Monsanto beats expectations June 24, 2009 Monsanto, the world’s biggest seed company, posted a smaller-than-expected profit drop and planned a restructuring to cut about 900 employees and realign its declining herbicide business, sending its shares higher. Monsanto, a leader in development of genetically modified crops, said net income for the third quarter totaled $694m.
KKR shelves US listing for now June 24, 2009 PRIVATE equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) said yesterday it plans to merge into its Amsterdam-listed fund, which will remain listed on the Euronext exchange, as it kept the door open for a proposed listing in New York. KKR’s plans to follow in rival Blackstone’s footsteps and become a publicly traded, NYSE-listed company were originally [...]
Isle of Man signs up to EU rules on savings tax June 24, 2009 THE Isle of Man, a British Crown dependency, yesterday said it would ensure that its savings tax regime adhered to European Union rules on bank account secrecy by 2011. Until now, savers with offshore bank accounts in the self-governing dependency have been able to pay a withholding tax instead of having information about their savings [...]
Ranks of the rich dwindle amid turmoil June 24, 2009 THE GLOBAL financial crisis has seen the ranks of the world’s wealthiest people shrink, according to the World Wealth Report released by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini yesterday. The number of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) – those with at least $1m (£608,908) in assets excluding primary residences – fell 14.9 per cent to 8.6m in [...]
CITY VIEWS: HAVE YOU SEEN MANY STAFF GO SELF-EMPLOYED IN THE RECESSION? June 24, 2009 MARK PRATT BERWIN LEIGHTON“I already know a number of people who have been made redundant from large companies and set themselves up as self-employed. I think sometimes people will take the plunge because they want to, but often it will be needs must.” STEPHEN AYME NATIXIS“Yes, I’ve seen it happening. I think if people can [...]
Apple’s Jobs had a liver transplant June 24, 2009 APPLE chief executive Steve Jobs underwent a liver transplant at a Tennessee hospital and has “an excellent prognosis”, the hospital that performed the operation has confirmed. Jobs, 54, received the transplant because he was “the sickest patient on the waiting list at the time a donor organ became available,” the Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute [...]
Citigroup ups salaries as it cuts bonuses June 24, 2009 CITIGROUP, the stricken US banking giant, will boost salaries by up to 50 per cent to prevent an exodus of top staff. The move follows high-profile complaints from the US government that bailed out banks and financial services firms are still handing out large bonuses despite their reliance on the taxpayer. There are fears that [...]
US home sales rise during May June 24, 2009 SALES of previously-occupied homes in America rose in May for the second consecutive month in a row, though the results fell short of analysts’ expectations. The National Association of Realtors said sales rose 2.4 per cent between April and May, to an annual rate of 4.77m. Analysts had forecast an annual rate of around 4.81m. [...]
Wogen gets a 41p share offer June 24, 2009 METALS trader Wogen said yesterday it had received an £18.6m approach from its executive directors and the company’s co-founder, Colin Williams. An offer, if made, will be in cash and priced at 41p per share. In a separate statement, the specialty metals and minerals trader said it swung to a pre-tax loss of £3m in [...]
THE LONDON REPORT June 24, 2009 MINERS and banks were buoyed by better US durable goods data yesterday, offsetting weaker food retailers and producers and driving the FTSE 100 up by 1.2 per cent, or 49.96 points, to close at 4,279.98. The index has gained more than 23 per cent since hitting a six-year low in March, but is still down [...]
