Ranks of the rich dwindle amid turmoil June 24, 2009 THE GLOBAL financial crisis has seen the ranks of the world’s wealthiest people shrink, according to the World Wealth Report released by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini yesterday. The number of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) – those with at least $1m (£608,908) in assets excluding primary residences – fell 14.9 per cent to 8.6m in [...]
Isle of Man signs up to EU rules on savings tax June 24, 2009 THE Isle of Man, a British Crown dependency, yesterday said it would ensure that its savings tax regime adhered to European Union rules on bank account secrecy by 2011. Until now, savers with offshore bank accounts in the self-governing dependency have been able to pay a withholding tax instead of having information about their savings [...]
KKR shelves US listing for now June 24, 2009 PRIVATE equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) said yesterday it plans to merge into its Amsterdam-listed fund, which will remain listed on the Euronext exchange, as it kept the door open for a proposed listing in New York. KKR’s plans to follow in rival Blackstone’s footsteps and become a publicly traded, NYSE-listed company were originally [...]
Monsanto beats expectations June 24, 2009 Monsanto, the world’s biggest seed company, posted a smaller-than-expected profit drop and planned a restructuring to cut about 900 employees and realign its declining herbicide business, sending its shares higher. Monsanto, a leader in development of genetically modified crops, said net income for the third quarter totaled $694m.
Ad spend to recover in 2010 June 24, 2009 Group M, part of media giant WPP, said yesterday that it expects global advertising spend to fall 5.5 per cent to £417bn in 2009, with a mild recovery expected in 2010 – when the decline should ease to 1.4 per cent. Based on a 70-country report, the group said that the ad market recovery would [...]
Lees Foods hits sweet spot June 24, 2009 Scottish cake and sweets firm Lees Foods said yesterday it expects profits for the first six months of the year to be ahead of last year, due to a combination of increased demand from existing customers, a number of key new account openings and the introduction of new products to its portfolio. The firm, which [...]
Tanfield gets green car funding June 24, 2009 Electric carmaker Tanfield said yesterday it will develop and trial 16 new green vehicles after being deemed eligible for half the funding total allocated by the government to the Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator Programme. Tanfield will receive half of the projected total project cost of £3.2m. It will develop five people carriers and one [...]
Entertainment One posts 31m loss as costs grow June 24, 2009 MEDIA group Entertainment One reported a full year pre-tax loss of £31m yesterday, up from £7.7m last year, but said it was well placed for further growth. Entertainment One, which buys and distributes film, TV and music content in the UK, Canada and the US, said that higher costs and non-cash impairment charges had driven [...]
Scrappage scheme boosts Inchcape but says UK market won’t recover until 2010 June 24, 2009 CAR dealer Inchcape reported a drop in sales for the first quarter yesterday, but said the government’s scrappage scheme had made a promising start, helping the retailer. “When the scrappage scheme was introduced, we saw an increase in traffic,” chief executive Andre Lacroix said. But he warned that the car industry was significantly down on [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 24, 2009 MARSTON’SUBS estimates that Marston’s rights issue to raise £165m will result in around an 18 per cent earnings per share dilution in 2010, falling to 12 per cent by 2013. But the broker said that 40 per cent fall in the share price this month, including 20 per cent since the announcement of the rights [...]
