News Corp shareholders told to throw out Murdoch as chairman October 9, 2012 INFLUENTIAL shareholder advice group Pirc has told investors to overthrow Rupert Murdoch as News Corp chairman at next week’s annual meeting, calling for independence at the head of the company. Murdoch, who holds both the chief executive and chairman positions at News Corp, cannot provide “independent oversight” and “lines of accountability” while serving in both [...]
Property firm PointPark eyes a London float October 9, 2012 EUROPEAN warehouse operator PointPark Properties yesterday announced plans to raise £250m in a float on the London Stock Exchange, marking the first IPO in the real estate sector for two years. The property group said it plans to use the proceeds to buy a €760m (£612m) portfolio of properties that it currently manages on behalf [...]
Fraud squad plans tougher reporting rules October 9, 2012 FIRMS that admit internal bribery failings to the UK’s anti-fraud regulator are now more likely to face criminal prosecutions, under tough new rules issued by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) yesterday. In an update to its guidance on last year’s Bribery Act, the SFO said: “The revised policies make it clear that there will be [...]
UK firms hit three year low for overseas M&A October 9, 2012 BRITAIN is close to losing its crown as the second largest buyer of foreign companies in the world amid plunging overseas volumes for UK firms, figures out yesterday show. Mergers and acquisition deals involving a British firm buying an overseas company fell 35 per cent to 63 in the first three quarters of this year [...]
Julius Baer to cut 1,000 jobs October 9, 2012 SWISS private bank Julius Baer will cut up to around 1,000 jobs as a result of its purchase of part of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s wealth management business. Baer said it planned a “significant reduction of former Bank of America corporate overhead” as well as cuts to the middle and back office functions of [...]
Eversheds hands Bryan Hughes second term as chief executive October 9, 2012 BRYAN Hughes will remain as chief executive of Eversheds until at least 2017, the law firm said yesterday, after he won an uncontested leadership election. Hughes replaced David Gray as chief executive in 2008, and earlier this year announced a new three-year strategy for the firm, including proposals to move to a Swiss verein structure [...]
Inspiration aplenty at E&Y Entrepreneur Awards October 9, 2012 TO the Hilton on Park Lane, where The Capitalist began the week being inspired and humbled (only the most eloquent of self-made millionaires can bring a sympathetic tear to the eye) at the Ernst & Young UK Entrepreneur of the Year awards. This year’s finalists were certainly in fine company, with previous winners of the [...]
Rio Tinto gives a wary outlook on China future October 9, 2012 GLOBAL miner Rio Tinto yesterday cut its growth forecast for China and said it was stepping up efforts to cut costs, having already slashed $500m (£312m), faced with an uncertain global outlook. Rio Tinto, the world’s second-largest iron ore miner with more than 80 per cent of its earnings in 2012 expected to come from [...]
IEA outlook predicts Iraq’s oil output will double this decade October 9, 2012 IRAQ’S oil production is on course to more than double by 2020, the International Energy Agency said yesterday, although delays to investment could tighten the global market in coming decades and push prices higher. In its Iraq Energy Outlook, the Paris-based IEA said Iraq’s oil production would reach 6.1bn barrels per day (bpd) by the [...]
Centamin maintains targets for 2012 despite production drop October 9, 2012 EGYPT focused gold miner Centamin said it was on course to meet its full-year output guidance for 2012, shrugging off a 10 per cent drop in production in the third quarter compared to the previous period. Centamin, whose Sukari operation in Egypt is the first modern gold mine in the country, yesterday posted total production [...]
