Turnaround force tasked with rescuing JAL as it slashes jobs and subsidiaries October 25, 2009 JAPAN AIRLINES (JAL), the ailing carrier which is getting a massive handout from the Japanese government, will be run by a state-owned body in charge of turning it around, it emerged over the weekend. The airline is striving desperately to avoid bankruptcy, seeking aid from banks and the government. Liabilities at the carrier would exceed [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 25, 2009 AvivaThe insurer has appointed Patrick Regan as its new chief financial officer, effective from February next year. Regan is currently group chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Willis Group Holdings, the insurance broker. He has also previously held positions within the industry as group financial controller at RSA and as finance and claims [...]
Campari’s chief is taking a breather before returning to the M&A trail October 25, 2009 Having forked out a cool $2bn (£1.2bn) on 16 separate acquisitions over the past 15 years, it is no wonder that Campari – the world’s sixth largest drinks firm – is now calling for a temporary halt to the spending. Its chief executive, Bob Kunze-Concewitz, recently struck a cautious note due to the downturn that [...]
Oil and drugs dominate in UK as third quarter results begin October 25, 2009 FOCUS will turn away from economic data and bank profits this week, with the spotlight now on oil titans, who will dominate the corporate reporting this week. FTSE 100 life assurance group Friends Provident kicks the week off today with a trading update, but industry giants BP, BG Group and Shell will be the big [...]
USGDP will be the major trader focus October 25, 2009 THIRD quarter earnings season is well and truly under way, and this week we are faced with a barrage of results from both sides of the pond. In the UK we have BP reporting tomorrow, BG Group and GlaxoSmithkline on Wednesday and AstraZeneca and Royal Dutch Shell out on Thursday. ExxonMobil, Procter and Gamble and [...]
Supply trouble to keep cocoa futures on an upward trend October 25, 2009 WITH oil and gold constantly hitting the headlines, it’s all too easy for spread betters to take the (relatively) easy route and stick to trading the big commodity markets. But given how strongly some of the so-called soft commodities such as cocoa and sugar have performed over recent months, it is clear that extending your [...]
Play the Bank’s QE decision with a punt on gilts October 25, 2009 THIS year we have witnessed the Bank of England take the unprecedented step of buying billions of pounds worth of assets – mostly government bonds – in order to loosen monetary policy further than can be achieved through interest rate cuts alone. It goes without saying that this policy of quantitative easing (QE) has had [...]
CHINA’S YUAN POLICY COMES UNDER FIRE October 25, 2009 JANE FOLEYRESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COMBY ALMOST everybody else’s standards, an annual growth rate of 8.9 per cent in the third quarter would be an opportunity to break open the champagne and put on the party hats. But expectations for Chinese expansion had been higher and this “disappointing” figure was enough to see investors lose, at least [...]
THE TIPSTER WATCH OUT FOR ENERGY FIRMS’ EARNINGS October 25, 2009 PROFIT taking has been the order of the day in energy stocks and with crude oil prices looking toppy at the $80 a barrel mark, the upward trend for some oil and gas equities may be over. Oil giant BP reports its third quarter results numbers on Tuesday and the stock has so far struggled [...]
Ski season classics October 25, 2009 IT’S a favourite debate among snow nuts – which continent lays claim to the best skiing? When you’ve got the multi-valley likes of Val D’Isere and Verbier up against Rocky Mountain resorts such as Aspen, Steamboat and Vail; Whistler inCanada, Snowbird in Utah and Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada range, it comes down to [...]