Osborne’s tax guru slams North Sea raid May 2, 2011 THE government’s own tax tsar has attacked the chancellor’s surprise tax raid on North Sea oil and gas producers, just days after British Gas owner Centrica warned it could shut one of its fields in response to the windfall levy. John Whiting, head of the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS), told City A.M. the North [...]
Row between government ministers intensifies as polls show No campaign in lead May 2, 2011 THE SPAT between heavyweight politicians over swapping Britain’s electoral system for the Alternative Vote (AV) is heating up, as the country prepares to go to the polls later this week. Former Labour minister Lord Boateng will today label Lib Dem heavyweight Chris Huhne as a “wannabe”, after the energy secretary slammed the “No to AV” [...]
Chrysler posts first profit since 2009 after new cars help it emerge from shadow of bankruptcy May 2, 2011 CHRYSLER Group has reported its first quarterly net profit since emerging from bankruptcy nearly two years ago, helped by a revamped lineup and higher vehicle prices. Chrysler’s first-quarter net income came to $116m (£70m), compared with a net loss of $197m a year earlier, as revenue shot up 35 per cent to $13.1bn. The company [...]
TNT mail unit losses rise ahead of split May 2, 2011 DUTCH delivery group TNT yesterday reported a worse-than-expected performance in its mail unit, adding to the woes in its global express division, in what are set to be its last earnings before it splits the units into two companies. The company’s postal unit missed first-quarter operating profit estimates, disappointing investors already worried about the express [...]
Euro banks must refinance half of their debt by 2013 May 2, 2011 EUROPEAN banking M&A activity was largely replaced by government capital injections last year, the European Commission (EC) has said in a research report presented in Brussels yesterday, compounding fears that the EU could now be host to a legion of “zombie banks”. In its annual financial stability and integration report for 2010, the EC said [...]
Teva tops Valeant offer to agree $7bn bid for specialty pillmaker Cephalon May 2, 2011 TEVA Pharmaceutical Industries has agreed a deal to buy US specialty drugmaker Cephalon for nearly $7bn (£4.2bn), topping an unsolicited bid by Canada’s Valeant Pharmaceuticals International and boosting its brand-name business. Teva’s $81.50-a-share deal is a nearly 12 per cent premium over Valeant’s $73-a-share offer, which Valeant made public on 29 March. Israel-based Teva is [...]
Greece asks for debt extension as True Finns hint at vote for bailout May 2, 2011 GREECE is attempting to negotiate another extension in the terms of its bailout loans so as to avoid a full-scale restructuring of its public debt. Finance minister George Papaconstantinou promised to crack down on tax evasion in return for lengthening the maturity of Athens’ €110bn (£98bn) seven-year rescue funds, which are already extended from their [...]
Weber steps down as Trichet warns of crisis May 2, 2011 NEW Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann took the helm of the Eurozone’s most important national central bank yesterday amid warnings that the region’s crisis still has more rounds to come. “We are still living in a very demanding environment. The crisis is not over,” ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet told Weidmann at the ceremony, in which Bundesbank [...]
Sony offers freebies after hack attack May 2, 2011 SONY shares edged up yesterday after it offered customers free access to its online network to compensate for hackers stealing the personal details of up to 78m gamers. The network faces an uphill struggle to win around millions of disillusioned members of its PlayStation Network after a security breach potentially gave hackers access to members’ [...]
Earnings successes still marred by inflation May 2, 2011 THE past week has seen global equity markets, especially in the US, boosted by better than expected corporate earnings. Investors moved further back into equities, betting once again that sovereign debt, nuclear troubles in Japan and higher commodity prices won’t turn out to be sufficient headwinds to blow corporates off course. In Britain, the impact [...]
