Orange launches free text app November 22, 2012 Orange, the mobile brand of France Telecom, launched a global free calling and texting application yesterday, in direct competition with services such as Skype, WhatsApp and Viber. Giles Corbett, who developed the application called “Libon” for Orange, said telecom operators needed to come up with equivalent services. Libon will be available for smartphones in early [...]
Australia revises its tax laws November 22, 2012 Australia released draft revisions to tax laws yesterday, which it said were designed to stop big firms, including the local arm of Google, from shifting their income to countries such as Holland or Ireland where the tax rates are lower. Australia’s assistant treasurer David Bradbury said the laws were being revised to ensure that companies [...]
Pay gap falls to less than 10pc in new record November 22, 2012 THE GENDER pay gap has narrowed to less than 10 per cent for the first time in 15 years since records began, official data out yesterday revealed, just as the gap between public and private sector pay widened. This came as City pay packets took a blow. Annual gross pay in Tower Hamlets – which [...]
Gloomy manufacturing output raises fears of renewed slump November 22, 2012 UK MANUFACTURING output will fall over the next three months, businesses said in a survey out yesterday, leading analysts to suggest the economy could slip back into decline in the fourth quarter. Of the 409 manufacturers responding to the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) industrial trends survey for November, only 19 per cent expect to [...]
Chinese factories bounce back November 22, 2012 China’s manufacturing sector turned around recent bad times in November, according to a business survey out yesterday, hitting a 13 month high in output. China’s overall purchasing managers’ index for the manufacturing sector hit 50.4 in November, the figures from Markit and HSBC showed, just above the crucial no change level of 50, and thus back [...]
MPs want new rules on honours November 22, 2012 The Public Administration Select Committee (Pasc) this morning called for firmer rules on honour forfeiture, instead of so-called trials by media like that it says contributed to former RBS boss Fred Goodwin losing his knighthood. Pasc says ever since the Goodwin case, the committee has been peppered with “calls for the forfeiture of the honours [...]
Network Rail’s debts soar as it upgrades track November 22, 2012 THE OWNER of Britain’s railway has posted a rise in profits as it makes progress in upgrading the network, though its debt pile has ballooned by almost £1bn to £28bn in the space of six months. Network Rail, the not-for-dividend body responsible for maintaining tracks and signalling, spent £2.06bn on improving the railway in the [...]
Grainger net asset value jumps as it focuses on the south east November 22, 2012 RESIDENTIAL landlord Grainger yesterday pledged to reduce its net debt to under £1bn over the next 12 months as it posted a strong set of full-year results. The FTSE 250 residential property owner-manager said net asset value increased 3.2 per cent to 223p for the year to 30 September, thanks to its focus on the [...]
Housebuilders welcome further funding boost to spur growth November 22, 2012 HOUSEBUILDERS and industry executives welcomed government plans yesterday to provide an extra £225m funding to help unblock a number of stalled schemes to deliver 48,600 new homes. Speaking at the National House-Building Council annual lunch deputy prime minister Nick Clegg warned that the UK has “been under-building for decades” with more than 100,000 homes needing [...]
E.ON loses its appeal against €38m EU seal tampering fine November 22, 2012 ENERGY group E.ON must pay a €38m (£30m) fine for breaking a seal on a door during a European Commission antitrust raid in 2006. E.ON yesterday lost its appeal against the penalty, which was imposed after a surprise inspection at the firm’s E.ON Energie offices in Munich. Because the probe took place over several days, [...]
