Palin silences critics with first speech September 4, 2008 Republican running mate Sarah Palin fought back at her critics in her first key address to the Republican National Convention last night. Her speech came as Republican US presidential candidate John McCain slammed the media for questioning the way his running mate Sarah Palin’s candidacy was vetted, following shock revelations that Palin’s 17-yearold unmarried daughter [...]
Punch scraps its dividend as declining beer sales hit September 4, 2008 Pubs group Punch Taverns is scrapping its dividend, the group said yesterday. The move comes in the wake of reports of declining sales, which led to a plunge in the company’s share price. Punch shares closed down 12 per cent at 278.25p. Punch Taverns said the move was prudent given the “challenging market conditions”. The [...]
Women must wait 73 years for job equality September 4, 2008 Representation of female bosses in the FTSE 100 has increased slightly – to 11 per cent – since last year, the newly launched “Sex and Power” report from the Human Rights Commission revealed yesterday. However, women will still be “waiting in the wings” for an estimated 73 years to achieve equal status to their male [...]
Providence slashes bid for Informa September 4, 2008 The private equity consortium is no longer prepared to pay as much for the UK firm Crumbling markets have led the private equity consortium circling Informa to slash its offer for the publisher, as another potential bidder dropped out of the race. The group led by Providence Equity Partners made an indicative offer of 506p [...]
Brown’s £1bn home market rescue gets a cool response September 3, 2008 Critics have rounded on prime minister Gordon Brown’s housing market rescue package saying it will do little to reverse the worst housing slump in 18 years. From today the government has scrapped stamp duty for a year on homes worth less than £175,000 as part of a package of measures designed to revitalise the flagging [...]
Why it may be time to reduce investment exposure to UK September 3, 2008 Two trends have dominated financial markets in recent months: global growth has continued to weaken, while inflationary pressure has eased. The main cloud on the horizon now is the renewed upward spike in US mortgage spreads; this prevents the average American house-buyer from benefiting from looser monetary policy and lower bond yields. More positively, energy [...]
Business hit by wave of receiverships September 2, 2008 Business failures in Britain are set to soar to 17,000 this year. Government statistics for the first six months of 2008 show them rising by a staggering third over last year’s total of 12,507. And some of Britain’s most well-established companies are among the earliest victims. Those going into receivership, having traded for at least [...]
Chelsea hit back as Real point finger September 1, 2008 Chelsea last night hit back at criticism from Real Madrid over their pursuit of striker Robinho as the on-going transfer saga turned nasty. Real earlier lashed out at Chelsea’s behaviour over their public courting of the Brazilian, in particular the selling of replica shirts with Robinho’s name printed on the back. But while the Blues [...]
JP Morgan retains top broker title September 1, 2008 Investment bank JP Morgan Cazenove has been named the top City broker for the third year running, according to the latest adviser rankings from Hemscott. JP Morgan has led the table for 12 consecutive quarters. It gained five new clients in the three months to 11 August taking its client base to a total of [...]
Affluent women boosting growth in private banking September 1, 2008 NatWest will today reveal that there is a new profile of private banking customers in Britain, announcing an increase in young, affluent female customers. NatWest Private Banking’s customer demographic has evolved significantly over the past five years. Customers are now younger, with 87,344 18 to 30 year olds owning private banking accounts. Private banking is [...]
