Electric Shock June 16, 2009 CAN you imagine plugging your car into a three-pin plug in the wall, leaving it for eight hours and then driving for up to 70 miles on that single charge? Well, that is what the Smart Fortwo electric drive will do for you, from a flat battery to full charge. I drove this and two [...]
Land Secs director walks out on firm June 16, 2009 BRITAIN’S largest property firm Land Securities yesterday said that its managing director Mike Hussey will leave the firm at the end of this month after rumours of boardroom tensions. The firm last year abandoned a plan to split into three companies, one specialising in London property, one in shops and the other in outsourcing. Hussey, who [...]
GM sells Saab to a Swedish supercar firm June 16, 2009 TROUBLED carmaker General Motors (GM) said yesterday it had reached a tentative agreement to sell its loss-making Saab division to Swedish supercar manufacturer Koenigsegg. The deal will be part-funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is supplying a $600m (£367m) loan, guaranteed by the Swedish government. “Closing this deal represents the best chance for Saab [...]
US house starts in healthy rise June 16, 2009 US HOUSEBUILDERS were heartened yesterday as a Commerce Department report showed new builds rose 17.2 per cent in May, the biggest gain in three months. Homes built for single families rose 7.5 per cent – the largest gain since January 2006. But a report from central bank the Federal Reserve said US industrial production slid [...]
MySpace to axe 400 in cost cut June 16, 2009 MYSPACE, the social network owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, yesterday unveiled plans to axe 30 per cent of its staff to lower costs as it struggles to stay popular in the face of rising competition. MySpace will be left with about 1,000 employees, the group said, suggesting around 400 staff will lose their jobs. [...]
Headline UK inflation still above target June 16, 2009 BRITISH headline inflation fell by much less than had been expected in May, raising speculation that the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may decide not to extend its quantitative easing programme beyond the current £125bn. Official data yesterday showed that consumer prices rose 0.6 per cent last month, taking the annual rate of [...]
Bruised Lions count cost of unbeaten run June 16, 2009 SOUTHERN KINGS (8) vs. BRITISH LIONS (20) THE British and Irish Lions were left counting the cost of their bruising encounter with Southern Kings as preparation for the first Test with South Africa suffered a new double setback. Prop Euan Murray and fly-half James Hook both limped out of the hard-fought 20-8 victory in Port [...]
Posen adds US voice to MPC June 16, 2009 THE Bank of England announced yesterday that US economist Adam Posen will succeed policy “hawk” Tim Besley as an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). Posen is deputy director at the Peterson Institute for Economics in Washington and a visiting scholar at the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank. The appointment of [...]
Deutsche Telekom prices bond June 16, 2009 Deutsche Telekom is selling a $1.5bn (£912m) two-part global benchmark bond, one of the banks managing the sale confirmed yesterday. The offering includes $750m in five year notes expected to yield 225 basis points over comparable US Treasuries and $750m in 10 year notes expected to yield 237.5 basis points over Treauries. Barclays Capital and [...]
Eni mulls North Sea asset sale June 16, 2009 Italian oil company Eni is examining the sale of some of its assets in the North Sea worth around $1bn (£610m), its chief executive Paolo Scaroni said yesterday. “We will see if there are opportunities to make sales. From time to time we clean up our portfolio,” he said. Eni’s North Sea fields produce 20,000 [...]
