Office affairs are rarely wise June 2, 2010 IN OFFICE HOURS BY LUCY KELLAWAY Fig Tree, £12.99 **** by Zoe Strimpel STELLA, Bella, Rhys and James are four employees at fictional City-based oil giant Atlantic Energy. Stella is an executive in her mid-forties with two kids and a stable – if slightly unexciting – marriage. Bella is a PA, with an alcoholic ex-boyfriend [...]
Shell to buy East Resources for £3.2bn May 28, 2010 ROYAL Dutch Shell has agreed to buy US natural gas explorer East Resources for £3.2bn. The cash offer was made to East Resources and its private equity investor Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR). East Resources holds more than 650,000 acres in the Marcellus shale – a rock formation in the US which is believed to have [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 24, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES AIA CHIEF IN THREAT TO QUIT OVER PRU DEAL AIA’s chief executive has told friends and industry executives that he would quit if the UK’s Prudential succeeded in its $35.5bn (£24.6bn) takeover of the Asian businesses of AIG. Mark Wilson has said he would step down once the deal closed because the proposed [...]
Ford expects solid profits May 13, 2010 FORD Motor expects earnings improvement in 2011 after solid profits in 2010 as its turnaround gains traction, executives said at its annual meeting of shareholders yesterday. Ford chief executive Alan Mulally said improvement in the economy globally and a strong new vehicle lineup gave him confidence in expecting a “continuing improvement” in 2011. “It’s a [...]
The return of iconic lips May 10, 2010 WHEN Tom Ford brings out a line of clothes, perfume, makeup – or even a film, as he did earlier this year – we all instantly know it’s going to be the season’s must-have (or must do). So with the launch of his Private Blend range of lipsticks, it has become blazingly obvious that any [...]
Sovereign debt risk sparks worry over banks May 9, 2010 HEADING into last week, the markets were still primarily focused on politics. Would Greece receive aid money from fellow European countries? Would politicians come together and back fiscal measures to stem Greek debt contagion? Who would win the general election in Britain? Previously peaceful anti-austerity protests in Greece took a turn for the worse, investors [...]
Korea Progression May 4, 2010 IF any car proves Korean manufacturer Kia’s star is in the ascendant then it must be its compact car, the Venga. It’s something of an illusion because it’s clear from the moment that you get in it that this is not really a compact car at all, in fact it’s what is known in the [...]
Ford revenues up by a quarter May 3, 2010 Ford posted a 25 per cent increase in its spring sales from a year earlier, propelled by record sales of its Fusion midsize sedan and robust demand for trucks led by the F-series pickup. Ford sold 167,542 vehicles in the US market in April, compared with 134,401 vehicles the same month a year earlier. Excluding [...]
Ford reports a $2.1bn profit April 27, 2010 FORD posted a stronger-than-expected $2.1bn (£1.38bn) quarterly profit and said it would be “solidly profitable” in 2010, a year ahead of schedule, driven by strong US sales and market share gains. Ford raised its North American production plan for the current quarter as well as the 2010 outlook for its Ford Motor Credit financing arm. [...]
For babymooners, Brown’s is best April 18, 2010 WHEN I told people that my wife was expecting our first child, a lot of the men who already have kids did this laugh, a sort of bark that seemed to be at once ironic, sardonic and to suggest “you poor, poor fool, you don’t know what you are letting yourself into. No, really, you [...]