Lloyds “to return to profit” says Daniels March 19, 2010 LLOYDS Banking Group has predicted that it will return to profit this year in a trading update. The lender – which is 41 per cent owned by the taxpayer – made an operating loss of £6.3bn loss last year but has started this year strongly. It said in a statement: “In the first 10 weeks [...]
Blacks turns down bid from Sports Direct March 19, 2010 BLACKS Leisure has turned down a takeover offer from Sports Direct, branding it “wholly inadequate”. Sports Direct, which owns brands including Dunlop and Slazenger, had offered 62 pence per share. The Blacks group includes Millets and Freespirit as well as the Blacks shops and has recently closed 87 shops as part of a cost-cutting programme. [...]
French farce at the Prudential March 18, 2010 PRUDENTIAL boss Tidjane Thiam was forced into a humiliating climb-down yesterday when he rejected a board job at French bank Société Générale less than 48 hours after signalling he would accept. Thiam bowed to the anger of shareholders who said the “arrogant” plan to take a non-executive post at SocGen would be a distraction from [...]
Darling is urged to spend more March 18, 2010 ALISTAIR Darling is under pressure to announce a raft of eye-catching pre-election giveaways in next week’s Budget, after figures showed the Treasury was on course to borrow less than expected this year. The Treasury previously said it would need to borrow £178bn in the year to April. But the Office for National Statistics said Darling [...]
IMF Greece bailout likely March 18, 2010 GERMANY is moving towards supporting a joint International Monetary Fund (IMF) and EU bailout for Greece should the country need help with its debt refinancing. In a dramatic U-turn set to put Germany on a collison path with its European peers, chancellor Angela Merkel said she was open to financial participation with the Washington-based IMF [...]
Hubris is always CEOs’ worst enemy March 18, 2010 IT has been an embarrassing couple of days for Tidjane Thiam, Prudential’s chief executive. On Wednesday, he accepted a non-executive directorship at Societe Generale, the French bank; 48 hours later, he had changed his mind, after a backlash from City institutions already upset at the looming dilution to their holdings from the Pru’s planned $21bn [...]
Ex-UBS chiefs face vote March 18, 2010 UBS said yesterday that it will seek a formal discharge for members of the board and top executives at the helm during the economic crisis. The Swiss bank has held off until now, while internal and external investigations into accountability for the enormous losses sustained by the group were carried out. Since the credit crisis [...]
Arrow takeover deal imminent March 18, 2010 Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina are close to an agreed deal with Australia’s Arrow Energy to lift their A$3.3bn (£1.99bn) takeover offer. A fresh offer is expected as soon as today.
Unilever food chief steps down March 18, 2010 Vindi Banga, president for global foods, home and personal care at Unilever has resigned. Banga announced his intended departure yesterday after 33 years with the company. His is the latest in a series of significant departures.
Tories hold four per cent lead March 18, 2010 The Conservatives held their four per cent lead at 36 per cent, with Labour on 32 per cent, and the Lib Dems on 20 per cent, which shows no change from yesterday, according to the YouGov trackers poll. Yesterday’s attack by the Tories on Unite and Gordon Brown over the BA strikes appears not have [...]
