Banks can trip in search of a rise up the table February 20, 2012 INVESTMENT bankers are pleased with any pickings these days and in the past few weeks there has been healthy signs of action in the world of block trades. This is a phenomenon whereby a bank offers to buy a block of shares in one company and sell it on. The idea is that, hopefully, the [...]
Olympus picks president February 20, 2012 OLYMPUS plans to promote executive officer Hiroyuki Sasa to the role of president in April, according to Japanese reports. Sasa, who has worked as head of development as well as marketing at subsidiary Olympus Medical Systems Corp, will be appointed president on 20 April, the Nikkei paper reported. Japanese prosecutors are now considering indicting Olympus [...]
Inmarsat and LightSquared clash on rent February 20, 2012 SATELLITE communications firm Inmarsat and its American lodger LightSquared have locked horns over the payment of a $56.25m (£35.5m) rent cheque due last Saturday. Inmarsat, which is headquartered in London, yesterday issued a notice of default to the US wireless company, citing an unpaid multi-million payment due upon the completion of the “phase one transition”. [...]
Ambitious network won’t see light of day February 20, 2012 FOR several years Inmarsat was the unsung darling of the FTSE 100. During the financial crisis it became a safe haven for investors seeking shelter from riskier stocks, a high-tech defensive with few competitors. Better still, its biggest shareholder Harbinger Capital, the US investment fund, propped up the shares by making clear its intention to [...]
Foxconn lifts wages for workers after Apple launches inspection February 20, 2012 FOXCONN, the top maker of Apple’s iPhones and iPads whose factories are under scrutiny over labour practices, has raised wages of its Chinese workers by 16-25 per cent from this month, in the third pay hike since 2010. The wage increases come just a week after Apple agreed to let a US non-profit labour group [...]
BLACKFRIARS TUBE STATION REOPENS February 20, 2012 Blackfriars tube station has reopened after a complete rebuild lasting almost three years. The station now provides an improved interchange with the mainline Thameslink station, an enlarged ticket hall and new entrances. Mayor Boris Johnson said the station was “like a Scandinavian airport, it’s so clean – or a Swiss maternity ward.” Picture: Laura Lean [...]
MEDIA EXEC BRINGS £1M PERUVIAN BID TO SOHO February 20, 2012 MARTIN MORALES was headhunted by Apple as one of the four founders of iTunes Europe and sat on the board of The Walt Disney Company. But Ceviche, the Peruvian restaurant behind a plain black door at 17 Frith Street in Soho, is his life’s work. Since leaving Disney in July 2011, the half-Peruvian Morales has [...]
CSR spree is music to the ears of the City February 20, 2012 SHARES in wireless technology firm CSR, which makes chips for use in the Beats headphones loved by Premier League footballers, soared yesterday after it pledged a stock buyback of up to $50m (£31.5m), raised its dividend and said it would cut costs quickly. CSR shares closed up 20.77 per cent at 275p last night, making [...]
TNT shares jump 60pc as sale talks with UPS heat up February 20, 2012 INVESTORS in Dutch freight and delivery firm TNT Express are pressing for a higher offer from US-based United Parcel Services, driving shares up more than 60 per cent to an all-time high yesterday. TNT said on Friday it had rejected an offer from UPS, the world’s largest package delivery company, of €9 per share which [...]
Samsung shifts to new TV tech on LCD spin-off February 20, 2012 SOUTH Korea’s Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest maker of televisions, officially marked a shift in its focus towards new generation OLED display technology, and said it will spin off its loss-making LCD flat-screen business into an affiliate. The announcement comes after weeks of speculation, with the outlook for liquid crystal display televisions grim as shoppers [...]