These contrasting dramas have their moments but are sunk by insurmountable flaws September 20, 2012 FILM SAVAGES Cert 15 | ** Oliver Stone’s latest follows the progress of cannabis farmers Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and the beautiful beach bum girlfriend that they share, O (Blake Lively). Bound by a mutual devotion to O and getting stoned, Ben and Chon live in hazy harmony in their massive cannabis [...]
Madoff victims in line for $2.48bn payout September 20, 2012 Victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme will receive a $2.48bn (£1.53bn) payout to help cover their losses, the trustee liquidating his firm said today. This is in addition to $1.15bn recovered earlier, with total victims’ distributions currently at more than $3.6bn. Cheques for $1,784 up to $526.9m were sent yesterday to the 1,230 victims of [...]
Retail sales slump in August September 20, 2012 UK retail sales fell in August as consumers stayed at home to watch the Olympics rather than spending on the high street, official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed today. Overall sales fell 0.2 per cent over the month, although year-on-year, the ONS recorded an annual rise of 2.7 per cent. Non-store [...]
FTSE 100 down on weak Chinese data September 20, 2012 The FTSE 100 fell in early trading this morning, as the miners that rose on the blue chip index yesterday fell on weak manufacturing data from China, which spurred concerns about demand for the oil and metals market. Miner Ferrexpo, steelmaker Evraz and Aquarius Platinum led the fallers, down 5.5, 5.37 and 4.92 per cent [...]
United Utilities confident on targets September 20, 2012 Waste and water group United Utilities said in a trading update today that it is on course to deliver good financial performance for the year. The firm, which is currently the target of takeover bid speculation, said current trading is in line with group expectations. Revenue in the year to the end of March 2013 [...]
Deutsche Bank to sell BHF to Kleinwort Benson September 20, 2012 Deutsche Bank has agreed the sale of its BHF Bank unit to private equity investor Kleinwort Benson for €384m (£307m). The deal still needs to be approved by the German regulator BaFin and is subject to closing purchase price agreements. RHJ International, the parent company of Kleinwort Benson, and Deutsche Bank agreed on the major [...]
Imperial Tobacco sees revenue rise September 20, 2012 Imperial Tobacco expects revenues to be up around four per cent over the past year to end of September, with strong sales in Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East and Asia Pacific boosting profits. The British group, which sells over 340bn cigarettes annually of brands such as Davidoff, Gauloises, JPS and West, expects volume [...]
BSkyB is a “fit and proper” broadcaster September 20, 2012 BSkyB is “fit and proper” to hold a broadcasting licence, watchdog Ofcom said today. The watchdog launched an investigation last year after allegations of phone hacking at BskyB’s biggest shareholder News Corp. The investigation by Ofcom, which has clashed repeatedly with BSkyB in the past, had hung over the hugely successful group and raised the [...]
Di Matteo: He deserves an Oscar for that September 19, 2012 AT STAMFORD BRIDGE CHELSEA 2 vs JUVENTUS 2 CHELSEA manager Roberto Di Matteo last night heralded the arrival of Brazilian youngster Oscar after he scored twice on his Champions League debut, but castigated the careless defending that saw the holders squander a two-goal advantage in their Group E opener. Oscar, a £25m summer signing from [...]
We must start with Lazio win, says Dembele September 19, 2012 TOTTENHAM forward Moussa Dembele believes that anything less than victory tonight against Lazio will undermine their Europa League ambitions and that his team-mates should be targeting European success. Manager Andre Villas-Boas on Tuesday underlined his belief that Europe’s secondary competition is “very important” and having won it in 2011 with Porto, admits that he wants [...]
