Majority owner Sprint offers up $2.1bn to buy rest of Clearwire December 13, 2012 SPRINT Nextel, the majority owner of Clearwire, has offered $2.1bn (£1.3bn) to buy the rest of the wireless service provider, but it will likely have to offer more money in order to secure a deal. Clearwire, which said it is reviewing the offer, saw its shares jump more than 11 per cent to $3.06 after [...]
KPMG’s global revenues jump 1.4 per cent to a record $23bn December 13, 2012 KPMG’s global revenues hit a record $23bn (£14.3bn) for the year to the end of September, the professional services firm said yesterday. Turnover rose 4.4 per cent in local terms across the business, or 1.4 per cent including currency movements. Chairman Michael Andrew said performance had grown weaker during the year. “2012 was a year [...]
National Express on track with revenues December 13, 2012 TRANSPORT company National Express said yesterday that it is on track to deliver a good revenue and profit performance for 2012. Its coach division, which covers 1,000 destinations in the UK, expects a four per cent rise in passenger volume in 2012, while revenues from non-concession passengers rose two per cent. The rise comes after [...]
West Coast failures could cost even more December 13, 2012 THE BOTCHED West Coast rail franchise contest could cost the public purse millions of pounds more to put right, the Department for Transport’s top civil servant admitted yesterday. MPs on the public accounts committee pointed out yesterday that the original competition cost £1.9m, but the DfT has so far spent a “mind-blowing” £2.7m on preparing [...]
Do you think Eric Schmidt is right to be proud of Google’s UK tax plans? December 13, 2012 IMRAN KAHN BANK OF ENGLAND If they feel it’s within the borders of good ethics, I guess they can. But I think they should follow the lead of Starbucks in order to preserve integrity in the eyes of the consumer. SARAH ROBERTS INDEMNITY RISK SOLUTIONS I don’t blame Google for avoiding tax, that’s the way [...]
Henderson loses Pennant-Rae to Royal London December 13, 2012 CITY grandee Rupert Pennant-Rea yesterday announced he was standing down as chairman of FTSE 250 money manager Henderson Group at the group’s next annual meeting. Pennant-Rea, 64, will move to take up the chairmanship of financial services firm Royal London Group following his departure from Henderson in March next year. His successor has yet to [...]
Shock departure of WH Ireland boss causes shares to plummet December 13, 2012 CITY broker WH Ireland saw its share price collapse yesterday after the sudden departure of its chief executive Paul Compton. The group, which helped found the Manchester Stock Exchange in 1836, crashed 27.5 per cent after announcing Compton had left the business with “immediate effect”. It did not give further details. A spokeswoman for the [...]
New regulator to ban banks from competing too aggressively for more lending business December 13, 2012 BANKS will be banned from competing “too aggressively” to raise market share, as regulators fear it will encourage other firms to follow suit in a race to the bottom, undermining financial stability, new guidance showed yesterday. The Prudential Regulation Authority will also seek to stop large insurers with huge investment portfolios from affecting asset prices [...]
Maria Miller investigated over expenses December 13, 2012 CULTURE secretary Maria Miller will be investigated over her expenses, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards confirmed yesterday. Miller, who has been accused of claiming allowances on the house her parents live in, received the full backing of David Cameron. The Prime Minister said she had “excellent answers” to questions about her expenses.
Dealmakers at The Savoy for M&A knees up December 13, 2012 TO The Savoy on Wednesday evening, for one of the final awards dos in The Capitalist’s diary before the Square Mile goes into hibernation for the festive period. The occasion this week was the Mergermarket European M&A Awards 2012, hosted by Daily Politics presenter and Spectator chairman Andrew Neil. The annual ceremony awards the biggest [...]