&65279;’GOD’S WORK’ GOLDMAN SETS ITS SIGHTS ON THE SALVATION ARMY November 22, 2009 JUST when we thought Goldman Sachs couldn’t get any more holier-than-thou, up pops a gem to prove us all wrong. Just weeks after chief executive Lloyd Blankfein claimed his army of smartly-dressed minions were “doing God’s work”, it now appears that a raft of the bank’s staff in New York have signed up to be [...]
BIGBITEOFMOVIESUCCESS November 22, 2009 The Twilight Saga: New Moon, a film sequel in which British actor Robert Pattinson stars as a vampire, broke the all-time record for opening day takings in America at the weekend. The blockbuster took £72.7m (£44m) at the US box office on Friday, and a whopping $258.8m worldwide in its first three days. In the [...]
Business confidence at six-year peak but higher VAT to test sales November 22, 2009 BRITISH business confidence is at a six-year high, according to a new survey by the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAEW). The Business Confidence Monitor, out today, climbed to 24.6 for the fourth quarter, up from 4.8 in the third quarter. This is the highest reading since the series began in 2003 and will boost expectations [...]
Hochtief eyes up 1bn IPO in its concessions business arm November 22, 2009 GERMAN construction group Hochtief aims to raise as much as €1bn (£989m) by floating a minority stake in its concessions infrastructure business in what would be Germany’s biggest IPO in two years. The issue will be Germany’s first major initial public offering (IPO) since diesel engine maker Tognum’s €2.1bn listing in 2007, before markets were [...]
Rover bosses answer back November 22, 2009 DIRECTORS of MG Rover have rejected calls to share with former workers an £11m pay out from a defunct finance company connected to the collapsed car maker. Representatives of the controversial “Phoenix Four” plus one other director last night confirmed they were expecting MGR Capital Ltd to be wound up within weeks. The Midlands businessmen [...]
UK firms seek out new forms of finance November 22, 2009 UK companies are increasingly looking past banks to other forms of financing as a result of the financial crisis, according to an industry survey out today. And due to the difficulties in raising cash, firms are “more cautious” about all types of investment such as research and development, leading to projects being delayed or scrapped [...]
Borders in talks to sell off more stores November 22, 2009 BORDERS, the ailing bookseller, was showing further signs of floundering yesterday, as it entered into rescue talks and looked to sell off further stores. As the threat of failure looms, the private equity-backed retailer is understood to be in talks with record store HMV and stationers WH Smith to buy up its stores. Borders wants [...]
Reliance aims high with a $12bn offer November 22, 2009 AINDIAN-BASED Reliance Industries has made an initial offer for bankrupt chemical company LyondellBasell. Sources say the cash offer for a controlling interest in the company would be for around $12bn (£7.26 bn), making it one of the largest foreign acquisition by an Indian company to date. LyondellBasell spokesperson David Harpole said Reliance’s offer represented “an [...]
Rio Tinto to earn $741m in IPO November 22, 2009 The global mining group Rio Tinto expects to receive at least $741m (£449m) from the flotation of its US coal-mining unit, Cloud Peak Energy, on the New York Stock Exchange, Rio said today. Cloud Peak Energy shares fell in their debut on Friday after its shares priced below expectations in the initial public offer. Rio [...]
Indian PM backs US dollar November 22, 2009 Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has voiced confidence that the US economy will make a strong recovery and poured cold water on talk of dropping the dollar as the key global currency. On a state visit to the United States, the 77-year-old trained economist said: "As far as I can see, right now there is [...]
