ITV reports £97m profit as it moves into pay-TV August 3, 2010 ITV said it will move into pay-television through a deal with Sky to launch high definition versions of its some of its digital channels. The broadcaster unveiled the plans as it announced a half-year profit of £97m. ITV2 HD, ITV3 HD, and ITV4 HD will launch as part of Sky+HD’s subscription package of channels in [...]
Sterling surges on growth hopes August 2, 2010 STERLING surged to a six-month high of $1.59 against the dollar in London yesterday, a rise of 2.36 cents, as investors bet growth in the UK would outpace that in the US which many economists fear is only months from slipping back into recession. The pound, which also climbed to its strongest in nearly a [...]
Santander to snap up RBS outlets August 2, 2010 BANKING group Santander is poised to announce its purchase of over 300 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland today, allowing the Spanish giant to significantly boost its presence on the British high street. Santander is set to end months of speculation by confirming it will buy the 318 branches that RBS acquired under the Williams [...]
Ex-BP traders in court fight August 2, 2010 SIX former BP traders sued by the oil major for breach of contract in Singapore have applied to the court to set aside a search order that had allowed BP’s lawyers to seize their personal computers and mobile phones, according to court documents yesterday. BP has accused the six of engineering the mass departures of [...]
Let’s stop whining about tight credit August 2, 2010 How unfair. I have a great idea for a new website but my bank doesn’t want to lend me the £50m I need to start it up. It claims not to like my business plan but that can’t possibly be right. What can I do? Oh, I know, I’ll tell my MP. It’s perfect timing: [...]
Treasury star to join JPM August 2, 2010 JP MORGAN Chase is today expected to announce Daniel Zelikow, a former US Treasury official, is to supervise a new drive to secure more commercial banking business for the group. Zelikow, who served under Robert Rubin in the Clinton administration, will look to win work from governments around the world and particularly in faster-growing economies. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 2, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES LIVERPOOL FC AUCTION ATTRACTS GLOBAL INTEREST Global interest in the auction of Liverpool Football Club intensified on Monday with prospective bidders emerging from Hong Kong and the Middle East. Chinese sports entrepreneur Kenneth Huang has made an approach to Liverpool’s bankers Royal Bank of Scotland and US-based Wachovia seeking support for a deal, [...]
Intertek ups profit guidance August 2, 2010 UK testing and quality control firm Intertek yesterday upgraded its full-year guidance, underpinned by an improving trading outlook, as it reported first-half results, sending its shares to the top of the FTSE 100 index. “With the trading outlook improving, we now expect to achieve 2010 organic revenue growth of mid single digits,” Intertek said. The [...]
Genzyme receives $18bn letter August 2, 2010 Drug company Sanofi-Aventis has sent Genzyme a private proposal letter indicating its interest in buying the company for about $18.4bn (£11.6bn) and the two sides are discussing the offer, a source familiar with the situation said yesterday. Earlier in the week, Genzyme was said to be reluctant to accept a deal under $21.4bn. Sanofi had been [...]
HSBC profits soar as loan losses halve August 2, 2010 FALLING toxic loan charges, booming growth in Asia, and the second best ever performance by HSBC’s investment banking division have lifted the bank’s profits more than twofold since the first half of 2009. HSBC smashed expectations yesterday with a 121 per cent rise in first-half pre-tax profit to $11.1bn (£6.98bn), comfortably above forecasts of a [...]
