Volvo withdraws redundancies June 9, 2009 Volvo withdrew redundancy notices previously handed out to 335 of its workers yesterday, after a deal with unions agreed hours and wages. The redundancies were expected at a plant in Sweden. The deal with the IF Metal union meant working hours would be cut by 10 per cent in addition to the existing two stoppage [...]
Weststar eyes vanmaker LDV June 9, 2009 Malaysian group Weststar emerged as a potential buyer for the assets of failed vanmaker LDV yesterday, one of three contenders for the acquisition. The news comes after most of LDV’s 850 staff were made redundant earlier this week. Weststar was forced to walk away from a takeover deal last month when it failed to secure [...]
TEN US BANKS TO REPAY TARP FUNDS June 9, 2009 THE US Treasury yesterday gave the green light to 10 Wall Street banks to begin repaying $68bn (£41.7bn) in state funding they received as part of the Obama administration’s Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Tarp). The banks finally received permission to begin paying back the funds, which are held by the US Treasury in the form [...]
City chaos as strikes go ahead June 9, 2009 LONDON was thrown into chaos last night as London Underground (LU) staff staged a 48-hour walk-out. Last-ditch talks between RMT union officials and LU bosses fell apart just before the 7pm strike start-time, as the union accused transport chiefs of “pulling the rug from under a workable agreement” by bringing in lawyers. Transport for London [...]
Horlick outed as Bramdean secret bidder June 9, 2009 BRAMDEAN Alternatives fund manager Nicola Horlick yesterday dropped a bombshell on the City by revealing she was behind the bid approach announced in the middle of her public row with major shareholder Vincent Tchenguiz. Bramdean Alternatives confirmed yesterday that the approach, initially made on 17 March but announced on 30 April, came from Petersfield Asset [...]
Buyers eye Thomas Cook stake June 9, 2009 SHARES in holiday operator Thomas Cook yesterday jumped by 10 per cent to 235p despite the collapse of its majority shareholder Arcandor, on the back of bidder speculation. City A.M. understands that Germany’s leading tour operator Rewe is one of several potential bidders interested in snapping up Arcandor’s 52.8 per cent stake. It expressed an [...]
Darling hits out at plans for greater EU regulation June 9, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling has found German support in his bid to stop Europe-wide financial watchdogs having the power to dictate rules to national regulators. Darling spoke out against the two proposed bodies at a Luxembourg meeting of European finance ministers, with backing from his German counterpart Peer Steinbruck. The row is over whether the proposed [...]
More RBS staff face the axe June 9, 2009 Royal Bank of Scotland confirmed yesterday that 500 staff in its manufacturing division could lose their jobs as part of 4,500 redundancies announced in April. The bank said that cuts would be made across 28 centres, 140 coming with the closure of its Glasgow office.
UK government owed 17bn June 9, 2009 The UK government was owed £17.3bn in outstanding tax, interest and penalties as of 31 March 2008, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said yesterday. An HMRC spokesperson said that the report is not a reflection of HMRC debt activity as it stands – things have moved on and HMRC has made even [...]
Versace names new chief exec June 9, 2009 Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace SpA has named Gian Giacomo Ferraris of the Jil Sander Group as its new chief executive, after Giancarlo Di Risio resigned last week . It is believed that Di Risio and design head Donatella Versace had disagreed sharply over strategy, especially cost cuts, as the current financial crisis takes its [...]