Big Four faces auditing probe November 5, 2009 THE big four accountancy firms have been put on notice over possible conflicts of interest stemming from the growing overlap of internal and external audit services. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has launched a three-month inquiry after details of a deal between KPMG and Rentokil were made public. The controversial contract provides a “deeper” service [...]
CITY BANDS TO STORM LONDON’S ROCK SCENE November 5, 2009 THERE’LL be a large shoal of City fish venturing out of their native waters next week as no less than three Square Mile rock bands descend upon the Islington O2 Academy for a night of singing and strumming for charity. Headlining the night – taking place next Thursday – will be the band Pinstripe Hype, [...]
Bonuses bounce back on Wall St as markets rally November 5, 2009 WALL Street bonuses may bounce back in 2009 as markets recover, although some awards will be lower than usual and the political fallout will take its toll, a study has showed. Annual cash and share payouts for staff in fixed income trading will rise by 50-60 per cent compared with 2008 as interest rate, currency [...]
City bonus rules falling on deaf ears November 5, 2009 ALMOST a fifth of UK financial professionals expect to see their pay go up by 70 per cent or more this year, despite extensive efforts on the part of authorities to curb the City bonus culture, according to a new survey. Just over half of those polled by efinancialcareers.com said they expected a higher bonus [...]
Personal insolvency on the rise November 5, 2009 The Insolvency Service is today expected to reveal that the number of people filing for personal insolvency in the third quarter of the year topped 30,000 for the second successive quarter as rising unemployment takes its toll on individuals’ bank accounts. Louise Brittain, a partner at Deloitte, said: “This figure is staggering, and unfortunately the [...]
IPC bucks trend in recession November 5, 2009 Country Life publisher IPC Media reported annual pre-tax profit up 2.5 per cent £78.6m in 2008, keeping an even keel despite a drop in advertising. The UK’s biggest consumer magazines publisher, which is owned by media conglomerate Time Warner, said that turnover fell by 2.8 per cent to £393.5m in the period, but that cost-cutting [...]
Quintain Estates joins rivals in property cash call frenzy November 5, 2009 PROPERTY developer Quintain Estates yesterday unveiled a fully underwritten £191.2m cash call to reduce its debt pile and fund construction projects. Quintain said the three-for-one rights issue of 390m shares would be priced at 49p – a 72 per cent discount to Wednesday’s closing price. The group said the net proceeds would be £183.5m after [...]
Grainger asks for more cash November 5, 2009 GRAINGER joined its property peers yesterday by announcing it will raise £250m in a rights issue to boost its ability to snap up acquisition opportunities. The group, which said it had swung to a £3m pre-tax loss in the year to 30 September, compared to £12m profits the year before, said it will issue 277m [...]
Car sales get a boost from scrap scheme November 5, 2009 THE government’s “cash-for-bangers” sweetener scheme helped boost new car sales by nearly a third last month, compared to the same time last year. The incentive programme contributed to a 32 per cent rise in new car sales to 168,942 in October against 128,352 a year ago – the fourth monthly increase in a row and [...]
CITY VIEWS: CAN WE ATTRIBUTE THE RISE IN CAR SALES TO AN IMPROVEMENT IN CONSUMER CONFIDENCE ABOUT THE ECONOMY? November 5, 2009 JAMES NOYCE ACCENTURE“The figures surprise me – I wouldn’t have thought people were up for buying new cars at the moment. I think the rise is more down to the scrappage scheme than an increase in confidence because people are concerned the UK is lagging behind Europe in terms of recovery.” ABROR ABDULAZIZOV PRUDENTIAL“No, I [...]
