MySpace says it will axe two thirds of international staff June 23, 2009 STRUGGLING social networking site MySpace said yesterday that it will cut about two thirds of its international work force and close at least four of its offices outside of the US, putting dozens of UK staff at risk. The News Corp-owned firm has proposed a restructuring plan that would see its international staff cut from [...]
Debenhams raising flops June 23, 2009 HIGHSTREET retailer Debenhams yesterday said its shareholders had taken up just a third of its share offering in a £323m fundraising. The department store chain launched the cash call earlier this month to achieve chief executive Rob Templeman’s aim of taking its £900m debt mountain “off the agenda”. Britain’s second largest high-street retailer said 73,388,851 [...]
RISING STAR OF THE SUN June 23, 2009 REBEKAH Wade has been named as the new chief executive of News International, which publishes The Sun, The Times and The News of the World, as well as other British newspapers. Wade, who has edited The Sun for six years, will report to James Murdoch, the News Corp chairman and chief executive Europe and Asia.
RBS loss is the biggest of any bank in world June 23, 2009 ROYAL Bank of Scotland lost more than any other bank in the world last year, booking a pre-tax operating loss of nearly $60bn (£36.7bn), according to figures released today. The Banker magazine’s Top 1000 World Banks 2008/09 survey revealed that RBS was the world’s biggest loser, beating Wall Street giant Citigroup, which lost slightly more [...]
Bank economist: QE is showing positive signs June 23, 2009 IT MAY be too soon to judge precisely how effective the Bank of England’s quantitative easing (QE) programme has been but there are already early positive signs, the BoE’s chief economist Spencer Dale said in a speech yesterday. “It is still early days in terms of judging the ultimate success of the programme in stimulating [...]
DRAX FIRED UP FOR SHARE PLACING June 23, 2009 DRAX, which owns west Europe’s biggest coal-fired power station, said yesterday it would launch a £100m share sale, as it looks to pay off debt and keep its credit rating. It will place up to 25.5m new ordinary shares – or 7.5 per cent of its share capital – to raise money. Last month, Drax’s [...]
Lending weak but mortgage approvals up June 23, 2009 THERE was more good news for the UK housing market yesterday in the shape of mortgage approvals data from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA). The BBA said approvals for home purchase numbered 31,162 in May, compared to 29,018 in April. This marks a 15.8 per cent increase on the same period in 2008. BBA statistics [...]
CAPTURING YIELD IN THE FX MARKET June 23, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFTWHICH investment thesis will be proven right – the recovery trade or the return of risk aversion? For the past few months, the recovery trade has dominated, with risk currencies gaining on the US dollar. Recently, however, that rally has stalled and the bears have re-emerged, arguing that the recovery [...]
Even neutral news from the Fed will boost the greenback June 23, 2009 FEDERAL RESERVE Chairman Ben Bernanke and the rest of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) have an unenviable job today as they discuss the next steps for US monetary policy against the backdrop of improving global conditions – the decision is due at 7.15pm this evening Since the committee last met on 28-29 April, the [...]
TURNING THE LAW GREEN, BIT BY BIT June 23, 2009 DESMOND HUDSONLAW SOCIETY CHIEF EXECUTIVEWE are all aware of the dangers of climate change, but the fact is that we spend much of our lives at work. If we are going to tackle the problem, businesses need to do their bit. So is it possible to save the polar bears from the comfort of your [...]
