UBS profits hit as Eurozone woes take toll February 7, 2012 UBS profits have plunged by 76 per cent the bank revealed in its latest quarterly results. Net income for the last three months of 2011 were 393m Swiss francs (£270m), down from 1.7bn francs during the same period the previous year. Business levels fell both at its key wealth management unit, as well as at [...]
Glencore and Xstrata agree $90bn ‘merger of equals’ February 7, 2012 Glencore and Xstrata agreed an all-share merger worth $90bn (£56bn) in the mining industry’s largest ever deal, creating a commodities powerhouse spanning mining, agriculture and trading. The ratio is a 15.2 per cent premium to Xstrata shareholders compared with its share price last Wednesday before word leaked out about the merger talks, a joint statement [...]
Now rail chiefs surrender bonus February 6, 2012 THE CHIEF executive of Network Rail has caved in to political pressure and waived his right to a six-figure bonus. Sir David Higgins and five other Network Rail directors yesterday decided to “forego any entitlement” to bonuses and will instead offer the proceeds to safety improvements. The announcement came after transport secretary Justine Greening threatened [...]
Investors fear mining giants’ Granita deal could end in tears February 6, 2012 ADVISERS to Glencore and Xstrata were last night trying to convince investors that the proposed management team will be able to work together following the £50bn merger. Under the terms of the proposed deal, Xstrata chief executive Mick Davis is expected to be appointed chief executive of the combined group, with Glencore’s Ivan Glasenberg set [...]
Hedge fund stars toast top January February 6, 2012 STAR traders Crispin Odey and Pierre Lagrange led a recovery for the beleaguered hedge fund industry in January as European bank stocks soared 10 per cent. The Odey European fund, which fell 20 per cent in 2011, is up 14 per cent so far this year after taking a bullish stance on banks and the [...]
Greek delays anger Merkel February 6, 2012 TIME is running short in the Greek negotiations, and its politicians must make up its mind fast, German leader Angela Merkel said yesterday. But instead of concluding talks last night as planned, the latest meeting of Greek politicians with technocratic Prime Minister Lucas Papademos was postponed until today. “I honestly can’t understand how additional days [...]
Britain’s rail industry is a giant mess February 6, 2012 ONE of the problems with Britain’s rail industry is its nightmarish, confusing structure. It is part private, part government owned; part financed by users and part by state subsidies; and few people understand the real costs of the railway services they use, or who is really in charge. When it comes to rail travel, politics [...]
Clydesdale up for review February 6, 2012 NATIONAL Australia Bank, the owner of the Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks, has put its troubled UK operations up for strategic review as it reported a 7.7 per cent rise in first-quarter profit across the group. NAB chief executive Cameron Clyne said it was forced into a review since it now expected the UK economy to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 6, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES BAE CONSIDERS CUT TO TYPHOON PRICE BAE Systems, Europe’s largest defence contractor, has signalled its willingness to reduce the price of the Eurofighter Typhoon to win back a $20bn Indian tender from France’s Dassault. Ian King, BAE’s chief executive, told the Financial Times that BAE needed to consult with its partners in Germany, [...]
Britain decries Syria bloodshed February 6, 2012 Britain yesterday recalled its ambassador from Damascus and the US closed its embassy in Syria in a bid to force President Bashar al-Assad to leave power and halt the fast-growing death toll. As Syrian troops targeted the city of Homs, Foreign secretary William Hague hit out at Russia and China’s veto of a recent UN [...]
