TUBE LINES STRIKE TO GO AHEAD June 22, 2010 MAINTENANCE workers on the underground will strike this evening after talks between rail union RMT and Tube Lines fell apart. The strike, which will be staged in two parts, is set to commence at 7pm and will last until Friday evening, with another strike planned between 14 and 16 July. Transport for London (TfL), which [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 22, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES GUINEA THREAT OVER RIO DISPUTE The government of Guinea has raised the stakes in a dispute with Rio Tinto by threatening to strip the mining group of more of its rights to one of the world’s biggest undeveloped iron ore deposits. Officials in Guinea have been angered by what they see as Rio’s [...]
BA’s pension recovery gets the go-ahead June 22, 2010 BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) has agreed a plan with its trustees that will see the airline deal with its £3.7bn pension deficit head on. Under the new agreement, BA will commit to annual contributions of £330m with a three per cent rise every year, at the same time promising that it will make additional contributions should [...]
Unite to issue third ballot for August strikes June 22, 2010 UNITE, the union representing British Airways (BA) cabin crew, is to launch a fresh strike ballot on 29 June. The ballot, which will take more than five weeks to be finalised, means that crew could again walk off the job in August. Unite said yesterday that it had notified BA of the ballot launch – [...]
Kerviel called an evil genius June 22, 2010 Former Societe Generale chief executive Daniel Bouton lashed out at rogue trader Jerome Kerviel in a Paris court yesterday, labelling his unauthorised trades the mark of an “evil genius” that shattered trust at the bank. Bouton also said the sheer fear he felt at discovering Kerviel’s “monstrous” unauthorised trading positions – which were blamed by [...]
Hammerson offloads £135m Docklands office June 22, 2010 REAL estate investor Hammerson has sold Docklands office block Exchange Tower to MPGA Europe Fund III for £134.6m. The sale represents a 74 per cent return on the £77m Hammerson paid for the 16-storey tower in 1999, on top of annual rents of up to £10.7m over the course of its 11-year ownership. Its main [...]
NEWS | IN BRIEF June 22, 2010 US!HSBC!cuts Angolan ties A US unit of HSBC has cut ties with some Angolan banks, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, months after a US Senate investigation criticised it for lax oversight of accounts held by Angolans, including a former central bank governor. The southwest African country is a lucrative prospect for [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 22, 2010 EASYJET JP Morgan Cazenove said it believes that easyJet’s share price performance is being overshadowed by Stelios’ disagreements with the board over strategy. JP Morgan said that until such time as these are seen to be resolved permanently it expects share price performance to remain muted. JP Morgan downgrades its rating on the airline to [...]
Acquisition strategy gives boost to Bunzl June 22, 2010 DISTRIBUTION and outsourcing group Bunzl yesterday said trading in the first half of the year was boosted by acquisitions, favourable currency movements and strong revenue growth in the US, placing it on target to meet full year expectations. Bunzl has made five acquisitions so far this year, contributing a combined annualised revenue of £85m. The [...]
Global wealth close to 2007 levels again June 22, 2010 WEALTHY individuals have now recouped most of the losses that they sustained during the financial crisis of 2008, according to the World Wealth Report released yesterday by Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and Cap Gemini. High net worth individuals (HNWIs) – classified as those with investable assets of $1m (£673,000) or more – climbed back to [...]
