BAreadies itself for strikes this Christmas October 26, 2009 FEARS of a bleak?Christmas for British Airways (BA) were growing last night, after the Unite union said it would ballot its 14,000 cabin crew on strike action. Unions and BA management have been at loggerheads over cost-cutting at the airline, which is struggling to weather the financial storm. Nine months of talks fell apart yesterday [...]
Osborne gets it wrong on cash bonuses October 26, 2009 AS bizarre policies go, the Tories’ latest thinking on bank bonuses takes some beating. For this year only, Britain’s commercial banks will not be allowed to pay more than a trivial bonus in cash – but they will be able to pay as many millions as they want in shares. The rule will only apply [...]
McDonald’s in Iceland exit October 26, 2009 FAST FOOD chain McDonald’s is closing all of its Icelandic operations in the wake of the country’s financial crisis, it said yesterday. The world’s largest fast-food business said it is pulling the lid on its three Icelandic restaurants because the economy and other challenges have made doing business there financially impossible. The closures of the [...]
Picower had heart attack October 26, 2009 JEFFRY PICOWER, the millionaire philanthropist who was a prominent Bernard Madoff investor, accidentally drowned in his pool after suffering a heart attack, police investigating his death said last night. Picower, 67, was pulled unconscious from the pool of his multimillion-dollar oceanside home in Palm Beach on Sunday and was pronounced dead at a hospital. Picower [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 26, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES TOSHIBA TARGETS METALS DEAL IN KAZAKHSTANJapanese companies, urged on by their government, are racing to secure supplies of rare metals and rare earth elements that are vital to many technology products.By the end of the year Toshiba aims to agree a deal with Kazatomprom, the national uranium company of Kazakhstan, to extract rare [...]
McGraw-Hill sees earnings drop October 26, 2009 McGraw-Hill reported a 14 per cent decline in third-quarter earnings and lowered its revenue outlook for the year yesterday, even as its Standard & Poor’s ratings unit reported its first quarterly increase in revenue in almost two years. A drop-off in print and television advertising hurt the company’s media business, while its education arm suffered [...]
Ex-Bear hedgie wins court round October 26, 2009 Former Bear Stearns hedge fund manager Matthew Tannin, 48, won a round during his trial in New York on fraud charges yesterday when a judge ruled the jury cannot see a personal email in which he wrote about his fears of a “blow up risk” for investors. Emails written by Tannin and his former boss [...]
Kraft activist shareholder is ungagged October 26, 2009 ACTIVIST investor Nelson Peltz has had a two-year gagging order lifted by Kraft, sparking talk that the US food giant will now come under pressure to secure a takeover deal with Cadbury. Peltz’s Trian Fund Management group had struck a two-year “standstill” agreement with the US group in November 2007, under which he promised not [...]
Revenues at Deloitte drop in the slump October 26, 2009 PROFESSIONAL services group Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu saw its full-year global revenues drop five per cent to $26.1bn (£16bn) yesterday, as accountants worldwide feel the pinch from a dearth in major mergers and acquisitions. Deloitte’s chief executive Jim Quigley said the performance of the group, one of the big four accountancy firms, was satisfactory given the [...]
Land Secs calls an end to cut-price rents October 26, 2009 LAND Securities, Britain’s biggest property developer, said yesterday it would stop offering cut-price commercial rental deals amid signs that the market is picking up. Land Securities chief executive Francis Salway said: “There are instances of retailers still asking for concessions, and it can be in our interests to show flexibility. However, we do not believe [...]
