Sony Ericsson board shuffle August 17, 2009 Struggling mobile phone manufacturer Sony Ericsson Mobile yesterday announced Bert Nordberg will replace retiring chief executive Dick Komiyama and that Howard Stringer will take over as chairman from Carl-Henric Svanberg. Nordberg, an executive vice president at parent Ericsson, will become co-president from 1 September and take over on 15 October. Stringer, the chief executive of [...]
H&M misses sales forecasts August 17, 2009 Hennes & Mauritz, the world’s third biggest clothing retailer, yesterday reported a bigger-than-expected three per cent drop in year–on–year sales in July. Total group sales were up seven per cent. The group hopes to boost footfall in with the launch of new designer ranges.
Swedbank in shock rights issue August 17, 2009 Swedbank surprised markets yesterday with news of a 15bn Swedish crown (£1.2bn) rights issue to boost a balance sheet hit by bad debts in the Baltics, despite saying a month ago its capital situation was “very resilient.” Sweden’s financial watchdog said in June that the country’s banks had enough capital to pass its “worst-case” stress [...]
CLIFF HANGER August 17, 2009 READER’S Digest Association, the owner of the world’s biggest-selling magazine, yesterday said it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for its US businesses within 30 days to cut its debt load. The group said the move would allow it to swap a significant proportion of debt for equity with lenders, cutting its debt from $2.2bn [...]
World markets tumble due to fears over economic recovery August 17, 2009 GLOBAL markets stumbled yesterday, prompting fears that the recent stock market rally could be over. In London, the FTSE 100 shed 68.96 points, or 1.5 per cent, closing at 4,645.01. Across the Atlantic, the Dow Jones Industrial Average also shed 186 points, or two per cent. Sterling fell against the dollar while the price of [...]
Turquoise is eyeing a sale August 17, 2009 TURQUOISE, the high-profile equity trading platform owned by a consortium of investment banks, has hired UBS to find a buyer for the business. The City trading platform, launched last year as a rival to existing stock exchanges, is believed to have sent out documents to 18 firms including the London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Boerse, NYSE [...]
Essar bids for Shell refineries August 17, 2009 Essar, the Indian energy, steel and shipping conglomerate, yesterday made a formal bid of around £1.2bn for three European Royal Dutch Shell refineries. The assets are on sale as part of the Anglo-Dutch oil group’s restructuring of its downstream operations.
Fed extends TALF programme August 17, 2009 The US Federal Reserve said yesterday it was extending to mid-2010 the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility aimed at boosting lending in the ailing commercial real estate market. But it said it did not plan to expand the facility to cover assets not already eligible.
One million face pension misery August 17, 2009 Half of all UK companies will have closed their defined benefit pension schemes to existing members within three years, according to research out yesterday by Watson Wyatt. This means that over one million employees who are currently saving for retirement through a defined benefit scheme will be relying on a defined contribution scheme instead. Three-quarters [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 17, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES 3I TO OFFLOAD EUROPEAN INVESTMENTS3i, former powerhouse of Europe’s venture capital industry, has entered exclusive talks to sell a portfolio of 36 European venture capital investments to a consortium led by Coller Capital and HarbourVest Partners for about £100m. The talks follow 3i’s decision last year to abandon early stage investment in start-up [...]
