Apple to pay dividend from $98bn cash pile March 19, 2012 Apple chief executive Tim Cook has fulfilled a longstanding desire of investors by initiating a quarterly dividend and share buyback that will pay out $45bn (£28bn) over three years. The world’s most valuable technology company will start paying its first dividends since 1995 – a regular quarterly payout of $2.65 a share – in July, [...]
Minimum wage to rise by 11p an hour March 19, 2012 The minimum wage is set to rise by 11p to £6.19 an hour from October, while the rate for under-21s will be frozen. The increase in the adult rate represents a 1.8 per cent rise. The cost of living increased by 3.6 per cent in the year to January, according to the Consumer Prices Index. [...]
WorldSpreads plunges into administration March 19, 2012 Financial spread-betting company WorldSpreads Group, which suspended its shares last week over possible irregularities in its accounts, has gone into administration and warned it owes clients millions of pounds. The Dublin-based company, which runs online and telephone trading services, said on Monday Jane Moriarty and Samantha Bewick from accountancy firm KPMG had been appointed as [...]
Banks and miners stall FTSE rally March 19, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged lower today as last week’s rally was ended by investors steering away from banking and energy stocks. Banks have led the market higher over recent sessions following a deal over Greek debt and improving market sentiment toward the stocks which have been hit by market volatility over the past year. They [...]
TNT accepts Sweetened £4.3bn UPS bid March 19, 2012 United Parcel Service will pay 5.2 billion euros (£4.31bn) for Dutch peer TNT in a deal that will make the U.S. company the biggest package-shipper in Europe with 45bn euros in global sales. TNT said on Monday its executive and supervisory boards unanimously supported UPS’s offer of 9.50 euros per share, up from an initial [...]
Premier Foods profit tumbles by 29pc March 19, 2012 Britain’s Premier Foods PLC (PFD.L) reported a 29 percent decline in profit from its ongoing businesses in 2011 and said it expected trading to remain challenging, impacted by high levels of promotional activity and cost inflation. The group, which owns brands such as Hovis, Mr Kipling and Batchelors, said that it made a trading profit [...]
Misys agrees £1.3bn deal with Vista March 19, 2012 British banking software firm Misys has agreed to be bought by private equity firm Vista Partners for £1.27bn after dismissing an all-share merger with a rival and a competing private equity suitor. Misys said it was recommending a 350 pence a share cash offer from Vista, a private equity group which has been targeting deals [...]
Cameron: We need privatised roads March 18, 2012 ROAD PRICING and greater use of toll roads could become a reality as the government seeks to find ways to entice the private sector to invest more in infrastructure. David Cameron will today launch a new study into the financing and ownership of Britain’s roads, arguing the country “urgently” needs “to repair the decades-long degradation [...]
Search on for betting client cash March 18, 2012 SPREAD-BETTING firm WorldSpreads was forced into administration yesterday after the discovery of “accounting irregularities” proved too serious to avoid collapse. Thousands of clients stand to lose out after the Financial Services Authority (FSA) warned last night that there could be a “shortfall in the client money accounts” but said it will “will return as much [...]
UPS finally closes in on €5bn deal to buy rival TNT Express March 18, 2012 US DELIVERY company UPS has finally clinched a €5bn (£4.2bn) deal to buy TNT Express, a Dutch rival. The valuation of its European counterpart is an increase of at least 50 cents on UPS’s offer of €9 per share in February, which was rejected. That was already a hike from an offer of €8.25 a [...]