Broadbent: Construction set to start growing again this spring October 29, 2012 PUBLIC sector spending on construction is stabilising and private activity is growing, meaning the sector will at last start to recover early next year, a top policymaker said yesterday. The Bank of England’s Ben Broadbent believes the industry has also begun to overcome its long productivity problems, again contributing to growth. Official data show the [...]
India’s attempts to cut deficit may see interest rates slashed October 29, 2012 INDIA’S central bank faces growing pressure to cut interest rates today for the first time since April after the finance minister pledged to rein in the country’s fiscal deficit. Remarks by finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram at a hastily called news conference yesterday that he would nearly halve the deficit in just over four years had [...]
Amplats makes miners offer to return to work October 29, 2012 MINER Anglo American Platinum yesterday offered an olive branch to striking miners, offering for them to return to work no later than 7am this morning to end a six week strike that has crippled production. The world’s largest platinum miner, which has been in discussions with the recognised South African unions, yesterday reached an agreement [...]
Premier Oil bondholders jump at offer for convertible swaps October 29, 2012 PREMIER Oil’s offer of a convertible bond swap has been met with strong demand from investors. Holders representing more than 98 per cent of $250m (£156m) worth of Premier Oil’s convertible bonds due in 2014 elected to swap into guaranteed convertible bonds due in 2018, the oil and gas company said yesterday. The new bonds, [...]
O2 Germany set to raise €1.5bn in year’s biggest European IPO October 29, 2012 EUROPE’s biggest initial public offering (IPO) this year, of the German branch of O2 owner Telefonica, is set to raise about €1.5bn (£1.2bn), the Spanish telecoms giant said yesterday. The Frankfurt-listed company, also called O2, is expected to begin trading today at €5.60 per share. The IPO is Germany’s biggest since 2007 when engine manufacturer [...]
NBC wins rights to broadcast UK Premier League football games for next two seasons October 29, 2012 NBC Universal has won the US broadcast rights to show Premier League games for the next two seasons beating current rights holders Fox, the football league said yesterday. The deal raises major questions over the future of Fox Soccer Channel, which has now lost rights to North America’s Major League Soccer, Italy’s Serie A and [...]
Tetragon buys hedgie Polygon October 29, 2012 Tetragon Financial Group yesterday bought Polygon Management, once one of the world’s biggest hedge funds and a high-profile casualty of the financial crisis, for $98.5m (£61.4m), to expand its asset management business. Tetragon said it will use 11.7m of its non-voting shares to buy Polygon, founded in 2002 by Paddy Dear and Reade Griffith, as [...]
Ford rated low for reliability October 29, 2012 Ford tumbled to nearly the bottom of an annual survey of vehicle reliability due to flaws in its touch-screen navigation and entertainment system, while Japanese automaker Toyota swept the top three spots. In a Consumer Reports survey released yesterday, Ford fell seven spots to 27th of 28 brands surveyed overall, while its upscale Lincoln brand [...]
Correction October 29, 2012 In our edition on 29 October, City A.M. wrote that ESPN had sold the British TV rights to football leagues including the Italian Serie A, the American MLS and the French Ligue 1 to BT ahead of the launch of BT’s new sports channel. What we should have said is that BT has purchased the [...]
Blinkx shares rocket as election and Olympics drive ad growth October 29, 2012 VIDEO search engine Blinkx saw shares rise by 25 per cent yesterday as the company said the Olympics and US elections had driven more people to its website. The search engine, which trawls content from video sites including YouTube, said it expects profits of around $2.4m (£1.5m) for the six months ending 30 September. City [...]
