Grade faces calls to stand down at Pinewood AGM June 29, 2010 UNDER-FIRE Pinewood Studios chairman Michael Grade faced calls to stand down yesterday in the wake of the firm’s annual meeting. The charismatic former ITV boss faced a barrage of questions from rebel shareholder Crystal Amber, which holds an 18 per cent stake in the film and TV studio. The investor yesterday reiterated its calls for [...]
GM touts new look ahead of $20bn IPO June 29, 2010 GENERAL Motors has revamped its operations to emerge stronger a year after bankruptcy, the carmaker’s chief executive Ed Whitacre told investors yesterday. Speaking to Wall Street analysts and potential investors for the first time after GM’s emergence in 2009 and ahead of a planned stock offering later this year, Whitacre tried to draw a distinction [...]
Bankers work extra hours after cutbacks June 29, 2010 MORE than a third of bankers are picking up extra work as a result of cutbacks in their teams, according to a survey published yesterday. Redundancies made during the financial crisis meant 40 per cent of people questioned by Badenoch & Clark, the recruitment agency, were putting in more overtime than usual. More than two [...]
Ryanair to cut back winter capacity by 16pc in the UK June 29, 2010 RYANAIR is expecting to cut its UK winter capacity by 16 per cent, marking the largest cut it has made to its winter traffic. The Irish low budget airline blamed the government’s air passenger duty (APD) for damaging UK tourism and forcing it to make the cut. Chief executive Michael O’Leary said yesterday the airline [...]
Chloride considers new Emerson bid June 29, 2010 POWER protection firm Chloride said last night a new takeover bid from American rival Emerson was a superior proposal to the deal already made with Swiss firm ABB. Emerson raised its offer by more than a third to 375p per share yesterday, surpassing a prior board agreement with Swiss firm ABB for 325p per share. [...]
World Cup ad boost for WPP June 29, 2010 THE World Cup has helped spur a massive growth spurt at the world’s biggest advertising firm WPP. The embattled company said it is sticking by growth forecasts of two per cent this year after seeing revenues spike thanks to events such as the football tournament, the Winter Olympics and the US mid-term elections. Chief executive [...]
URS ready to raise its bid for Scott Wilson to trump rival June 29, 2010 US engineering firm URS said it might sweeten its offer for Scott Wilson to trump a rival bid from privately held CH2M Hill, escalating the bidding war for the UK consultancy. San Francisco-based URS said yesterday it was considering raising its offer for Scott Wilson to 245p a share or more, a day after US [...]
OSMOND HIKES PHOENIX STAKE June 29, 2010 HUGH Osmond, the entrepreneur, has spent around £1.4m to raise his stake in the closed life funds bid vehicle Phoenix Group. After buying 212,000 shares at 640p per share, Osmond’s Sun Capital unit now owns more than 19 per cent of Phoenix, with a further 18 per cent held by private equity firm TDR. Phoenix [...]
Serco insists it is on track for strong revenue growth in 2010 June 29, 2010 Serco yesterday said it was on track for strong revenue growth in 2010, predicting its future performance would benefit from client demand for efficiency amid a state spending squeeze in Britain. UK-based Serco, which runs prisons in Australia, air traffic control towers in the US and tugs boats for the Royal Navy, said its strong [...]
Drunk trader gets FSA ban and £72k fine June 29, 2010 CITY watchdog the Financial Servies Authority (FSA) has fined and banned a former PVM Oil Futures broker for manipulating the price of oil last year by the unauthorised purchase of more than 7m barrels while drunk. The FSA said in a statement it had fined Steven Noel Perkins £72,000 and banned him from working in [...]
