Jupiter to give first interim dividend August 19, 2011 Fund manager Jupiter has pledged its maiden interim dividend after pre-tax profits more than doubled in half-year to end-June despite a slowdown in the pace of new business as shaky stock markets rattle investors. Jupiter, one of the UK’s largest retail investment fund managers with most of its assets invested in equity, will pay a [...]
Stagecoach to return £340m to shareholders August 19, 2011 Bus and retail group Stagecoach said it would return around £340m to shareholders and was on course to meet profit expectations for the current year. The Scotland-based transport group said shareholders would receive 47 pence for each share they hold under the proposals, which it said would give the group a “more appropriate and efficient [...]
Bank of America to axe 3,500 jobs August 19, 2011 Bank of America is cutting 3,500 jobs this quarter according to an internal memo, as the biggest US bank grapples with its $1 trillion (£607BN) problem-loan portfolio and growing economic concerns. The job cuts at Bank of America, expected to be completed by the end of September, are the latest in a series of lay-offs [...]
Air Berlin chief quits after a quarterly loss and plans for drastic network cuts August 19, 2011 AIR Berlin founder and chief executive Joachim Hunold quit yesterday after the low-cost carrier posted a quarterly loss and cut its network in the quest for its first annual profit since 2007. If the board accepts Hunold’s suggestion, Hartmut Mehdorn, the former head of state-owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn, would take over as interim chief [...]
HP to pay £6bn for Autonomy August 18, 2011 HEWLETT-PACKARD is buying the UK’s most valuable software company Autonomy for $10.2bn (£6.2bn), in the latest takeover of a major British company by an American firm. The deal was announced last night as HP unveiled its third quarter earnings and is part of a massive shake-up at the US computing giant, which is also exploring [...]
Markets in meltdown as global fears grow August 18, 2011 STOCKS nose-dived in the opening minutes of trading in Japan this morning, mirroring another disastrous day for markets in Europe and the US yesterday. The Nikkei lost over two per cent in initial trades, dropping to 8,756. Earlier in the month the index hit a low of 8,656. The FTSE suffered its biggest fall in [...]
Gloomy American data fuels recovery doubts August 18, 2011 SHOCKINGLY negative economic data rattled markets in New York yesterday, adding to an ultra-bearish day for equities. Claims for US unemployment benefits rose; home sales dropped; inflation picked up; and a Philadelphia factory index collapsed to worse than a two year low. The gauge of factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region fell off a cliff, [...]
There is nothing so bad that politicians can’t make it worse August 18, 2011 IT was Thomas Sowell, the American economist, who said “there is nothing so bad that politics cannot make it worse”. In recent weeks, politicians have tested that maxim to destruction. From horse-trading over the US debt ceiling to cack-handed policymaking in Europe, almost every political intervention has served only to fan existing fears over the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 18, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES TRADERS PREPARE FOR CHÁVEZ GOLD TRANSFER Bullion traders are preparing for one of the largest transfers of physical gold in recent history after Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s president, ordered the country’s gold reserves to be returned to Caracas. The Daily Telegraph EXXONMOBIL SUES US GOVERNMENT OVER SEIZURE OF OIL LEASES Oil major ExxonMobil is [...]
Dart to safe havens sees yields drop to fresh lows August 18, 2011 MORE fears about the global economy drove prices of safe-haven US government bonds up yesterday, as both US and UK yields fell. Ten-year US Treasury yields dipped below two per cent during the day as negative data provoked a frenzy of buying. Benchmark 10-year note yields touched 1.97 per cent, while 30-year bond yields also [...]
