Prosecutors raid Olympus offices December 21, 2011 Japanese prosecutors raided offices of Olympus Corp and the home of a former executive on Wednesday in a probe into a $1.7bn (£1.1bn) accounting scandal that has threatened the survival of the once-proud camera and medical equipment maker. Tokyo prosecutors, police and financial regulators have joined forces in a rare joint investigation of the 92-year-old [...]
Credit Suisse buys HSBC’s private bank December 21, 2011 HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, is retreating from Japan’s private banking market, selling a business that serves the wealthy to Credit Suisse, which is raising its profile in the world’s second-largest market for millionaires. The sale is part of a strategy outlined by HSBC in May. Chief executive Stuart Gulliver wants to cut annual costs by [...]
North Korea heir to share power with military December 21, 2011 North Korea’s new young leader will have to share power with an uncle and the military after the death of his father Kim Jong-il as the isolated country shifts to collective rule from strongman dictatorship, a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said. The source added that the military, which is trying to [...]
Thorntons issues profit warning December 21, 2011 Chocolatier Thorntons issued a profit warning as hard-up consumers stayed away from the 100-year-old group at one of its most important times of the year. The company’s shares plunged by more than 30 per cent after the announcement. Thorntons, which slashed its dividend in September, said it had been hurt by the continued weakness in [...]
Prudential’s Harvey McGrath to quit December 20, 2011 Harvey McGrath, chairman of Prudential, is to step down next year after bearing the brunt of shareholder criticism over the group’s costly failed bid for Asian rival AIA. “I feel the time is coming when my other commitments deserve more of my time and energy,” McGrath, 59, said in a statement. More than a fifth [...]
Pharmaceuticals drag FTSE down December 20, 2011 Pharmaceuticals pegged the FTSE 100 index back early in trading today after AstraZeneca announced pipeline problems and lowered its earnings per share outlook. AstraZeneca, down 2.8 per cent, said it will take a $381.5m (£244m) pre- tax hit in the fourth quarter. The problems have arisen because a cancer treatment and antidepressant had failed tests. [...]
Retail sales rise as prices slashed December 20, 2011 Retail sales unexpectedly rose at their fastest pace since May in December, as retailers slashed prices to lure in shoppers, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry showed. The CBI distributive trades survey’s reported sales balance jumped to +9 from -19 in November, the highest since May. Analysts had expected a more modest improvement [...]
Shell hit by Gulf of Mexico oil spill December 20, 2011 The US Coast Guard was investigating a 13,000-gallon spill from an oil rig leased to Shell, operating about 26 miles southeast of last year’s BP Plc Macondo oil well disaster, a Coast Guard spokesman said on Monday. The spill of either drilling fluid or oil mixed with drilling fluid was reported Sunday by Transocean Ltd’s [...]
AstraZeneca hit by double blow to drug pipeline December 20, 2011 AstraZeneca will take a $381.5 million (£24m) pre-tax charge in the fourth quarter following a double blow to its new drug pipeline, Britain’s second-biggest pharmaceuticals company said. Cancer drug olaparib will not progress into final Phase III testing for ovarian cancer due to disappointing results in a mid-stage clinical trial, while the experimental antidepressant TC-5214 [...]
Olympus to raise $1.3bn in new capital December 20, 2011 Olympus Corp is preparing to issue about $1.28bn (£825.22m) in new shares with Japanese high-tech stalwarts Sony and Fujifilm seen as likely buyers as it tries to bolster its depleted finances, the Nikkei business daily reported. The report on the sale, which the Nikkei said could take the form of preferred shares, follows a warning [...]
