Catalonia’s bailout tests Madrid’s rule over Spain’s regions August 29, 2012 CATALONIA’S decision to seek a bailout from the Spanish government was just a matter of time. With over €5.7bn (£4.5bn) of debt maturing before the end of the year, Spain’s wealthiest – but also most heavily indebted – region had very little chance of paying its bills without some form of external assistance. The request [...]
Should UK business leaders be awarded honours for simply “doing the day job”? August 29, 2012 YES Philip Salter No one could defend the stifling corporatism that has penetrated our political system. As such, Bernard Jenkin and the rest of the public administration select committee are right to be calling for the secretive honours system to be opened up to scrutiny. However, the committee is wrong to suggest that business people [...]
Rapid Responses August 29, 2012 Swede dreams [RE: Sweden turns the page and Scandinavian noir explains why, Tuesday] It is worth adding that Sweden is also successful because of eight decades of close cooperation between the state, business and unions. Moody’s recently reaffirmed Sweden’s AAA rating and cited not merely its comparatively modest supply-side reforms but also its equal society. Alexander [...]
EU widens Ryanair probe for Aer Lingus August 29, 2012 Europe’s competition regulator has launched an in-depth review of Ryanair’s latest bid for Irish rival Aer Lingus, signalling the budget airline may have to make big concessions to ease competition concerns or face fresh failure. Ryanair, which already owns 30 per cent of Aer Lingus, had an initial bid turned down by the European Commission [...]
Latvian police say body found in woods likely to be that of City A.M. shareholder August 29, 2012 LATVIAN police yesterday said that DNA tests carried out on a dead body discovered earlier this month confirm it is likely to be that of Leonid Rozhetskin, a shareholder and board member of City A.M., who has been missing since March 2008. A police spokesperson said the DNA profile of the corpse found in a [...]
FTSE 100 lower on worries over global economy August 29, 2012 The UK’s blue chip index opened lower this morning, with concerns over the health of the global economy and falling metal prices dragging shares down. Russian oil and gas company Ruspetro led the fallers, shedding 8.41 per cent in early trading as investors reacted negatively to news that it swung to a loss in the [...]
Grafton says UK market a little more settled August 29, 2012 Irish building and home improvement supplies group Grafton said prospects in its main British market were a little better than a year ago, as it posted a 19 per cent rise in first-half operating profit. Grafton, which said last month its revenue for the first half had risen by four per cent to €1.05bn (£834m), [...]
Spanish recession darkens as Catalonia asks for bailout August 29, 2012 The Spanish economy is falling deeper into recession and depositors are pulling their money out of the banks, figures published yesterday showed, while the country’s most economically important region, Catalonia, said it needed a major rescue from Madrid. Spain’s recession grew stronger in the second quarter of the year and is expected to get worse [...]
BP to sell inaugural Australian dollar bonds August 29, 2012 British oil company BP is looking to sell an inaugural Australian dollar bond issue in a rare “kangaroo” offer, bringing a fresh industrial face to a market crowded with financial and sovereign borrowers. Kangaroo bonds refer to Australian dollar bonds sold by international issuers in Australia. Offshore borrowers have been historically reluctant to raise Australian [...]
Samsung to bounce back with new Note phablet August 29, 2012 Samsung unveils the second generation of its popular Galaxy Note phone-cum-tablet at Europe’s biggest electronics show in Berlin later today, as the South Korean firm comes under pressure to innovate after losing a US patent battle with Apple. A US federal jury last week found Samsung had copied critical features of the iPhone and awarded [...]
