Pair of Commerzbank traders suspended over forex abuses May 21, 2014 TWO CURRENCY traders at Commerzbank have been suspended after they were caught trying to manipulate a client’s transaction, the bank said yesterday. The staff were not attempting to manipulate a foreign exchange benchmark – an area being probed by regulators across the world. Instead they manipulated a client’s order in the euro-zloty market. It is [...]
Fraud case will press ahead in spite of aid cuts May 21, 2014 A KEY fraud trial will go ahead despite a lack of legal aid funding as the Court of Appeal yesterday overturned the decision of a lower court to halt the case. The Financial Conduct Authority, which is pursuing the case, backed the ruling, stating it “is committed to pursuing criminal action in appropriate cases” and [...]
Inside Track: Pfizer flop puts Soriot in tight spot May 21, 2014 IF AT first you don't succeed, walk away and try again in six months: as City epithets go, it’s not exactly compelling. But it sums up where Pfizer finds itself at the end of this week, unexpectedly jilted after a quartet of knockbacks from Astrazeneca. The American drugmaker’s tactics were surprising. Its medicine cabinet was [...]
Carpetright’s founder Lord Harris to retire May 21, 2014 CARPETRIGHT announced yesterday that its founder Lord Harris would be retiring from the board in September along with his son Martin, spelling an end of an era for the family-run group. Lord Harris, 72, will hand over the day to day running of the business to a new chief executive, Wilf Walsh, in July. He [...]
Google has set aside $30bn as it mulls foreign takeover targets May 21, 2014 GOOGLE has set aside a warchest of up to $30bn (£17.8bn) overseas in order for the US search giant to pursue foreign takeovers according to a regulatory disclosure made in December and published on Tuesday. The disclosure also revealed that Google’s hunt has already led it close to a purchase worth $4bn to $5bn for [...]
Royal Mail plans to trial Sunday parcel delivery May 21, 2014 THE NEWLY-PRIVATISED Royal Mail is to start delivering parcels and opening its collection offices on Sundays to try and keep up with the demands of online shoppers and other postal companies. Royal Mail, which will post its first full-year results as a listed company today, plans to deliver parcels within the M25 seven days a [...]
Bottom Line: Postman Pat tries for a competitive edge May 21, 2014 WE GOT an advance delivery from Royal Mail ahead of its first full year results as a private company this morning. It announced plans for Sunday opening of some offices for parcel collection and a pilot Sunday delivery scheme. That’s significant, given how much of the delivery market Royal Mail has – 99 per cent [...]
Package services push UK Mail revenues north of £500m May 21, 2014 UK MAIL, the London-listed delivery group, said yesterday that its annual revenues have passed £500m as more online retailers use its parcel services. The firm said turnover was up seven per cent to £508.5m, while pre-tax profits rose 28 per cent to £22.8m in the year to the end of March. As well as parcel [...]
SSE profits rise 9.6pc but retail unit struggles May 21, 2014 ENERGY giant SSE yesterday said pre-tax profits had risen by 9.6 per cent to £1.55bn last year, but its supply arm lost 370,000 customers over the period. The FTSE 100 firm saw supply operating profits fall 32.2 per cent to £246.2m, which it attributed to lower use of energy during milder weather and higher wholesale [...]
BP to take spill costs appeal to Supreme Court May 21, 2014 OIL GIANT BP is appealing to the US Supreme Court over its payments to businesses caught up in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, arguing that it is paying compensation to firms whose losses have “no apparent connection” to the disaster in 2010. The company is taking its case to the highest court in the [...]
