WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 1, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES STAFF AT JOHN LEWIS BRACED FOR BONUS CUT The John Lewis Partnership is next week expected to announce the first cut in its staff bonus for three years as high street turmoil takes its toll on the employee-owned retailer. Analysts who track the group’s weekly sales figures forecast a pay-out of 12-14 per [...]
Oil price hits $128 high March 1, 2012 OIL hit a four-year high yesterday after an Iranian state-run news channel reported an explosion on a pipeline in Saudi Arabia. Brent crude prices hit $128 a barrel in late post-settlement trade, a level not reached since July 2008. A Saudi official later denied the Press TV broadcast, saying no oil facilities had been sabotaged. Iran, [...]
Peugeot debt cut to junk status March 1, 2012 Peugeot Citroen’s debt was cut to junk status by credit ratings agency Moody’s yesterday, after the French automaker announced a €1bn (£627m) share issue and an alliance with US peer General Motors. Moody’s Investors Service lowered Peugeot’s rating by one notch to Ba1, the highest so-called “speculative” grade with a negative outlook. The cost of [...]
Police raids over insider trading March 1, 2012 Police in several European countries have raided more than 80 properties in a probe by German prosecutors into stock market manipulation, the Munich prosecutors office said yesterday. The office’s spokesman said the raids Wednesday were into suspected cases of market manipulation, insider trading and fraud. Fifty-three sites in Germany were searched, 29 in other European [...]
Greece faces new wait for bailout funds March 1, 2012 GREECE was last night pushed perilously close to its default deadline after Eurozone members demanded additional assurances that Athens would implement austerity measures agreed at the end of last month. Eurozone members at yesterday’s meeting in Brussels decided to hold back half the €130bn bailout sum, €71.5bn, until 38 specific “prior actions” are implemented. The [...]
Edwards hires banks for US flotation plan March 1, 2012 EDWARDS, a private equity-backed vacuum pump engineering company based in Crawley, is poised to try its luck with an IPO in the US after London gave it the thumbs-down last year. The group’s backers, CCMP Capital and Unitas Capital, have hired a group of banks, including Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital, to prepare for a [...]
Google’s new data policy begins amid controversy March 1, 2012 AS GOOGLE’S new privacy policy came into effect yesterday, the world’s biggest search engine was forced to explain itself yet again amid unrelenting criticism from users and regulators. Viviane Reding, the EU’s commissioner of justice, spoke out against Google’s changes yesterday, joining a string of public critics including the Japanese government and French data privacy [...]
US jobless claimants fall as manufacturing keeps rising March 1, 2012 NEW JOBLESS claims in the US fell to their lowest level in nearly four years, data showed yesterday, and strong retail and car sales figures combined to give a strong image of the economy’s health. However, manufacturing cooled off in February and consumer spending stayed flat in January, taking the edge off the optimism. Jobless [...]
MEET THE ADVISERS March 1, 2012 TOPSY MATHEW STANDARD CHARTERED Tata Communications has hired Standard Chartered bank to advise it as it considers a bid for CWW. Heading the team of financial advisers is Topsy Mathew, the Mumbai-based managing director of the bank’s corporate advisory division. In 2010, Mathew led StanChart to number three for deals in India, beating takeover king [...]
Tata to rival Vodafone in bid for CWW March 1, 2012 A SECOND bidder has entered the ring to fight for Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW), the ailing telecoms company which has already attracted the interest of Vodafone. Tata Communications yesterday said it was “evaluating a possible cash offer for CWW”, but emphasised that “considerations are at a very preliminary stage.” Its announcement comes just two [...]
