Baer bankers accused of tax evasion role October 12, 2011 US PROSECUTORS indicted two private bankers with Julius Baer for helping wealthy Americans evade taxes, drawing yet another Swiss bank into the crosshairs of the US Justice Department amid a widening crackdown on offshore tax evasion. While the indictment of the two bankers, Daniela Casadei and Fabio Frazzetto, did not name their employer and referred [...]
ASML sees a slowdown in chip industry October 12, 2011 DUTCH chip equipment maker ASML has said that tablets and smartphones are driving the sector, but it sees signs of slowing growth elsewhere in the industry. ASML, seen as a bellwether for the technology sector, said 2012 will be a “difficult year” to forecast. Chief financial officer Peter Wennink said the slowdown in the semiconductor [...]
Online surge spearheads rise in marketing budgets October 12, 2011 MARKETING budgets were revised up in the last quarter, ending a nine month period of decline for the ailing industry, according to the latest IPA/BDO bellwether report. For the first time since the second quarter of 2007, budgets for all sectors were revised up. The internet saw the steepest increase by a wide margin and [...]
Meggitt wins US army contract October 12, 2011 Engineering firm Meggitt yesterday unveiled a $475m (£301.5m) contract to provide the US army with live-fire training ranges. Meggitt, which was promoted to the FTSE 100 index last month, said the fixed-price contract would run over the next five years at US army operations worldwide. Meggitt is working alongside four other companies on the contract, [...]
Infosys earnings soar 10 per cent October 12, 2011 Infosys, India’s second largest software services exporter, yesterday reported a rise in quarterly profit of almost 10 per cent. It also cut its full-year sales outlook by less than expected, easing investor worries of a sharp slowdown in the outsourcing sector. Kicking off results for India’s £48bn IT sector, Infosys shares ended seven per cent [...]
Media Corp sales are on the rise October 12, 2011 Advertising and online gaming group Media Corp said revenues have risen 46 per cent in the year to the end of September, despite challenging market conditions. The firm said unaudited gross profit was up 16 per cent at £5.8m, and that on a like-for-like basis, losses are expected to narrow compared with last year. Chief [...]
Sony to recall 1.6m Bravia TVs October 12, 2011 Sony may recall 1.6m of its Bravia LCD TV screens after failures caused several to melt or emit clouds of smoke. At least 11 TVs in Japan have been struck by the faulty part. The setback is the latest blow for Sony’s struggling TV business, which is heading for its eighth straight year of losses [...]
BAT finalises its acquisition of Protabaco October 12, 2011 British American Tobacco (BAT) has completed its $452m (£270m) swoop for Colombia’s Protabaco. The newly acquired firm is the second largest cigarette company in Colombia, selling 5.5bn domestic cigarettes in 2010. Its biggest brand, Mustang, is the country’s second best selling cigarette with a market share of around 18 per cent. BAT itself sold 708bn [...]
Rockhopper jumps again as it ramps up Falklands project October 12, 2011 ROCKHOPPER Exploration yesterday agreed a deal to give it greater exposure to its oil find in the Falkland Islands, and said it has received interest from potential partners for a major expansion. Rockhopper, which this week lifted its oil estimates for the Sea Lion field by 20 per cent, said it will acquire a 52.5 [...]
UK told to cut taxes on pay and business October 12, 2011 RADICAL changes to the tax system are needed to kick-start business activity and counter unemployment in the absence of strong UK economic growth, two think-tanks have argued. Taxes on employment could be cut by £14bn to create jobs and raise economic growth because current low growth levels threaten the government’s deficit-cutting target, the Centre for [...]
