directorate general of civil aviation wants answers after 32 out of the 240 flights that Kingfisher operates each day were cancelled over the weekend. Loss-making Kingfisher has been denied financial assistance from the Indian government and [...]