Letters to the Editor – 12/05 – Astrazeneca board, City jobs, Best of Twitter May 11, 2014 Astrazeneca board [Re: Why the government doesn’t need to protect Astrazeneca, Friday] A sound and balanced piece by Roger Barker. I am somewhat impressed by the integrity shown by the Astrazeneca board so far in this bid. I sense that they have real belief in their strategy now that they are seeing evidence of recovery [...]
How Eurovision’s jury panels are robbing eastern countries May 11, 2014 Many of the people frantically dialling in their support for Eurovision entries from eastern Europe (and even further east than that) might have been disappointed last night – Polish viewers have been particularly annoyed that their entry did so well on with the public vote and yet ranked so poorly. That’s because the contest [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 09 May 2014 May 8, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Apple in talks for $3.2bn Beats deal Apple will acquire Beats’ streaming music service, which launched this year, and its audio equipment business, which includes its brand of headphones and audio equipment. The Beats management team will report to Mr Cook, sources said. Apple and Beats did not comment. The deal is likely [...]
Letters to the Editor – 09/05 – Chinese innovation, Best of Twitter May 8, 2014 Chinese innovation [Re: As Alibaba unveils its IPO plans, can China leapfrog the West in innovation? yesterday] China has a huge pool of natural resources and a vast supply of cheap labour. But the key to unlocking innovation lies in having leading higher education institutions and research. A quality deficit can in part be compensated [...]
The UK’s most frequent visitors are nowhere near its biggest spenders May 8, 2014 Almost 33m people visited Britain last year – an increase of nearly 5.6 per cent since 2012. What’s more (literally), is how much tourists spent: the amount jumped 12.7 per cent to £21bn last year, according to the Office for National Statistics. Its Top 50 tourism infographic puts the number of visits to the UK [...]
Brewers report disappointing first quarters May 7, 2014 CARLSBERG and Anheuser-Busch InBev both reported disappointing results yesterday as Carlsberg cut its earnings forecast on the back of political tensions in eastern Europe while AB InBev reported a 24 per cent drop in net profit due to increased marketing spend on the World Cup. Carlsberg, the maker of Tuborg and Kronenbourg 1664, is the [...]
Dreary April as Bric economies dip May 7, 2014 ALL FOUR of the Bric economies recorded some mild contraction in their private sectors last month, according to an influential survey of businesses released today. According to HSBC’s latest emerging markets index, firms in Brazil, Russia, India and China all reported a modest drop in business activity, with scores slightly below the neutral 50 level. It [...]
Letters to the Editor – 08/05 – Housing crisis, European defence, Best of Twitter May 7, 2014 Housing crisis [Re: An inconvenient truth about Britain’s growing housing crisis, yesterday] I’m glad you acknowledge the importance of understanding the figures when talking about the housing crisis. Empty property exaggerations are just the start. What of Labour’s posturing about landbanking, allegedly largely responsible for low building rates? As City Hall has shown, three quarters [...]
How Europe can cope without the Ukraine gas pipeline this winter May 7, 2014 Amid growing fears that Ukraine is heading towards a civil war, concerns about the security of gas supplies have risen too. Russia supplies around 25 per cent of Europe’s gas, with around 40 per cent of this coming through Ukrainian pipelines. With Russia hiking the prices Ukraine pays for gas – and of course the [...]
What you need to know before the US open May 6, 2014 Futures suggest a slightly higher open for US markets, following more optimistic export figures for March. Exports gained two per cent last month – from $190bn in February to $193.9bn – suggesting the slide seen in the first two months of the year tailed off. There’s little else in the way of data today, though, with analysts [...]