Brokers at ING call on Tesco to snap up Ahold November 2, 2009 MARKET talk that Tesco should snap up Dutch rival Royal Ahold resurfaced yesterday, after analysts said that such a deal would boost the retail giant’s US presence. Broker ING yesterday issued a note entitled “Buying Ahold would actually make sense for Tesco”. ING said that a potential £13.5bn bid would be easily financed by Tesco’s [...]
BURNING RUBBER November 2, 2009 BRIDGESTONE yesterday said it would stop supplying tyres for Formula One racing cars when its current contract runs out in 2010. The decision by the Japanese manufacturer, who has been the sole supplier for the car chase since 2007, to quit F1 follows a host of other high-profile companies, including Japan’s Honda and Germany’s BMW, [...]
BA workers to vote on Xmas strike action November 2, 2009 BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA), the ailing flag-carrier, was dealt another blow yesterday after the Unite union said results of a ballot on strike action would be announced mid-December. The decision to kick off the vote next week came after thousands of cabin crew met at Sandown racecourse yesterday to thrash out a response to BA’s cost-cutting [...]
CITY VIEWS: IS SKY TOO DOMINANT IN THE PAY-TV MARKET? November 2, 2009 CHRIS CORNELL LLOYDS PRIVATE BANKING“Sports-wise they have definitely got too much power, to the detriment of the game, I think. It would make more sense from a viewer’s point of view if they were to wholesale premium content, though there is then an element of penalising Sky for its success.” ALISON FISHER CHARLES TAYLOR ADJUSTING“I [...]
C4’s Lygo paid more than the Prime Minister November 2, 2009 STATE-OWNED Channel 4’s director of programmes Kevin Lygo was paid five times more than Prime Minister Gordon Brown last year. The former comedy scriptwriter was the highest paid public sector worker, receiving £1.1m in the 2008/2009 financial year, compared to Brown, who earned just over £193,000. Lygo’s package was made up of a salary of [...]
Nat Ex investor demands new Stagecoach debate November 2, 2009 NATIONAL EXPRESS’ largest shareholder, the Spanish Cosmen family, is sounding out other investors at the ailing transport company for their appetite to restart takeover talks with Stagecoach. Merger talks between debt-laden National Express and rival Stagecoach fell apart last week, with the former saying it would raise money via a cash call instead. It is [...]
Transport is investors’ X-factor November 2, 2009 Transport infrastructure is the “X-factor” in investor’s decisions on how to spend, the Invest Thames Gateway transport report will say today. The data shows that 81 per cent of senior business people rate transport as more critical to their decision to invest now than five years ago. While 46 per cent said features like teleconferencing [...]
RBS FEARS THAT BREAKUP PLANS WILL GO TOO FAR November 1, 2009 ROYAL Bank of Scotland is deeply anxious that a proposed restructuring plan being drawn up by the European Commission and the Treasury could materially damage its ability to operate as a standalone entity. Sources close to the bank have warned that getting RBS back to standalone strength, a key factor in reimbursing the taxpayer for [...]
BA crew talk about strikes November 1, 2009 THOUSANDS of British Airways’ (BA) cabin crew are meeting at racecourse Sandown park this morning to discuss a winter walkout at the airline. The meeting comes ahead of BA’s financial results for the summer season, which analysts are expecting to be catastrophic, as the downturn pummels airlines. The ailing carrier, led by chief executive Willie [...]
UK plc doing better than in past slumps November 1, 2009 THERE are many reasons why the stock market has bounced back, despite the severity of the recession. The fact that corporate earnings didn’t collapse as much as originally feared is one such explanation, as highlighted this weekend by Lombard Street Research. The operating profits of UK companies have fallen 8.4 per cent from their peak, [...]
