Rating agencies are still far too soft January 16, 2012 MANY people have been outraged by Standard & Poor’s downgrades of so many countries, including France and Austria – and last night, of the European bailout fund itself, now no longer backed by enough AAA-nations to be deemed safe. But those who are angry are deluding themselves. The only scandal is why it has taken [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 16, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES MORRISON COOLS INTEREST IN IRELAND Wm Morrison’s interest in Iceland Foods is cooling, raising doubts about whether Britain’s fourth biggest supermarket chain by market share will mount a £1.5bn bid for the frozen food specialist. Morrison was one of the companies expected to make an offer for Iceland Foods, for which second round [...]
Banks made to reveal pay January 16, 2012 SEVERAL City banks including Goldman Sachs, Citi, UBS and JP Morgan have revealed some details of pay packages for top UK workers, thanks to new EU rules. Goldman Sachs said it paid 95 “code staff” – workers identified as taking risks within the firm – a total of $269.5m in cash, plus 2m restricted stock [...]
BofA chief exec Moynihan gets board backing January 16, 2012 BANK of America chairman Chad Holliday yesterday gave his “100 per cent” support to his under-pressure chief executive Brian Moynihan, who has presided over a steep decline in the group’s share price. Bank of America is the parent company of BoA Merrill Lynch, which employs thousands of bankers in the City. Holliday made the comment [...]
Wiseman brothers to lap up £100m from sale to Müller January 16, 2012 THE family behind Robert Wiseman Dairies is set for a windfall of nearly £100m after agreeing the sale of the firm to German group Müller. Four members of the family – brothers Robert, Alan and Gavin Wiseman and Alan’s wife Margaret – who own 35 per cent of the milk producer, will pocket £98.1m from [...]
Family’s 65 years of the white stuff January 16, 2012 Milk was still sold in cans and delivered by horse and cart when Robert Wiseman set up his dairy in the new town of East Kilbride, near Glasgow, in 1947. The group listed in London in 1994 and today the family business stretches from Keith in northern Scotland to Cornwall, processing and delivering more than [...]
Carnival and insurers see losses mount January 16, 2012 CRUISE operator Carnival saw over £700m wiped from its stock market valuation yesterday as investors and insurers counted the cost of the company’s Costa Concordia ship capsizing off the Italian coast. Analysts at Espirito Santo said the disaster could be the biggest ship claim in maritime history, with insurance claims as high as $1bn (£653m). [...]
Tesco shareholders slam executives’ share trades January 16, 2012 SHAREHOLDERS want Tesco to tighten rules on when its executives can trade shares, after a senior manager sold stock eight days before the company issued a profit warning that hammered its share price. Investors said rules need revising to put greater distance between the timing of share deals by executives and significant company announcements. The [...]
Rogue captain defence is firm’s best hope January 16, 2012 WE all know about rogue traders, but the idea of a rogue captain is pretty new. Costa Cruises, the Italian arm of Carnival, has wasted no time in pointing the finger at the man steering its capsized ship. Just as UBS needed to convince clients a single errant employee was to blame for unauthorised trades [...]
Peacocks and Past Times hit the wall January 16, 2012 PEACOCKS has confirmed it plans to call in administrators after talks with its lenders to restructure £240m of debt collapsed. The board, chaired by former Asda boss Allan Leighton, said it is still in talks with potential investors but had filed its notice of “intention to appoint an administrator” to try and protect the 611-store [...]
