WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 26, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES CHEVRON EXPECTED TO COME UNDER FIRE OVER LAWSUIT IN ECUADORChevron is expected to come under fire from shareholders over its environmental record in Ecuador, which has left the world’s third-largest oil company facing potential liabilities of $27bn. Investors, as well as indigenous and farming communities from Ecuador’s Amazon, are set to attack Chevron [...]
Virgin beats rival BA with rising profits May 26, 2009 AIRLINE Virgin Atlantic, controlled by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, saw its pre-tax profit almost double to £68.4m in the year ending February – trouncing British Airways (BA), which last week announced record losses. Virgin said profits were boosted by an increase in premium travel. It is taking market share from rivals, including BA, in the [...]
MPs should show how to use pay to reward talent May 25, 2009 May has been a very embarrassing month. People keep talking about money. Not the anonymous multi-trillion pound bailout/quantitative easing/fiscal stimulus piles of money, but the cringingly personal “my house is bigger than yours” monthly pay-cheque sort of money. One of CNBC TV’s guests last week hit the nail on the head when he said; “the [...]
FIRST CLASS GROUNDED May 25, 2009 AUSTRALIAN airline Qantas will stop selling first class fares on most of its flights, the firm said yesterday, as it struggles to cope in the downturn. Last week, British Airways said it would not fit first class cabins on its new aircraft, as business and consumer demand for premium travel falls.
Uncertainty over dividend payments could see defensive shares back on top May 25, 2009 MARKS & Spencer was hit by shareholder anger last week after it confirmed a widely flagged decision to slash its dividend payout to shareholders by one third. It saw its shares dive to the bottom of the FTSE 100, wiping 8 per cent off the share price in just one day. The price has continued [...]
Iberia said to be nearing a deal with BA May 25, 2009 SPANISH Airline Iberia said yesterday that it could conclude its merger talks with British Airways (BA) within months, but fell short of giving an exact date for completion of the deal. Speaking before a presentation in Madrid, Iberia’s commercial director Manuel Lopez Colmenarejo said that corporate governance and the financial impact of BA’s pension deficit [...]
Air France and Delta to merge May 20, 2009 AIR FRANCE-KLM, Europe’s biggest airline, yesterday announced it had finalised a deal with US airline Delta to operate as one airline over the Atlantic, boosting its share of the world’s busiest route to 25 per cent. The news came as the French carrier reported full-year losses of &1119;578m (£507m) yesterday, down from a profit of [...]
Businesses back BA tie-ups May 19, 2009 SUPPORT came for flag carrier British Airways (BA) yesterday, after Sir Richard Branson hit out against the group’s intended tie-up with American Airlines (AA) and Iberia. Branson, who owns Virgin Atlantic airlines, had said a merger between BA and AA would create a “monster monopoly” of airline groups, which would lock out competition, and muscle [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 14, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMESQINETIQ TO SELL UK UNDERWATER SYSTEMS ARM Qinetiq, the defence research group, has agreed to sell its UK underwater systems business for £23.5m as it continues to restructure its European division. Atlas Elektronik will take over the business, which makes sonar acoustic counter measures for customers such as the Royal Navy, protecting about 220 [...]
Virgin airline bucks gloom, boosts profit August 27, 2008 More business passengers helped boost full-year profits by 21 per cent to £34.8m at Virgin Atlantic despite record fuel prices, the airline revealed yesterday. The long-haul carrier, 51 per cent owned by Sir Richard Branson, said its business passenger numbers rose 22 per cent during the year, as Virgin took market share from British Airways [...]