O2 owner sells stake in PT June 23, 2010 O2 owner Telefonica yesterday sold an eight per cent stake in Portugal Telecom (PT) to other PT shareholders in a deal worth up to €800m (£659m). The sale has been seen as evidence of an increasingly strained relationship between the two Iberian telecoms giants, centering around their battle to dominate the lucrative Brazilian mobile market. [...]
New forms of finance will drive UK’s growth June 23, 2010 THE need to restructure corporate debt and find new sources of financing is germinating a new breed of so-called “equity solutions” that, it could be argued, will be absolutely vital to the UK in the next year or so as we get to grips with the new economic environment. According to a report from City [...]
German chemicals giant BASF to snap up Cognis in a €3.1bn deal June 23, 2010 Chemical industry giant BASF has agreed to buy Cognis in a long-touted €3.1bn (£2.6bn) deal, including debt, betting on the cosmetic additives maker to protect it from economic turbulence. In the largest European chemical industry takeover this year, BASF will pay Cognis’ private equity owners Permira and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners an equity price of [...]
The Scrooge of Wall Street who says we should blame Americans June 23, 2010 EVEN though it is over 20 years since Michael Lewis worked for Salomon Brothers in London and New York – an experience that he recorded in his classic book of the excesses and greed of the 80s, Liar’s Poker – and even though he has spent much of the intervening time as a keen Wall [...]
Channel 4 breaks even despite ad slump June 23, 2010 CHANNEL 4 broke even last year despite the worst advertising slump in its 28-year history. A £53.4m record profit from digital media and budget cuts have helped to fuel the figures. Channel 4 has cut spending on programmes by more than £50m – from £598.6m in 2008 to £548.3m last year. It made a £61.6m [...]
MPC split on interest rates June 23, 2010 A member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) called for a rise in interest rates at its last meeting, according to minutes. Andrew Sentance voted for a hike to 0.75 per cent from 0.5 per cent. The last time an MPC member voted for a rise was August 2008. The other members [...]
Polar Capital warns over “market weakness” June 23, 2010 HEDGE fund firm Polar Capital warned markets could remain weak as it reported profits above expectations and confirmed that an inflow of client money had helped its assets under management rebound. The firm, which has seen assets fall sharply during the credit crisis, said pre-tax profit for the year to March fell by three-quarters to [...]
Stagecoach beats forecasts June 23, 2010 TRANSPORT group Stagecoach reported full-year pre-tax profit at the upper end of expectations and said it was well-placed to increase earnings in its current fiscal year. The bus and rail operator reported a decline in full-year pretax profit to £161.3m in the year to end April compared with a profit of £196.4m the year before. [...]
Kesa sees 18 per cent profit surge June 23, 2010 COMET owner Kesa has posted an 18 per cent rise in full-year profit as improved gross margins offset a decline in underlying sales growth. The electricals retailer Kesa, which also runs market leader Darty in France, made an underlying pre-tax profit of £81.9m for the year to 30 April. That was ahead of company guidance [...]
THE BIG SQUEEZE June 22, 2010 Chancellor says steep hike in VAT to 20pc is unavoidable Banks relieved as £2bn levy is more lenient than expected Public sector braced for massive job losses as spending slashed Higher rate of CGT increased to 28pc – lower than feared Income tax break worth £200 for low and middle earners Headline rate of corporation [...]
