BILL OF THE WEEK October 30, 2011 ZULU KING HRH Goodwill Zwelithini gave Shaka Zulu his blessing when the venue opened in July 2010, and so did eight insurance brokers when they visited London’s largest South African restaurant last Thursday. The City party moved out of their culinary comfort zone by trying sliced springbok loin, roasted ostrich fillet, Cape Malay pickled red [...]
Bakries seek more Bumi loan options October 30, 2011 INDONESIA’S billionaire Bakrie family is believed to have approached China Investment Corporation (CIC), the Chinese sovereign wealth fund, as it looks to refinance a $1.35bn (£870m) loan held against its stake in the FTSE 100 coal mining firm Bumi. Bumi, in which the Bakrie family hold the largest stake of 47 per cent, was brought [...]
HomeServe halts telesales to launch mis-selling review October 30, 2011 EMERGENCY repair and insurance group HomeServe has suspended all telephone sales after it launched a review into whether some of its staff could have been mis-selling products. The company said last weekend that following a comprehensive review it had halted telephone sales and they would not resume until its staff had completed a retraining programme. [...]
Magnolia Petroleum plans equity raising to fund new listing on AIM October 30, 2011 MAGNOLIA Petroleum, a US-focused oil and gas firm, is planning to raise £2m in an equity fundraising and list its stock on the AIM market. The firm says it will use the funds to scale up its operations by acquiring leases to drill and operate new wells on its prospects in the Mississippi formation in [...]
Private equity takes stake in Be At One bars to drive growth October 30, 2011 PRIVATE equity firm Piper has taken a significant minority stake in Be At One, the cocktail chain that runs 12 bars across London. Piper, which founded the Pitcher & Piano bars and invested in the expansion of Mexican restaurant Las Iguanas, has paid £8m for its stake in Be At One, with the cash destined [...]
VESTAS LOWERS PROFIT GUIDANCE October 30, 2011 DANISH wind turbine manufacturer Vestas reported a loss for the third quarter and warned yesterday that full-year 2011 profits and revenues would be lower than forecast due to a delay in commissioning a plant in Germany. Vestas cut its guidance for 2011 revenues to about €6.4bn (£5.6bn) from an earlier forecast of €7bn and lowered [...]
Draghi’s rein at ECB marks the start of new era October 30, 2011 YOU may have missed it if you were busy stressing over Greece and the European debt crisis. So let me just flesh it out. The month of October has been unbelievably bullish for stocks regardless of the mess that Europe still finds itself in and the recession worries everyone keeps talking about. In the US, [...]
Cablecom eyes Swiss deal October 30, 2011 The head of internet, telephone and TV provider Cablecom, Eric Tveter, said he was “looking at all options” when asked about whether his firm might buy mobile phone provider Orange Switzerland, a unit of France Telecom SA, the SonntagsZeitung newspaper reported yesterday. France Telecom wants to sell its Swiss and Austrian operations.
Sony mulls a sale to Samsung October 30, 2011 Sony, struggling with a loss-making television business, is considering dissolving its LCD joint venture with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics in a bid to cut costs, sources familiar with the matter said. The Nikkei business daily said the company was aiming to reach an agreement by the end of the year to sell its nearly 50 [...]
Pickles: I want to scrap second home tax breaks October 30, 2011 COMMUNITIES secretary Eric Pickles is expected to this morning outline plans to cut council tax bills by closing a loophole that allows second-home owners to avoid up to 50 per cent of their bills on empty properties. Pickles hopes to knock around £20 from the average bill by clamping down on uninhabited homes, which are [...]
