Firms delay tax bills in downturn September 16, 2009 Thousands of UK firms are being forced to strike deals to delay tax bills as they struggle in the recession. More than 200,000 companies have signed up to an HM Revenue & Customs scheme, putting off payments of around £3.6bn in total. The so-called “time to pay” scheme was introduced in last year’s budget to [...]
Eastman Kodak in deal with KKR September 16, 2009 Photography company Eastman Kodak yesterday said it expects to raise up to $700m (£425m) through a series of debt sales, including a commitment from private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, in an effort to shore up its balance sheet. KKR, which is to buy up to $400m of Kodak’s senior secured notes due 2017, said [...]
Barclays will dump 7.5bn in risky assets September 16, 2009 BARCLAYS yesterday announced the sale of $12.3bn (£7.5bn) of credit market assets to a newly-established fund called Protium Finance, managed by former Barclays Capital (BarCap) employees, in a bid to reduce its credit market exposure. The deal, a complex piece of financial engineering, was well received by investors but slammed by some analysts and media [...]
Q & A September 16, 2009 Q.WHY HAS BARCLAYS SPUN OFF THESE ASSETS?A.According to Barclays finance director Chris Lucas, the sale will reduce the bank’s exposure to potential deterioration of the assets and give it access to “stable risk-adjusted returns for shareholders over time”. Q.DOES THE SALE REDUCE THE BANK’S RISK PROFILE?A.Not really. Although the bank will be less exposed to [...]
Crisis pushes jobless total to new peak September 16, 2009 THE percentage of UK adults who are unemployed has climbed to its highest level since 1996, reaching 7.9 per cent as the economic crisis continues to wreak havoc in the job market. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the jobless total rose by 210,000 in the three months to the end of July, to [...]
Blanchflower spat with King heats up September 16, 2009 DAVID Blanchflower, the former Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member who accused Mervyn King earlier this week of running the central bank with an “iron fist”, claimed yesterday that he was merely speaking out in the public interest. Blanchflower was responding to comments from King made during an evidence session at the Treasury [...]
US industrial output rises again September 16, 2009 US industrial production rose for a second straight month in August, reinforcing views the recession had ended, while a spike in petrol costs pushed up USinflation. A Federal Reserve report said industrial production increased 0.8 per cent after gaining one per cent in July. The data came a day after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said [...]
Weir loses its chief to Australia September 16, 2009 Engineering firm Weir Group yesterday said its finance director Keith Cochrane will replace outgoing chief executive Mark Selway on 2 November. Selway is stepping down to take up a new job in his native Australia. After eight years at Weir, Selway will become chief executive of Boral, Australia’s largest building and construction materials supplier. Weir’s [...]
Minister tells BBC to halt its expansion September 16, 2009 CULTURE Secretary Ben Bradshaw yesterday hit out at the BBC, saying its dramatic expansion needed to be stopped and its governing body should be reformed. Speaking at the Royal Television Society’s biennial conference in Cambridge, Bradshaw said the £5bn state-funded broadcaster had “probably reached the limits of expansion” and suggested its “multimedia empire” should be [...]
Bank of New York Mellon settles $22.5bn Russia case September 16, 2009 RUSSIA expects to get costs of at least $14m (£8.5m) in an out-of-court settlement of a $22.5bn lawsuit against Bank of New York Mellon, finance minister Alexei Kudrin said yesterday. The deal should bring to an end Russia’s more than two-year quest for compensation from the bank over alleged laundering of $7bn from Russia in [...]
