London Sports Festival moves from 3×3 basketball success to pickleball at the City of London Corporation’s Guildhall Yard
Zynga plunges to lowest price since its listing June 12, 2012 ZYNGA’S shares plummeted more than 10 per cent yesterday, hitting a new low since its stock market listing last year, after analysts expressed doubt at the social gaming company’s ability to grow in the face of rising mobile use. San Francisco-based analyst firm Cowen & Co argued that Zynga’s shares are “likely overvalued at current [...]
WPP pay boss under fire after backlash over Sorrell’s new deal June 12, 2012 THE HEAD of the remuneration committee at advertising giant WPP faces a protest vote today following the controversial 60 per cent pay rise awarded to chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell. Jeffrey Rosen, whose independence has been questioned by shareholder advisory group Pirc, is set to face opposition over his re-election to the board. WPP is [...]
Pension fund deficit soars to record £312bn at British firms June 12, 2012 THE PENSION deficits at Britain’s final salary schemes ballooned to a record £312bn last month as funds were hit by market swings and the effects of the Bank of England’s money printing scheme. The cumulative deficit of the 6,432 defined benefit schemes jumped £95bn in May and increased by nearly 13 times from the £24.5bn level [...]
RESOLUTION EXEC MOVES TO BUPA June 12, 2012 Insurance acquisition vehicle Resolution yesterday announced that Evelyn Bourke, one of its most senior executives, is leaving the firm to become chief financial officer at healthcare insurer Bupa. Shore Capital analyst Eamonn Flanagan said Bourke’s departure could set back Resolution’s plan to boost cash generation at its closed life unit. “A great win for Bupa, [...]
Falling factory output hits UK recovery hopes June 12, 2012 MANUFACTURING output fell in April, official data showed yesterday, indicating another disappointing quarter for the UK economy. The sector’s output dropped 0.7 per cent on the month, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), taking output down 0.3 per cent on the year. The wider production index, which includes industries like energy and mining [...]
ECB calls for deposit guarantee scheme to build banking union June 12, 2012 A BANKING union across the Eurozone is vital to ending the crisis and creating a stable base for future growth, the European Central Bank (ECB) said yesterday, although the German Bundesbank appeared cynical towards plans to integrate financial sector risk. A union could only work if properly anchored in a fiscal union with powers to [...]
Greeks cut off by ship insurer June 12, 2012 A SECOND major shipping insurer has stopped selling cover to Greek shipping firms, it emerged yesterday. French giant Coface has followed the world’s largest trade credit insurer Euler Hermes in suspending cover to the country’s exporters because of the risk of doing business in the debt-laden nation. Greek development minister Yiannos Stournaras has taken the unusual [...]
France backs fiscal tie-up June 12, 2012 FRANCE said yesterday that it would support taking steps towards budgetary integration in Europe, but the first priority must be to agree measures to solve the debt crisis. After talks in Paris with his German counterpart Michael Link, France’s European affairs minister Bernard Cazeneuve said issues could be worked on in parallel but a fiscal [...]
Merkel seeks EU regulator after stress test flop June 12, 2012 GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a centralised Eurozone banking regulator yesterday, blasting national regulators for failing to organise proper stress tests. The demand came as her government demonstrated Germany’s economic strength by slashing its budget deficit target. She said central authorities should be given more power to impose discipline on member states and to [...]
Lagarde: Deficit plans urgently needed to prevent worse crisis June 12, 2012 THE HEAD of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday called for “decisive steps” by European policymakers to deal with the region’s financial crisis and suggested that carbon taxes could be used by cash-strapped governments to raise more revenue. “We need a strategy that is good for stability and good for growth – where stability is [...]
