Jobs well done as 2m iPADS sold May 31, 2010 APPLE’S iPad sales continued their extraordinary pace yesterday when the firm announced it had shifted more than 2m units. The tablet device, which became available in the UK on Friday, has smashed all predictions, becoming an instant hit that has dwarfed even the sales of the landmark iPod and iPhone. The iPod sold just 125,000 [...]
Euro banks face huge writedowns May 31, 2010 EUROZONE banks face writedowns of €195bn (£165bn) over the next 18 months, according to the European Central Bank (ECB). The “hazardous contagion” of the sovereign debt crisis will spark a “second wave” of loan losses, it said yesterday. The ECB said in its latest Financial Stability Report that the writedowns could be even bigger if [...]
Healthscope gets new bids May 31, 2010 A BIDDING war has broken out for Healthscope, the Australian hospital and pathology group, in a sign banks and private equity firms are ready to return to leveraged buyouts. Healthscope told the Australian stock exchange it had received two separate bids at A$5.80 (£3.38) per share, valuing the company at A$1.8bn. One of the offers [...]
UK Plc hit by series of PR disasters May 31, 2010 THESE are dark days for some of Britain’s flagship firms. Three of our corporate giants are floundering: British Petroleum, whose inability to stem the spill off the US coast is now in the realm of the preposterous; British Airways, which is being crippled by the actions of a minority of deluded and self-destructive strikers; and [...]
Foreigners join FTSE 100 May 31, 2010 THE FTSE 100 will become even more multinational next week when up to three more foreign firms are promoted into the blue-chip index. Indian oil and gas firm Essar Energy is a racing certainty to step into the prestigious list of the top 100 UK-listed firms by market capitalisation. Gold miners African Barrick Gold and [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 31, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES CHINA TOLD PROPERTY RISK IS WORSE THAN IN US The problems in China’s housing market are more severe than those in the US before the financial crisis because they combine a potential bubble with the risk of social discontent, according to an adviser to the Chinese central bank. Li Daokui, a professor at [...]
Swiss too slow to act: report May 31, 2010 The Swiss government failed to act swiftly to prevent a credit and tax crisis that had endangered banking giant UBS in 2008-2009 and could have sunk the Swiss economy, a parliamentary report said yesterday. The report, the result of a 15-month inquiry by two parliamentary committees and 59 closed-door hearings with senior Swiss officials, showed [...]
Eurotunnel buys GB Railfreight May 31, 2010 Groupe Eurotunnel is on the brink of snapping up the UK’s largest rail-freight operator for £30m. The French group is desperate to expand its cross-Channel operations and has had FirstGroup’s GB Railfreight business in its sights for some time. It will link the firm with the Veolia Cargo business it acquired last year to ramp [...]
Pru fighting for $5bn price cut to seal takeover of AIA May 31, 2010 PRUDENTIAL investors are eagerly awaiting details of a rescue plan for the insurer’s $35.5bn (£24.5bn) takeover of AIA after their protests threatened to derail the deal. Prudential boss Tidjane Thiam and Robert Benmosche, head of AIA’s US parent company AIG, spent the bank holiday weekend battling to save the tie-up by persuading AIG’s government owners [...]
Campaign on capital gains wins support May 31, 2010 A FLOOD of support poured in from readers over the weekend after the launch of City A.M.’s campaign against the coalition government’s plans to hike capital gains tax (CGT). Keith Harris, the boss of stockbroker Seymour Pierce, added his name to the list of supporters, which also includes Tullett Prebon chief Terry Smith, entrepreneur Luke [...]
