Hedge funds investing in big-time divorce March 16, 2010 AMONG all the people who lost money in the downturn, one of the most colourful cases was that of Scot Young, businessman friend of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky and owner of the Ivy restaurant, Richard Caring. When his wife filed for divorce last year it emerged that Young’s £400m fortune had apparently vanished, with Young [...]
REVOLUTIONISING the runabout March 16, 2010 OFTEN it’s the least exciting cars that are the most surprising. Testing an eco model from the most traditionally conservative car segment – the Supermini or B segment – promises to be, if not dull, then certainly a pedestrian experience. Yet, in a difficult car market, the Supermini segment is where all of the action [...]
Shell to axe 2,000 more jobs March 16, 2010 SHELL has announced plans to axe 2,000 jobs across the globe and reduce its refining capacity as part of massive cost-cutting shake-up. The oil giant will pull out of more than a third of its retail markets in the battle top save $1bn (£665.7m) by the close of this year Shell chief executive Peter Voser [...]
Why the City’s shipping supremo is battling an old rival for members March 16, 2010 THE CHIEF executive of the Baltic Exchange Jeremy Penn looks remarkably unruffled for a man who has just seen a rival come back for a second time in a concerted attempt to muscle in on his business. The head of the exchange that sets the prices for the majority of the world’s $200bn (£182bn) shipping [...]
Debenhams in sales boost March 16, 2010 DEBENHAMS has tipped its first-half profit to top last year’s as it posted a sales rise. The department store chain saw a 0.3 per cent rise in sales at stores open more than a year for the 26 weeks to 27 February and claimed it was winning market share. In the equivalent period the year [...]
Europe: UK needs to slash deficit March 15, 2010 PRIME minister Gordon Brown will this week receive a direct order to up his game from the European Commission, which is concerned the UK is not doing enough to cut its burgeoning budget deficit. In a damning indictment of the state of the UK’s finances, leaked draft documents conclude that the government’s fiscal programme “is [...]
BA rejects last minute Unite offer March 15, 2010 BRITISH Airways (BA) last night rejected a last-minute offer from trade union Unite to suspend strikes set to affect thousands of passengers this weekend. Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley said that if BA reinstated last week’s offer “there would be no reason why the strikes could not be suspended”. BA had offered to save [...]
Fed wins in Dodd shake-up March 15, 2010 THE Federal Reserve would take on a greatly expanded role in financial regulation under new legislation unveiled yesterday by a top US Senate Democrat, in a push to move ahead with the regulatory reform that has been a top priority of President Barack Obama. The bill by Senator Christopher Dodd would give the Federal Reserve, [...]
End our smoke and mirrors economy March 15, 2010 AMERICANS are great at producing lengthy, blow-by-blow investigations into crises, debacles and disasters. Last week’s 2,200 pager into the Lehman Brothers collapse from US examiner Anton Valukas is a case in point. His revelations about how Lehman was able to downplay the size of its balance sheet are especially riveting. It is clear that the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 15, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES RBS eyes £10bn debt buy-back as it plans balance sheet shake-up Royal Bank of Scotland is planning a vast balance sheet restructuring in an attempt to boost its capital strength and its standing with bond investors. The move could involve at least £10bn (€11bn) of the bank’s £28bn of debt being bought back [...]
