OFT refers audit market to Competition Commission October 21, 2011 The Office for Fair Trading has referred the audit market to the Competition Commission. The continued dominance of the so-called Big Four accountants is at the heart of probe. The watchdog estimates that in 2010 PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and Ernst & Young, earned 99 per cent of audit fees paid by FTSE 100 companies, while [...]
Thomas Cook seals new deal with banks October 21, 2011 Struggling tour operator Thomas Cook has been boosted by a new deal with its banks. The company had lost three quarters of its market value since January and had scrapped its dividend to shareholders. Short-term credit lines of £100m have been agreed to help it survive December, traditionally a poor month for the industry. It [...]
FTSE steady as investors eye Eurozone crisis summit October 21, 2011 Banks and miners helped to give the FTSE 100 a lift in early trading as investors looked to a key weekend in the Eurozone for signs that the bloc’s debt crisis could be brought under control. Leaders are still sharply divided over how to strengthen a Eurozone rescue fund and meet on Sunday to once [...]
Enterprise zones ’embarrassing’ expert says October 21, 2011 Planning experts have branded the government’s new enterprise zones plan “embarrassing” saying they would not attract heavyweight investors. They called for more incentives for developers to revamp areas hit by the UK’s economic woes. Newham Council planning chief Clive Dutton told a British Property Foundation debate that foreign investors were being left unimpressed by the [...]
Public borrowing falls in September October 21, 2011 Public sector net borrowing was slightly lower than expected in September, at £14.138bn, down from £15.411bn in the same month in 2010. The ONS said that solid growth in tax receipts and flat government spending were the cause. So far this year government borrowing has reached £63.518bn, compared to £71.005bn at the same point last [...]
S&P in new threat to downgrade France October 21, 2011 Standard & Poor’s will likely lower the credit standing of five European nations, including top-rated France, by one or two notches if the region slips into recession and government borrowings increase, the rating agency said in a report. The stress-test report assesses the capacity of the European Union and the IMF to support the euro [...]
Provident Financial upbeat on full year October 21, 2011 Sub-prime lender Provident Financial said it expected a good set of annual results, helped by growth at its Vanquis Bank and Consumer Credit divisions. Provident Financial, which lends to people who cannot get credit from mainstream banks, added that it had a strong funding and liquidity position. “I am pleased to report that the credit [...]
Shareholder Parvus to vote against G4S deal for ISS October 20, 2011 Parvus Asset Management, the fifth-largest shareholder in British security firm G4S led hostility to the company’s £5.2bn deal to buy ISS, slamming it as “an untested vision” that it would not support. Parvus took ownership on Wednesday of a 3.7 per cent stake in G4S, the world’s biggest security company, after swapping out of contracts [...]
Omega backs Haverford offer October 20, 2011 Insurance entrepreneur Mark Byrne pulled ahead in the race to buy Lloyd’s of London insurer Omega after Omega and its top shareholder backed his offer, prompting his main rival to withdraw. Omega, at the centre of a three-way takeover battle since mid-June, will pursue the offer from Byrne’s Haverford investment vehicle as the support of [...]
Gaddafi killed claim Libya officials October 20, 2011 Deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered in his capture near his hometown of Sirte, a senior National Transitional Council military official said. The NTC official, Abdel Majid Mlegta, had told Reuters earlier that Gaddafi was captured and wounded in both legs at dawn on Thursday as he tried to flee in a [...]
