Manchester United takes a dive on profit but remains upbeat September 18, 2012 MANCHESTER United paid the price for its lack of trophies last season with a £14.9m operational loss in the three months to the end of June. And for the year to 30 June, the recently-floated football club reported pre-tax profit that fell by 16.5 per cent to £91.6m while total revenues dropped three per cent [...]
Oil slides on Saudi supply September 18, 2012 OIL futures fell for a second day running yesterday after Opec’s top producer Saudi Arabia hinted that it could boost production to ease soaring prices. Brent crude has lost 4.25 per cent since Monday, settling yesterday at $112.03 a barrel. A Gulf source said Saudi Arabia would like to see oil prices back at around [...]
Change at the top of Goldman Sachs September 18, 2012 Goldman Sachs’ long-time chief financial officer David Viniar will retire at the end of January and be replaced by Harvey Schwartz, the global co-head of securities, the investment bank said last night. Schwartz, 48, is among a small group of executives who are considered candidates for the top position when Lloyd Blankfein eventually leaves, although [...]
HMRC launches crackdown on London lawyers September 18, 2012 THE LEGAL industry reacted with surprise yesterday after Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) announced a crackdown on tax dodging by London lawyers, with the aim of recovering up to £3m in missed payments. “It is not, at present, clear to us exactly why the legal profession has been targeted by HMRC,” said Michael Todd, [...]
New UK takeover rules lessen uncertainty for target firms September 18, 2012 NEW measures to identify takeover bidders and tighter offer rules have almost halved the amount of time that target firms spend “under siege”, research out today claims. In a wide-ranging survey to mark the first anniversary of UK’s new Takeover Code – brought in partly as a response to the furore over Kraft’s acquisition of [...]
UK falls to 12th in economic freedom table September 18, 2012 THE UK dropped four places in worldwide rankings of economic freedom, falling out of the top ten for the first time since the early 1980s, a Canadian think-tank said yesterday. The UK dropped from eighth to 12th – leapfrogged by Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, Finland and Mauritius, according to the Fraser Institute. The United [...]
Ashley’s move for JJB thrown by new interest September 18, 2012 SPORTS DIRECT’S bid for JJB has taken a setback as new offers for the retailer have surfaced, with Mike Ashley’s firm no longer considered the frontrunner for the bid. Irish consortium Stafford Group has launched a late bid for JJB, while JD Sports and JJB founder Dave Whelan have pulled out of talks, it emerged [...]
Apple shares hit fresh record September 18, 2012 SHARES in Apple hit a record high yesterday as momentum over the launch of the iPhone 5 pushed the stock past $700 for the first time. After the firm sold more than 2m iPhones in the first 24 hours of pre-orders, Carphone Warehouse revealed it had taken more than four times as many orders for [...]
Economists call for pay change September 18, 2012 THE PUBLIC sector should bring an end to national pay bargaining, an open letter from 25 leading economists claimed yesterday. National pay structures distort labour markets and thereby harm public services, the senior academics said. This will be a boon to chancellor George Osborne, who had planned to move to a localised system, before coming [...]
Dulux boss is off with stress September 18, 2012 TON Buchner, the chief executive of Dulux maker Akzo Nobel, is taking a leave of absence for several weeks due to fatigue. Buchner, who has been in post since April, will return to work in the first half of October. Chief financial officer Keith Nichols will run the Dutch firm temporarily.
