Dixons maintains solid start in first quarter September 6, 2012 Dixons, Europe’s second-largest electrical retailer, maintained its solid start to the year with five per cent like-for-like sales growth in the first quarter, boosted by a busy summer of events in Britain. The group, which also trades as Currys and PC World in the UK, Elkjop in Nordic countries, Unieuro in Italy and Kotsovolos in [...]
Qantas agrees alliance with Emirates September 6, 2012 Australia’s struggling Qantas Airways has agreed to a 10-year alliance with Dubai’s Emirates, a key step in the carrier’s efforts to shore up its loss-making international business. Qantas will replace Singapore with Dubai as its hub for European flights from March 2013 and coordinate pricing, sales and schedules with Emirates under the partnership unveiled this [...]
News Corp cuts Murdoch’s 2012 bonus September 6, 2012 News Corp has cut this year’s bonuses for four top executives, including mogul Rupert Murdoch and his son James, after a phone-hacking scandal at the former British newspaper The News of the World, a regulatory filing showed. News Corp’s compensation committee said in a filing last night with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that [...]
Planning rules axed September 5, 2012 PLANNING laws will be temporarily relaxed to allow home extensions to be built without planning permission in an attempt to boost the flatlining economy, the government will announce today. Homeowners will be allowed to build single-storey extensions that stretch up to eight metres beyond their property’s rear wall without having to jump through the existing [...]
Lloyds in new mis-selling probe as FSA plans crackdown September 5, 2012 LLOYDS is facing an FSA probe into the state of compliance practices which may have enabled mis-selling to take place back in 2011, it emerged yesterday. The revelation came hours after top regulator Martin Wheatley told the industry it has just 18 months to reorganise bonus rules to remove perverse incentives which can promote damaging [...]
At last, a genuine supply-side reform from David Cameron September 5, 2012 JUST when I had almost completely written off this government, it has suddenly decided to announce a genuine, albeit limited, pro-growth policy. Speaking today, the Prime Minister will announce an emergency but time-limited partial liberalisation of planning rules. For one year only, there will be a doubling of Permitted Development Rights – what businesses and [...]
Women execs in sharp rise across Europe September 5, 2012 A THIRD of all new board members at Europe’s biggest firms this year are women, new research reveals today, with women now holding almost double the number of board seats than just eight years ago. Female directors now make up 15.6 per cent of boards, up from just eight per cent in 2004, and eighty-six [...]
Draghi likely to buy bonds in short term fix September 5, 2012 MARKETS edged up yesterday on hopes that European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi will today announce plans to buy more bonds in an effort to temporarily ease the pressure on troubled governments. The central banker has been caught between dovish factions looking to relieve the pressure on the beleaguered Italian and Spanish governments, and hawkish [...]
Ed Balls calls for wealth tax September 5, 2012 SHADOW chancellor Ed Balls has backed proposals for a permanent wealth tax on homes worth more than £2m in order to safeguard key public services and offered to discuss the idea with business secretary Vince Cable. “The likes of a mansion tax need to be on the table to be looked at,” the Labour MP told the [...]
Fourth London Whale trader September 5, 2012 A fourth London-based JP Morgan Chase trader is under scrutiny in the investigation by US authorities into the bank’s nearly $6bn (£3.7bn) trading loss. Julien Grout, a trader who joined JPMorgan Chase in 2009, is drawing attention because he worked in the bank’s Chief Investment Office and reported to Bruno Iksil, the French credit trader nicknamed [...]
