Tesco is a better pick than Sainsbury’s June 13, 2010 THOSE looking for proof the UK is going to bump along the bottom for a while before making a convincing exit from recession need only look at this week’s supermarket sales figures. Now the comparatives are beginning to get tougher, things are looking decidedly lacklustre. Analysts at RBS reckon J Sainsbury will report flat UK [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 13, 2010 Bupa The healthcare provider has appointed Rita Clifton to its board as a non-executive director, effective from July. Clifton is also a director at DSG International and chairman of brand consultancy Interbrand. She began her career in advertising at DMB&B and J Walter Thompson, before joining Saatchi and Saatchi in 1986, where she became vice-chairman [...]
Centrica looks hard at its nuclear option June 13, 2010 CENTRICA’S finance director Nick Luff is busy trying to work out if the new coalition energy secretary Chris Huhne is a man the country’s largest gas and electricity supplier can do business with. Huhne – a Liberal Democrat – had previously described nuclear power as a “failed technology.” But that was before he scented the [...]
South Korea unveils currency controls June 13, 2010 SOUTH Korea yesterday unveiled long-anticipated currency controls, saying it aimed to curb the rapid shifts in capital flows linked to short-term foreign debt and posed a risk to the world’s ninth-biggest exporter. The authorities, alarmed by the won’s sharp swings during recent market turbulence caused by Europe’s debt problems, have been priming investors for weeks [...]
Tax is a matter for UK government, not the EU June 13, 2010 THIS week, in a speech to leading figures from across the financial services industry at Mansion House, George Osborne will outline the government’s plans for reform within the banking sector. One of the most significant proposals I have no doubt the Chancellor will touch upon is his determination to introduce a “bank tax” in the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 13, 2010 MICHELIN Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) initiates a “buy” rating for Michelin and says that despite rising material prices, it sees room for Michelin to profit from early implementation of price increases, stronger replacement business momentum, and better underlying earnings due to the cost cuts in 2009. GREENE KING Seymour Pierce has given Greene King [...]
Companies in pensions cull as crisis bites June 13, 2010 MORE than nine out of ten employers are planning to scrap or scale back their defined benefit pension schemes, a survey has revealed. As companies fight for survival following the global economic crisis pensions are being sacrificed. In the poll of 179 major employers, including 34 with more than 10,000 employees, and 38 of the [...]
Bosses taking a tougher line on late workers June 13, 2010 EMPLOYERS are taking a tougher line with staff because of the recession, with one in six prepared to sack somebody for being late just two or three times, a new survey has revealed. Twelve per cent of business leaders in the UK said they would show the door to a worker who was late four [...]
BP’S FORMER RIVAL TESTING THE WATERS VIA THE USUAL CHANNELS June 13, 2010 JOHN Hofmeister, the former president of Shell, has been busy over the past few weeks, sticking his oar in to help former rival BP traverse the oil-slicked waters of the post-spill Gulf. Hofmeister has been a staunch proponent of using giant supertankers to suck up the oil for processing – arguing that the same system [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK June 13, 2010 PLENTY of boozing was on the cards last week for this group of Knightsbridge businessmen, who headed to Langtry’s restaurant on Pont Street for a celebratory lunch. Our diners knocked back two bottles of Bollinger champagne as an aperitif, followed by two bottles apiece of 2007 Nuits-Saint George, Henri Gouges and 2006/7 Meursault Les Tillets. [...]
