Afghanistan death toll jumps to 204 August 16, 2009 DEFENCE secretary Bob Ainsworth was hit with a fusillade of criticism last night after trying to put a positive spin on the latest British deaths in Afghanistan. Ainsworth was accused of “false optimism” and “wild predictions” after claiming British forces would be off the front line in Afghanistan within a year. His comments followed the [...]
Banks need to close branches August 16, 2009 UK retail banks could be forced to explore the option of closing more of their branch networks in the quest to restore profitability, according to research from business consultancy group Bain. The report found that banks must face up to a challenging future which could see their return on equity more than halve from its [...]
Hapag Lloyd seeks state bailout August 16, 2009 Ailing shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd has applied for €1.2bn (£1.03bn) in German state loan guarantees, it emerged yesterday. HSH Nordbank, the German bank, admitted last week it had filed an application for state guarantees for the container shipping company. It is unclear when a decision will be made about the application for state aid.
Shell targets 1.5bn takeover August 16, 2009 Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is understood to have made a £1.5bn takeover approach for Australian coal seam gas producer Arrow Energy. The group, which already owns 30 per cent of Arrow’s Australian acreage, is believed to have discussed the deal several weeks ago as part of wider talks over further investment plans.
Salary-cut insurance to launch August 16, 2009 An insurance service aimed at protecting workers against the chances of a cut in salary is ready to be launched in the UK next month as the difficult economic climate sparks the demand for innovative financial products. Salisbury Underwriting Services is preparing to debut salary gap insurance to bridge the divide for workers made redundant [...]
COURT O’CLOCK August 16, 2009 DRINKS giant Diageo is taking legal action against supermarket J Sainsbury’s after alleging it broke copyright of its Pimm’s brand. The move follows the supermarket launching it’s “own version” of the summer cocktail named “Pitcher’s”. Sainsbury said yesterday it would “vigorously defend these allegations”.
Burrows set for BAT chair August 16, 2009 RICHARD Burrows, former governor of the Bank of Ireland (BoI), will be named this week as chairman of British American Tobacco (BAT). Burrows will fill the gap left by Jan du Plessis, who announced in April that he was stepping down after taking up the chairmanship of mining giant Rio Tinto. BAT is the world’s [...]
Allied Irish Bank receives an approach to sell minor stake August 16, 2009 ALLIED Irish Bank is believed to have received an approach from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce which wants to take a minority stake in the lender. The Irish institution had earlier said it received an approach from a third party. Earlier this month Allied Irish said it was over the worst of the financial crisis [...]
BLOCKBUSTER BOX OFFICE August 16, 2009 Britain’s second-biggest cinema chain, Cineworld, is likely to post strong first-half numbers on Thursday, buoyed by the success of blockbuster films such as Slumdog Millionaire and Transformers. The cinema industry has seen attendances at their highest level for seven years – with ticket sales up 14.5 per cent to 83.5m –according to the Cinema Advertising [...]
Experts urge caution for UK market gains August 16, 2009 RECENT market exuberance may be ill-advised as the UK faces further pain before it can follow France and Germany out of recession, economists warned yesterday. The benchmark FTSE 100 index of Britain’s biggest companies touched a 10-month high of 4,755 points during last week’s trading. But these heights may not be underpinned by economic fundamentals. [...]
