Osmond set for lesser role June 3, 2009 HUGH Osmond’s role at Pearl Assurance, the highly-indebted insurance group, will be the subject of intense debate over the next few days as banks and shareholders close in on a refinancing deal. The banks have made it a condition of the deal that Osmond’s influence on the company is reduced, City A.M. has learned. In [...]
Heritage Oil shares halted as it admits to takeover talks June 3, 2009 UK-BASED oil explorer Heritage Oil is in early-stage merger talks, it said yesterday, after its shares were suspended. The group, which made a significant oil find in Uganda earlier this year and has potential for development in a Kurdish region of Iraq, said it was in talks with a third party about a possible reverse [...]
CAUSING A SPLASH June 3, 2009 UTILITY Northumbrian Water (NWG) said its full-year pre-tax profits slumped by 10.3 per cent to £152.7m in the year to 31 March, as high energy costs and a fall in demand, particularly from industrial customers, hit the company. NWG, which supplies water and sewage services to North East England, said its sales were up four [...]
Hunt for new ITV chief executive moves up a gear June 3, 2009 ITV yesterday moved a step closer to appointing a chief executive to succeed Michael Grade, as recruitment agency Russell Reynolds began drawing up a shortlist of candidates. With shareholders becoming impatient to appoint a leader to take the struggling commercial broadcaster forward, former BSkyB boss and current chairman of German media group Kable Deutchland Tony [...]
Shadow MPC divided over policy moves June 3, 2009 DESPITE early signs of an economic recovery, interest rates should be kept on hold at 0.5 per cent according to all nine of City A.M.’s shadow MPC committee, ahead of the Bank of England’s June monetary policy decision due today at midday. The Bank of England has already announced asset purchases of £125bn out of [...]
Asia tycoons jump on AIG fund arm sale June 3, 2009 ASIAN investors are scrambling to add their names to the consortium of buyers set to snap up AIG’s asset management unit, which is being sold as part of the insurer’s fire-sale to repay its US government bailout loans. Singapore’s Temasek and the Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li are close to joining a consortium, led by [...]
Shivers abound in this Gothic page-turner June 3, 2009 THE LITTLE STRANGERBy Sarah WatersVIRAGO, £16.99 THIS venerable, multi-award winning novelist (shortlisted for the Booker Prize twice with Fingersmith and Nightwatch) has returned to historical fiction with a blazing, immaculate Gothic ghost story set in postwar Britain. Welsh-born Waters is known for her Victorian lesbian drama and fans of that style might be sad the [...]
JJB agrees a refinancing June 3, 2009 JJB Sports yesterday said it had completed its £50m refinancing and ended its standstill agreement with banks, marking the final chapter of the group’s recent struggles. Following a crucial deal with landlords – which will see it pay no rent on stores that have already been closed – JJB is now able to draw on [...]
British Airways sees a slump in air traffic as downturn hits June 3, 2009 FLAG carrier British Airways (BA) said yesterday its premium passenger numbers for May tumbled 17.2 per cent, as airlines struggle to fill seats during the downturn. BA said its economy passenger numbers were down by only 4.2 per cent. Overall passenger numbers were down 6.5 per cent, suggesting the previous month’s rise may have been [...]
Football season lifts Sportingbet despite a dip in casino gambling June 3, 2009 ONLINE gaming site Sportingbet yesterday reported a 34 per cent hike in third quarter earnings due to an increase in people betting on European football leagues and the Champions League. The group said operating profit for the third quarter to 30 April was £9.8m, compared with £7.3m the year before. The group also said that [...]
