The former royal PR set to take charge at the IoD August 16, 2011 THE Institute of Directors has appointed Simon Walker as its next director general. Formerly chief executive officer of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, Walker succeeds Miles Templeman, beginning his seven-year term in October. Walker, who brings experience from both business and political sectors, has held senior executive positions at firms such as [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 11, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES LI & FUNG UPBEAT OVER THE GLOBAL ECONOMY Li & Fung, the Hong Kong-headquartered sourcing company for retailers such as Walmart and Debenhams, sounded an upbeat note on Thursday, asserting that business conditions were “not at all” like those in 2008”, despite the current uncertainty over prospects for the global economy. Bruce Rockowitz, [...]
How BA’s rivals measure up August 9, 2011 WITH the holiday season in full flow we’ve taken a look at how airlines are perceived. The top six airlines on the BrandIndex index score (combined for six key measures) are Virgin Atlantic, Emirates, British Airways, Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific. The detail reveals an interesting pattern. While UK and Australian firms perform well [...]
British Airways owner and Ryanair post increase in passenger traffic August 3, 2011 BRITISH Airways parent company IAG yesterday reported a 3.5 per cent jump in traffic for July. The figure, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, grew to 16.1bn. However, the actual number of passengers decreased 2.7 per cent to 5m. IAG, which was formed by the merger between Spanish carrier Iberia and BA, was boosted by a [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS August 1, 2011 BARRATT DEVELOPMENTS Goldman Sachs has upgraded the house builder from “neutral” to “buy” with a target price of 159p. The broker has also upgraded rival Persimmon to “buy” after reviewing the property sector, and now expects broadly flat new-build house prices over the next two years, thanks to low build volumes and stable unemployment. Goldman [...]
Barclays Capital in new broking win July 28, 2011 BARCLAYS Capital, the investment banking of arm of Barclays, has won another corporate broking client to add to its growing presence in UK equities. Barclays beat competition from other investment houses to win the joint mandate at Catlin, the insurance broker. It will share the mandate with Catlin’s long-term broker JP Morgan, and is replacing [...]
LAGARDE’S ODD CHANGE OF HEART ON HER BUDGET July 27, 2011 A SWIFT turnaround for silver vixen Christine Lagarde, who ascended the abruptly vacant throne of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) earlier this month. Back in March, as French finance minister, Lagarde unveiled a “historical” budget to bring France’s finances back into line. “Reducing the deficit is an economic imperative and a commitment to Europe,” she [...]
BAA narrows losses as traffic grows but a legal threat over charges looms July 27, 2011 BAA, the owner of Stansted and Heathrow, reported smaller losses for the first half of the year, boosted by more passengers using its airports. The airport operator made a pre-tax loss of £249m in the six months to June, down from £279.7m for the same time last year. Traffic across its London airports increased by [...]
BAA narrows losses as traffic rises July 27, 2011 British airport operator BAA reported narrowing first half losses, helped by growth in long-haul travel, and said it continued to consider appealing a ruling saying it must sell two of its airports. BAA, majority owned by Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial, reported an adjusted pretax loss of £116.9m in the six months to the end of [...]
Genteel, smart… meet the old Marbella July 24, 2011 THE plane descends over the southern Spanish countryside and the perfect rows of olive trees almost resemble a Roy Lichtenstein cartoon from above, neatly formed into different sections by hill slope and field. The dramatic mountains give way to bold blue waters and there are whisps of white as the waves collide with the land. [...]