World markets tumble due to fears over economic recovery August 17, 2009 GLOBAL markets stumbled yesterday, prompting fears that the recent stock market rally could be over. In London, the FTSE 100 shed 68.96 points, or 1.5 per cent, closing at 4,645.01. Across the Atlantic, the Dow Jones Industrial Average also shed 186 points, or two per cent. Sterling fell against the dollar while the price of [...]
CLIFF HANGER August 17, 2009 READER’S Digest Association, the owner of the world’s biggest-selling magazine, yesterday said it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for its US businesses within 30 days to cut its debt load. The group said the move would allow it to swap a significant proportion of debt for equity with lenders, cutting its debt from $2.2bn [...]
Swedbank in shock rights issue August 17, 2009 Swedbank surprised markets yesterday with news of a 15bn Swedish crown (£1.2bn) rights issue to boost a balance sheet hit by bad debts in the Baltics, despite saying a month ago its capital situation was “very resilient.” Sweden’s financial watchdog said in June that the country’s banks had enough capital to pass its “worst-case” stress [...]
H&M misses sales forecasts August 17, 2009 Hennes & Mauritz, the world’s third biggest clothing retailer, yesterday reported a bigger-than-expected three per cent drop in year–on–year sales in July. Total group sales were up seven per cent. The group hopes to boost footfall in with the launch of new designer ranges.
Sony Ericsson board shuffle August 17, 2009 Struggling mobile phone manufacturer Sony Ericsson Mobile yesterday announced Bert Nordberg will replace retiring chief executive Dick Komiyama and that Howard Stringer will take over as chairman from Carl-Henric Svanberg. Nordberg, an executive vice president at parent Ericsson, will become co-president from 1 September and take over on 15 October. Stringer, the chief executive of [...]
Japan exits its recession August 17, 2009 JAPAN became the latest major economy to emerge from recession yesterday, as its GDP for the April-June quarter grew 0.9 per cent, after four consecutive quarters of contraction. The news comes after data earlier this month showed that the economies in France, Germany and Hong Kong were growing, indicating that the global slowdown is easing. [...]
RBS to sell asset manager arm August 17, 2009 ROYAL Bank of Scotland is preparing to put its asset management business up for sale, including assets that are accessible to clients of Coutts, the private bank that is best known as an advisor to the Queen. A sale of RBS asset management, which creates hedge funds and private equity funds-of-funds using third-party managers, could [...]
UBS tax evasion probe shifts focus to Hong Kong August 17, 2009 THE US government’s probe into tax-evasion by clients of UBS moved to Asia yesterday, after court documents revealed how the Swiss bank helped US nationals avoid taxes using a Hong Kong-based company. Documents filed by Californian UBS client John McCarthy – who last week pleaded guilty to failing to submit an annual report to the [...]
Technical issues hit Dragon Oil August 17, 2009 LONDON-listed Dragon Oil said yesterday it was likely to undershoot its production growth target in 2009 because of technical problems, adding its talks with majority shareholder Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc) about a possible takeover bid were ongoing. The Dubai-based company said gross output growth for the full year will likely be below the annual [...]
LEGO BUILDS SALES August 17, 2009 LEGO, Europe’s biggest toymaker, yesterday said its pre-tax profits for the first half had jumped 60 per cent to 684m Danish knoner (£79.3m), thanks to sales of its Star Wars and Lego City range. Lego said its UK sales rose by 20 per cent during the period, despite a softer toy market, as parents turned [...]
