Boots slashes staff by 1,500 May 18, 2009 ALLIANCE Boots, the chemist, said yesterday it will slash 1,500 jobs at its pharmaceutical wholesale arm, in a bid to save £55m a year to brace itself for “the most difficult market conditions” ever seen at the division. The group pledged to cut the division’s staff by 10 per cent, even though its underlying profits [...]
New World Resources shares plunge after massive losses May 18, 2009 COAL producer New World Resources (NWR) saw its shares plummet yesterday, after the Czech firm reported net losses of €2.14m (£1.89m) for the first quarter, down from a profit of €117.8m in the same period last year. It also slashed its full year 2009 production targets of coal and coke. In February, the company said [...]
State Street plans $1.5bn share sale as moves to repay TARP funds May 18, 2009 STATE Street yesterday revealed plans to sell $1.5bn of stock and will also sell notes to help repay government bailout funds, as it took a $3.7bn charge to move some assets onto its balance sheet at a loss. The Boston-based custodial bank and asset manager said it will use proceeds from the securities sales to help [...]
BAA appeals airport sales May 18, 2009 AIRPORT owner BAA said yesterday it will appeal the Competition Commission’s orders to sell off three of its airports, after being told to get rid of Gatwick, Stansted and either Edinburgh or Glasgow. BAA, which is owned by Spanish group Ferrovial, said the Commission ruling overlooked the recession, and the affect it would have on [...]
World Bank head sees return to economic growth this year May 18, 2009 The global economy may return to growth in late 2009 or in 2010, World Bank president Robert Zoellick said yesterday, while European banking officials also reported tentative signs the financial crisis could be easing. In Asia, credit rating agency Moody’s stripped Japan of its AAA rating on its foreign currency debt, but manufacturing and consumer sentiment [...]
American Express axes 4,000 jobs May 18, 2009 American Express, the credit card and travel services company, yesterday said it plans to eliminate 4,000 jobs, or six per cent of its workforce, as the weakened economy causes higher customer defaults. The cuts are part of the company’s plan to save $800m (£521.5m) over the rest of 2009. They are in addition to 7,000 [...]
UBS tax cash could backfire May 18, 2009 US banks and the economy could suffer as a result of the high-profile tax evasion case pitting the Internal Revenue Service against UBS, supporters of the Swiss bank said in a federal court filing yesterday. In a joint filing on Friday, five business and banking groups urged Federal District Court Judge Alan Gold to reject [...]
US banks rushes to repay TARP May 18, 2009 Goldman Sachs Group, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley have applied to repay billions of dollars they borrowed under the US government’s Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP). They are the first wave of major lenders allowed to return TARP funds. The banks need regulatory approval to repay the funds, and regulators have said they will consider [...]
Lloyds aiming for recovery May 18, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group made a tentative step towards recovery yesterday as it launched a discounted £4bn share placing, just a day after chairman Sir Victor Blank announced his retirement. In a move that signals a fresh start after the Blank regime left the bank 43 per cent state-owned, Lloyds said it would use the cash [...]
Pearl’s bankers in the driving seat May 18, 2009 BANK lenders to Pearl, Hugh Osmond’s struggling insurance group, have won a significant concession in their fight not to accept a major write-off on their £3bn loans. Pearl’s bankers were recently asked to take a 40 per cent write-off on their loans as part of a £500m injection of equity from a shareholder group, Liberty. This group [...]
