Exiles grab bonus point to climb back into play-offs March 28, 2010 LONDON IRISH (38) vs SALE (0) HIS side may have run in five tries and racked up 38 points, but London Irish head coach Toby Booth was most pleased with restricting Sale to a “big fat zero”. England reject Steffon Armitage continued his fine form with two tries, while John Rudd, Peter Hewat and Alex [...]
SPORT | IN BRIEF March 28, 2010 Clarets boss Laws in whine FOOTBALL: Burnley boss Brian Laws accused Martin Olsson of diving after a 1-0 defeat to Blackburn pushed his side closer to relegation from the top flight. David Dunn scored from the spot after Olsson tumbled over goalkeeper Brian Jensen, leaving the Clarets 19th and three points from safety. Laws said: [...]
HMV looks to live music to boost fortunes March 26, 2010 HMV is pinning its growth hopes on live music as it forges ahead with a restructuring of the business. In a strategy update the firm pledged a turnaround of its Waterstone’s bookstores which traded poorly over Christmas, and said it would maintain the current level of dividend. HMV said that its transformation into an entertainment [...]
London business leaders fear double-dip recession March 26, 2010 LONDON’S business leaders have become more worried about the possibility of a double-dip recession since the budget. Almost seven out of 10 said they feared another “period of economic” decline was on the horizon, according to a poll by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry. When the same question was asked in January the [...]
M&A activity rebounds after recession March 26, 2010 MERGERS and acquisitions jumped to $520.4 billion £350bn in the first quarter, new figures have revelealed. Data from Thomson Reuters data showed M&A jumped 18 per cent worldwide from the first quarter of 2009, when dealmaking was depressed by the credit crunch that followed the financial crisis. Compared with the last quarter of 2009, however, [...]
Times to charge for online content March 26, 2010 NEWS International will charge readers for online versions of its Times and Sunday Times from June, the company has announced. Access to two new websites for the titles will cost £1 per day or £2-a-week. Subscribers to the print versions will get free access to the sites. Both titles will launch new websites in May, [...]
Japan in deflation for a year March 26, 2010 JAPAN’S economy has been in deflation for 12 consecutive months, official figures have shown. Consumer prices fell by 1.2 per cent in February compared to a year earlier. Many analysts expected the Bank of Japan to ease monetary policy to get the debt-laden economy back on track. Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute, [...]
Europe and IMF seal Greek deal March 25, 2010 EUROZONE leaders last night finally clinched a deal to secure Greece’s financial future with the IMF drafted in alongside the EU to provide emergency funds if the debt-stricken country needs it. The bailout plan, agreed at yesterday’s EU summit in Brussels after weeks of wrangling, means eurozone members will provide two thirds of the estimated [...]
City rates the Budget 3.8 out of 10 March 25, 2010 ALISTAIR Darling must try harder. That was the verdict of our panel of City and business professionals, who gave the chancellor’s Budget on Wednesday a score of 3.8 out of 10. The City A.M./PHI Panel, which has been specially recruited to represent London’s financial and business community, was asked to score some of the measures [...]
City hits out at new loan cop March 25, 2010 BANKS have slammed government plans for a credit adjudication service to force them to lend more money to businesses, describing the idea as “just another layer of bureaucracy”. Alistair Darling used Wednesday’s Budget to announce the creation of a watchdog which would be able to intervene when a company felt it had been unfairly refused [...]