Chelsea deny lodging late bid to hijack Villa’s Madrid move June 11, 2009 CHELSEA last night dismissed speculation they tried to poach David Villa from under the noses of Real Madrid. The Valencia striker is set to become the latest member of the Bernabeu ‘galacticos’, joining £140m duo Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo. But reports in Spain suggested Chelsea had crept in with an 11th hour offer to tempt [...]
Crude rises to an eight-month high on hopes the global downturn is easing June 11, 2009 OIL climbed above $72 a barrel yesterday, an eight-month high, after research body the International Energy Agency (IEA) raised its global forecast on rising hopes the economic recession is easing. Paris-based IEA, which advises 28 nations, boosted its global estimate for daily oil demand by 120,000 barrels to 83.3 million barrels in its monthly report. [...]
US retail sales rose in May, driven by surging cost of petrol at the pumps June 11, 2009 US RETAIL sales rose for the first time in three months in May and the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits last week hit the lowest level since January, suggesting the recession was abating. The Commerce Department said that sales at U.S. retailers rose 0.5 per cent last month, lifted by strong [...]
Sir Alex is a transfer master June 11, 2009 MANCHESTER UNITED are undoubtedly losing one of their greatest players of all time in Cristiano Ronaldo, but manager Sir Alex Ferguson rarely gets his big transfer decisions wrong. Ferguson demands total commitment from his players and it is easy to understand if he has decided that this is the right time to sell Ronaldo. The [...]
BLOCKBUSTER YEAR June 11, 2009 BOLLYWOOD investment firm The Indian Film Company (IFC) saw profits double over the past year, despite the economic slowdown and the terror attacks in Mumbai. IFC said full year net profit increased by 98.5 per cent to £3.89m, on revenue which rose 257 per cent to £40.9m. The group released eight films over the year, [...]
United agree to let Ronaldo join Real in 80m switch June 11, 2009 ONE of the longest-running transfer sagas of recent years edged close to conclusion yesterday when Manchester United accepted a world record-shattering £80m bid from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo. United said they gave Real permission to discuss personal terms with Ronaldo, 24, after the Fifa World Player of the Year informed the Old Trafford hierarchy [...]
Saad credit lines shut down June 11, 2009 FEARS were growing yesterday that Saad Group’s holdings in a raft of companies could be sold-off, as western banks began to shut down credit lines to the company and its billionaire chairman, Maan al-Sanea. Concerns escalated after the central bank in the United Arab Emirates instructed local banks to suspend lending to the troubled Saudi [...]
Chinalco says Rio to blame for failed deal June 11, 2009 CHINESE metals conglomerate Chinalco yesterday said Rio Tinto was to blame for the failure of the pair’s mega-deal – not the Australian government. Australia had an “open and welcoming” attitude to its failed $19.5bn (£11.7bn) bid to invest in Rio Tinto, Chinalco President Xiong Weiping said yesterday. The deal collapsed last week because of factors [...]
London & Stamford Property in raising to snap up assets on cheap June 11, 2009 LONDON & Stamford Property, the vehicle launched to exploit Britain’s property bust, yesterday said it was planning to raise new equity to take advantage of the slump in prices. The Aim-listed firm said it is looking to raise an unspecified sum to bolster its remaining £90m of equity and £150m undrawn credit facility to bankroll [...]
The writing was always on the wall for Setanta June 11, 2009 YOU have to admire the sheer tenacity of Setanta’s founding pair, Michael O’Rourke and Leonard Ryan. A lesser team would have let the floundering business die peacefully by now; these two are determined to keep it on life support until the bitter end. Yesterday, I spoke to several analysts to canvass opinion on the broadcaster’s [...]
