Safran seals $1.9bn deal for biometric firm September 20, 2010 France’s Safran confirmed a $1.09bn (£696m) deal to buy L-1 Identity Solutions and its core biometric identity business in a move that will also see BAE Systems extend its reach in the United States. Safran, which makes aero engines, military goggles and security equipment, said shareholders would get $12 a share in cash in the [...]
BP shares jump after oil leak “permanently” stemmed September 20, 2010 Shares in BP jumped over 1.8 per cent and outperformed rivals after the oil major said it had permanently sealed an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico that caused the United States’ worst ever oil spill. Jason Kenney, oil analyst at ING, said BP had hit “a significant milestone” in dealing with the disaster [...]
FTSE opens slightly up September 20, 2010 The FTSE 100 opened up 7-13 points, according to financial bookmakers, rallying modestly after falls on Friday in tandem with slight gains on Wall Street and in Asia, with all eyes on Tuesday’s Federal Reserve meeting. The UK blue chip index closed 31.69 points, or 0.6 per cent lower on Friday at 5,508.45 as weak [...]
HSBC sells banknotes business for $15m September 20, 2010 Global bank HSBC Holdings said that it would sell the physical assets of its wholesale banknotes business in Asia to United Overseas Bank for $15m £9.5m) in cash. HSBC said it would also licence the technology system used in connection with its Asian wholesale banknotes business to UOB. The transaction is expected to be completed [...]
Londoners hit as house prices fall September 19, 2010 THE UK HOUSING market dropped back for the third month in a row in September, with London prices now also moving into the red. Figures from Rightmove show that average asking prices across the UK dropped by 1.1 per cent to £229,767 compared with the previous month. Prices have now fallen back by a total [...]
Nick Clegg: No merger with Tories September 19, 2010 NICK CLEGG will today tell Lib Dem members that his party will field candidates in all constituencies in the 2015 general election. He will deny rumours of a full electoral pact or even merger between the two parties. Speaking at his party’s annual conference in Liverpool yesterday, Clegg also backed calls for a review of [...]
BP well seal cements leak September 19, 2010 BP HAS finally killed the leaking Macondo well, effectively ending the five-month Gulf of Mexico ordeal, which has already cost the company $9.6bn (£6.14bn). The oil major confirmed last night that its efforts to plug the leak were completed after pumping cement into the well. April’s explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 people, [...]
A changing global balance of power September 19, 2010 IT should have been cause for some (modest) celebration – yet nobody even noticed as another milestone on the road to recovery was finally passed the other day. The total industrial output of the G7 – the UK, the US and five other top nations – added to that of the seven largest emerging economies [...]
Greek stress tests delayed September 19, 2010 BANK stress tests on Greece have been delayed while the international community gauges the success of the country’s capital raising programme. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Commission and European Central Bank (ECB) – known as the “troika” – has agreed with Greece’s central bank to postpone testing banks’ solvency by one month to the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 19, 2010 THE SUNDAYS The Sunday Telegraph CHEYNE CAPITAL SHUTS EQUITY FUND AFTER POOR PERFORMANCE London-based hedge fund Cheyne Capital has closed a much-heralded equities fund only a year after it opened. The fund, which it is believed was equivalent to around 1 per cent of the approximate £5bn Cheyne has under management, closed after a dissapointing [...]
