Bank lending to UK businesses remains weak August 19, 2010 NET lending to British businesses fell for the fourth month in a row in June while mortgage approvals slumped to their lowest level in over a year last month, figures from the Bank of England showed yesterday. In its Trends in Lending report, the central bank showed that the net monthly flow of lending to [...]
Glazer family hit by higher interest rate August 19, 2010 Manchester United’s American owners saw interest payments on a loan taken out to refinance the club jump to 16.25 per cent this week after they failed to keep debt at an agreed level. The two per cent hike will see the club pay millions extra on a payment-in-kind (Pik) loan of more than £200m, which [...]
Dell, HP and Lenovo post mixed results August 19, 2010 TECHNOLOGY companies delivered mixed results on Wall Street yesterday, as computing heavyweights Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Lenovo posted large profits but missed some forecasts. Hewlett-Packard’s quarterly profit climbed 6.1 per cent on higher global sales and growth in the company’s core consumer market. The world’s biggest PC producer announced $1.77bn (£1.14bn) in pre-tax gains, up from [...]
Car sales slip for first time this year August 19, 2010 CAR production in Britain dropped by 8.9 per cent in July as the end of the scrappage scheme hit demand, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said yesterday. Production for the year-to-date was still 41.7 per cent higher than in the same period in 2009, SMMT said. Last month’s drop – with 98,000 [...]
Google prepares its rival to the iPad August 19, 2010 GOOGLE hopes to have an iPad rival on US shelves in time for Christmas, according to industry insiders. Analysts are already speculating that the device could be free with a lengthy contract with network provider Verizon. The tablet is likely to be manufactured by mobile phone maker HTC, the firm responsible for the critically-acclaimed Desire [...]
Search is on for successor of ousted HP boss August 19, 2010 Hewlett-Packard yesterday named headhunting firm Spencer Stuart to lead the search for a new chief executive following ousting of Mark Hurd. The former boss was forced to resign for inaccurate expense claims brought to light in the wake of sexual harassment allegations by former porn star Jodie Fisher. Spencer Stuart will consider both internal and [...]
BHP deal with Rio faces defeat August 19, 2010 Global miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto expect their $116bn iron ore joint venture will fail to gain regulatory approval. Mining executives involved in the process said yesterday that competition regulators in various jurisdictions had rejected the two miners’ arguments that the venture would not have price-setting power. “It’s dead and the coffin’s being lowered [...]
Facebook to track users’ location August 19, 2010 Facebook’s 500m-plus users will soon be able to track friends’ whereabouts across the world, as the world’s largest Internet social network adds technology to increasingly tie its virtual world to everyday life. The new “Places” feature – which begins rolling out on Wednesday and goes nationwide within weeks – is being touted as a tool [...]
BANKING CHEMISTRY GEEKS GET CREATIVE August 19, 2010 THANK heaven for the idle pairs of hands which yesterday provided The Capitalist with the throatiest chuckle of the week. Into the inbox popped a link that’s been doing the rounds in the City, containing a link to a “periodic table” – though not one that would be familiar to many from distant memories of [...]
EU objects to Unilever purchase August 19, 2010 The EU could scupper Unilever’s purchase of parts of Sara Lee’s European business, after its anti-trust agency filed a formal objection to the €1.3bn (£1.07bn) acquisition yesterday. The company said yesterday it hopes to come to a “positive agreement” by the end of the year, allowing the takeover of Sara Lee’s shower-gel and detergent businesses. [...]
