EU calls for roaming fees to be slashed September 23, 2010 LARGE roaming fees charged by telecoms operators are “an outdated concept” and the European Union is prepared to take steps to reduce the costs, the bloc’s telecoms chief said yesterday. Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes, who oversees telecoms and the internet across the 27-country EU, signalled she was prepared to continue to cap lucrative roaming [...]
Diageo boss talks up UK tax exodus September 23, 2010 DRINKS firm Diageo’s chief executive warned the government yesterday that companies will move out of the UK if the tax regime deteriorates. Paul Walsh said governments often misunderstand how multi-national companies operate. “It doesn’t matter where we’re based, and governments can forget that,” said Walsh. “So if they start to think they can be cute [...]
BlueCrest in second spot with AllBlue September 23, 2010 BLUECREST AllBlue yesterday became the second largest listed hedge fund after it tapped investors for £83.3m in its third share placing in nine months. The only larger listed hedge fund is BH Macro, which was floated by Brevan Howard in 2008. BlueCrest AllBlue now has assets of £904m across its three share classes, while BH [...]
Songbird is in talks to build Walkie Talkie September 23, 2010 SONGBIRD, the property company that owns most of Canary Wharf, has confirmed it is in talks with Land Securities to resurrect the abandoned Walkie Talkie project on Fenchurch Street . “We are in advanced discussions about a 50-50 joint venture, and we are expecting a decision in the near term,” Songbird secretary John Garwood told [...]
US property sales stabilising… September 23, 2010 SALES of existing homes in the US rose last month following a big correction in July, a new report said yesterday. The National Association of Realtors (NAR), the US trade body representing estate agents, said existing-home sales increased 7.6 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.13m in August from an upwardly revised [...]
Mortgage approvals slump September 23, 2010 The number of loans approved for buying houses fell in August to its lowest since the housing market trough in 2009, industry data showed yesterday, suggesting housing market weakness is set to continue. Mortgage approvals are a good indicator of house price trends around six months down the line, and the figures chime with data [...]
UniCredit starts hunting for permanent chief after Alessandro Profumo quits September 23, 2010 ITALY’S biggest bank UniCredit took a first step in picking a replacement for its chief executive yesterday, who resigned this week after a power clash with shareholders. The board’s strategic, governance and remuneration committees began to prepare the criteria for a successor to Alessandro Profumo, but there is still no list of candidates, said a [...]
August car output surges due to export orders rise September 23, 2010 car production in August was 37.3 per cent higher than a year earlier, and year-to-date output was up by an annual 41.3 per cent, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said yesterday. SMMT said carmakers turned out 77,882 vehicles in August, some 57,005 of which were destined for export, a rise of 51.8 [...]
Major inflation risks should ease, says MPC’s chief economist Dale September 23, 2010 Debate over the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has entered a particularly aggressive and vigorous phase as policy-makers struggle to assess the relative strength of upside and downside risks to inflation, Bank chief economist Spencer Dale said yesterday. Dale said the policy debate was particularly aggressive at the moment as MPC members strove [...]
Danaher drops $1bn sale of defence unit September 23, 2010 DIVERSIFIED US manufacturer Danaher has dropped plans to sell its aerospace and defence business for more than $1bn (£640m) after no buyer emerged for the entire business. Danaher, which hired Goldman Sachs earlier this year to solicit buyers for the business that makes aviation safety equipment and weapons platforms, had received interest only for different [...]
