PETRA BEATS DIAMOND INDUSTRY BLUES May 13, 2009 A MAGNIFICENT blue diamond from Aim-listed Petra Diamonds’ Cullinan mine broke records at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva on Tuesday evening when it was sold for $9.5m (£6.3m), bucking the industry’s recent woes. The 7.03 carat diamond fetched the highest price per carat for any gemstone ever sold at auction, as well as a record [...]
Latin America boosts profits at Telefonica May 13, 2009 TELEFONICA yesterday revealed the benefits of its a long-time investment in still-booming Latin America. The emerging region helped drive forecast-beating first quarter profit at Europe’s largest telecoms company, offsetting weakness in its home market of Spain. Telefonica beat market expectations with a 9.8 per cent rise in net profit, as growth in Latin America– and [...]
The places in town not to be seen May 13, 2009 The Mercer34 Threadneedle Street, EC2R 8AYDiscreet Seats: The counter at the bar-end of the room: only backs are visible and it would be almost impossible to hear what someone was ordering, let alone which bottle of vintage Bordeaux.Food and drink: Very solid new British cuisine, with everything sourced as locally as possible and an award-winning, [...]
FirstGroup hit by rail slump May 13, 2009 Transport giant FirstGroup said yesterday annual profits at its rail division fell 21 per cent due to the impact of the recession on its London franchises The group said the UK’s economic woes meant rail revenues growth slowed to 9.5 per cent in the year. Across the whole group, which has bus operations in the [...]
Monica Ali’s Brick Lane follow-up never really reaches boiling point May 13, 2009 ALTHOUGH she published a book called Alentejo Clue in 2006, this is being seen as the follow-up to Ali’s much-trumpeted Brick Lane. Once again it tackles the prickly topic of immigrants in London, but this time the action centres round the unlikeable chef Gabriel Lightfoot who works at the Imperial Hotel (note the heavy whiff [...]
LCH.Clearnet seeks deal May 13, 2009 The management of clearing house LCH.Clearnet wants to combine its own restructuring plan with a €813m takeover offer from a consortium of 11 banks and interdealer broker ICAP. LCH.Clearnet management has proposed buying out the firm’s 123 shareholders who would then be invited to reinvest on an equal basis. The firm’s management hopes offering board [...]
Monica Ali’s Brick Lane follow-up never really reaches boiling point May 13, 2009 THERE is something irresistible about a modern-day murder mystery set against the ancient sites of Greek mythology. Combine such a piquant setting with a cracking plot and a vividly colourful narrative and you’ve got The Taint of Midas, the second in the award-winning Mysteries of the Greek Detective series by the British-born, formerly Greek island-dwelling [...]
Monica Ali’s Brick Lane follow-up never really reaches boiling point May 13, 2009 ONE of the most famous books to come out of the boom of the Eighties was Barbarians at the Gate. In this book, it seems that the nerds have taken over from Conan and his chums. In fact, the subtitle of the book makes it clear that greed was to blame – politicians and central [...]
Playtech posts dip in revenue May 13, 2009 Shares in Aim-listed gambling software developer Playtech dipped sharply yesterday after a first quarter trading update revealed the firm’s underlying growth fell by one per cent on a like for like basis compared to the fourth quarter of 2008. Broker Evolution Securities reiterated its “sell” rating, saying it was “something of a surprise” that underlying [...]
How comics can teach you to be a better communicator May 13, 2009 WHAT’S the difference between a pizza and a banker? Now, you might say that now is not the time for joking in the City, and indeed some might argue that the Square Mile already has more than its fair share of comedians. But I say that there are not enough. One of the keys for [...]
