City sceptical on the prospect of rival offers for PotashCorp October 11, 2010 ANALYSTS yesterday poured scorn on talk of rival white knight offers waiting in the wings to scupper BHP Billiton’s $39bn (£24.5bn) bid for Canadian fertiliser giant PotashCorp. Reports over the weekend suggested both the Ontario Teachers Pension Fund and Chinese state-owned chemicals group Sinochem had already approached Temasek with a view to trying to find [...]
Microsoft unveils 10 new phones as it bids to usurp Apple and RIM October 11, 2010 MICROSOFT has unveiled 10 new Windows Phone 7 powered mobiles as it attempts to catch up with rivals Apple, Google and RIM. Microsoft will supply software to five new HTC phones, two Samsung, two LG and one Dell. The devices will be available with 60 operators in 30 countries. They will hit Europe immediately and [...]
Universities in fees shake-up October 11, 2010 THE long-awaited report from Lord Browne into university tuition fees and student finances will recommend a series of proposals, which aim to ensure those from low income households will still be able to access higher education that is “free at the point of entry”. City A.M. understands the report, which is published today, will include [...]
Schools becoming academies at rate of one a day, says Gove October 11, 2010 STATE schools are converting to academies at a rate of one a day, education secretary Michael Gove said yesterday, as the government’s plan to free headteachers from local government control gathers pace. In total, 121 academies have opened since the election, bringing the total number to 324. A further 90 schools will get academy status [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD UNIVERSITIES BE ALLOWED TO CHARGE WHAT THEY WANT? October 11, 2010 DHUGAL ROBERTSON | AXE “No. If you are going to pay for university, then you should be provided with job opportunities at the end of your degree and not with a load of debt.” GABI MASON | TESTPLANT LTD “University fees should be capped. If they aren’t, we’ll end up with a large division of [...]
Civil servants need to be accountable October 11, 2010 WHAT a surprise. Sir Philip Green has found that the Government is “lamentably bad” at the procurement of goods and services and the management of its property portfolio. The budgets he looked at are worth £191bn in total, and he believes billions could be saved. He argues that the public sector is spending £700m a [...]
Topshop boss finds waste in Whitehall October 11, 2010 THE government is wasting staggering sums of money by failing to take advantage of its size and credit rating to get the best deals from suppliers, Topshop tycoon Sir Philip Green said yesterday. Prime Minister David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said it “made for pretty chilling reading”, while ministers said the report showed that [...]
World Cup lift for Ladbrokes boosts shares October 11, 2010 Ladbrokes, Britain’s biggest listed bookmaker, got an earnings boost from the soccer World Cup and the company added yesterday that it was on track to meet full-year targets, sending its shares higher. Operating profit for the three months to 30 September rose 128 per cent from a year ago to £51.1m. The World Cup resulted [...]
Betfair October 11, 2010 Betfair may be getting all the press at the moment with its upcoming float and its threats to leave the UK, but Ladbrokes reminded us it is still here yesterday when it announced a whopping 128 per cent hike in operating profit. This is obviously to be taken strictly within the context of incredibly weak [...]
Bain pays $2bn for kids clothes firm Gymboree October 11, 2010 CHILDREN’S clothing maker Gymboree is selling itself to buyout firm Bain Capital Partners for $1.8bn (£1.14bn), it said yesterday, as cheap valuations and clean balance sheets make specialty apparel companies attractive takeover targets. Bain beat other private equity bidders such as Apollo Global Management, which also had been pursuing the firm, two sources familiar with [...]