Fears for US retail in rainy June July 7, 2009 Poor weather and consumers without the stimulus boost they received last year were expected to have dampened US retail sales in June, analysts said. The month was challenging for summer products due to wet weather, said weather tracking firm Planalytics.
Desmond jury discharged July 7, 2009 The jury in the libel case between Express publisher Richard Desmond and the author Tom Bower was discharged yesterday on the second day of the trial. Judge Eady told the jury that some important submissions had been made which resulted in the need to recruit a new jury. The case re-opens on Monday.
Swiss ministers shift UBS stance July 7, 2009 UBS has made mistakes and will likely have to pay a price to settle the US’ tax case against it, the Swiss domestic economy minister said yesterday. The remarks represent a change in rhetoric from Swiss authorities, who previously contacted the Obama administration to halt the US suit over tax evasion.
US may need second stimulus July 7, 2009 US House of Representatives majority leader Steny Hoyer said leaders need to be open to the possibility of a second stimulus to further boost the economy. We can’t yet tell if the first $787bn package has been successful, Hoyer said, but “I think we need to be open to whether we need additional action.”
Telefonica connects with Palm’s rival to the iPhone July 7, 2009 TELEFONICA’S O2 and Movistar said yesterday that they have won an exclusive deal to sell Palm’s new Pre smartphone – regarded as the closest rival to Apple’s iPhone – in the UK, Ireland, Germany and Spain. Palm said that O2 would have initial exclusivity in the UK, Ireland and Germany, while Movistar would have an exclusive deal [...]
Nomura continues its western push July 7, 2009 JAPANESE bank Nomura has become the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) third-largest broker, thanks to its acquisition of bankrupt Lehman Brother’s European trading business. Nomura revealed its position as it laid out its intentions to top the table by the end of the year. A spokesperson for the LSE confirmed that Nomura has been growing its trading [...]
DEUTSCHE TO SELL NYC SKYSCRAPER July 7, 2009 DEUTSCHE Bank has reached an agreement to sell Worldwide Plaza, its 1.8m square foot skyscraper in New York, for $600m (£371m). The bank will sell the building to developer George Comfort & Sons and RCG Longview. The buyers will pay part of the price with $130m in equity and take on Deutsche’s $470m mortgage.
KPMG called in as Coffee Republic fails July 7, 2009 COFFEE Republic, the high street coffee shop chain, yesterday said its three main subsidiaries had fallen into administration after months of teetering on the brink due to the slump in consumer spending. KPMG’s David Crawshaw and Richard Hill – who have been appointed joint administrators to Coffee Republic UK, Coffee Republic Franchising and Goodbean – warned [...]
Airbus A350 to get aid from UK July 7, 2009 BUSINESS secretary Peter Mandelson yesterday made an offer of financing to help Airbus’ new A350 jetliner. Airbus, part of defence company EADS, has said the A350 project is expected to cost around €11bn (£9.5bn). Spain is understood to have pledged to stump up €300m for the project, Germany €1.1bn, and France around €1.4bn. Britain would [...]
US probe into Verizon’s might July 7, 2009 THE US Justice Department has begun a review of big telecom firms such as AT&T and Verizon, to determine if they have abused their market power. Sources close to the matter said that the Antitrust Division’s probe could concern exclusive agreements between phone companies and handset makers or whether phone operators are “unduly restricting” services [...]
