First drop in revenue for Microsoft July 23, 2009 SOFTWARE giant Microsoft yesterday posted its first drop in revenue since it went public in 1986, after it was hit by the global downturn and falling sales of its key products. The world’s biggest software firm said revenue for the three months to the end of March was $13.65bn (£8.3bn), a drop of six per [...]
City’s most successful accountant still has plenty of fire in his belly July 20, 2009 IT IS EASY to tell when you are nearing , Deloitte boss John Connolly’s office because an awful lot of people you bump into in the firm’s corridors begin to ask about his welfare. “Is John in?” asks one, a tad nervously. “What mood is he in today?” asks another. There is a feeling of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 16, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES CLARKE WARNS CAMERON NOT TO CHALLENGE ‘PRO-BUSINESS’ STANCEKen Clarke, the outspoken former Conservative chancellor, has warned David Cameron not to translate his “standing up to big business” rhetoric into policies in government. However, the shadow business secretary said he “overwhelmingly approved” of Cameron’s transformation of the Tory party. “So long as Mr Cameron [...]
Property will bounce back, says LandSecs July 15, 2009 LAND SECURITIES, the UK’s largest property developer, yesterday signalled that the worst of the property slump was over and said it was gearing up for recovery. After months in the investment wilderness, the firm said it was preparing to join a growing legion of opportunistic buyers keen to exploit a sharp 45 per cent fall in [...]
Wall Street books impressive gains July 15, 2009 US stocks jumped yesterday with the S&P 500 racking up its three best days since March, sparked by results from bellwether Intel that lifted hopes for a rebound in technology spending and improved corporate profitability. The broad S&P 500 has gained 6.1 per cent so far this week as companies, including Intel and Goldman Sachs, [...]
Times are tough, but lawyers aren’t giving up their wine cellars quite yet July 14, 2009 JUST after the collapse of Lehman Brothers last year, at a lavish Clifford Chance party held at Goldsmith’s Hall, a French lawyer told me glumly: “London used to be such a good place to make money.” The champagne and canapes might have been flowing at the time, but the words did capture the feeling that [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 12, 2009 Gresham CollegeKen Costa, the chairman of investment bank Lazard, has been hired as the college’s professor of commerce, giving a series of lectures on “Reshaping commerce in the post-crisis world”. Costa joined Lazard as chairman in 2007 and, prior to that, was vice-chairman of UBS Investment Bank. He is also a member of the advisory [...]
SLICE OF OLD-BOY STYLE HITS CITY FINE WINING AND DINING CIRCUIT July 8, 2009 NOT so long ago, City types were busy bemoaning the lack of decent restaurants on their patch. But now, just weeks after the Galvin brothers announced they were opening a new pad near Spitalfields market, I hear there’s a new eatery coming to town, courtesy of Simon Parker Bowles, former brother-in-law to Camilla, Duchess of [...]
The internet brands that consumers trust the most July 7, 2009 THE Tories have said that they will embrace the age of “open source”, making government information open for “mash-ups” and even letting patients store their NHS data with commercial companies like Microsoft and Google, rather than with the NHS. This is part of their post-bureaucratic age (PBA) agenda, of which more below. So which companies [...]
Wall Street suffers on stimulus fears July 7, 2009 US STOCKS fell to their lowest level in 10 weeks yesterday as talk of a second government stimulus plan heightened fears that the economy is not yet on the path to recovery and that the corporate earnings season starting this week will be weak. A member of the Obama administration’s economic advisory panel said the [...]