Diageo looks to buy spirits firm December 9, 2010 Liquor company Diageo is in early-stage “exploratory” talks to buy Turkish spirits company Mey Icki in a deal valued at up to $2.5bn (£1.58bn). TPG Capital, the owner of Mey Icki, has been exploring an initial public offering of stock in the company. TPG, which bought the firm for about $800m in 2006, may still [...]
Morgan Stanley plans bonus cut December 9, 2010 Morgan Stanley is planning to pay empoyees bonuses that are 10 to 30 per cent smaller this year, owing to volatile market conditions, it was reported last night. Several managing directors who oversee groups of employees have been informed of the bonus estimates, which are preliminary and subject to change in the coming weeks, one [...]
Bank levy to raise £2.5bn for Treasury December 9, 2010 THE government yesterday finalised legislation imposing a levy on banks that will raise £2.5bn for the treasury, with the tax to be charged at 0.05 per cent next year and 0.075 per cent in 2012 – although it could be adjusted depending on the tax receipts generated. The rates are higher than anticipated, with the [...]
How to splurge intelligently this Christmas December 9, 2010 1 WATCH OUT FOR THE VAT RISE VAT is going up to 20 per cent on 4 January, so this year don’t wait for the sales to get your big purchases in. According to Santander, 28 per cent of Brits are planning on a pre tax hike spending spree, with people in the South East [...]
Osborne scraps compulsory annuities in pension shake-up December 9, 2010 INVESTORS will be able to spend their pension pots before retirement under new rules unveiled yesterday, as part of a relaxation of pension rules. Employees with defined contribution pension schemes will no longer be forced to buy annuities before the age of 75, and will be allowed to take out up to a years’ worth [...]
Offshore trusts attacked by government tax plans December 9, 2010 THE GOVERNMENT plans to crack down on offshore trusts used to avoid tax on bonuses, it revealed yesterday, as part of its plan to shake up tax rules. Money kept in trusts for employees will be treated as payments to workers and taxed at a higher rate under the government’s 2011 budget plans published yesterday. [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS December 9, 2010 NEW INVESTMENT MANAGER AT SPARK Albion Ventures has been appointed the investment manager of SPARK VCT and SPARK VCT 2, both technology venture capital investment funds. SPARK is planning to move its fund management focus away from retail funds and towards regional and institutional funds, and is bringing in a new manager to try to achieve that. They also [...]
HMV shares plunge as its losses mount December 9, 2010 HMV shares dropped nearly 17 per cent yesterday as poor trading figures laid bare the company’s failing turnaround plan. The music, DVD, games and books retailer posted a worse-than-expected widening in first-half losses. Its share price dropped 16.57 per cent yesterday, to 36.50p HMV made an underlying pre-tax loss of £41.3m for the six months [...]
CAN HMV BOUNCE BACK FROM THESE RESULTS? December 9, 2010 KEITH BOWMAN| HARGREAVES LANSDOWN These results do little to ease fears that HMV is slowly being consigned to the history books. The group’s products are made for the internet, whilst the supermarket operators continue to utilise entertainment products as shop window offerings – with many probably acting as loss leaders. FREDDIE GEORGE| SEYMOUR PIERCE Following [...]
Banks propel FTSE upwards after interest rates decision December 9, 2010 BANKS helped Britain’s top shares rise yesterday after the Bank of England kept interest rates and quantitative easing measures unchanged, while US jobs figures raised hopes that a recovery was under way. The FTSE 100 was up 13.43 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 5,807.96, eradicating Wednesday’s losses, though gains were muted, with some traders [...]
