Boost for January’s sales February 6, 2011 DOOM and gloom forecasts for the British high street have yet to materialise, according the latest BDO sales tracker, released today. In January, sales for retailers with revenues between £5m and £500m were up 9.1 per cent compared to the same time last year, said BDO. Consumers have been taking advantage of “VAT busting” offers [...]
CBI: small factory jobs growth hits 15-year peak February 6, 2011 DOMESTIC demand for British produced goods picked up in the three months to January, boosting production for small manufacturers, a Confederation for British Industry (CBI) survey showed today. And small and medium sized manufacturing companies are increasingly optimistic about export prospects for the year ahead. While the growth in domestic orders remained modest, it accelerated [...]
Time running out for Merlin February 6, 2011 THE Treasury is anxious to get banks to agree to an industry-wide lending commitment under “Project Merlin” before earnings season starts. But time is running out for the initiative to improve the industry’s image. Barclays will kick off the major UK banks’ full-year results season next Tuesday, with its new chief executive Bob Diamond expected to receive [...]
US bonus rules promise to be less strict than EU regulation February 6, 2011 REGULATORS in the US are today expected to unveil a set of less restrictive bonus regulations than those adopted by the EU in December. Although the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) is thought to be planning a similar set of headline rules, the details will be less prescriptive. The FDIC is expected to 50 per cent [...]
UBS to slash its variable pay pot despite concerns on keeping staff February 6, 2011 UBS will pay out less money in bonuses for 2010 than in the previous year. The Swiss bank’s total bonus pool for its some 65,000 employees will amount to SFr4.3bn (£2.8bn), compared with SFr4.8bn for 2009. One reason for the lower amount was that UBS raised the fixed part of employees’ salaries by 10 to [...]
HSBC BOSS COULD GET £9M PAYOUT February 6, 2011 HSBC yesterday insisted that its remuneration committee had not yet met to discuss the pay packet of its chief executive, as speculation mounted that Stuart Gulliver was in line for a bonus of around £9m. Yesterday, sources close to the bank pointed out that HSBC makes 90 per cent of its profits outside of the UK.
Regal backs Energees bid February 6, 2011 UKRAINIAN investment vehicle Energees Management raised its offer for Regal Petroleum from 24p to 38p per share yesterday, in the latest volley between bidders for the London-listed oil explorer. The Regal board has backed the £85m bid for up to 70 per cent of the firm’s share capital. Hadron Capital and Renaissance Securities, who own [...]
Hayward may join Abu Dhabi firm February 6, 2011 Former BP chief executive Tony Hayward has been approached to launch a new oil firm backed by an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, it is understood. Hayward is understood to be in the early stages of considering an offer from Mubadala, a fund aimed at diversifying Abu Dhabi’s economy. Hayward and Mubadala could not be [...]
Time Warner considers IPC sale February 6, 2011 US entertainment giant Time Warner has denied that it is considering a sale of IPC media, the publishing house behind NME, Marie Claire and Nuts magazine. The company carried out a strategic review of the magazine publishing unit. Time Warner acquired IPC Media from Cinven in 2001 for £1.15bn. A Time Warner spokesman said: “Of [...]
Government eyes new levy on non-doms February 6, 2011 THE government is considering plans for a fresh crackdown on non-doms, which could see the existing levy extended at the Budget in March. In April 2008, the Labour government introduced a £30,000 annual charge for non-doms who had been living in the UK for seven years or more. Non doms are people resident in the UK [...]
