Essar’s minority investors appeal to UK and India to protect them April 28, 2014 MINORITY investors in Essar Energy have called on the UK and Indian authorities to step in and protect them from the firm’s biggest shareholder, which plans to force the firm off the London stock market. The Association of British Insurers has written to the business secretary Vince Cable and the Indian high commissioner to complain [...]
Microsoft faces fight to keep sales in Europe April 28, 2014 MICROSOFT may have completed its €5.44bn (£4.48bn) takeover of Nokia’s smartphone arm on Friday, but the software giant is facing an uphill battle in Europe as its share of smartphone sales stumbles in its historic stronghold. Microsoft’s Windows Phone, which in the last quarter of 2013 ran on 10 per cent of smartphones sold across [...]
Bottom Line: Data make the Nokia deal look less smart April 28, 2014 MICROSOFT must be nursing its head this morning and wondering what on earth it was thinking of last week. It wakes up today as the world’s second-largest manufacturer of mobile phones by sales, having shelled out €5.44bn (£4.48bn) to buy Nokia’s ailing handset business. Nokia sold 251m phones last year but saw sales in the [...]
Britain’s advertising spend set to reach record £20bn next year April 28, 2014 MARKETING budgets in Britain are set to exceed £20bn in 2015 led by booming growth in online advertising spends, according to the latest industry figures. Research from trade body the Advertising Association in conjunction with marketing company Warc said that last year’s UK advertising spend of £17.87bn – breaking 2007’s record £17.4bn – is set [...]
No more bonus for RBS chief and finance director April 28, 2014 THE CHIEF executive and finance boss at RBS will no longer receive bonuses, instead getting regular payments in shares – which could amount to more than £2m per year between them. The bailed-out bank will not be able to pay bonuses of above 100 per cent of salary, thanks to Brussels’ bonus cap, leaving it [...]
Help to Work scheme for long term unemployed launches April 28, 2014 NEW government measures to tackle long-term unemployment come into force today. The changes, announced last year, will see tailored back-to-work plans created for those who have been out of work for over three years. The Help to Work scheme will include daily meetings with advisers at Jobcentres and community work placements of up to six [...]
Saving crisis to hit UK by 2035, industry warns April 28, 2014 A GROUP of leading financial services companies are warning of a savings crisis that could grip the UK as early as 2035, unless drastic action is taken to persuade people to save more. A report published today by The Savings and Investments Policy Project is calling on the government, regulators and consumer groups to work [...]
Mortgage borrowers now face tougher questions on finances April 28, 2014 HOME buyers will have to show they can cope with a rise in interest rates when applying for a mortgage, under new rules introduced over the weekend. The City watchdog hopes households will be protected from losing their homes if interest rates rise, and lenders will only give out higher quality loans. Self-certified loans are [...]
Report calls for government to scrap fixed state pension age April 28, 2014 PRESSURE on the government to go even further to shake up the state pension system is mounting, after professional services firm PwC published a report today calling for the state pension age to be scrapped altogether. Instead, people should be allowed to choose when they retire as part of a new retirement window structure, which [...]
South Korean Prime Minister resigns April 28, 2014 SOUTH Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won announced his resignation yesterday over the government response to the ferry disaster, in which it was first announced that everyone had been rescued, focusing attention on poor regulatory controls. The Sewol ferry sank on a routine trip south from the port of Incheon to the traditional holiday island of [...]
