Starbucks aims to make dough from its $100m Bay Bread buy June 5, 2012 COFFEE chain Starbucks plans to buy La Boulange Bakery owner Bay Bread in a deal that takes aim at what long has been seen as its biggest weakness: food. The $100m (£65.1m) cash deal is Starbucks’ biggest move yet outside its main focus of coffee. The world’s largest coffee chain said its first priority is [...]
Sony chiefs to forgo bonuses after big loss June 5, 2012 SONY’S new boss and six other top executives will return their performance-based bonuses for the past fiscal year, the Japanese company said yesterday after posting on Friday its fourth consecutive annual loss. Chairman Sir Howard Stringer and chief executive Kazuo Hirai are among the top dogs who will not receive their bonuses, which in the [...]
Ireland agrees to austerity as it angles for a new bailout June 5, 2012 LAST week I travelled to Dublin to report on the Irish referendum. Irish voters in the end voted in favour of ratifying the Eurozone’s fiscal compact by a wide margin, but there was little celebration. In fact, Taoiseach Enda Kenny got straight on the phone to Angela Merkel to plead for a deal on the [...]
Protesters set to be evicted June 5, 2012 Protesters who have been camped at Finsbury Square since October could be evicted as soon as today. Islington council, which won a possession order in the High Court on Friday, said it would begin action after the Jubilee bank holiday. It has also asked activists to leave to stop the bill spiralling amid expectations it [...]
VW lifts stake in truckmaker MAN June 5, 2012 Volkswagen has increased its shareholding in MAN, opening the door to a possible domination and profit transfer agreement and sending shares in the German truck maker higher. Europe’s biggest carmaker hiked its voting stake in the German truck and coach maker to just over 75 per cent from 73.76 per cent.
Blankfein takes stand at insider trial of Gupta June 5, 2012 LLOYD Blankfein, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs Group, told jurors at the insider trading trial of one of the investment bank’s former directors that “all parts” of a 2008 board meeting the two attended were confidential. “If something is discussed in a board meeting, it is confidential,” Blankfein said, when asked about a June [...]
Hiring grows as firms gain confidence in recovery June 5, 2012 EMPLOYMENT prospects are improving across the UK, according to Reed’s job index published today, as firms become gradually more confident about their own futures. New vacancies increased 17 per cent in the year to May, and five per cent compared with April. That pushed the index up to 141 – up from 134 in April [...]
Finance bosses see salaries rise June 5, 2012 FINANCE directors saw their salaries rise and bonuses soar in the last financial year, according to data out today from Income Data Services (IDS), against the backdrop of the “shareholder spring” and increased owner-activism over remuneration. The average finance director at a FTSE 100 firm saw their salary rise by four per cent and total [...]
Surprise jump in City jobs despite crisis June 5, 2012 THE NUMBER of new City jobs created hit a nine-month high in May, recruitment industry data showed this week, raising hopes that the financial services industry is shrugging off the worst effects of the resurgent crisis in the Eurozone. Astbury Marsden figures show that 4,320 jobs were created in the City last month, a 25 [...]
Office demand shows glimpse of a recovery June 5, 2012 DEMAND for office space in central London has risen to its highest level since 2009, as a pick up in occupier interest began to catch up with the continuing shortage of supply. Figures from property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) show that registered demand from potential tenants increased by over 12 per cent over the [...]
