Mecom posts drop in sales August 6, 2009 Newspaper group Mecom said yesterday that it saw evidence the advertising market was stabilising since a low point in February, but reported a 22 per cent drop in ad revenues for the first half of the year. Mecom, which has titles in the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Poland, raised its full-year cost-saving target to €100m [...]
US retail sales decline in July but jobless claims fall sharply August 6, 2009 US RETAILERS reported their eleventh straight month of sales declines for July yesterday, but data showed that jobless claims fell last week, fanning hopes that the job market may be stabilising. July sales fell 5.1 per cent from a year earlier, compared with June’s 4.9 per cent decline. “You still have a picture of the [...]
BIGGS RELEASED August 6, 2009 GREAT Train Robber Ronnie Biggs, 79, was released from prison yesterday on compassionate grounds as he is severely ill with pneumonia. The south Londoner was a member of the gang that robbed a mail train in 1963, stealing £2.6m. After a 30-year sentence, he escaped from prison and went on the run for 30 years. [...]
Ex-AIG execs to pay $16.5m August 6, 2009 THE FORMER chief executive of AIG, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg has agreed to pay $15m (£9m) to settle government allegations that he cooked the books to inflate the stricken insurer’s earnings. AIG’s former chief financial officer Howard Smith has also agreed to pay $1.5m to settle Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges relating to his and [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland to return to profit despite new writedowns August 6, 2009 ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) is expected to return to profit today, as it reveals first half profit figures. The bank, which recorded a UK record loss of more than £24bn for 2008, is predicted to reveal first-half pre-tax earnings of £1.2bn, despite impairment charges expected to total £7.9bn. Chief executive Stephen Hester is also [...]
Q&A: BUYING August 6, 2009 Camilla DellMANAGING PARTNER AT BLACK BRICK Q. Dear Camilla, I’m thinking of buying a property for investment. Are there any particular areas or hot spots in London that I should be considering at the moment? A.Well, an area that we quite like at the moment is Fulham, which is on the edge of Chelsea and [...]
Tough times for graduates, but top candidates can still find jobs August 5, 2009 THE TALK this week may have been all about healthy bank profits and the return of bonuses, but that will be cold comfort to university graduates struggling to kick off their City careers. As stories circle of highly qualified grads finding themselves locked out of training positions, with companies being forced to cut intakes and [...]
How the Russian oligarchs came to rise and reign in boomtime London August 5, 2009 LONDONGRADBY MARK HOLLINGSWORTH AND STEWART LANSLEYFourth Estate, £12.99ONE of the most visible signs of the times over the past few years has been the increasing Russification of London. The likes of Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea Football Club, Oleg Deripaska, who made headlines when he entertained the then-EU trade minister Peter Mandelson and shadow [...]
OUT OF OFFICE August 5, 2009 JAZZ AT VIVAT BACCHUSClerkenwell dwellers not content with food and fine wine should pop along to Vivat Bacchus in Farringdon this Saturday, where jazz pianist Jason Thompson (who has entertained the likes of Bill Clinton and Michael Douglas) will be in situ with his group, the JT Band. The food and wine here is always [...]
The breakfast club August 5, 2009 BREAKFAST has been creeping in to business culture for years. But let’s be honest – a couple years ago the preferred way of discussing important work matters was over beef bourguignon, a cheese plate and a couple of bottles of Burgundy. Those who opted instead for morning meetings were known as “power breakfasters”. Now, thanks [...]
