Hungary loan talks with IMF fail July 18, 2010 Hungary faces a fall in its currency and a surge in financing costs due to a failure to reach agreement with lenders on its economic plans and it will need to reach a deal to retain the trust of investors. Talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the EU ended prematurely on Saturday without [...]
GDF bid for International Power July 18, 2010 French energy giant GDF Suez is reportedly working on a £6.4bn cash bid for Britain’s International Power in the latest twist in a long-running courtship. Sources say GDF met advisers NM Rothschild, Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas over the move and that it also had the backing of the French government, its 35-percent shareholder. Talks [...]
Selfridges Christmas in August July 18, 2010 Selfridges department store in Oxford Street is getting ready for Christmas early – 145 days before the big day. In the earliest start ever for the store, the Christmas shop will open on 2 August, allowing organised shoppers to start stocking up on festive decorations including pre-lit trees, crackers, fairy lights or even a £500 [...]
Dormant bank cash will fund charity work July 18, 2010 THE Prime Minister will today announce plans to fund charitable projects using hundreds of millions of pounds that is lying dormant in unclaimed bank accounts. David Cameron will detail proposals to siphon off money from accounts that haven’t been used in the last 15 years or more, and use the cash to fund schemes in [...]
Osborne starts to assess plans for huge cuts July 18, 2010 THE CHANCELLOR and other senior ministers will this week start trawling though departmental spending proposals, after Whitehall was ordered to slash its budget by up to 40 per cent. The public expenditure committee (PEX), which is chaired by George Osborne, will pore over the departmental proposals to see if ministers and officials have risen to the [...]
Final call for Goldtrail hols July 18, 2010 THE LAST of Goldtrail’s holidaymakers are making their way home this week as administrator Begbies Traynor begins to wind up the failed budget holiday operator. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said all flights back from Greece and Turkey will operate as normal today through charter airlines such as Onur Air, Turkuaz and Viking, with flights [...]
US vice president says reform of Wall St ends uncertainty July 18, 2010 THE passage of Wall Street reforms by Congress helps the US economic recovery now under way by easing uncertainty that had been holding back investment, Vice President Joe Biden said yesterday. Biden said financial regulation legislation passed on Thursday would encourage businesses that were hesitant about expanding to move ahead. “The very uncertainty they had [...]
Club Med could be taken private by Brunei-based wealth fund July 18, 2010 HOLIDAY company Club Med looks set to be taken private by Brunei private equity group BMB. BMB, which manages funds for the Brunei royal family, is believed to have approached investors in the Paris-listed company to offer a deal that would value the firm at €800m (£675m). The four main shareholders in the 60-year-old company [...]
Telefonica bid for Vivo joint venture fails July 18, 2010 SPAIN’S Telefonica has abandoned its €7.15bn (£6bn) bid to buy out Portugal Telecom from its Brazilian joint venture, after the deadline for the Portuguese firm to respond expired on Friday. Telefonica, owner of O2 network, said it wouldn’t wait until 28 July for a decision on the Vivo venture, as requested by Portugal Telecom (PT). [...]
Ocado is bruised after yet more bashing from analysts July 18, 2010 OCADO received yet another mauling at the hands of an analyst in the run-up to its proposed £1bn flotation. Evolution’s Dave McCarthy joined the growing list of analysts to bash the online grocer as it attempts to convince investors to part with £200m despite never having turned a profit. McCarthy raised concerns over whether the [...]
