Hedge funds recoup losses January 11, 2010 HEDGE fund managers shook off their blues in 2009 and repaired the damage sustained during the worst phase of the financial storm, according to figures released yesterday. Gains in December pushed hedge funds to their best annual returns in a decade, more than balancing 2008’s losses. The Credit Suisse/Tremont index closed the year 18 per [...]
Heineken toasts Mexico with Femsa beer purchase January 11, 2010 HEINEKEN will buy the beer business of Mexico’s FEMSA in a $5.7bn (£3.5bn) all-stock deal that boosts the Dutch brewer’s emerging-markets presence and cements an alliance with one of Latin America’s biggest drinks firms. Heineken, the world’s third-largest brewer, yesterday said the all-stock purchase would make FEMSA its second largest shareholder — with a 20 [...]
Airports operator BAA warns of tough 2010 as weather keeps 150,000 away January 11, 2010 BAA, the Heathrow and Stansted airport operator, yesterday warned it faced a tough 2010 as it revealed that bad weather had stopped 150,000 passengers from travelling through its UK hubs last month. Passenger traffic at BAA’s UK airports fell 4.2 per cent in 2009, with the number of passengers travelling in December dropping by nearly [...]
National Grid begs for gas after Norway freeze January 11, 2010 BRITAIN’S National Grid yesterday appealed for more gas supplies to be pumped to the UK after much-needed Norwegian imports were stopped by freezing weather. The biting cold shut big Norwegian gas field Ormen Lange and a major gas processing centre over the weekend and continued to hamper North Sea gas flows from Norway yesterday at [...]
HOW WILL CADBURY’S FINAL DEFENCE AGAINST KRAFT PAN OUT? January 11, 2010 DAVID BUIK | BGC PARTNERS “Cadbury will come out with a brought-forward trading statement which will look electric. Roger Carr will dismiss Irene Rosenfeld and chew her up like a bag of nails. If she can’t improve the bid, it’s goodnight Vienna.” JEREMY BATSTONE-CARR | CHARLES STANLEY “All we’re going to get is top-line numbers. [...]
Ford unveils new Focus January 11, 2010 Ford unveiled its new-generation Ford Focus at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit yesterday. It will come in both four-door sedan and five-door hatchback styles. Production will start in late 2010 and it will go on sale in 2011. It will sell an all-electric version of the vehicle starting next year.
Strikes hit West Coast Mainline January 11, 2010 Ticket office workers on the West Coast Main Line will stage three rush-hour strikes over the next three weeks. About 200 Virgin Trains booking office staff at 12 stations say the planned strike is provoked by cutbacks. The line is a key route linking London with Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. They are planned this [...]
Barclays wins Dubai foreclosure January 11, 2010 Barclays won Dubai’s first foreclosure cases yesterday, clearing the way for lenders holding $16bn (£10bn) of Dubai home loans to take action when borrowers don’t pay. Islamic lender Tamweel PJSC, the emirate’s biggest mortgage bank, estimates about three per cent of its mortgages are in default. Dubai’s property market recently turned sour after heating up [...]
PartyGaming signs Danish deal January 11, 2010 Online gaming group PartyGaming has signed an exclusive five year deal to provide an online gaming platform for poker and casino games for Danish state-run firm Danske Spil. The move follows the Danish government publishing draft legislation last year liberalising the gaming market. When the legislation becomes law in 2011 poker and casino will be [...]
UK insurers flourishing following a benign 2009 January 11, 2010 BAD weather is normally bad news for insurers, as householders claim for snow, flood and wind-induced problems with their homes. However, despite roofs leaking and boilers breaking down all over the UK at the moment , the non-life insurance sector is actually looking pretty attractive for investors. The insurance sector is poised to deliver returns [...]
