Facebook set to double revenue September 21, 2011 FACEBOOK’S full year revenues are set to double this year, reaching a staggering $4.3bn (£2.75bn), according to research by eMarketer. The firm, which last week decided to delay its long-mooted IPO until late 2012, will take the majority of its revenues – $3.8bn – from advertising, with more than half of this in the US. [...]
Play.com sold in £25m deal September 21, 2011 PLAY.COM has been bought by Japanese online retail giant Rakuten in a deal worth £25m plus debt. The acquisition of the music and film specialist is part of a an international push to compete with US giants Amazon and eBay. Play.com, based in Jersey, had a meteoric rise, taking advantage of European VAT rules to [...]
SBI launches buy to let mortgages in UK September 21, 2011 STATE Bank of India is entering the British buy-to-let mortgage market as part of a push to increase the size of its retail division. The lender, which is majority owned by the Indian government, has just begun offering sums of between £50,000 and £1.5m to professional landlords and people who own second homes. It plans [...]
Rose set to help Rothschild foster emerging market ties September 21, 2011 SIR John Rose, the former chief executive of Rolls-Royce, has been appointed as deputy chairman of banking group Rothschild as it seeks to grow in emerging markets. The veteran industrialist will work two-and-a-half days a week for Rothschilds Continuation Holdings, which pulls together the group’s various interests, from 1 October. The group said he would [...]
DP World owner refinances September 21, 2011 Port & Free Zone World, the direct owner of London-listed ports operator DP World, has signed an $850m (£544m) loan refinancing, the latter said in a statement yesterday. The loans are secured in part against some shares in DP World, the firm said. Sources said that the five-year loan had been signed by 15 banks [...]
Pinnacle to rise on new deal September 21, 2011 Construction work on London’s suspended Pinnacle skyscraper, which is set to be the tallest in the City, will be renewed after agreement on a funding package that may be announced in coming weeks, a source said. The deal to rejuvenate the Pinnacle project includes a £500m debt facility from a group of lenders including HSBC [...]
Gates is still richest man in America September 21, 2011 MICROSOFT founder Bill Gates has retained his title as the richest man in America for an eighteenth year, the new Forbes 400 list out yesterday revealed. Warren Buffett trails in second place, with his $39bn (£24.5bn) fortune overshadowed by Gates’ enormous $59bn cash pile. The Sage of Omaha was the only member of the top [...]
BHP Billiton pays chief $11m September 21, 2011 Mining giant BHP Billiton paid chief executive Marius Kloppers close to $11m (£7.04m) during 2011, a year that saw the firm post a record profit of $31bn. His base salary, along with those of other directors, was raised four per cent to $2.1m, with the rest of his eye-watering payout made up of benefits and [...]
Saab wins bankruptcy reprieve September 21, 2011 Struggling car maker Saab gained fresh breathing room in its fight for survival yesterday when it won a court appeal to be granted protection from creditors while it awaits Chinese investment. The 60-year-old company has been fighting to stay afloat for most of this year after it ran out of cash.
BP investors raise Russian claim September 21, 2011 Minority shareholders in TNK-BP, the Russian oil firm half-owned by BP, have more than doubled their claim for damages over the firm’s attempt to ally with Rosneft to 154.3bn roubles (£3.16bn). The litigation led to BP’s Moscow office being searched by bailiffs last month. BP said the “amount of alleged damages is unproven and baseless”.
