JOE LEWIS TO HOST HIGH-ROLLERS’ GOLF IN HIS TAKEOVER DOWNTIME February 13, 2012 THERE IS still more than a month to go before Bahamas-based billionaire Joe Lewis can come back with a bid for pub chain Mitchells & Butlers. To occupy himself in the meantime, the financier is hosting two of the world’s most high net worth golf tournaments. The first, the Albany International Challenge co-hosted with Rob [...]
Heathrow hit as Chinese go to rival hubs February 13, 2012 HEATHROW is lagging behind major rivals in the race to attract passengers from China due to a lack of capacity, BAA warned yesterday. London’s biggest airport is losing out to the likes of Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, airport chief Colin Matthews said. Heathrow’s January traffic from China, including Hong Kong, was down by 0.7 per [...]
Airbus joins aviation tax row February 13, 2012 GLOBAL planemaker Airbus joined a chorus of concern that a European scheme to charge airlines for carbon emissions risks triggering a full-blown trade war, with implications for plane deals and even Europe’s crippling sovereign debt crisis. The EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), introduced on 1 January, has drawn howls of protest from airlines around the [...]
Qantas says A380 delay unrelated to wing cracks February 13, 2012 QANTAS Airways has played down a steering issue that forced an Airbus A380 to twice abandon departure before taking off from Heathrow airport on Saturday, saying it was unrelated to wing cracks that have led Europe’s air safety officials to order global checks on the superjumbo. Qantas said the plane, due to fly from London [...]
Cloud computing guides Telecity to maiden dividend February 13, 2012 DATA centre Telecity is ready to reward investors as the group announced it will pay its first dividend following first half 2012 results later this year. The company, which is based in London, yesterday reported revenues up 22 per cent to £239.8m for the year to the end of December, largely boosted by the growth [...]
Real potential is in emerging markets February 13, 2012 WHEN I first met Alastair Lukies back in 2009, things were not looking good for his company, the mobile payments provider Monitise. The firm’s share price was languishing at 5p, way below its IPO price of 21.25p, and it was operating in not one but two troubled sectors: tech and financial services. To make matters [...]
Olympus wants to go it alone despite falling to £260m loss February 13, 2012 OLYMPUS, the scandal-hit technology company, said it may shun outside investment as it forecast it would fall to a ¥32bn (£260m) full year loss. It had been considering a cash injection from other Far East electrical companies but its medical equipment arm appears solid. When asked if Olympus could continue without a capital boost, president [...]
GELDOF AFRICA FUND RAISES $200M February 13, 2012 IRISH rock star Bob Geldof has raised $200m (£126.4m) for his “8 Mile” African private equity fund, cementing a shift in his global anti-poverty crusade from rich world debt forgiveness to promoting private enterprise. “Private equity is one way to support the enterprise and dynamism of the people of the continent and help provide the [...]
Why Barclays Capital is set to go marching on February 13, 2012 WHENEVER I speak to a director at Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley about BarCap, Barclays Bank’s investment banking arm, I am reminded by them that it takes a very long time to build up a sustainable leading position in the equity markets. As Barclays geared up for publication of its financial results last Friday, questions [...]
Merchant House slumps February 13, 2012 SHARES in broker Merchant House dropped by a sixth yesterday after it said it was transferring money from Dorset stockbroker Pritchard, whose activities have been restricted by the Financial Services Authority. The stock closed down 16.67 per cent at 0.1p. Merchant said the cash held by Pritchard, in the structured products group, is safe because [...]
