BA to offload pension risk to insurance firm July 1, 2010 BRITISH Airways said it had removed £1.3bn of pension risk in a deal with Goldman Sachs-owned insurance specialists Rothesay Life yesterday, removing another obstacle to its planned merger with Spanish airline Iberia. BA will pay Rothesay for insurance on 20 per cent of its exposure to the Airlines Pension Scheme, which provides defined benefit pensions [...]
RHJ closes on Kleinwort in £225m deal July 1, 2010 ONE of the oldest names in the City, Kleinwort Benson, changed hands for £225m yesterday as buyout house RHJ International acquired the business from Commerzbank. The institution, which traces its roots back to the 18th century, will use a period of private ownership to revitalise its brand by returning to merchant banking. The company will [...]
No bids yet but that’s okay, says chairman Broughton July 1, 2010 LIVERPOOL chairman Martin Broughton says there have no been no bids for the club yet but still hopes a sale will go through by the end of August. The Reds’ American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett officially put the club on the market in May, with British Airways chief Broughton tasked with overseeing the [...]
Unite to delay strike ballot on new BA offer June 28, 2010 UNITE has decided to postpone balloting British Airways (BA) cabin crew on another potential strike after the trade union said that it will give members time to consider a new offer made by the airline. A third strike ballot was expected yesterday, but an offer made by BA management last week caused Unite to delay [...]
Unite delays strike ballot June 27, 2010 THE Unite union has announced plans to postpone balloting British Airways cabin crew on further strikes to allow union members to consider the latest offer from the airline’s management. BA made a new offer to cabin crew on Friday in a bid to end the long-running dispute over pay and conditions before the employees are [...]
BA to hire cut-price crew to beat strike June 24, 2010 BRITISH Airways (BA) said yesterday it planned to recruit over one thousand new cabin crew on lower wages than current staff as it faces possible further strikes by existing flight attendants in August. The Unite union, which represents 90 per cent of BA’s 12,000 cabin staff, criticised the move which would do nothing to end [...]
BAA weathers air travel disruption and plans Heathrow improvements June 24, 2010 AIRPORT operator BAA lowered its 2010 profits forecast by £10m yesterday, less than the £40m lost in disruption caused by the British Airways strikes, winter storms and volcanic eruptions. It also rekindled plans for a high speed railway from Waterloo to Heathrow, mooting further investment in rail links and improving Terminal Two with the money [...]
BAA lowers earnings forecast by £10m June 24, 2010 AIRPORT operator BAA has lowered its 2010 earnings forecast by £10m reflecting the impact of the volcanic ash cloud, strikes by British Airways cabin crew and bad weather. BAA, which is owned by Spain’s Ferrovial, forecast that its 2010 adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation would be £946M based on its expectation of [...]
Sentance shatters consensus with call for rate rise June 23, 2010 A LONE dissenting voice in the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) this month urged for a hike in rates, the first time since August 2008 that such a call has been made. External MPC member Andrew Sentance, who has recently expressed disquiet about stubbornly high inflation in both MPC meetings and in the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 23, 2010 BRITISH AIRWAYS Citigroup said that the pension deficit agreement at British Airways (BA) appears positive for the share price. Citi has given the airline group a “buy” rating and said that the agreed recovery plan takes into account the £2bn increase in the value of its pension assets since the deficit valuation date as of [...]