GM starts to pay state aid back early November 16, 2009 AILING US car giant General Motors (GM) yesterday said it would start repaying $6.7bn (£4bn) in government bailout loans, as it reported a smaller than expected $1.2bn loss for the three months to the end of September. In its first set of results since emerging from bankruptcy in July, the owner of Opel and Vauxhall [...]
GE Capital agrees loan with Jaguara November 16, 2009 JAGUAR Land Rover (JLR) yesterday secured a £170m working capital facility from GE Capital. The five-year loan will help the money-losing car company, owned by India’s Tata Motors, as it is struggles in the global financial downturn. The loan will be drawn down as soon as vehicles are made in its three UK production lines. [...]
MBL announces a tie-up with US giant Best Buy November 16, 2009 MBL shares rocketed yesterday after the UK distributor of home entertainment products said it had signed a contract with US retail giant Best Buy for the exclusive supply of its DVDs, BluRay disks and CDs. MBL shares closed up 9.62 per cent at 171p. The contract between MBLand Best Buy is for an initial period [...]
Kenmore starts sell-off November 16, 2009 Property fund Kenmore European Industrial – part of collapsed property firm Kenmore – yesterday announced it had sold a Paris property for €1.14m (£1.01m) in a bid to raise cash. Managing director Rob Brook, who is believed to be working on a management buyout of the firm, said that the sale demonstrated the group’s strategy [...]
GSKsigns nicotine vaccine deal November 16, 2009 Nabi Biopharmaceuticals and a unit of GlaxoSmithKline yesterday signed a licensing agreement for Nabi’s experimental vaccine to treat nicotine addiction and the prevention of smoking relapse, the firms said, sending Nabi shares up 26 per cent. Nabi will get $40m (£23.7m) upfront and is eligible to get more than $500m in option fees and milestones [...]
Ashley House reports in-line November 16, 2009 Ashley House, the health and social care infrastructure company, yesterday said it was trading in line with expectations, with revenues and profit significantly ahead of the same period last year. And the company said its pipeline of orders – from which it expects to recognise revenues in the coming two years – has remained robust [...]
Camra gives Ritchie pub support November 16, 2009 Real Ale campaign group Camra yesterday lent its support to celebrity Mayfair pub the Punch Bowl. Guy Ritchie’s pub in Mayfair is facing threats of closure after several noise complaints. But Camra said that Westminster City Council should consider the role the pub plays in the local community before it rules on the noise complaints [...]
UN hires NAO head to its board November 16, 2009 The UN yesterday said that it had appointed the head of the UK National Audit Office, Amyas Morse, to its audit board. The United Nations Board of Auditors is an independent body responsible for auditing the UN, including its peacekeeping operations. Morse will replace Phillippe Seguin, First President of the Courts of Accountants of France.
BA PENSIONS CHIEF IS URGED TO RESIGN November 16, 2009 THE row over British Airways’ retirement scheme intensified yesterday as an independent group of pensioners called for the urgent removal of Roger Maynard as chairman of the trustees. Anger is building over the perceived conflict of interests in Maynard’s chairmanship of both BA’s pension funds – whose huge deficits are potential stumbling blocks in its [...]
Sentance warns on inflation November 16, 2009 THE UK is moving towards recovery though the Bank of England must be sure not to stoke inflation by leaving monetary policy loose for too long, Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Andrew Sentance warned last night. Speaking at Royal Holloway college, Sentance said: “The latest Inflation Report shows that if we do not tighten policy [...]
