Banks should allow switching November 15, 2011 BANKS should be forced to allow customers to switch accounts at the click of a button, according to MPs collective the Free Enterprise Group. The proposal to make banks share IT systems is part of a raft of changes the group says would empower consumers and lead to greater competition in the banking sector. Other [...]
Pluthero quits as CWW falls to huge loss November 15, 2011 CONTROVERSIAL Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) boss John Pluthero sensationally quit the firm yesterday as it slipped to an eye-watering £443m first half loss. The sum – equivalent to more than half of CWW’s market cap – coupled with the suspension of its dividend, sent is shares crashing more than 26 per cent. Writedowns totaling [...]
THE ART LOVER’S RISE AND FALL November 15, 2011 As well as roles as a director of Merville Limited and chairman of Essensys, John Pluthero is also an enthusiastic collector of abstract art. Last year he founded AbstractCritical, an online forum that organises exhibitions and discussions around the subject. Background: Baroquey, 2009 – Anne Smart SINCE first coming to the City’s attention as an [...]
Olympus sums were queried in 1990s – banker November 15, 2011 AN INVESTMENT banker yesterday said he had raised concerns about dubious accounting at Olympus in the 1990s, after he discovered it was using Bermuda-based funds to “invent” assets and patch up its balance sheet. The banker’s concerns, which he says were discussed inside Wall Street bank PaineWebber, his employer at the time and the arranger [...]
British Land signs first tenant for Cheesegrater as profits increase November 15, 2011 PROPERTY developer British Land has formally signed a pre-let agreement with insurance broker Aon to lease a third of its Leadenhall building, nicknamed the Cheesegrater, in the City. Aon will take 191,000 square feet over 10 floors of the 47-floor skyscraper – due to be completed mid-2014 – paying on average £56.60 per square foot [...]
Super prime property set to hit records November 15, 2011 LONDON’S super prime residential developments are expected to achieve record values of £10,000 per square foot as the capital continues to attract wealthy international investors, research from Knight Frank shows. Demand for luxury apartments and houses in London’s golden postcodes like Mayfair and Knightsbridge boomed earlier this century, with market values escalating from £1,000 per [...]
Dell warns of a global hard drive shortage November 15, 2011 DELL’S quarterly revenue just missed Wall Street estimates last night, and the world’s third-biggest personal computer maker warned that full-year revenue could be hurt by an industry-wide shortage of hard drives. Net earnings rose to $893m (£564.7m), from $822m this time last year. During the third quarter, desktop PC revenues slid six per cent to [...]
Profits rise as Burberry stays upbeat November 15, 2011 BURBERRY’s chief executive Angela Ahrendts said demand across flagship stores in cities such as New York and Hong Kong was helping the group to defy the downturn, as the fashion house reported strong first half results. The 155-year-old British brand, known for its signature raincoats, made 60 per cent of retail revenue in 25 cities [...]
Chin up: four reasons to be cheerful November 15, 2011 LIKE everyone else, we can’t help but feel depressed at the torrent of bad news that each new day brings. Crisis in the Eurozone; nightmare on the high street; jobs bloodbath in the City – the bad headlines never end. So we thought we’d reflect on some of the more positive pieces of news, which [...]
H&M in same store sales dip November 15, 2011 SWEDISH fashion group Hennes & Mauritz yesterday posted a second straight monthly fall in sales at established stores in October as the debt crisis in the Eurozone pushed consumer sentiment even lower. H&M said same-store sales in October fell two per cent. Total turnover for H&M, including newly opened stores, rose eight per cent in [...]
