Spanish Villa proves to be hot property June 29, 2010 SPAIN (1) vs PORTUGAL (0) BARCELONA hotshot David Villa struck again as Spain took a huge step towards adding the World Cup to their European Championship. Villa finally broke Portugal’s resistance just after the hour to set up a quarter-final with Paraguay on Saturday that they will be expected to win – and send their [...]
Venus sent crashing out by Pironkova June 29, 2010 GIANT-KILLER Tsvetana Pironkova told of her dream come true after sending five-time champion Venus Williams spinning out of Wimbledon. The unseeded Bulgarian put in the performance of her life, returning everything Williams had to throw at her, to come through 6-2, 6-3 in one of the biggest shocks in SW19 history. “It seems like a [...]
It’s the best England team for 20 years June 29, 2010 ALEC STEWART believes England are reaping the rewards of their best one-day side in nearly 20 years as they go in search of a 5-0 series whitewash over Australia. Andrew Strauss’s men will be looking to build on their unassailable 3-0 lead over their arch-rivals when they lock horns for the fourth one-day international at [...]
SPORT | IN BRIEF June 29, 2010 FXPro land Fulham deal FOOTBALL: Financial trading services firm FXPro have sealed a multi-million pound sponsorship deal with Premier League side Fulham. The club was unable to disclose a specific figure but said the deal was the biggest in the club’s history – more than the £3m spent by previous sponsors, consumer electronics company LG. [...]
COWARDLY LIONS June 29, 2010 ENGLAND’S World Cup flops shunned fans and the media on their return from South Africa yesterday morning. The squad, with WAGs in tow, were ushered through a private area of Heathrow Airport normally reserved for royalty and heads of state, allowing them to avoid supporters angry at Sunday’s 4-1 thrashing by Germany, which hammered the [...]
Mortgage approvals fall June 29, 2010 MORTGAGE approvals fell unexpectedly in May, new figures from the Bank of England show. Last month 49,815 loans were approved – marginally down from April and well below the 51,000 forecast by economists. However, mortgage lending picked up more strongly than expected, rising to £1.184bn from £0.979bn in April – a figure that was sharply [...]
National Express says profit is on track June 29, 2010 TRANSPORT group National Express said it expects first-half pre-tax profit to improve year-on-year, while cost cutting measures will bolster its performance beyond this year. The group said it traded in line with expectations in the second quarter, with its business benefiting from improved margins at its rail business. “First half normalized profit before tax is [...]
Carpetright profit up 68 per cent June 29, 2010 CARPETRIGHT has posted a 68 per cent rise in full-year profit but said that consumer demand was looking subdued in 21010/11. The firm, which trades from about 586 stores in the UK and Ireland and 117 in the Netherlands and Belgium, said on Tuesday it made an underlying pretax profit of £28.2m in the year [...]
Emerson ups bid for Chloride to $1.5bn June 29, 2010 Emerson Electric has upped its cash offer for Chloride to $1.5bn (£995m) in a bid to tempt the group away from a recommended $1.25bn deal from Switzerland’s ABB. Emerson’s latest offer of 375 pence per share in cash for the power company is being made through vehicle Rutherfurd Acquisitions and represents a 15 percent premium [...]
Catlin to launch reinsurance unit June 29, 2010 LONDON-LISTED property and casualty insurer Catlin has said it is planning to set up a Swiss reinsurance unit to take advantage of an anticipated upturn in the European reinsurance market. Bermuda-based Catlin will provide the new business, Catlin Re Switzerland, with capital reserves of at least $1bn (£663bn). Catlin aims to expand its presence in [...]
