IATA boss: airlines need more mergers April 12, 2010 CONSOLIDATION in the airline industry is essential to cut costs and improve competitiveness, according to Giovanni Bisignani, the director-general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). During a trip to Japan, Bisignani said: “Mergers and consolidation is a must … I strongly support consolidation.” He also urged the Japanese government to “continue to push for [...]
BA strike takes its toll on traffic at London airports April 12, 2010 HEATHROW saw 180,000 fewer passengers in March due to the strike action launched by British Airways cabin crew, according to BAA. The airports operator, majority owned by Spain’s Grupo Ferrovial, yesterday said that Heathrow handled 5.2m passengers last month, a 0.4 per cent increase. But passenger numbers would have risen by 3.8 per cent if [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE AIRLINE MERGERS THE ONLY WAY THAT THE LIKES OF BRITISH AIRWAYS CAN SURVIVE? April 12, 2010 FRANK EGER | GLOBAL BULK CARRIERS “I think more mergers are inevitable given the increasing oil and transportation costs. Bigger is better these days, but it was a bad move for British Airways. They shouldn’t have merged with Iberia but somebody like Lufthansa, which is a profitable company. ” RYAN PIPER | GRANT THORNTON “Margins [...]
United Drug hires Brinsmead April 12, 2010 Healthcare services company United Drug has appointed Chris Brinsmead as a non-executive director of the firm. Brinsmead was chairman of AstraZeneca’s UK pharmaceutical division until 31 March and is also president of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry.
Stagecoach shakes up its board April 12, 2010 Stagecoach, the bus and train operator, has revamped its board of directors and appointed Phil White as a non-executive director from 1 June. White was previously chief executive of National Express for ten years until his retirement in 2006. The company also announced that Ian Duffin and Janet Morgan will leave the board on 30 [...]
Rail worker strike talks resume April 12, 2010 Network Rail and the Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union have resumed talks to resolve disputes between rail maintenance workers and management. Strikes were called off last week after an emergency High Court injunction was granted to Network Rail following a legal challenge to the union’s ballot. RMT’s officials will also meet this week to [...]
TRADER CALLS TIME ON SPOOF BAILOUT April 12, 2010 STRANGE happenings in cyber-space yesterday as a spoof charity site that has been causing much hilarity in the City was mysteriously whipped off the Web. The site in question was masterminded by Standard Bank bonds trader Jim Croft, who decided last week to set up a tongue-in-cheek JustGiving page to help raise £100m for crisis-stricken [...]
Ronson tops out the City’s Heron Tower April 12, 2010 HERON Tower, the tallest building in the City of London, was yesterday “topped out” at a ceremony held by the developer Heron International and construction firm Skanska. The 46-storey development, near Liverpool Street Station, is to be completed in February next year and will add 40,836 square metres of commercial office space to the London [...]
Surging demand fuels commercial property recovery April 12, 2010 BUSINESS take-up of commercial property space in the Central London area shot up in the first three months of this year, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, the commercial real estate services company. Total take-up was 3.5m square feet, an increase of 20 per cent from the fourth quarter in 2009, and was largely driven by [...]
BASF set to make bid for Cognis April 12, 2010 The world’s largest chemical producer, BASF, is looking to buy Cognis. The bid, which could come as early as next week, would value the German maker of additives for cosmetics and detergents at about €3bn (£2.6bn). The owners of Cognis, Permira and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners turned down takeover offers for Cognis in 2006 as [...]
