Cyprus starts drilling off south of island September 20, 2011 Cyprus has started drilling south of the island for natural gas, its government said yesterday, marking a turning point in an escalating row with Turkey over offshore gas resources in the eastern Mediterranean. “The drilling process has been started by Noble Energy on the basis of the agreement with the Republic of Cyprus,” said deputy [...]
Profits up at cruise operator Carnival September 20, 2011 Carnival’s quarterly profit has jumped, helped by higher spending per passenger in North America that offset weakness in other regions, and the cruise line operator said that bookings for the rest of 2011 and first half of 2012 are at higher prices so far. Chief executive officer Micky Arison said in a statement yesterday that [...]
New chief executive for Holcim September 20, 2011 Holcim’s long-serving chief executive Markus Akermann will retire early next year and be replaced by newcomer to the cement industry Bernard Fontana, head of stainless steel producer Aperam. Fontana, 50, who once worked for steel maker ArcelorMittal and since 2010 has headed its recently spun off Aperam unit, will take up his post at the [...]
CITY VIEWS: WOULD YOU BE MORE LIKELY TO CHANGE YOUR ENERGY PROVIDER IF IT WAS EASIER? September 20, 2011 CLIVE GILBERT | INCEPTA “If it was made easier yes, but it depends on the deal you are changing to. You have to be so mindful of the fact that it is possible for the rates to change once you join another energy provider.” AARON CROMBIE | NIG CORP “Yes, because it would give me more [...]
Bagpuss to get new owner after £4m bid September 20, 2011 HE MAY be an “old, saggy cloth cat, baggy, and a bit loose at the seams,” but Bagpuss’ owner has agreed to sell him for £4.2m. The announcement that media rights owner Coolabi has agreed to a 7.75p a share deal with North Promotions sent its stock tumbling by almost a quarter yesterday, as the [...]
Vodafone signs deal with Asian telecoms giants September 20, 2011 VODAFONE has signed a partnership agreement with some of Asia’s biggest telecoms providers to expand its presence in the region and offer more services to its international business customers. The deal with the Conexus Mobile Alliance means Vodafone will partner with firms including NTT Docomo in Japan, Hutchison Telecom in Hong Kong and FarEasTone in [...]
Eject Greece if you want to save the euro from sinking, warns a leading economist September 20, 2011 RATINGS agency Fitch was reported yesterday as predicting that Greece would default but not leave the euro. The reality now is that the kind of long-term solution that will be necessary to save the euro requires a euro of which Greece is not a member. The longer a Greek default and euro exit are delayed [...]
We need growth, minister: get off your hobbyhorse September 20, 2011 DURING his speech to the Liberal Democrats in Birmingham, business secretary Vince Cable warned that we are facing a crisis “the economic equivalent of war”. While that might be an overstatement, we can’t argue with the facts. Unemployment stands at 2.51m, inflation is at 4.5 per cent, and a Eurozone crisis threatens the confidence of [...]
Politicians don’t know how incentives work September 20, 2011 THE chancellor George Osborne and business secretary Vince Cable believe that Britain’s economic problems are partly to be blamed on poorly designed incentive schemes. They believe that senior businessmen are “rewarded for failure”. If this were true, it would indeed be a problem. But the idea is preposterous. Why would the owners of a company [...]
RAPID RESPONSES September 20, 2011 Euro exhaustion We need long term economic restructuring to make the euro function by assisting struggling countries – flogging them through zero-growth austerity is pointless. I’m not sure the degree of political understanding or will to make the euro work is present any more. Chronic electoral and investor fatigue is making us too weary. If [...]
