More and more firms want VAT cut to help businesses recover January 27, 2013 OVER TWO thirds of directors and senior managers at UK firms said the government should slash VAT in 2013, according to a survey out this morning. Sixty-seven per cent of senior managers surveyed by Interim Partners called on the government to cut VAT back down to size in the coming year, up on last year’s [...]
EasyJet chair to quit after three turbulent years January 27, 2013 EASYJET chairman Sir Mike Rake plans to step down from the board this summer, after three years of locking horns with the budget airline’s founder and biggest shareholder. Sir Mike faced down calls for his resignation last year from Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, whose family holds a 37 per cent stake in EasyJet. Sir Stelios dubbed [...]
Airline’s ambitions to join the FTSE 100 sped Rake’s departure January 27, 2013 AT first sight, the departure of Sir Michael Rake as EasyJet chairman is a victory for Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the company’s founder turned thorn-in-its-side. Sir Stelios sought Sir Michael’s removal last summer, following the BT chairman’s appointment to deputy chairman at Barclays, arguing overcommitment. However, despite public criticism by EasyJet’s largest shareholder, Sir Michael held [...]
More firms in the dock over deaths at work January 27, 2013 THE number of new corporate manslaughter cases opened by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) rose 40 per cent from 2011 to last year as more companies face accusations over work-related deaths. Law firm Pinsent Masons, which compiled the figures, said there were 63 cases opened last year, compared to 45 in 2011. Records only date [...]
Blackstone set to cash in on Broadgate sale January 27, 2013 US private equity giant Blackstone is set to reap a multi-million pound windfall after pushing forward plans to sell its stake in the Broadgate estate, home to some 30,000 City workers in London. The New York based business, the biggest real estate manager in the world, is in line for an eightfold increase on its [...]
Gordon Ramsay back on form as his empire returns to profit January 27, 2013 GORDON RAMSAY has turned his restaurant empire around after a turbulent few years, including a costly feud with his father-in-law, to report a return to profitability. Kavalake — which includes restaurants such as the Savoy Grill and Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s – delivered pre-tax profits of £2m in the year to August 2012 after suffering [...]
German government to agree a law on high-speed trading January 27, 2013 GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right coalition will today decide on changes to a draft law to clamp down on ultra-fast trading on stock exchanges, which it sees as stoking excessive market turbulence. High-frequency traders use computer algorithms to generate numerous, lightning-speed automatic trades that make money from tiny price differences in the market. These trades [...]
Profit warnings rise to highest rate since during credit crunch January 27, 2013 LISTED UK firms issued more profit warnings in 2012 than at any point since the height of the financial crisis, according to data out yesterday. Firms listed on the main and junior markets issued 86 profit warnings between them in the final three months of the year, Ernst & Young said, up 26 per cent [...]
Banks brace for new wave of swaps claims January 27, 2013 THE FINANCE watchdog will this week lay out the process for firms to apply for compensation if they think they were mis-sold interest rate swap products, opening the door for potentially billions of pounds of claims. Small firms argue they have lost out, sometimes to the tune of millions of pounds, by splitting a fixed [...]
Italy’s Monte dei Paschi seeks new investor to revive lender January 27, 2013 ITALIAN bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena is seeking a financial investor to help revive the ailing lender and will remove a current cap on voting rights to help raise €1bn (£822.5m), its chairman has said. “I would like to have a long-term financial investor,” Alessandro Profumo told Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore [...]
