BP’s Russian partners plot to block dividends January 31, 2011 BP’s RUSSIAN partners are attempting to derail the payment of the firm’s final dividend payment of last year in a row over exploration contracts. AAR, a vehicle for the billionaires who own half of Russian venture TNK-BP, said at an extraordinary board meeting yesterday that it plans to block TNK-BP interim dividends amounting to $1.8bn [...]
Ryanair posts quarterly loss due to snow January 31, 2011 RYANAIR blamed its €10m (£8.5m) quarterly loss yesterday on strikes, fuel costs and disruption caused by the weather yesterday, and pledged to take its fight against flight compensation rules to the European courts. The budget airline said it still expects to make a net profit for the year to March towards the top of its [...]
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF RYANAIR’S RESULTS? January 31, 2011 DAVID BUIK | BGC CAPITAL I thought the results were good. Ryanair is excellent at cutting costs when sales are lower, and the fact that the firm has hedged its fuel costs for the next year is pretty smart. The company does what it does very well, and under the circumstances of the snow and [...]
RYANAIR VS COMPENSATION LAW January 31, 2011 Q.WHAT RULES ARE RYANAIR CHALLENGING? A.Passengers flying within or into the European Economic Area can claim compensation if their flights are cancelled, and are also entitled to meals, two telephone calls and accommodation while awaiting a later flight. The rights also apply if a long-haul flight is delayed by more than four hours, or less [...]
Introductionto Bribery laws delayed January 31, 2011 GOVERNMENT guidance on the Bribery Act will not be released this week as expected, pushing back implementation until at least May. A Ministry of Justice spokesman told City A.M. that the guidance had been delayed to allow “more time … to make sure the Act is fit for purpose and as comprehensive as possible,” directly [...]
Towergate in £200m injection January 31, 2011 ADVENT International has agreed to invest £200m in insurance intermediary Towergate Partnership. Advent, a global private equity firm, will acquire separate shareholdings in both Towergate and Cullum Capital Ventures as part of the deal. The deal, conditional upon Towergate raising new debt facilities through the bank and bond markets, is expected to be completed in [...]
Ian Cheshire to join the DWP board as non-exec January 31, 2011 IAN Cheshire has been appointed as the lead non-executive member on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) board. The outspoken Kingfisher chief executive is no stranger to politics. He threw his weight behind a high profile campaign by the Tories to reverse a hike in National Insurance, proposed by Labour before their election defeat. [...]
MPs line up to support fiscal education for all January 31, 2011 MORE than 140 MPs signed up to the first all-party political group (APPG) in support of compulsory financial education in schools yesterday, with members hoping to push the group’s agenda to the forefront of curriculum reform. The APPG was launched by MP Justin Tomlinson with the Personal Finance Education Group (PFeg), and Martin Lewis, founder [...]
Plan to extend Greek debts gathers pace January 31, 2011 SUPPORT is growing in the Eurozone for the idea of giving Greece more time to pay back its EU bailout in an effort to avoid a default, although details still have to be pinned down. Greek finance minister George Papaconstantinou said yesterday that there was no official proposal on the table, but added: “It is [...]
European financial stocks rise in January January 31, 2011 FINANCIAL stocks across Europe staged a remarkable rebound in January as the Eurozone stabilised. Progress on sovereign debt issues and the success of the €5bn (£4.3bn) European Financial Stability Fund bond issue last week proved a powerful driver for financial stock indices, which outperformed all other sectors. The FTSE Eurofirst insurance index gained 9.53 per [...]
