HSBC ditches unit in Greece June 7, 2012 HSBC has offloaded its Greek securities businesses for an undisclosed sum in a management buyout that will see Nikos Pantelakis, the current head of the operation, take the helm of the new firm. The business is a minnow, boasting around €35.8m in assets. HSBC said that it will continue to use it as a “preferred [...]
Plus Markets could lose stock exchange licence June 7, 2012 PLUS Markets said yesterday that it will lose its stock exchange licence if shareholders reject a bid for the division. Broker ICAP has agreed to buy the unit for £1, freeing regulatory capital – but rebel investors are threatening to derail the deal. Plus now says that if the sale does not complete by 22 [...]
New boss at Samsung as top jobs reshuffled June 7, 2012 SAMSUNG Electronics, Asia’s technology powerhouse battling Apple for smartphone supremacy, is shifting its chief executive to a new role as the family-run parent company prepares to transfer ownership control to a third generation. Choi Gee-sung, 61, will assume the new role of head of corporate strategy at Samsung Group, which presides over some 81 companies [...]
Vodafone and O2 launch grid share venture June 7, 2012 VODAFONE and Telefonica, owner of the O2 brand, yesterday unveiled a joint venture that will see the two telecoms companies share their network infrastructure in the UK. The two companies will share a grid of 18,500 masts across the UK – an increase of more than 40 per cent for each operator. But both Vodafone and O2 [...]
Shares in HTC plummet to a two-year low June 7, 2012 SHARES of HTC fell to their lowest intraday level in more than two years yesterday after the smartphone maker warned of lower revenues and was named in a patent lawsuit by rival Apple. The world’s fifth largest smartphone vendor, battling to regain market share from Apple and Samsung, suffered a rapid fall from grace in [...]
CITY VIEWS | HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR LINKEDIN PASSWORD? June 7, 2012 SIDDHARTH ANKATHIL DEUTSCHE BANK I will go and check that everything is ok with my account. If it looks like there is anything wrong I will change it. But I am not a very active user; the last time I used it was two years back. GAURAV AHUJA JP MORGAN I don’t use LinkedIn but [...]
G4S boss: Healing rifts over ISS will take time June 7, 2012 SECURITY group G4S is still trying to heal the rift with shareholders caused by its failed £5.2bn tie-up with ISS, its chief executive has admitted. Nick Buckles said the mega-merger, abandoned in the teeth of opposition from major investors, had been a victim of the “shareholder autumn”. Buckles faced questions at the firm’s annual general [...]
Xstrata and WPP ignore shareholder spring at their peril June 7, 2012 EVEN before the phrase “shareholder spring” was uttered, it was clear that investors were becoming unruly. More often than not it was strategy rather than executive remuneration that caused discontent. Much of the recent unrest, ostensibly about pay, is really about direction. Andrew Moss, the former Aviva boss, could have paid himself £1 last year [...]
Spain need Torres if they are to defend the toughest title of all June 7, 2012 THE WORLD Cup may be seen as the ultimate prize but the European Championship is actually a tougher tournament. The quality of player is very high so teams have to hit the ground running because if they don’t, they can find themselves out before the knockout stage. This all makes the competition, which starts today [...]
MY FOUR TIPS June 7, 2012 Germany France Holland Spain EXPECTATIONS for England are at an all-time low going into these Euros and I can’t see them enjoying much possession, which is why I hope they focus on pace in attack. Roy Hodgson’s men will need to be hard to beat and hit teams on the break and, with little speed [...]
