Ashton laughs off kit row as Johnson axes Worsley and Strettle from squad August 1, 2011 ENGLAND wing Chris Ashton has defended the team’s New Zealand-baiting black away kit, insisting players don’t care what colour they wear. Martin Johnson’s men will debut the controversial change strip, which has riled the likes of All Black great Jonah Lomu, against Wales on Saturday. Ashton (far right) said: “You are more worried about playing [...]
Li reaps £45m from historic slam title August 1, 2011 FRENCH OPEN champion Li Na has illustrated the huge commercial value of Chinese athletes by becoming the world’s second highest earning sportswoman off the back of her first grand slam title. Li has signed sponsorship contracts worth up to £45m since her breakthrough triumph at Roland Garros in June and is now second only to [...]
Newcastle release Barton August 1, 2011 FOOTBALL: Newcastle United announced yesterday that Joey Barton will leave the club on a free transfer, despite having a year remaining on his contract. The club were expected sell the 28-year-old this summer but no offers were tabled.
Wales sweat over skipper Rees August 1, 2011 RUGBY UNION: Wales are hopeful their captain Matthew Rees will be fit to lead his country at next month’s World Cup despite being ruled out of Saturday’s game warm-up against England with a neck injury.
HSBC unveils surprise rise in earnings August 1, 2011 HSBC defied the equities gloom to jump 2.19 per cent yesterday after unveiling a rise in profits versus expectations of a decline. The bank saw its half-year pre-tax profit rise to $11.5bn (£7.1bn), three per cent higher than the same period last year, allowing it to boost its dividend for the period by 13 per [...]
30,000 jobs? It’s a start, says Gulliver August 1, 2011 WHEN HSBC chief Stuart Gulliver told investors in May that the bank had a “cost problem”, few expected him to wield the axe quite so dramatically. But he insists that casting out middle managers to the tune of 30,000 in gross job cuts is still not enough: “It will be a very long journey,” he [...]
Aldermore bank has broken even August 1, 2011 NEW British bank Aldermore has broken even, two years after its launch, and has accumulated total assets of more than £1bn, the company said yesterday. Aldermore said it now had loans of more than £800m for 9,500 customers, and had 42,000 deposit accounts. Aldermore and other new entrants such as Metro Bank, Haymarket Financial (HayFin) [...]
Nedbank first half profits rise August 1, 2011 NEDBANK Group, South Africa’s fourth-largest bank, reported a 26 per cent rise in first-half profit yesterday, helped by a drop in bad debts and its push to boost revenue from fees. Nedbank, majority owned by insurer Old Mutual, was hit hard by bad debts after 2009’s recession took over 1m jobs out of the economy, [...]
Should the 50p rate be scrapped? August 1, 2011 YES SAJID JAVID, MP THE last Conservative manifesto was unequivocally right to include the pledge that “we do not regard the 50p tax rate as a permanent feature of the tax system” as, indeed, was Alan Johnson when he called for it to be ditched last November, when he was Labour’s shadow chancellor. Introduced by [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU THINK THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD WAIT TO REDUCE THE 50P TAX? August 1, 2011 * These views are those of the individuals below and not necessarily those of their company. ANNALISA STORSILLO | WILLIS “Yes, they should keep it for the moment. It may not be fair to everyone but it’s needed to pay off UK debt. The revenue has to be generated somewhere and this is the best [...]
