Alan Johnson to be shadow chancellor October 8, 2010 Labour leader Ed Miliband has chosen Alan Johnson as his shadow chancellor, while Ed Balls will take on the shadow home secretary role. Yvette Cooper will be shadow foreign secretary. Cooper and Balls had been tipped as front runners for the shadow chancellor role, which has been handed to Johnson, a former home secretary. Meanwhile [...]
Corporate insolvencies plummet in London October 8, 2010 London businesses are “leading the country out of recession” according to research that shows the number of corporate insolvencies by 28 per cent in the third quarter. Only 745 London firms went bust in the three months to September, down from 1034 in the second quarter of the year and a 35 per cent drop [...]
Asda closes final salary pension scheme October 8, 2010 Asda is closing its final salary pension scheme as it seeks to tackle a soaring deficit, in a move affecting around 4,000 of its staff, it said. The Walmart owned chain closed the final salary scheme to new members in 2005, said it would compensate affected employees with a cash sum equivalent to 25 per [...]
Man Utd debt triggers £83m loss October 8, 2010 Manchester United made a full-year loss of £83.6m due to managing the cost of debt. The club, third in the Premier League, posted a record operating profit of £101m due to increased broadcasting and commercial income but made a loss when interest charges and the cost of restructuring its debt were added on. Net finance [...]
Freud Communications profit soars October 8, 2010 Freud Communications bucked the recession with a 28 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to £6.7m last year. Annual accounts for the PR agency, which is majority-owned by French advertising giant Publicis Groupe, show revenues rose 23 per cent to £33 million. It is understood that significant growth at teh firm run by Matthew Freud, [...]
Manufacturers’ costs soar October 8, 2010 Manufacturers’ raw materials costs rose almost twice as fast as expected last month propelled by higher wheat prices, taking the annual rate well above expectations, official data showed. The Office for National Statistics said producer input prices rose 0.7 per cent on the month in September, taking the annual rate up to 9.5 per cent [...]
Barclays dips as Abu Dhabi investor sells shares October 8, 2010 One of the Middle East investors who pumped billions of pounds into Barclays has effectively sold a chunk of shares in the bank, sending its shares lower. Abu Dhabi’s exercised £131.6m warrants in the bank, equivalent to a 1.1 per cent stake, and simultaneously entered into a complex hedging arrangement with Nomura, it said in [...]
BP to shake up trading arm after profits tumble October 8, 2010 Oil major BP is restructuring its trading unit into a leaner and nimbler outfit in the face of eroding profits, the head of the unit says in an internal document obtained by Reuters, The document from Paul Reed, chief executive of the trading arm, said the company sees a decline in its traditional business but [...]
Speedy Hire hit by Connaught collapse October 8, 2010 Speedy Hire said it was on track to meet its full-year profit expectations despite a first-half operating loss because it traditionally picks up in the second half. The firm, which provides tool hire services, said it would take a £1.7m charge related to the demise of social housing firm Connaught. That charge does not include [...]
Asian IPOs receive mixed reception October 8, 2010 Investors lapped up Singapore Global Logistic Properties’ IPO but shunned the non-precious metals unit of London-listed gold miner Petropavlovsk Plc in a seesion of mixed fortunes for Asian share offerings. Asia has led the world in initial public offerings so far this year, raising $89.9bn (£56.6bn) in the first nine months of the year as [...]
