Bumi investors want Takeover Panel to get a move on December 18, 2012 FEW corporate situations have been quite as embarrassing for the reputation of the City of London as the preposterous mess that is currently Bumi. Bumi’s origins date back to the creation of a special purpose vehicle called Vallar, led by Nat Rothschild, that raised £600m in June 2010 for the purpose of investing in the [...]
John Lewis decks its halls with shoppers December 16, 2012 JOHN Lewis was the bearer of festive tidings yesterday as the group posted a second week of record trading. Sales at its 39 stores and online outlet reached £147.8m in the week to Saturday, up 11.1 per cent on last year. West End firms today voted to keep representative body New West End Company for [...]
Forever young: The scientists trying to cheat death December 11, 2012 Since our species became self aware, it has dreamed of cheating death and ensnaring eternal youth. Life extension experts think it's possible
Clapham goes Overground December 9, 2012 THE LATEST extension to the Overground opened yesterday, completing an orbital rail route around suburban stations but marking the end of some direct services into central London. The extension from Surrey Quays in the south east to Clapham Junction in the south west creates the capital’s first orbital railway in 128 years. But the opening [...]
Our at-a-glance guide to Osborne’s mini-Budget December 5, 2012 THE UK ECONOMIC OUTLOOK ■ The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has revised down its forecast for UK growth and revised up its forecast for public sector borrowing. It says the government is no longer likely to meet its target of reducing debt as a proportion of GDP in 2015-16, breaking its supplementary fiscal rule. [...]
Now you can be your own Lord Grantham November 29, 2012 YES, “DOWNTON Abbey” has ended, and unless Julian Fellowes has one last trick up his sleeve, all that remains are memories and DVD box sets. But for anyone seeking to live out his or her fantasies of being a Crawley, all hope is not lost. Gothic Victorian architecture, the style of Highclere Castle, is a [...]
Chelsea risk wrath of fans with Benitez appointment November 21, 2012 CHELSEA last night turned to former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez and Blues favourite Didier Drogba to save their crumbling season, after sacking European Cup winner Roberto Di Matteo. Benitez has been appointed “interim first team manager” until the end of the season, after flying in from Abu Dhabi yesterday to tie up the shock move, [...]
New chair for British Land as profits increase November 20, 2012 BRITISH Land, the UK’s second-largest property company by market value, said yesterday that its chairman will step down at the end of December, as it reported a solid growth in profits for the first half of the year. Underlying profit before tax at the real estate investment trust rose 3.8 per cent to £137m in [...]
Cash boxes explained November 19, 2012 Q What is a cash box placing ? A A cash box placing allows a company to issue new shares by bypassing pre-emption requirements – meaning without shareholder approval – provided they are issued for a non-cash consideration, such as the shares of another company. Q How does the structure work? A The listed company [...]
America’s energy renaissance will transform China as well November 12, 2012 SOMETHING extraordinary is happening to the global economy, with huge implications for geopolitics and international flows of trade and capital. The United States has engineered an energy renaissance: while it currently imports 20 per cent of its total energy consumption, much of it from the Middle East, America will become roughly self-sufficient in net terms [...]