CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 18, 2011 Ladbrokes Ladbrokes has appointed Ian Bull as chief financial officer, effective from 4 July, when he will report to Ladbrokes chief executive Richard Glynn. Bull joins Ladbrokes from Greene King, where he was group finance director from 2006, contributing to the expansion of the business through organic growth and the acquisition of 2,500 pubs across [...]
John Nelson named new Lloyd’s chairman April 18, 2011 Lloyd’s of London has named John Nelson, a long-time City financier and chairman of real estate developer Hammerson, as its incoming chairman to replace Lord Levene. Nelson, a chartered accountant and corporate financier with Kleinwort Benson and Lazard, was chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston Europe from 1999 to 2002. He has since moved to [...]
Meet the 71-year old adventurer in the hostseat April 14, 2011 As Glencore unveils its London mega-float COLOUR and excitement returned to the City yesterday as Glencore announced a former French foreign legionnaire, Algerian war veteran, author, explorer and financier as its new chairman. Simon Murray (pictured) will be tasked with leading the firm’s up-to $11bn (£6.7bn) float, valuing it at about $60bn, the details of [...]
Fujitsu to roll out fibre internet to rural Britain April 13, 2011 Fujitsu has announced plans to deliver next generation internet services to 5m homes in rural Britain. It says it will provide the infrastructure and work with broadband providers including Virgin Media and TalkTalk, which will wholesale its fibre. Fujitsu says the network is a “ground breaking and innovative alternative to BT Openreach.” The open access [...]
How I learned to stop worrying and love the internet April 11, 2011 THE Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has finally, in its protracted wisdom, decided not to take action against BT and Phorm over an trial they ran, in which the internet browsing activities of around 18,000 customers were monitored. Which, on the face of it, sounds quite bad. Except, when you look at the details, it’s really [...]
Ofcom says BT must cut its wholesale cost March 31, 2011 BRITISH consumers should see a fall in the price they pay for broadband and landline services after the telecoms regulator said BT would have to cut the price it charges other providers to use its network. Ofcom said it had proposed lower prices for BT’s Openreach division, which provides wholesale access for other communications providers. [...]
BT moves pension payment forward March 30, 2011 BT HAS paid the latest installment to its pension deficit programme nine months early in order to qualify for the tax deductible corporation tax rate of 28 per cent, rather than the 26 per cent rate that will apply from April. BT says the decision to pay £505m into the BT Pension Scheme, the actuarial [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 29, 2011 BT GROUP JP Morgan Cazenove (JPM) rates the telecoms group “overweight” and has cut its 12-month target price by 6p to 214p to reflect changes to the firm’s pensions deficit. The broker thinks many of BT’s short-term cost efficiencies might be reinvested to achieve growth targets, meaning slowing momentum before the firm returns to sustainable [...]
THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED March 28, 2011 A DRAMATIC collapse of CD sales and online piracy dragged global recorded music sales down by $1.5bn (£940m) last year – more than the total annual revenue of the UK music industry. Income from recorded music slumped 8.4 per cent to $15.9bn. CD sales dragged the total down with a drop of 14 per cent [...]
Wi-fi to be installed at tube stations by Olympics March 25, 2011 Commuters will be able to check emails on the Tube by the start of the London Olympics. Transport for London (TFL) said a successful trial at Charing Cross meant wi-fi coverage would eventually be installed on the whole Underground network. Telecoms companies will now bid to set up the network with 120 stations to be [...]