EasyJet bets sales on business travellers March 28, 2011 EASYJET will target business customers to boost sales, according to chief executive Carolyn McCall. The second largest budget airline in Europe is testing a Flexifare system, which offers business travellers preferential boarding, free hold luggage and the ability to change planes just two hours before flight time. “We have been testing this since November and [...]
Don’t judge growth plans yet March 28, 2011 DEPSITE stronger than anticipated volume growth in February, shares in easyJet are yet to recover from the 16 per cent tumble they took in mid-January, when the airline warned that first-half losses could double to £160m due to fuel costs and lost revenue from poor winter weather. Though total revenue for the fourth quarter of [...]
Cable to look at Lloyds case March 28, 2011 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable will take legal advice on publishing a dossier that could be potentially embarrassing for his predecessor Peter Mandelson and shine a light on Lloyds TSB’s merger with HBOS, he told City A.M. yesterday. It is the first sign that Cable could push for the release of a document that he called [...]
Osorio seeks to fill £15bn funding gap before auction March 28, 2011 LLOYDS needs to find funding to fill a £15bn-£20bn black hole in the accounts of the 600 branches it is trying to sell off in the coming months, according to a source familiar with the situation. New chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio wants to move quickly to offload the branches, which the bank is required to [...]
ECB set to offer struggling Irish banks a medium-term lifeline March 28, 2011 THE European Central Bank is working on a plan to keep struggling Irish banks afloat in the medium term. The new facility, which would replace the use of the Emergency Liquidity Assistance programme, would give Irish banks more time to shrink their assets and reduce their dependence on emergency funding. Ireland’s banks have an estimated [...]
ITV may buy to boost its studios arm March 28, 2011 ITV may grow its struggling studios division through acquisitions, according to its chief executive Adam Crozier. The broadcaster is desperate to strengthen the division to provide a revenue stream that is less volatile than advertising income. A bounce-back in the ad market trebled ITV’s pre-tax profits to £321m last year. However, it saw a steep [...]
Libyan rebels retake towns from Gaddafi March 28, 2011 LIBYA’S ramshackle rebel army pushed west yesterday to retake a series of towns from the forces of Muammar Gaddafi as they pulled back under pressure from Western air strikes. Emboldened by the capture of the strategic town of Ajdabiyah with the help of foreign warplanes on Saturday, the rebels have within two days dramatically reversed [...]
PM backs the City’s start-up business plans March 28, 2011 DAVID Cameron will today back a campaign launched by over 60 City firms to encourage people to become entrepreneurs. Firms including HSBC, Deloitte, Google, KMPG, BlackBerry, AXA, Coutts, Intel and Lloyds TSB are offering a package of £1,500 to every start-up that participates. Cameron will pledge his full support for the scheme and ask the [...]
Japanese radiation levels have soared March 28, 2011 JAPAN is now resigned to a long fight to contain the world’s worst atomic crisis in 25 years after high radiation levels complicated work at its crippled nuclear plant. Engineers have been battling to control the six-reactor Fukushima complex since it was damaged by a 11 March earthquake and tsunami that also left more than [...]
Porsche revs up for €5bn share issue and Volkswagen merger March 28, 2011 DEBT-LADEN German carmaker Porsche has approved an almost €5bn (£4.4bn) capital increase, clearing the way for a merger with Volkswagen. Porsche said last night it had fixed the subscription price for the new ordinary and preferred shares — which will have dividend rights starting as of August 1, 2010 – at €38 apiece, and the [...]
