PwC details PlanB for Lehman October 5, 2009 LEHMAN Brothers’ European administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has put forward a proposal to distribute $8.9bn (£5.6bn) of the collapsed Wall Street giant’s assets directly to creditors. PwC said it would seek to entice creditors into a voluntary contractual arrangement which would see them agree to a settlement avoiding a protracted court case. The administrator said the [...]
Construction sector faces no recovery for two years October 5, 2009 CONSTRUCTION industry experts yesterday said they do not expect any recovery in the sector’s fortunes until 2011 following the sharpest decline in output on record. Despite some encouraging signs that the wider economy is creeping out of a recession, the construction output is expected to fall by 15 per cent this year, and a further [...]
BA September passenger figures dash hopes of a recovery in aviation sector October 5, 2009 FLAG carrier British Airways (BA) carried 0.8 per cent fewer passengers in September year-on-year, dashing hopes the commercial aviation industry was recovering from the deep slump caused by the global recession. The airline, whose alliance with American Airlines and Iberia is being scrutinised by Europe’s competition watchdog, said yesterday its premium, or business class, passenger [...]
Half of takeover talks ending in no deal October 5, 2009 HALF of all takeover talks targeting UK listed companies now end without a deal being struck, according to law firm EMW Picton Howell. The findings underscore the difficulties would-be buyers of listed firms are having in putting together funding for their takeover plans. EMW said that 52 per cent of buyout talks ended without a [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 5, 2009 TRAVIS PERKINSRoyal Bank of Scotland said that Travis Perkins continues to manage its way through a difficult, but expected, merchanting market with DIY surprisingly resilient. It upgraded its forecasts to “buy” from “hold” with a target price increased to 925p. The firm’s shares remain the brokers prefered merchant play. HMV GROUPGoldman Sachs upgraded HMV to [...]
The Gulf states need to become a marketplace October 5, 2009 LAST week, I found myself in Doha with the man who brought us JK Rowling’s Harry Potter, Nigel Newton, the chief executive of Bloomsbury Publishing. He was in town to launch qfinance.com, a website focused on serving finance professionals in Qatar, in a joint venture with the Qatar Finance Authority. There, in a sea of [...]
Hedgie status hit for London October 5, 2009 LONDON’S presence in the “billionaire’s club” of giant hedge fund managers slipped during the first half of the year while New York’s stayed the same, according to HedgeFund Intelligence (HFI). The group said London’s level of hedge fund firms running over $1bn (£627m) in assets fell two per cent to below 15 per cent in [...]
National Trust launches beer October 5, 2009 The National Trust is launching a range of food and drinks products, including its own beer. The charity, which has 3.5m members, said it will launch a range of foods, including bread, meat, potatoes and biscuits.
Pilots strike on long flying hours October 5, 2009 Pilots are demonstrating across Europe over long flying hours, saying they are “putting lives at risk”. European air crew unions say current rules that govern how long they can fly for are unsafe, with fatigue a factor in 15 per cent of accidents. The European Aviation Safety Agency says it is still considering a scientific [...]
Power workers snub pay deal October 5, 2009 Power workers and oil refinery staff across the UK yesterday rejected an offer on pay and conditions aimed at ending a long-standing row. Up to 30,000 workers at sites including BP FPS Grangemouth, Sellafield in Cumbria and Shell UK Stanlow say they want employers to stop undercutting agreed rates and employing cheaper foreign labour. The [...]
