WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 30, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES VW BRACED FOR “ZERO GROWTH” IN CAR MARKETVolkswagen warned yesterday that it could face flat sales in 2010 as Europe’s largest carmaker reported a sharp profit drop in the second quarter. The third-biggest carmaker behind General Motors and Toyota said it expected “zero growth” in the car market next year. PRIVATE EQUITY SUFFERED [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 29, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES CATTLES’ NON-EXECS WIN TEPID SUPPORTLong-suffering investors in cattles, whose shares have been suspended since April, protested yesterday against the re-election of two non-executive directors at the subprime lender’s annual meeting. About a tenth of investors voted against the re-election of David Haxby, senior independent director who has been with the board since 1999, [...]
HMV boss leading ITV CEO race July 28, 2009 SIMON Fox, the boss of music retailer HMV, is leading the race to take over from Michael Grade as chief executive of troubled broadcaster ITV. Fox, who is credited with turning HMV around since taking over in September 2006, has emerged as ITV’s top choice after it held final interviews for the role last week. [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 27, 2009 Henderson New StarAsset manager Henderson Global Investors has appointed Mark Carpenter, a director in its property division, as head of its Henderson New Star property funds, replacing Roger Dossett. Dossett, who was head of New Star’s property team before Henderson took over New Star in April, will leave Henderson later this year to pursue his [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 26, 2009 THE SUNDAYThe Sunday TelegraphVIRGIN TRAINS EYES BID FOR EAST COAST FRANCHISESir Richard Branson, the Virgin tycoon, has indicated that his company is ready to make a bid for the East Coast Main Line rail franchise. The Government is to re-nationalise the London to Scotland route for at least 12 months from the end of 2009 [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 26, 2009 ExecutionThe agency broker has appointed Bruce Howitt, formerly a director of Merrill Lynch’s fixed income business, to head up its newly created agency credit division. Howitt, who will become head of European credit at Execution, previously spent six years with Merrill Lynch, where he managed the non-financials trading desk. He has also formerly held senior [...]
Meet the deal-maker extraordinaire who hopes the crisis will end in 2010 July 26, 2009 It is hard to escape the feeling that Slaughter and May’s Nigel Boardman is ever so slightly bored. Given that he is London’s top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) lawyer, and that we are still in the midst of a bitter recession which has led to a dramatic reduction in deal-making, this is not exactly surprising. [...]
London retail sales outpace UK thanks to sunshine and tourists July 19, 2009 RETAIL sales surged in central London last month thanks to the mini heatwave which sent shoppers racing for summer clothes, sandals and outdoor items, according to the latest survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG. Research found like-for-like sales in June were 4.7 per cent higher than the same month in 2008 when [...]
US corporate news continues to rule July 19, 2009 BEN Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, will make his semi-annual report on monetary policy tomorrow at 2pm London time. It’s expected to take a fairly upbeat overall tone on the state of the economy, but the markets will be focussing on the implications of his thoughts on inflation, and the merest hint of [...]
Jaguar axes X-Type model and cuts jobs July 15, 2009 JAGUAR LAND ROVER (JLR) is axing a further 300 jobs – this time at a plant in Merseyside – and is stopping production of its X-Type model, the carmaker said yesterday, as luxury cars are hit in the downturn. “Our industry has been especially badly hit by the recession and the premium sector more than [...]