Factory and infrastructure damage could hit global supplies for weeks March 13, 2011 MANUFACTURERS worldwide could be hit for weeks to come following Japan’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami. Leading technology firms and car manufacturers in the country have been forced to suspend production and close factories, including microchip producer Toshiba and Japan’s three largest car manufacturers Toyota, Honda and Nissan. Companies with links to Japan could take a [...]
Japanese MPs give Kan time to avert crisis March 13, 2011 Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the disaster facing his country is the worst since the second World War. For the time being he has the support of opposition parties. But the deeply unpopular politician is still living on borrowed time. Just hours before the disaster struck he was fending off calls for his resignation. [...]
Diageo eyes bid for Polish vodka maker March 13, 2011 DRINKS giant Diageo hopes to extend its buying spree by snapping up central European-focused spirits company Stock Spirits for more than $1bn (£622m). Diageo, the world’s biggest spirits maker, is one of several companies in the running to buy Stock Spirits, a source familiar with the company said yesterday. The news comes just weeks after [...]
TNK-BP hits out at BP after Rosneft compromise flops March 13, 2011 BP’S RUSSIAN partners ramped up their dispute over the firm’s Arctic exploration plans yesterday after a TNK-BP board meeting at the weekend failed to reach a compromise. TNK-BP, a 50:50 joint venture between BP and the Russian AAR consortium, criticised BP-nominated directors’ conduct during Saturday’s meeting in Paris as “not representative of constructive and reasonable [...]
In pursuit of the luxury drinker March 13, 2011 WHEN Diageo snapped up Turkish drinks maker Mey Içki for £1.3bn last month, this column welcomed the deal but called for more acquisitions outside the firm’s mature western European and North American markets. “An aperitif is all well and good,” we said. “But Paul Walsh needs to tuck in.” Alas, we can’t claim to have known [...]
EU attack on Irish tax rate March 13, 2011 IRELAND’S newly elected Prime Minister Enda Kenny is facing an assault on Ireland’s sacrosanct 12.5 per cent corporate tax rate by Eurozone leaders, who declared on Friday that they would move to enforce a uniform corporate tax regime across the region. In negotiations intended to resolve the sovereign debt crisis, Eurozone ministers refused to lower [...]
Bahrain hit by unrest as calls mount for Libyan no-fly zone March 13, 2011 PROTESTERS in Bahrain barricaded themselves around the financial district of the capital Manama yesterday, bringing the banking hub to a grinding halt. Police fought back, firing tear gas at the crowds in the most violent clashes in the country since the military killed seven protesters on 17 February. One demonstrator showed a round red mark [...]
Top 300 RBS executives to share £350m March 13, 2011 RBS will unveil pay-outs totalling nearly £350m to its top 300 executives this week, even as deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has warned that he wants to “wring the necks” of bankers who take home “unearned wealth”. It is understood that RBS’s remuneration report, which is due for release on Friday, will for the first [...]
KPMG: UK banks must double capital for new Basel rules March 13, 2011 BANKS need to double their core capital in order to comply with Basel III, according to KPMG’s annual benchmark report on UK banks. The report warns that despite a recovery in profits (see chart above) and a marked drop in impairments across the board, new capital and liquidity requirements will throw up barriers to better [...]
Troubled EU nations trading austerity for aid March 13, 2011 WHY is it that the Eurozone’s leaders will only make a decision when they have their back to the wall? Friday night’s deal in Brussels was only made possible by sovereign downgrades and skyrocketing bond yields that still have the potential to push the periphery over the edge. So what kind of a deal did [...]