Canary Wharf’s majority owner strikes deal with shareholders August 13, 2012 SHARES in the holding company and main shareholder behind Canary Wharf Group were given a boost yesterday after it changed the terms of its preference shares, in a move it said will improve the group’s financial position. Songbird Estates, which owns 69 per cent in Canary Wharf, said it has reached an agreement with China [...]
Google cuts one in five Motorola staff August 13, 2012 MOTOROLA Mobility, the mobile phone maker bought by Google last year, is set to lose 4,000 staff as it targets a return to profitability. The cuts – 20 per cent of Motorola’s workforce – represent the first big step Google has taken to revive the ailing manufacturer since its $12.5bn (£8bn) acquisition was completed in [...]
Anglo American leader stands firm against shareholder wrath August 13, 2012 ANGLO American yesterday played down reports of shareholder unrest, saying it believes just one of its institutional shareholders is unhappy with chief executive Cynthia Carroll’s performance. The mining giant claims that Carroll, who joined the company in 2007 and has since presided over a 20 per cent drop in Anglo’s share price, has the support [...]
IMA urges reformers to focus more on investment banking August 13, 2012 THE Investment Management Association, the fund manager lobby group, yesterday called for investment banks to face more scrutiny to prevent poorly judged merger and acquisition deals. The group said last month’s government-backed review into equity markets, led by economist John Kay, missed an opportunity to focus on the role of investment banks in botched M&A [...]
Home Office civil service chief quits to lead National Trust August 13, 2012 DAME Helen Ghosh, the top-ranking civil servant at the Home Office, yesterday quit to become director general of the National Trust. “I have been privileged to lead the Home Office and feel very torn about leaving,” she said. Several permanent secretaries have left Whitehall in recent months, raising the prospect of civil service instability at a [...]
Groupon fails to fulfil hopes August 13, 2012 GROUPON’S share price tumbled 18 per cent in after hours trading last night after it reported worse than expected quarterly revenue growth. Revenue was $568.3m (£362.5m) in the second quarter, up from $392.6m in the same period last year but below forecasts of $573m. The Chicago-based firm posted net income of $28.4m, a big improvement [...]
Peltz joins Ingersoll-Rand board August 13, 2012 Ingersoll-Rand named Nelson Peltz to its board yesterday, months after the activist investor pushed for changes at the manufacturer of air conditioners and security systems. The move averts a potential proxy fight between Ingersoll and Peltz, whose Trian Fund Management holds a seven per cent stake in the company. Ingersoll has said it is evaluating [...]
Pfizer unit to float in the States August 13, 2012 Pfizer’s animal health unit Zoetis yesterday filed for a $100m initial public offering as the largest US drugmaker narrows the focus on its core prescription drug business. Pfizer, which bought US rival Wyeth for $67bn in late 2009 to bolster its array of medicines, has developed few big-selling drugs of its own since impotence-treatment Viagra [...]
Dandy may close after 75 years August 13, 2012 The UK’s oldest comic may cease publication, as its circulation dips below 8,000, from a peak of 2m. The home to characters including Desperate Dan, the cow pie loving cowboy, was launched in 1937 but is facing difficulty competing with new media. A spokesperson for publisher DC Thomson said: “We are carrying out a review [...]
Germany flexes its muscles over Greece bailout August 13, 2012 GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel has returned from holiday to a familiar scene of strife in the battle to hold together the beleaguered Eurozone. A senior political ally of Merkel’s yesterday issued a stark warning to Greek officials, insisting that Germany will withhold further aid payments if the indebted Mediterranean state does not stick to the [...]
