… while Croatians vote in favour of joining the EU January 22, 2012 CROATIA has voted in favour of joining the European Union in 2013, shrugging off concerns over the economic turmoil in the bloc, according to preliminary official results of a referendum. With 38 per cent of votes counted, 67 per cent had voted in favour of becoming the bloc’s 28th member, the state electoral commission said, [...]
Labour hits out at government ahead of growth figures release January 22, 2012 THE LABOUR party has hit out at the coalition government ahead of fresh GDP figures expected this week. “When our economy has already flatlined for a year and unemployment is rising, it will not be good enough for George Osborne to claim next week that any positive figure is good news,” said shadow chief secretary [...]
Dividend boom as payouts rise to record high January 22, 2012 SHAREHOLDERS’ payouts increased in 2011 for the first time since 2008, Capita Registrars’ figures show today. Dividends hit a record £67.8bn, representing a 19.4 per cent rise for the year, and a 26 per cent jump in the fourth quarter compared with the same period of 2010. Excluding special dividends and BP’s £1.8bn increase as [...]
ECONOMISTS’ VIEWS: DID THE UK ECONOMY CONTRACT AT THE END OF LAST YEAR? January 22, 2012 HOWARD ARCHER | IHS GLOBAL INSIGHT “On balance, we would say that the risks are to the downside to our forecast of flat activity. However, it is not inconceivable that the economy eked out marginal growth helped by decent consumer spending in December.” NIDA ALI | ERNST & YOUNG ITEM CLUB “October’s strong retail figures [...]
SUPERMODELS AND SHY TYCOONS LAUNCH THE SCOTCH AND JALOUSE January 22, 2012 TWO PARTIES in one evening. Just a usual Thursday night out for supermodel Kate Moss, who started last Thursday evening at Arjun Waney’s Arts Club before moving on to the re-opening of The Scotch the other side of Piccadilly in St James’s. The Capitalist had been informed that the venue’s opening night would be a [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK January 22, 2012 DID THE Chelsea speakeasy Barts have City profits in mind when it designed its new “up in smoke” drinks menu? Not at all, says the bar – in these post-smoking-ban days, it is all about giving smokers a nicotine hit without having to stand outside in the cold. Among the first to get their fix [...]
Universal could divest to secure EMI takeover bid January 22, 2012 UNIVERSAL Music Group could be forced to sell small parts of its empire to appease critics who argue that its takeover of British record label EMI will harm competition. The £1.2bn deal announced in November would see Universal behind 49.5 per cent of European music downloads and 54 per cent of airplay tracks, according to [...]
Costa and captain trade blame January 22, 2012 The operators of the Costa Concordia faced questions over their share of the blame for the shipwreck, as divers recovered another body from the stricken liner yesterday, bringing the known death toll to 13. Captain Francesco Schettino, who is charged with multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship, told prosecutors he had been instructed to perform the [...]
France moots no tax for bonds January 22, 2012 Europe’s proposal for a tax on financial transactions would not apply to bonds issues by governments because states need to be able to finance themselves, said France’s finance minister Francois Baroin yesterday. France plans to plow ahead with its own transaction tax even as other European nations are taking longer to agree on how to [...]
Sparks to fly at Mitchells & Butlers annual meeting January 22, 2012 THE BOARDROOM drama continues at pub group Mitchells & Butlers this week, with all five directors up for re-election at its AGM in Birmingham on Thursday. The AGM follows renewed criticism of the board by Pirc and the Association of British Insurers, which last week raised concerns that M&B is the only FTSE 350 firm [...]
