Plans for flat-rate pension April 4, 2011 THE coalition yesterday unveiled plans to introduce a new universal state pension of £141-a-week. Currently, the basic state pension is £97.65-a-week, rising to £132.60 for those who receive means-tested pension credits. But the government says it can afford to hike the amount all pensioners receive because it is scrapping the costly means testing system. The [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 4, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES LIBYAN REBELS SET FOR FIRST CRUDE EXPORTS Libyan rebels are set for their first oil export as soon as Tuesday as they seek funding to sustain their uprising against Muammer Gaddafi’s rule. The Liberia-flagged Equator tanker was off Port Said, Egypt, early on Monday and is expected to dock at the Marsa el-Hariga [...]
Obama starts bid for re-election April 4, 2011 US President Barack Obama launched his re-election campaign yesterday, pledging to finish the job he started and asking supporters for a record $1bn (£620m) in donations to fund his push for a second term in the White House. Obama is the first candidate to throw his hat in the ring for the 2012 presidential elections. [...]
Rockhopper rises on Falkland oil April 4, 2011 Rockhopper saw its shares jump 16 per cent yesterday after announcing that its Sea Lion discovery in the Falkland Islands is three times bigger than previously thought. Rockhopper put a low case estimate on the oil reserves at 155m barrels of recoverable oil yesterday, compared to 57m barrels predicted last June. The London-listed firm wholly [...]
Top Goldman man quits to join Hayward April 4, 2011 GOLDMAN Sachs’s head of UK investment banking is leaving to move on to an investment opportunity with former BP chief executive Tony Hayward, according to sources familiar with the matter. Julian Metherell (pictured), who has been with Goldman since 1999, is an oil and gas specialist whose clients included BP, Centrica and Petrofac. One senior [...]
Record drop in mortgage debt at end of 2010 April 4, 2011 BRITONS are no longer withdrawing equity from their houses to fuel consumer spending, official data suggests. Outstanding mortgage debt plummeted by £7bn in the final three months of last year — a record fall in debt — the Bank of England revealed yesterday. The figure sharply contrasts with levels of mortgage debt prior to the [...]
Chip firms in $6.5bn deal April 4, 2011 US chip-maker Texas Instruments is buying National Semiconductor for a whopping $6.5bn (£4bn) in cash, the companies announced yesterday. The deal combines two of the biggest makers of analogue chips, which are found in everything from mobile phones to industrial equipment. Under the terms of the deal, which has been unanimously approved by the boards [...]
Elliott trades blows with Nat Express April 4, 2011 NATIONAL Express and its activist investor Elliott Advisors exchanged further salvos yesterday ahead of its annual general meeting on 10 May. National Express’s chairman John Devaney hit back at Elliott’s proposal to add three directors to the board, telling shareholders it hired search firms to find new candidates “some weeks ago”. Elliott said the board [...]
The activist fund with a taste for court action April 4, 2011 The hedge fund currently terrorising companies including National Express and Actelion is a fearsome opponent in boardroom battles. Elliott Advisors is the UK arm of Elliott Management, one of the oldest hedge funds in the world with $17bn (£10.5bn) of assets. Founded by Harvard law graduate Paul Singer in 1977, it has turned defending shareholder [...]
Second senior exec set to leave Betfair April 4, 2011 ONLINE gambling firm Betfair is set to lose its second senior executive in as many days, with Mathias Entenmann, the firm’s chief products and services officer, due to follow LMAX chief executive Robin Osmond out of the door. It is understood that Entenmann will leave to relocate back to Germany with his family, where he [...]
