Imperial Tobacco warns that black market could hit first-half profit January 30, 2013 Imperial Tobacco said this morning it expects first half operating profit to be down year on year, hit by growing competition from the black market in Europe. The cigarette group said this morning that market trends had worsened in a number of key markets, including the EU and Russia. Imperial, which makes brands including JPS, [...]
Third quarter profits fall at Johnson Matthey January 30, 2013 Chemicals firm Johnson Matthey saw profits plunge over the third quarter, due to lower sales in its precious metals products division. Underlying pre-tax profits sank 19 per cent to £84.3m over the third quarter. The precious metal product division, which refines and fabricates precious metals such as platinum, posted a seven per cent drop in [...]
Tories lose crunch vote on reforms January 29, 2013 THE CONSERVATIVES will find it almost impossible to win the 2015 general election, polling companies warned last night, after their Liberal Democrat coalition partners scuppered plans to reform constituency boundaries and reduce the number of MPs in parliament. Lib Dems joined Labour and the smaller parties to vote in favour of delaying the boundary reform [...]
Shock for private equity world as Permira struggles to raise fund January 29, 2013 PERMIRA, one of Europe’s best known buyout groups, has been forced to extend the closing date for its fifth fund from the end of January to possibly as late as March, amid concerns that it is struggling to get to its target. Investors had previously been told that the first closing date for the fund, [...]
Bank bonuses chopped back after year of scandal January 29, 2013 BARCLAYS and RBS are expected to slash bonus payouts in the coming months after a series of scandals hit the industry. The deepening payment protection insurance crisis has hit both banks to the tune of several billion pounds and shows no sign of ending, while Barclays was hit by a £290m Libor fine last year. [...]
Labour now the firm favourite to triumph in 2015 elections January 29, 2013 YESTERDAY’S vote in Parliament killing off constituency reform will probably be remembered as the moment the Labour party won the next election. The issue is that the size of constituencies varies drastically. Because the Tories tend to get votes in large constituencies, while Labour is ahead in smaller ones, David Cameron’s party will need an [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 29, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Brussels softens line on ringfencing The European commissioner in charge of regulatory reform of the region’s banks has signalled a retreat from plans to force lenders to build barriers around their securities trading operations, as policy makers focus on stimulating growth. Michel Barnier told the Financial Times that any implementation of last year’s [...]
FTSE hits new 56-month high on miner rally January 29, 2013 THE FTSE 100 climbed to a new four and a half year high yesterday, driven up by a rally in mining stocks. The index closed up 44.78 – 0.7 per cent – at 6,339.19, its best close since May 2008, with 13 of these close-to-45-points coming from gains among miners. The biggest rises came from [...]
Jefferies boss in massive payout January 29, 2013 Investment bank Jefferies Group paid its chief executive Richard Handler $45.2m (£28.7m) in 2012, making him one of Wall Street’s most highly compensated executives, according to a securities filing yesterday. Handler’s pay package included $1m in salary, a $5m bonus and $39m in stock grants that would cover 2013 to 2015, according to the filing. [...]
Kerry is new US secretary of state January 29, 2013 Former Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry’s nomination as President Barack Obama’s new secretary of state sailed through the US Senate last night, as his fellow senators voted overwhelmingly to confirm him to replace Hillary Clinton as the country’s top diplomat. Kerry, 69, a five-term senator, is expected to be sworn in as secretary of state [...]
