When process becomes more important than any one person June 16, 2010 FOR better of worse, some businesses become identified with their bosses. Look at Steve Jobs at Apple, whose share-price dropped when rumours about his health circulated last year. Or BP when it was run by Lord Browne, a man whose attitude towards the business he ran is often compared to that of Louis XIV’s towards [...]
Tour over for Banahan after Barbarians citing June 16, 2010 MATT BANAHAN’S England summer is over after he was found guilty of a dangerous tackle in Tuesday’s win over the Australian Barbarians. The Bath wing was cited for a “lifting tackle” on Australian centre Berrick Barnes during the 15-9 victory and was handed a two-week suspension, ruling him out for the rest of the tour. [...]
Murray seeded fourth for SW19 June 16, 2010 HOME favourite Andy Murray hasbeen seeded fourth for this year’s Wimbledon championship. Six-time champion Roger Federer retains top seed despite being overtaken by Rafael Nadal as world No1. The women’s seedings stuck to the world rankings, with the possibility of a fifth all-Williams Wimbledon final alive with the Americans seeded one and two. The draw [...]
RBS sells off Pakistani arm in £34m deal June 16, 2010 ROYAL Bank of Scotland yesterday said that Faysal Bank is to acquire 99.37 per cent of RBS Pakistan for 4.298bn rupees (£34m). Pakistan lender Faysal Bank, which is 68 per cent owned by Bahrain-based Ithmaar, beat Egyptian Bank EFG-Hermes in the race to snap up the lender. Pakistan’s central bank said in March it had [...]
SocGen: We’ll double profits June 16, 2010 SOCIETE Generale set a net profit goal of €6bn (£5bn) for 2012 yesterday, double its target for this year, as it seeks to restore investor confidence in a tough business environment. SocGen executives pitched the target as part of its five-year strategic plan at an event for investors, which came as the trial of the [...]
Higher costs set to crimp FedEx profits next year June 16, 2010 FEDEX reported a quarterly profit yesterday that beat analyst expectations, but said costs would constrain its 2011 earnings. The company projected 2011 earnings per share in the range of $4.40 (£2.97) to $5.00. “We expect the growth in earnings in fiscal 2011 to be constrained,” chief financial officer Alan Graf Jr said, citing increases in [...]
Swiss Parliament delays UBS tax deal June 16, 2010 A SWISS-US tax deal crucial to the future of UBS hung in the balance as the lower house of parliament voted again yesterday for a referendum, delaying a final decision until today. A special panel is set to iron out differences between the upper and lower houses this morning before they take final votes later [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 16, 2010 TESCO ING reiterates a “buy” recommendation on Tesco and said this was a fairly lacklustre first trading update, although the market shouldn’t be hugely surprised. ING noted Tesco’s chief executive Terry Leahy expects the first quarter to be a low point for the year and he continues to talk about “recovering global consumer markets.” CARPHONE [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 16, 2010 Capital & Regional The property asset management firm has appointed John Clare, the former chief executive of Dixons Group, as its new chairman, effective from the end of June. Clare is currently the chairman of JJB Sports and bed retailer Dreams. He held the top job at Dixons 14 years between 1993 and 2007, and [...]
Australian PM stands firm on mining tax June 16, 2010 MINING giants Rio Tinto, Xstrata and BHP Billiton met with the Australian government yesterday to discuss a proposed mining super-tax, but complained that their concerns “had not been addressed”. The battle over the 40 per cent “resource super profits tax” showed little sign of resolution following the meeting, as the government held firm on introducing [...]
