UK pension plans still haunted by deficits despite stock rally January 6, 2014 THE BLACK hole at the heart of Britain’s corporate pension schemes increased by £25bn last year despite better returns from the stock market and higher payments by companies, fresh figures show. The difference between the amount of cash that FTSE 350 company pension schemes have to pay pensions and the value of pensioner payouts went [...]
Angela Merkel suffers skiing injury January 6, 2014 GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel fractured her pelvis while cross-country skiing during the Christmas period, and will be cutting back on her duties while she recovers, according to an official announcement yesterday. Merkel will be working from home when possible over the next three weeks, and has cancelled a visit to Warsaw tomorrow.
Land Securities plots designer outlet at the O2 January 6, 2014 THE O2 arena could become one of London’s top shopping destinations after Land Securities began talks with its owner to open a designer outlet centre on the site. The property giant has signed a six-month exclusivity agreement with AEG Europe to explore options for creating a designer outlet scheme in an unused part of the [...]
Boeing set to keep crown as the world’s biggest plane producer January 6, 2014 PLANE maker Boeing beat its own targets and several annual records for commercial plane sales last year, the US firm announced yesterday. The company handed over the keys for 648 jets to airlines last year, up 7.8 per cent on last year, and booked 1,531 commercial orders. Both totals are company records and are likely [...]
Bottom Line: Bicester faces stiff competition as London bares its retail teeth January 6, 2014 UNTIL recently, “designer outlet” was usually preceded by three very specific words – out of town. The UK’s biggest designer outlet, Bicester Village, is officially billed by owner Value Retail as being its London village. In fact, it’s a 63 mile drive – or hour-long train journey – from central London, nestled in a market town [...]
Scottish Power joins Big Six’s price cut round January 6, 2014 SCOTTISH Power has announced a 3.3 per cent cut on standard dual fuel tariffs which is expected to save customers £54 a year. The energy supplier joined other Big Six firms who have promised tariff cuts after the government slashed green levies last month. The reductions start later this month. But the price cut, which [...]
Clarksons shares ride wave of an improving shipping market January 6, 2014 SHARES in ship broker Clarksons were buoyed 8.75 per cent yesterday after the firm forecast better-than-expected profits for the year. The world’s biggest shipping services firm said it had enjoyed a strong end to 2013, particularly in its ship sales business. “The global shipping markets continue to be challenging although the recent improvement in rates [...]
New chief raises his holdings in Cable & Wireless January 6, 2014 CABLE & Wireless Communications (CWC) new chief executive Phil Bentley kicked off his first week in the job with the purchase of 4.3m shares in the company, which would have cost him around £2.5m. The purchase is about three times his basic salary of £800,000 and doubles the 4.3m shares he was awarded. “Bentley has [...]
Thermo Fisher sells three units to GE Healthcare in $1bn deal January 6, 2014 THERMO Fisher Scientific said yesterday it would sell three of its businesses to General Electric healthcare unit for $1.06bn, fulfilling a requirement for European antitrust approval to buy Life Technologies. The EU cleared in November Thermo Fisher’s $13.6bn acquisition of Life Technologies, which will make it one of the top two genetic testing companies. Thermo [...]
T-Mobile picks up $3.3bn of US spectrum January 6, 2014 T-MOBILE said yesterday it would buy spectrum licences from Verizon Wireless to improve its high-speed US wireless services, in a deal worth $3.3bn (£2.01bn). T-Mobile, owned by Deutsche Telekom, said the deal includes $2.36bn in cash and a transfer of spectrum worth $950m. It had been raising money to buy more airwaves as it beefs [...]
