Horse meat rears its head again October 31, 2013 Horse meat has been found in so-called canned sliced beef for sale in Home Bargains, the discount high street store, and Quality Save. The Food Standards Agency said the product, Food Hall Sliced Beef in Rich Gravy, has been removed from sale in the some stores. The presence of horse DNA was detected during routine [...]
Nine banks hit with fresh Libor rigging lawsuit October 31, 2013 FANNIE Mae sued nine of the world’s largest banks yesterday, accusing them of colluding to manipulate interest rates and seeking more than $800m (£499m) in damages. In a complaint filed in the US District Court in Manhattan, the government-controlled mortgage company accused the banks of conspiring for years to suppress Libor, or the London Interbank [...]
RBS suspends traders during foreign exchange investigation October 31, 2013 ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) has suspended two traders in conjunction with an investigation into the potential manipulation of foreign exchange rates. A global probe by US, UK and Swiss regulators is looking into whether banks colluded to set rates. London-based executives at three other major banks have been put on leave, according to reports. [...]
AIG’s earnings disappointing October 31, 2013 AMERICAN International Group (AIG) reported earnings nearly in line with expectations last night, but the stock fell after hours as analysts still saw room for improvement in the insurer, which almost went under during the financial crisis. The insurer’s net income rose 17 per cent to $2.17bn (£1.35bn), or $1.46 per share, from $1.86bn, or [...]
AT&T considers Vodafone buy October 31, 2013 AT&T is reported to be considering a takeover of FTSE 100-listed Vodafone early next year. Rumours surrounding a bid have been increasing in recent months since Vodafone agreed to dispose of its stake in Verizon Wireless. AT&T is believed to be formulating plans for Vodafone’s European operations should a deal go ahead, according to Bloomberg. [...]
More than 350,000 people flock to the City every day October 31, 2013 THE CITY of London’s population jumps 56 times on the average weekday, according to official statistics that lay bare the enormous scale of the daily British commute. Just 6,000 people live in the square mile but this jumps to 358,000 on a typical day, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Other parts of the capital [...]
BT Sport scores strong result in battle with Sky October 31, 2013 BT DECLARED its £1bn investment in sports a huge success yesterday, as the company stemmed customer losses for the quarter and enticed the majority of new broadband customers to sign up its new service. “BT Sport has made a confident start and is already delivering for viewers,” said chief executive Gavin Patterson. The investment in [...]
Analyst Views: What did you make of BT’s second quarter financial results? October 31, 2013 JERRY DELLIS | JEFFERIESUnchanged outlook suggests new chief executive plans an evolutionary approach. Early impact from BT Sport is encouraging. Consumer line loss reduced more sharply than expected, retail broadband net adds nearly double the second quarter last year. ROBIN BIENENSTOCK | BERNSTEINThese are the first set of results presided over by new chief executive [...]
Government lending must be simplified October 31, 2013 GOVERNMENT schemes designed to boost lending to small businesses are too fragmented and do not respond quickly enough to changing market conditions, according to a report released today by the spending watchdog. The National Audit Office (NAO) found that the relevant departments “have not clearly articulated” what they are attempting to achieve with the schemes. The report [...]
Shares in Shell slide as refining costs hit profits October 31, 2013 ROYAL Dutch Shell’s shares fell five per cent yesterday after the oil major posted a decline in third-quarter earnings due to narrow refining margins, higher exploration costs and security issues in Nigeria. The FTSE 100-listed firm said that earnings excluding one-off items were $4.5bn (£2.8bn) compared with $6.6bn in the third quarter of 2012. “We [...]
