Remember Greece is not the only problem February 20, 2012 IF I’m getting sick of talking about Greece, I’m pretty sure you are just as sick of hearing about it. The thing that worries me more about the news fatigue around the Eurozone crisis is that we are about to become horribly complacent. Once Greece comes to a head, there’s bound to be another issue [...]
Minor partner in BP’s Macondo Well settles for $90m over spill February 20, 2012 A MINORITY partner in BP’s blown-out Macondo Well in the Gulf of Mexico has agreed to pay $90m (£57m) in a settlement with the US government and Gulf states over the 2010 oil spill. Mitsui MOEX Offshore, which had a 10 per cent stake, is the first to settle ahead of the liabilities trial expected [...]
Centrica set to report a profit amid calls for cuts February 20, 2012 BRITISH GAS parent company Centrica is expected to report an increase in its full-year profits this Thursday, as the UK energy sector comes under fresh scrutiny over pricing. The utility provider is forecast to announce a 38 per cent increase in its UK upstream services to just over £1bn, contributing to a growth in operating [...]
Olympic Media Buzz February 20, 2012 IN ASSOCIATION with Repskan.com, the media monitoring and analytics platform, City A.M. is measuring the relative Olympic media buzz around the partners for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, week by week. The leaderboard, right, reflects their ranking over the past week, in this case from Wednesday 8 February to Wednesday 15 February. Cisco, [...]
Labour brand under Miliband leadership has become toxic in City February 20, 2012 ED Miliband is the most anti-business of all mainstream politicians, according to the City A.M. / PoliticsHome Voice of the City Panel. Eight out of 10 respondents said the Labour leader was anti-business, while fewer than one in 10 said he was pro-business, giving him a net score of -70 per cent – the lowest [...]
Lib Dems call on Osborne to soak the rich February 20, 2012 SENIOR Liberal Democrats are lobbying George Osborne to fund tax cuts for low earners by clobbering the rich in his Budget next month. David Laws, the influential former chief secretary to the Treasury, is expected to use an interview on BBC Newsnight tonight to call on the chancellor to raise the threshold at which people [...]
Balls: cut VAT to get growth February 20, 2012 SHADOW chancellor Ed Balls has said that a temporary cut in VAT would be the best way to stimulate growth but has not said how he would pay for the measure. He said: “The VAT cut is the fastest and fairest way to do a temporary boost to demand, to get confidence moving.” Balls said [...]
MoD officials in bonus bonanza February 20, 2012 THE Ministry of Defence has handed out £40m in bonuses to civil servants while thousands of military staff are facing a pay freeze or being made redundant. The pay awards – including a £85,831 bonus for one senior civil servant – also come at a time when the MoD has been heavily criticised for “continuous [...]
Tax refunds up as losses mount February 20, 2012 CORPORATION tax refunds rocketed 91 per cent in the five years to March 2010 as businesses offset losses against previous profits, according to research out today from accountancy firms UHY Hacker Young. Refunds hit £9bn in the year, up from £8.7bn in the previous year and £4.7bn in the year to March 2005. The average [...]
Payment via mobile moves a step closer February 20, 2012 THE UK’s largest telecoms companies are making headway in bringing cashless payment via mobile phone to the masses, as the cluster intends to file an application with the European Commission (EC) soon. Orange and T-Mobile (under umbrella group Everything Everywhere) joined forces with Vodafone and O2 parent Telefonica last year with the aim of creating a [...]
