Wall St rallies on Europe but Apple disappoints after hours October 18, 2011 US stocks surged late in trading yesterday as buyers latched onto another report of agreements to strengthen the euro zone’s rescue fund to bid up stocks aggressively. All three major indexes rose sharply after the Guardian newspaper said France and Germany will increase the euro zone’s rescue fund to €2 trillion as part of a [...]
Xstrata hit by South African mining strike October 18, 2011 ANGLO-SWISS miner Xstrata has warned that its South African coal operations were “significantly impacted” by a strike over an employee share ownership programme, but said that customer deliveries had not yet been affected. Thousands of workers belonging to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) have walked off the job since Sunday, the union said, demanding [...]
WPP boss looks to mobile future for the ad industry October 18, 2011 SIR Martin Sorrell yesterday laid out his vision for the future of the advertising industry, stressing the importance of social media and the shift to emerging markets. He also said mobile advertising is an increasingly vital part of the industry, with the number of smartphones expected to increase to 2bn in the next five years. However, WPP’s [...]
Clarity says it may receive new bid soon October 18, 2011 CLARITY Commerce yesterday said it is in talks with a number of suitors and expects to receive a better offer than the one tabled by Jon Moulton’s Enigmatic Investments. The Clarity board reiterated its recommendation to shareholders to reject the Enigmatic bid, which it says undervalues the company and its prospects. It said: “The board is [...]
Air France-KLM replaces its chief exec October 18, 2011 AIR FRANCE-KLM ousted its chief executive yesterday and recalled the chief architects of the Franco-Dutch merger with a brief to eradicate losses while preparing for an anointed successor. Europe’s largest airline by revenues, which has fallen behind peers due to a cocktail of costs, debts and competition, said after board talks that recovery and improving performance [...]
Qantas forced to ground planes as dispute deepens October 18, 2011 AUSTRALIA’S Qantas Airways has grounded two more planes due to an escalating industrial dispute which threatens to disrupt thousands of domestic flights leading up to the crucial Christmas period. Qantas warned yesterday of a maintenance backlog as aircraft engineers threatened to continue work bans until the end of the year, sending its shares down more [...]
Basel III and derivative rules get FSB priority October 18, 2011 THE FINANCIAL Stability Board (FSB) published its top six priorities for banking reform yesterday. Basel III, OTC derivative reforms, pay changes, systemically important bank measures and resolution frameworks were all declared to be FSB priorities. The body plans to track progress towards the implementation of legislation promoting these G20 initiatives. The selection process was “based [...]
Lloyds is harnessing the 2012 Games as a transformational opportunity October 18, 2011 COUNTDOWN TO THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES 282 DAYS TO GO Sally Hancock sets out why Lloyds Banking Group became a partner of the 2012 Olympics Q. What was your brand’s primary reason for being involved with the Games? A. We became the first National Partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games for [...]
It is time that business got its hands dirty – by helping rebuild the nation’s schools October 18, 2011 FOR business leaders there can be few, if any, more critical issues than the way that we educate the workforce of tomorrow. How the UK approaches education reform over the coming years will determine how successfully it closes the skills gap that threatens our future prosperity. So any good business leader knows that he or [...]
The City must be on guard for the EU’s legal angels October 18, 2011 FROM its inception, the EU has not been a simple, straightforward entity with clear rules and methods of working. Each EU treaty is an amendment of the previous one – and incorporates any number of opt-outs, derogations and allowances, not just for “national specificities” but also to allow latitude of interpretation for the EU institutions [...]
