Resolution to return next £250m November 29, 2011 Life insurance buyout group Resolution yesterday said it had achieved the capital synergies it had targeted this year and was on track to return £250m of cash to investors next year as planned. Resolution also said it had completed the takeover of life assets from AXA UK with the final purchase of Winterthur Life UK.
Sales worsen at Topps Tiles November 29, 2011 TOPPS TILES, the UK’s largest tiling retailer, has seen its sales deteriorate in the past few months as squeezed consumers continue to put off redecorating their homes. The group said the combined effect of stagnation in the housing market and falls in consumer spending power had caused sales at stores open over a year to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 29, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES EDITORS KNEW OF HACKING, SAYS EX-NOTW JOURNALIST A former senior journalist at the News of the World told the Leveson inquiry into press standards that former editors, including Piers Morgan, Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, were all aware of unethical practices used by the newspaper’s reporters. Giving evidence under oath, Paul McMullan, who [...]
AstraZeneca diabetes drug gets go-ahead November 29, 2011 PHARMACEUTICAL giant AstraZeneca has won Europe-wide approval for its diabetes drug Komboglyze. The treatment, which was developed in a partnership with US peer Bristol-Myers Squibb, helps glycaemic control in adult patients with type two diabetes. The approval comes following a study and series of tests involving 4,326 patients. Type two diabetes accounts for approximately 90 [...]
Saab GB in bankruptcy filing amid funding woes November 29, 2011 SAAB Great Britain, the UK arm of Swedish car manufacturer Saab Automobile, filed for administration yesterday. The company said that it had previously received a conditional funding commitment from China Youngman Automobile Group for the payment of the wages of Saab Automobile employees and for ongoing operations at Saab GB. But the firm has not [...]
Peppa Pig toy maker profits grow by 20pc November 29, 2011 TOY licensing firm Character Group yesterday reported a 20 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to more than £9m. But the group, which makes tie-in products for popular children’s shows such as Peppa Pig, Fireman Sam and Scooby-Doo, warned that its annual sales were likely to come in lower than previously forecast, though it said [...]
Omega in bid wrangle as Byrne wavers November 29, 2011 OMEGA, the Bermuda-domiciled London stock market-listed insurance group, yesterday confirmed that the tycoon bidding for 25 per cent of its stock wants to lower his offer. Omega made a stock exchange announcement yesterday following reports, including in City A.M. suggesting that bidder Mark Byrne was about to let his offer lapse. Sources close to Byrne [...]
Quintain seeks new partner for Wembley designer mall project November 29, 2011 QUINTAIN Estates has ended talks with a potential joint venture funding partner to develop and run its London Designer Outlet at its £2.5bn Wembley scheme. In its half-year results, the regeneration specialist said talks had ended after the partner failed to deliver part of the proposed financing structure and will launch a formal market process [...]
FTSE climbs on US data November 29, 2011 BRITAIN’S blue chip index rose yesterday, building on two straight sessions of gains as strong consumer confidence data from the United States offset renewed concerns about the Eurozone debt crisis. The FTSE 100 added 24.24 points, or 0.5 per cent, to close at 5,337 after turning higher in the afternoon, when data showed US consumer [...]
OSBORNE’S DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS LOSE FRIENDS AT HOME AND ABROAD November 29, 2011 SEEING as its barely a month since French President Nicolas Sarkozy unceremoniously told David Cameron to “shut up” over the euro, Sarko’s finance minister Francois Baroin is unlikely to have taken kindly to chancellor George Osborne’s latest attack on the single currency yesterday. Going only very slightly off script in his Autumn Statement to parliament [...]
