Osborne must not tax pensions more February 23, 2012 WANT to add some money into your pension? You’d better hurry up, as there is intense pressure on the chancellor to slash tax relief on pension contributions. If Lib Dems gets their way, 40p and 50p taxpayers will lose their tax relief, which would fall to just 20p for everybody. This would be a further, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 23, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE DRAWS FIRE OVER BORSA SYNERGIES The LSE’s takeover of the Milan bourse five years ago “has not fulfilled expectations either in Italy or London” in terms of stimulating cross-border capital flows or increased investment in Italian companies, the Italian securities regulator has claimed. QUINN CASE THROWS LIGHT ON IRISH BANKING [...]
CITY A.M. WINS PRIZE FOR FREE ENTERPRISE February 23, 2012 Allister Heath, editor of City A.M., has been chosen as the winner of the annual Institute of Economic Affairs National Free Enterprise Award. The prize, previously won by Margaret Thatcher, Richard Branson and Nigel Lawson, is awarded to those who contribute the most to free market thinking.
Hester: RBS loss is sign of our strength February 23, 2012 RBS chief Stephen Hester yesterday said his bank exists in an “Alice in Wonderland world” in which the £2bn net loss it booked for 2011 is a sign of growing strength because it shows an ability to “take the costs of clean-up”. The lender, which is 83 per cent government owned, also made a pre-tax [...]
Chasing good returns in Wonderland February 23, 2012 CURIOUSER and curiouser,” says Alice, after eating a cake that causes her to grow suddenly to the height of a giant. It is no wonder that RBS’s beleaguered boss Stephen Hester is starting to feel like his bank operates “in an Alice in Wonderland world”, as he put it yesterday. Unlike Alice, he has managed [...]
Dividend soon on Apple stock February 23, 2012 APPLE could be close to paying a dividend, it was revealed, as chief executive Tim Cook told investors the board is “thinking about this very deeply.” He dropped the hint during the company’s first annual general meeting since the death of Steve Jobs, who famously refused to pay a dividend. Apple is sitting on a [...]
Goldman M&A stalwart retires February 23, 2012 GOLDMAN Sachs M&A banker Luca Ferrari, an adviser to mining group Xstrata on its potential mega-merger with Glencore, is retiring after 12 years with the firm, according to a company memo. Ferrari is currently responsible for the northern European mergers and acquisitions business and became a partner in 2006. Prior to Goldman, he spent nine [...]
Centrica sees mild weather dent profits February 23, 2012 CENTRICA yesterday said that milder weather in the UK had reduced energy consumption and dented profits. But the British Gas owner said its production and exploration business was booming – with profits up a third – as commodity prices rise. The company’s full-year adjusted operating profit was up one per cent year-on-year in 2011 at £2.42bn. [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW DO YOU RATE CENTRICA? February 23, 2012 KEITH BOWMAN HARGREAVES LANSDOWN The results continue to underline management’s strategy to create a more balanced business. The expanding upstream business has effectively compensated for more difficult conditions for its downstream supply operations. In all, the progressive dividend policy remains attractive. Its diversified energy play continues to grow. We say Buy. GRAHAM SPOONER THE SHARE [...]
P&G set to cut 5,700 positions February 23, 2012 PROCTER & Gamble plans to cut about 5,700 non-manufacturing jobs as part of a new plan to reduce costs by $10bn by the end of fiscal 2016, chief executive Bob McDonald said yesterday. The world’s largest household products company has about 57,000 non-manufacturing employees among its total workforce of about 129,000. P&G also trimmed earnings [...]
