Sino-Forest to put off results December 12, 2011 TORONTO-LISTED Chinese forestry firm Sino-Forest is further delaying the release of its third-quarter financial results until unnamed “outstanding issues” have been resolved to the satisfaction of its board of directors. Sino-Forest, whose shares have been halted for months following allegations of fraud, yesterday said executives were considering several options for the firm including a sale. [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WILL CPP GROUP RECOVER AFTER A WEAK PERFORMANCE? December 12, 2011 HENRY CARVER | PEEL HUNT The FSA investigation remains un-resolved and the UK business is still materially impeded….Our estimates and recommendation remain under review. ALEX HUGH | UBS We think new income has worsened in Q4 to date due to card protection being a more mature product, and Spain having deteriorated further. HUGO MILLS | [...]
Train stations to house offices December 12, 2011 Workers struggling to get to the office during the Olympics will be able to work from train stations through a new venture by Network Rail. The £40m move, made in conjunction with The Office Group, will see flexible office space spring up at five London stations. The first drop-in hub, which should be ready by [...]
Centaur Media in new Venture December 12, 2011 Centaur Media, the business information and events group, has acquired Venture Business Research (VBR), a specialist digital data and analytics business in the clean energy and global security sectors, for a maximum payment of £7.5m. The cash consideration comprises an initial payment of £2.5m at completion and a further payment, subject to VBR’s performance in [...]
Mac App Store passes 100m mark December 12, 2011 Apple yesterday said it has passed 100m downloads from its Mac App Store – the version of its online shop installed on its range of laptop and desktop computers – in less than a year. Apple’s main app store has more than 500,000 apps and more than 18bn customer downloads, with the total growing at [...]
OECD warns euro slump is going global December 12, 2011 EUROPE’S economic weakness has hurt trade, affecting the world economy, analysts at Fitch warned, as figures from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) yesterday strongly suggested worse it yet to come in the Eurozone, the BRICS nations and the US. Fitch raised concern about the impact of the Eurozone crisis in its global [...]
Brits told to retrain for new jobs December 12, 2011 THE UK jobs market is set for a “bleak midwinter”, a survey reveals today, after hiring expectations fell to their weakest level since the last recession three years ago. Yet “hundreds of thousands of vacancies” exist for people with the right skills or who are willing to retrain, according to Manpower, which conducts the widely-regarded [...]
CBI calls on business to save energy December 12, 2011 BOOSTING energy efficiency is good for business, and firms should work more closely with the government to cut costs and protect the environment, the Confederation for British Industry (CBI) announced yesterday. “There is a business case for acting on resource efficiency, and a threat to our growth prospects if we don’t,” said the CBI’s Neil [...]
Halifax: Housing market will stay weak December 12, 2011 WEAK economic growth and persistent high unemployment will hold down house prices through 2012, Halifax warned yesterday in its housing market outlook. Only record low interest rates will help stop the market falling further, the bank’s economists claimed, although mortgage funding pressures are expected to weaken this support. Prices will keep rising in London, according [...]
Indian factory output plunges December 12, 2011 INDUSTRIAL output fell for the first time in more than two years in India in October as consumer demand waned, adding pressure on the central bank to ease monetary or liquidity conditions, possibly as soon as Friday. Production at factories, mines and utilities plunged 5.1 per cent from a year earlier – the deepest drop [...]
