Savills sales drop 45 per cent in a year July 9, 2008 Shares in property giant Savills dived more than 10 per cent yesterday after the firm said sales in its residential business were 45 per cent down year on year. Piling misery on the battered housing market, Savills warned that the cost of prime property in London (homes priced between £1m and £5m) fell by 7.5 [...]
BP’s man in Russia lives to fight again July 9, 2008 The Kremlin, BP and four Russian moguls all want control of TNK-BP. Roger Baird reports. The embattled chief executive of BP’s Russian joint venture TNK-BP, Robert Dudley, survived an attempt by its Russian billionaire partners to remove him on Monday – but he will have to do it all over again on Friday. The screws [...]
Rose to dodge investors’ ire July 9, 2008 Marks & Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose is likely to keep both his jobs as chief executive and chairman despite facing fiery opposition from shareholders at the retailer’s annual meeting today. Up to 30 per cent of shareholders are planning to either vote or abstain over concerns about his dual role, though analysts doubted they [...]
A Microsoft and Google tie-up is what the industry needs July 9, 2008 The wrangling between Microsoft and Yahoo is like a farce that refuses to end. After months of on-off negotiations, Microsoft’s chief executive Steve Ballmer is once again willing to return to the table, although his rekindled interest comes at a heavy price. Unless Yahoo’s shareholders oust the board, the standoff will continue. Nor is Ballmer [...]
FTSE 100 flirts with bear market July 9, 2008 London’s leading blue chip share index lurched into official bear market territory yesterday before recovering to end the day lower, but temporarily out of the danger zone. The FTSE 100 index fell below 5,385 points in early trading, 20 per cent below its June 2007 peak of 6,732, putting it in official bear territory, defined [...]
City law firms beat the crunch July 9, 2008 The City’s biggest law firms look set to beat the credit crunch, topping revenues of £1bn last year. All four of the firms that make up the “magic circle” posted earnings over £1bn and showed double digit growth, with Clifford Chance holding the top spot as the world’s largest law firm with revenues of £1.33bn, [...]
Money can still be made during bear market slump July 9, 2008 Even as the market yesterday dipped its toe into official bear territory, there’s still money to be made. Equities may be falling out of favour but currencies, commodities and good old-fashioned cash are still in demand as investments likely to weather the current financial storm. “Depending on your time scale, banking stocks look cheap if [...]
Property meltdown July 9, 2008 A property meltdown loomed yesterday as new figures showed mortgage completions at near record lows and commercial property values falling across the country. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said loans for house purchases rose by 4 per cent in May to 52,700, up from 51,000 in April, but were 44 per cent down on [...]
Bollywood Godfather takes on Hollywood July 8, 2008 Anusha Bradley talks to the boss of Eros, the media mogul bent on profiting from the silver screen It goes without saying: Kishore Lulla loves movies. “Indian or Hollywood, I love watching them all. Whether it’s Spiderman, Harry Potter, Shawshank Redemption, or The Godfather – I love the Godfather – they give me a lot [...]
What the FSA’s regulations mean for you July 8, 2008 The new rules might be heavy handed, but they could be to your advantage, writes Katie Hope Hot on the heels of the decision by the FSA, the City’s watchdog, to clamp down on investors using contracts for difference (CFDs) to short shares during a rights issue period, it’s now taken another stab at improving [...]
