Airbus in long fight over cracks March 18, 2012 Airbus will need years to get past problems with wing cracks on its flagship A380 passenger jet, the executive vice president of programmes at Airbus told German magazine Der Spiegel. “This problem will keep us busy for years,” Tom Williams was quoted as saying yesterday. European air safety regulators last month ordered checks for A380 [...]
Etisalat eyes finance services March 18, 2012 UAE telecoms operator Etisalat, which saw $1.8bn (£1.1bn) moved over its network last year via money transfers, has sought regulatory approval to expand its financial services offerings in the Gulf region, home to millions of expatriates. Mobile money services allow customers to pay bills or make remittances using SMS text messages, often at a cheaper [...]
ProSieben buying Endor stake March 18, 2012 German commercial broadcaster ProSiebenSat1 is to buy a majority stake in British movie and television producer Endor from producer Hilary Bevan Jones, the head of ProSieben’s production unit Red Arrow told a German newspaper. “We are reaching a new dimension with the takeover of British production company Endor,” Handelsblatt daily cited Jan Frouman as saying [...]
SHAKE-UP LOOMS AT MINER ENRC March 18, 2012 MEHMET Dalman (pictured), the new chairman at London-listed mining group ENRC, has asked several board members to resign, according to the Sunday Times. Dalman took up the post last month with permission to shake up the board. The Kazakh government last year staged a dramatic boardroom coup that ousted City grandees Sir Richard Sykes and [...]
BC goes back to the future with new deal for Foxtons March 18, 2012 THE private equity firm that lost control of Foxtons amid the housing slump is on the verge of buying it back from its banks. BC Partners, led by managing partner Charlie Bott, is set to take a majority shareholding for between £55m and £75m, two years after the estate agent was shored up by a [...]
Rusal defends new chair to shareholders March 18, 2012 RUSSIAN aluminium company Rusal was forced to defend its choice of new chairman yesterday after Sual Partners, one of its main shareholders, publicly panned the move last week. Rusal said in a statement: “Barry Cheung’s election as a chairman was supported by a majority vote of the board, including the independent directors. This proves that [...]
Crunch time for Game as rent deadline looms March 18, 2012 GAME group has just a week to secure financial support as the stricken video games retailer teeters on the brink of administration. The company, which has about 1,300 shops worldwide trading as Game and Gamestation, revealed last week it was holding talks with potential backers as it attempts to raise more than £100m it needs [...]
Households hit by rising cost of living March 18, 2012 HOUSEHOLD finances remain under intense pressure from rising living costs, according to several leading surveys released this morning. Despite a slowdown in the UK’s official measure of consumer price inflation in recent months, people still fear more price hikes. “Households’ current inflation observations climbed to a six-month peak [this month], while price expectations for the [...]
…yet Brits splash cash while on holiday March 18, 2012 BRITISH holidaymakers splashed £12.4bn while abroad last year, according to data from Visa Europe released this morning. The total was up by a steady two per cent on the previous year, with higher spending expected this summer despite ongoing economic woes. Three in 10 people surveyed said they are planning to holiday abroad in June [...]
China’s manufacturers turn to Europe for innovation March 18, 2012 CHINESE manufacturers are set to snap up a series of firms in Europe as they try to fast-track innovation and development, according to research published today. Large and medium-sized industrial firms in the emerging market economy are mulling more mergers and acquisitions, according to business advisory firm Deloitte. More than half of the senior executives [...]
