Osborne to extend council tax freeze October 3, 2011 A council tax freeze in England will be extended to 2012-13 under plans to be unveiled at the Conservative Party conference by chancellor George Osborne. The £805m move will be paid for by a Whitehall “underspend”, aides said. The government cannot force councils to freeze bills – but it is offering to give those which [...]
Avanti losses widen October 3, 2011 Satellite operator Avanti Communications Group posted a much wider full-year loss on higher costs after it decided to manage three satellite projects instead of one in the period. Avanti, whose results for the year include the first revenue from its superfast broadband satellite HYLAS 1, said it started the early-stage work for the construction of [...]
City prefers Boris ahead of Osborne October 2, 2011 BORIS Johnson would make a better future Prime Minister than George Osborne, according to the City A.M. / PoliticsHome Voice of the City panel. Of those who expressed a preference, fifty-seven per cent said theywould pick Johnson, the Mayor of London, (inset picture) as the next Tory leader compared to just 43 per cent for [...]
More UBS execs to go in shake-up October 2, 2011 SEVERAL senior executives from UBS’ risk management division are set to be axed in the next few days as the bank tries to move on from the $2.3bn (£1.5bn) “rogue” trading scandal. Carsten Kengeter, the head of the investment bank, is seeking to regain the initiative after criticism of UBS for its lack of communication [...]
Greece to miss debt targets October 2, 2011 GREECE is set to miss its deficit targets for both this year and next, its finance ministry admitted last night. Finance minister Evangelos Venizelos said that the deficit is due to come in at 8.5 per cent of GDP this year, almost a whole percentage point above the 7.6 per cent target agreed with Greece’s [...]
It’s make or break for the Tory party October 2, 2011 POLICIES to boost growth. That is what the Conservative Party conference, which started last night, must focus on. Growth has ground to a halt, partly because of global forces but also because too little has been done to make the UK once again a competitive place in which to work, invest and operate a business. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 2, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BTG GAINS TOP BANKER AS IT EYES EXPANSION Roger Jenkins, the high-profile former Barclays executive, has joined BTG Pactual as a managing partner as Brazil’s largest independent investment bank and asset manager gears up its ambitious expansion plans. Jenkins, a star banker best known for orchestrating a £7bn fundraising for Barclays from Middle [...]
Slovakia in EFSF vote challenge October 2, 2011 Slovakia’s ruling coalition will have to reallocate cabinet posts or face a snap election unless it can find its own majority in parliament for a crucial vote on the Eurozone’s rescue fund, the main opposition party Smer said yesterday. The Eurozone’s second poorest country of 5m people has become a major risk to the bloc’s [...]
Bob Pittman to lead Clear Channel October 2, 2011 US radio and advertising company Clear Channel Media Holdings has promoted Bob Pittman to chief executive. Pittman, a well-known media executive and investor, has been Clear Channel’s chairman of media and entertainment platforms since November 2010. Clear Channel owns an outdoor advertising space business in the UK.
Aviva: Charter bid shows UK M&A skewed October 2, 2011 THE “disappointing” outcome of the takeover battle for Charter International shows that UK M&A deals are still too skewed in favour of short term investors, the £269bn fund manager Aviva Investors has said. Aviva’s UK equities fund manager Graham Elliott-Shircore said Charter’s shareholder base changed as short-term investors bought in during the bid period, leaving [...]
