Start-ups could create UK’s own Silicon Valley March 29, 2011 A glance at the online sector of BrandIndex quickly reveals the truth behind the belief that tech start-up success is dominated by the West Coast of the US. The top seven brands contain the Mountain View based Google and Firefox (Mozilla), San Bruno’s Youtube, San Jose’s Ebay, and Facebook which share YouGov’s US HQ’s home [...]
Wal-Mart opposes sex-bias case at class-action suit filed in the US March 29, 2011 SEVERAL US Supreme Court justices questioned yesterday whether female employees at Wal-Mart can proceed with the largest class-action sex-discrimination lawsuit in history that seeks billions of dollars. At issue in the case was whether a small group of women who began the lawsuit 10 years ago against the world’s largest retailer can represent a huge [...]
UBS: Barclays too big for UK March 29, 2011 BARCLAYS will have no choice but to consider leaving the UK, according to prominent UBS banks analyst John Paul-Crutchley. In a note to investors asking if the bank could be “the first to leave” London, Paul-Crutchley said yesterday that Barlcays and JP Morgan are “broadly comparable”, except that the Fed has given JP Morgan permission [...]
Pay likely to rise as firms court talent March 29, 2011 FOUR in ten chief financial officers in the finance industry plan to increase bonuses over the next six months, according to a survey by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and recruiter Robert Half. Forty-three per cent of those planning bonus rises for their staff are looking to increase them by [...]
Commerzbank could pay back more of bailout March 29, 2011 COMMERZBANK has signalled it may pay back more state bailout money this year than originally planned, with sources close to the bank saying some details may be published as early as next week. “This year, we are already looking to repay a sum running into the billions, while at the same time maintaining a healthy [...]
Goldman regains lead on back of Continental deal March 29, 2011 GOLDMAN Sachs yesterday regained pole position in the EMEA equity capital markets (ECM) tables as a result of its role in the sale of $2.5bn (£1.8bn) of shares in German auto-parts supplier Continental. The bank, which is sole bookrunner on the Continental deal, had slipped behind Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the EMEA ECM [...]
HESTER: EXPECT TWO RATE RISES IN 2011 March 29, 2011 RBS expects the Bank of England to raise interest rates twice this year even though the economic and market environment remains uncertain, chief executive Stephen Hester said yesterday at the Morgan Stanley European Financials Conference. He said that “two steady rate rises” should boost RBS’s net interest margin. RBS said it was keeping its target [...]
Kazakhmys boosts profit March 29, 2011 Kazakhmys, the world’s 10th largest copper miner, said yesterday its full-year profit jumped 74 per cent thanks to higher metal prices. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, excluding special items, rose to $2.84bn (£1.8bn). The figure included a $903m contribution from its 26 per cent stake in Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC). Earlier this [...]
Hochschild sees lower production March 29, 2011 Latin American precious metals group Hochschild Mining forecast lower production for 2011 and said costs would continue to rise, after record gold and silver prices boosted profits for 2010. The company expects production to drop by nearly 15 per cent in 2011 as it moved to lower output at its Arcata mine in Peru, while [...]
Afren bullish on targets for 2011 March 29, 2011 Africa-focused oil and gas company Afren said production operations at a key field in Nigeria have started, giving it confidence it would reach its output targets this year. Afren said oil production from its Ebok project started in February, behind its earlier goal of October, but in line with guidance it gave in December, as [...]
