CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 23, 2011 Intandem Films The London-based international film group has appointed Robert Mitchell as a non-executive director and as a member of the company’s film financing committee. Mitchell previously worked at Walt Disney, where he set up the distribution company Buena Vista in 1992 and rose to the position of managing director of Walt Disney UK. Prior [...]
FTSE lower as Eurozone business activity slows November 23, 2011 Investors remained hesitant today as grim new data on private sector activity around the world raised fresh fears of a recession in Europe at the end of this year. Asian markets closed lower after purchasing managers’ index data from China saw activity slump to the lowest level in more than two and a half years, [...]
China factory activity shrinks most in 32 months November 23, 2011 China’s factory sector shrank by the most in more than two and a half years in November as new orders slumped, a preliminary PMI survey has shown. The data has revived worries that China may be skidding towards an economic hard landing, fuelling global recession fears and sending Asian stock markets down at the close. [...]
New quango proposed to cut high pay November 22, 2011 A NEW quango should be set up to “police pay codes in UK companies”, the final report of the High Pay Commission proposed yesterday. The government’s business secretary Vince Cable welcomed the findings, saying: “Many of the options we are consulting on are reflected in the report. “There is widespread consensus, not just among the [...]
DON’T FEAR A RETURN TO VICTORIAN ENGLAND November 22, 2011 BRITAIN is heading for levels of inequality that were “evident in Victorian England”, the High Pay Commission has concluded. Yet the data this is based on does not go back to Victorian times. The earliest year on record is 1913, a dozen years after Victoria died. So the High Pay Commission has estimated where this [...]
Finns snap up gas and oil firm Hamworthy November 22, 2011 DORSET-BASED oil and gas services group Hamworthy has agreed to be taken over by Finnish enginemaker Wartsila yesterday in a deal valuing the UK company at about £383m. The announcement will boost Wartsila’s presence in the fast-growing energy sector. Wartsila said it saw major cost synergies and sales opportunities from integrating Hamworthy in its ship [...]
FTSE bounces but travel firms suffer November 22, 2011 Stability in Eurozone bond yields and short-term bargain-hunting gave London stocks some momentum today but investors remained wary after six previous sessions of losses. US markets closed down last night after the bipartisan committee nominated to find $1.2 trillion (£764m) of government spending cuts admitted it could not agree on a plan. Asian markets also [...]
Capital Shopping Centres secures new debt facility November 21, 2011 CAPITAL Shopping Centres (CSC), the UK’s biggest mall owner, has secured a £375m credit facility from a consortium of five banks to help provide “general liquidity” to the company. The owner of Manchester’s Trafford Centre and the MetroCentre in Gateshead said yesterday that the revolving facility would replace a previous, undrawn £248m facility that was [...]
FTSE tumbles on US and Europe debt fears November 21, 2011 UK and European stocks fell today as the failure of a US government committee to agree on sweeping spending cuts revived fears over out-of-control sovereign debt. The bipartisan US congressional committee is expected to admit today that it cannot agree on a plan to cut back spending by $1.2 trillion (£760m) over the next decade [...]
Compass to give £500m to investors November 20, 2011 COMPASS, the catering firm, will reveal plans this week to return up to £500m to shareholders by buying back shares. Analysts expect the group, which serves four billion meals each year in more than 50 countries, to announce the buyback alongside its full-year results, with profits expected to exceed £1bn. In a recent trading update [...]