BP eyes a stake in new gas pipe link with Russia November 25, 2012 BP is in talks to invest in the key gas pipeline between Russia and Europe, sources said yesterday. The oil major is having preliminary discussions about taking a stake in a project to extend the Nord Stream pipeline into the UK. Nord Stream currently runs pipes from Vyborg in Russia to the German town of [...]
Gloating over broken windows forgets their real costs November 25, 2012 THE price of payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling continues to spiral upwards. Barclays put aside an extra £700m in October for PPI compensation, taking its expected payout to £2bn. RBS and HSBC have each set aside well over £1bn and Lloyds added another £1bn at the start of November, taking its PPI provision to an [...]
BAE is set to close one of its UK shipyards as work slows down November 25, 2012 DEFENCE contractor BAE Systems is looking to shut one of its major shipyards in Britain as it aims to balance capacity with future workloads, a top executive said yesterday. Nigel Whitehead, who is group managing director, programmes and support, told the Sunday Telegraph that BAE, which operates a shipyard in Portsmouth and two in Glasgow, [...]
WRG looks east to expand with Hong Kong deal November 25, 2012 THE COMPANY that staged the Olympic torch relay and the Pope’s visit to Britain has moved into China with the acquisition of Hong Kong-based Serious Events. WRG Creative Communications, which employs around 140 people, announced the deal yesterday. Serious Events, which was founded in 1996, has a number of high-profile clients, including the fashion designer [...]
New bidder circles Stansted Airport November 25, 2012 THE sale of Stansted Airport is believed to have attracted fresh attention from Malaysia. Stansted’s owner BAA, which recently renamed itself Heathrow, is being forced to sell the airport by competition authorities, after losing its final appeal in August. Suitors so far include Manchester Airports Group, New Zealand-based investment manager Morrison & Co, Australia’s Macquarie [...]
Plus turns into investing shell November 25, 2012 INVESTORS in Plus Markets have agreed to turn the firm into a cash shell to buy a natural resources firm, after its stock exchange assets were sold to Icap. Plus, which offloaded its junior stock market for £500,000 in June after struggling to deal with soaring costs, said shareholders have agreed to let the firm [...]
Wonga eyes first bond issue November 25, 2012 Wonga is eyeing a debt issue in order to boost its business lending arm. The online short-term lending company has so far been financing itself through equity from its founders and private investors, but is hoping that raising a bond will prove cheaper. Wonga for Business, which lends up to £15,000 to small businesses at [...]
Playtech eyes Greek bookie November 25, 2012 British gambling software company Playtech is weighing a bid for the Greek government’s stake in Opap, the country’s lottery machine and sports betting operator. Opap, which has a monopoly in Greece, has been weighed down by the country’s recession but remains profitable. The government has been forced to sell its 34 per cent stake as [...]
Less than 1pc of firms go bust during October November 25, 2012 FEWER and fewer firms are being forced into insolvency, data out this morning suggested, despite continued economic pressure on business. Just 1,685 firms went insolvent during October, according to data from Experian, down 8.7 per cent on October 2011, to make up just 0.08 per cent of the total business population. Nearly all firm sizes [...]
Berenberg says Eurozone will recover in spite of debt crisis November 25, 2012 RECESSION and crisis in Europe is obscuring the fact that economies are engaging in structural reforms which will pay off in the medium term, a study from Berenberg Bank said today. Bailed-out Greece, Ireland and Portugal have “shaped up fast,” with a swathe of “sweeping structural and fiscal reforms,” the bank said, suggesting that once [...]
