Chris Huhne resigns as he faces speeding points charge February 3, 2012 Chris Huhne has resigned as as energy secretary after learning he was to be charged with perverting the course of justice over a 2003 speeding case. “We have concluded that there is sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against Mr Huhne and (his former wife) Ms Pryce for perverting the course of justice,” Director of [...]
Service sector gains ease recession fears February 3, 2012 Britain’s dominant services sector expanded at the fastest pace in 10 months in January and firms grew much more optimistic, a survey showed. The surprise improvement in the sector follows PMI releases showing that manufacturing unexpectedly returned to growth last month, while construction firms became more upbeat despite a slower expansion in activity. “All (this) [...]
RBS chairman: Board never threatened to quit in row over Hester bonus February 3, 2012 Pay in the banking industry has been high for too long and needs to be “corrected,” the chairman of Britain’s state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland said. He also moved to deny that the RBS board had even discussed whether to resign if the government moved to officially overturn the award of a bonus of almost [...]
BT posts strong earnings February 3, 2012 Lower regulatory charges, cost cuts and strong demand for a wide range of services enabled Britain’s BT to post solid third-quarter core earnings on Friday and lift aspects of its forecasts. BT, which has offset falling revenues in recent years by deep cost cuts and an improving operational performance, said revenues for the three months [...]
Panasonic lurching towards record £6bn loss February 3, 2012 Japan’s Panasonic Corp forecast a record net annual loss of £6.4bn, joining beleaguered rival Sony Corp in a sea of red ink, both struggling to fix their broken TV businesses and overcome criticism that they have lost their way. Panasonic, posting quarterly results, said it was headed for a loss of 780bn yen (£6.46bn) for [...]
GLENCORE SET FOR £50BN MEGA-DEAL February 2, 2012 MINING giants Xstrata and Glencore have revealed they are in talks over a merger that would create the world’s fifth largest commodities company, potentially worth over £50bn and with revenues of nearly $200bn. If the deal goes ahead, Glencore’s outspoken chief Ivan Glasenberg is set to cede the chief executive spot to his long-time rival [...]
Facebook surges in grey trade February 2, 2012 THE VALUE of Facebook hit $123bn in grey market trading yesterday, after the social networking phenomenon announced it would raise $5bn in a public offering later this year. Financial spread betting firm IG Group, which is running a grey market in Facebook, said the website had attracted an “unprecedented” level of demand. IG Index’s chief [...]
Regulator now costs £580m February 2, 2012 THE CITY regulator has demanded an extra £80m from the firms it supervises in order to cover a 16 per cent rise in costs in the run-up to its abolition. The Financial Services Authority, which admitted several failures in the period leading up to the financial crisis, said it would need £578.4m for 2012-13, up [...]
FSA is missing a trick on living wills February 2, 2012 ENTIRELY unsurprisingly, the FSA is increasing its budget, by a cool 16 per cent. One thing it should do with the money is to accelerate its plans for a new bankruptcy code for complex banks. This crucial reform – known as a special resolution scheme – would be based around living wills: a detailed guide [...]
Fed: cut harder but slower February 2, 2012 AMERICA’S public finances are “clearly unsustainble”, Ben Bernanke said yesterday – although the Federal Reserve chief advised the government against immediate strong cuts. Referring to the need for fiscal consolidation, Bernanke told the House budget committee that “even more aggressive strategies than have been pursued recently are warranted over the longer term”. Yet he warned [...]
