Bumi agrees crucial funding for Bakrie split February 12, 2013 TROUBLED miner Bumi last night moved a step closer to normalising the company as it agreed the first stage of the separation deal which would see Indonesian arm Bumi Resources sold off. Bumi yesterday signed a heads of terms agreement with the Bakrie Group for the separation, in return for a $50m (£32m) deposit in [...]
HSBC to publish regional loan data in new transparency drive February 12, 2013 HSBC will become the first major bank to publish regional lending data on a regular basis, City A.M. has learned, after business ministers called for the industry to become more transparent over the allocation of credit. Despite several state schemes, lending to businesses is falling so ministers are trying to find new ways to put [...]
Europe blocks Ryanair’s bid February 12, 2013 RYANAIR’S latest attempt to take over Irish rival Aer Lingus has been scuppered by the European Commission. The budget airline said it will appeal after the Commission indicated during a “state of play” meeting that it will prohibit the €694m (£597m) takeover. Ryanair had argued that its offer to give 43 short-haul routes and €100m [...]
Profit surges at McGraw-Hill February 12, 2013 MCGRAW-HILL, which is being sued by the US government for bond ratings issued by its Standard & Poor’s unit, yesterday reported a surge in quarterly adjusted profit and said it does not believe the government can prove its case. The US financial services and publishing firm’s profit from continuing operations jumped 76 per cent on [...]
Back-to-work scheme ruled illegal by court February 12, 2013 THE GOVERNMENT’S back-to-work programme was thrown into disarray yesterday after a judge ruled that many schemes that make the unemployed work for free are unlawful. Graduate Cait Reilly, 24, claimed victory after the Court of Appeal ruled that a programme she took part in – which required her to undertake work experience at Poundland or risk [...]
Property fund Welpic cancels flotation on the Aim market February 12, 2013 THE WEST End of London Property Investment Company (Welpic) has cancelled its IPO planned to take place today after failing to gather sufficient interest. Welpic was intending to float on the Alternative Investment Market on 13 February, in a listing expected to raise around £100m. It hoped to provide investors with access to office property in [...]
G4S takes £88m hit to put an end to Olympic security fiasco February 12, 2013 OUTSOURCING giant G4 has tried to draw a line under its botched Olympic security contract by taking an £88m financial hit. The firm, which admitted it could not provide enough security staff just two weeks before last summer’s Olympic Games began, said yesterday it will book a £70m charge in its 2012 accounts, plus an [...]
Dell comes under pressure to sweeten deal February 12, 2013 The proposed buyout of computer maker Dell hit a stumbling block last night after the company’s third-largest shareholder, money manager T. Rowe Price Group, joined a growing number of investors putting pressure on Michael Dell and his partner Silver Lake to sweeten their $24.4bn (£15.6bn) offer to buy out the publicly owned business.
Tories suggest regulating UK news websites February 12, 2013 THE CONSERVATIVES last night published a draft plan for press reform that would see UK news websites regulated for the first time. David Cameron has rejected recommendations contained in the Leveson report – and backed by Labour and the Lib Dems – to introduce new legislation to control the media. Instead he wants to introduce an [...]
Regulators look into sale of shares by BlackRock in Saipem February 12, 2013 INVESTIGATORS are looking into whether there was any market abuse surrounding a controversial share sale by the institutional fund manager BlackRock last month. Both the Italian financial regulator Consob and the FSA are looking into the circumstances behind the share sale in the Italian oil services group Saipem and a subsequent profits warning less than [...]
