France launches HSBC data probe April 14, 2010 French prosecutors have launched a money-laundering probe based on data stolen by an ex-employee of banking group HSBC, claiming it affected thousands of French clients with Swiss accounts. Prosecutor Eric de Montgolfier said the affair involved 8,231 French customers of HSBC who had accounts in Switzerland. Accounts held by around 7,000 Italians were also being [...]
JD Sports profits surge April 14, 2010 RETAILER JD Sports Fashion yesterday reported a 26 per cent rise in annual profits and hiked its dividend. Pre-tax profits before exceptional items surged to £67.4m in the year to 30 January – up from £53.6m last year. Like-for-like sales were up two per cent in the ten weeks to 10 April. The company said [...]
Homeserve’s US buy seen as positive April 14, 2010 SHARES in home insurance group Homeserve rose over five per cent yesterday after it announced the acquisition of US company National Grid Energy. The company, which provides cover for emergencies such as broken boilers and overflowing washing machines was one of the biggest climbers on the FTSE 250 after its expansion into the US market. [...]
Amadeus to raise €1.4bn in flotation April 14, 2010 TRAVEL and tourism technology firm Amadeus aims to raise up to €1.36bn (£1.20bn) when it returns to the Madrid stock exchange later this month in Europe’s largest IPO this year. Amadeus, with €2.46bn of revenues in 2009, was delisted four years ago when BC Partners and Cinven bought their stake from airlines Air France, Lufthansa [...]
Tullett defends Smith’s £4.65m pay deal April 14, 2010 INTER-DEALER broker Tullett Prebon yesterday strongly defended the payment of a £4m bonus to chief executive Terry Smith after a year in which its operating profits fell. Operating profits at Tullett fell from £175.3m to £170.8m but Smith was awarded a total pay package of £4.65m, the same pay as he received the previous year. [...]
Director jailed for bribery April 14, 2010 A FORMER senior executive of a unit of US healthcare group Johnson & Johnson was yesterday jailed for a year after helping to pay more than £4.5m in bribes to Greek doctors for their business. Robert John Dougall – when he was vice president of Leeds-based DePuy and marketing director of DePuy International, both Johnson [...]
Seven suspects appear in court over FSA charges April 14, 2010 SEVEN men charged with running an insider trading ring with information gleaned from the London printers of Swiss bank UBS and broker Cazenove appeared in court yesterday. Mitesh Shah, Neten Shah, Paresh Shah, Bijal Shah, Truptesh Patel, Ali Mustafa and Pardip Saini are alleged to have used confidential information to trade in 12 UK-listed firms [...]
Intel eyes new chips as its results cheer April 14, 2010 INTEL is banking on a surge in revenues as it races to become the leading provider of next generation-chips to power a range of new devices. The US chip maker is keen to move into “adjacent markets” after the success of Apple’s iPad tablet computer. The tech giant missed out on the lucrative contract to [...]
Global iPad delay frustrates users as demand surges April 14, 2010 THE global launch of Apple’s iPad slate computer has been delayed by more than a month, with the firm blaming high demand in the US. The iPad was due to be released in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April, but the technology company said yesterday that will now [...]
Sky chief says Ofcom ruling to hurt industry April 14, 2010 SKY chief executive Jeremy Darroch yesterday launched a scathing attack on Ofcom, claiming the watchdog has endangered smaller channels and will hamper creativity. Speaking at the Mip TV conference in Cannes he said Ofcom’s decision to slash the prices Sky can charge for its content will distort the whole pay TV industry and will have [...]
