HMV meets banks on loan facility fears March 16, 2011 TROUBLED music retailer HMV was yesterday preparing a presentation to its bank lenders due early next week as it works to resolve an impending breach of a loan covenant. HMV is meeting the banks on a weekly basis as it attempts to renegotiate terms of a £240m loan facility and is taking debt advice from [...]
Finance boss Solomons steps into the breach March 16, 2011 IHG chief finance officer Richard Solomons has been at the heart of the company’s expansion in China and rebranding of its Holiday Inns. He has been a constant travelling companion of outgoing chief executive Andy Cosslett as the pair turned round the company’s fortunes after the recession. The Manchester University student, now 48, qualified as [...]
Cheltenham’s commercial supremo outlines ambitions for UK racing Plc March 14, 2011 TODAY marks the start of the Cheltenham Festival – the jewel in the crown of the jump racing calendar and one of the biggest days of the year for Simon Bazalgette, chief executive of the Jockey Club, which owns and runs the sporting event. Over the four days until the festival reaches its climax with [...]
Southern Cross shares dive on debt worries March 14, 2011 SHARES in healthcare group Southern Cross plunged by up to 60 per cent yesterday as the company admitted it was struggling in the face of NHS and council budget cuts. The company has appointed KPMG to look at restructuring options after cuts in local authority spending worsened its trading outlook. It said yesterday that it [...]
KPMG: UK banks must double capital for new Basel rules March 13, 2011 BANKS need to double their core capital in order to comply with Basel III, according to KPMG’s annual benchmark report on UK banks. The report warns that despite a recovery in profits (see chart above) and a marked drop in impairments across the board, new capital and liquidity requirements will throw up barriers to better [...]
Morale at UK factories hits record high March 13, 2011 CONFIDENCE among British manufacturers has hit a record high, business consultancy KPMG said today. Over two thirds (68 per cent) of surveyed manufacturers expect business activity to increase, leading to the highest positive balance (60.4 per cent) since the survey began in 2002. And morale in the service sector is also improving, the report showed. [...]
Job creation highest in ten months March 9, 2011 Recruiters, led by the private sector, filled permanent vacancies at the fastest pace in 10 months in February while wage inflation eased to a three-month low, a survey showed. Research for the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG also showed hiring of temporary staff rose at its sharpest rate since May 2007, offering hope the [...]
BUSINESS AS USUAL AS BORIS BIKES TO CANNES March 8, 2011 IF you happened to be in Cannes yesterday afternoon, you would have been treated to the sight of a middle-aged, straw-haired man riding a Boris Bike into the centre of town. On closer inspection, you would have spotted that that figure was, in fact, the London Mayor Boris Johnson, who was livening up the MIPIM [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 7, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES IVORY COAST MOVE SPARKS COCOA FEARS Laurent Gbagbo, the Ivory Coast leader who the international community says lost presidential elections in November, announced he would nationalise the cocoa sector in a surprise move that threatened to drive the cocoa price sharply higher. The African country is the world’s largest cocoa exporter, accounting for [...]
Hannam left out in the cold for Glencore IPO March 7, 2011 BANKERS are already salivating over the sizeable fees associated with the upcoming flotation of the Swiss-based commodities group Glencore. The IPO, if it goes ahead (some think it may yet stumble), will be listed in London and Hong Kong and will bring in fees of £300m-plus to a group of banks that is likely to [...]