Scolari set for Chelsea return January 15, 2013 FOOTBALL: Chelsea are set to host a friendly on 25 March between Brazil and Russia. The match will see former Blues boss Luiz Felipe Scolari return to Stamford Bridge with ex-England boss Fabio Capello in charge of Russia.
Russian freight train firm looks for London IPO January 15, 2013 FREIGHT train operator NefteTransService (NTS) is set to become the first Russian firm to join the London stock market this year. NTS Holding announced its intention to float on the main market yesterday, and a source said the firm expects to raise up to $500m (£311m) for 25 per cent of its global depository receipts. [...]
Eurozone trade figures a rare glimmer of hope for the bloc January 15, 2013 A SEEMINGLY unbroken spate of gloomy Eurozone data was yesterday broken by figures showing the currency bloc had expanded its trade surplus during November. The beleaguered currency area sold €13.7bn (£11.4bn) more to the rest of the world than it bought, Eurostat revealed, beating the €9.3bn surplus it achieved in October, and the €4.9bn seen one [...]
First Quantum takes Inmet bid to shareholders January 9, 2013 CANADIAN mining giant First Quantum Minerals has taken its bid for fellow miner Inmet hostile, as it yesterday sent takeover documents for its C$5.1bn (£3.2bn) offer directly to Inmet shareholders. Vancouver-based First Quantum, which has assets in Africa, Australia, South America and Europe, last month sweetened its offer for Canadian miner Inmet, offering C$72 in [...]
Insurer Generali pays €2.5bn for eastern European joint-venture January 8, 2013 ITALIAN insurance giant Generali yesterday paid €2.5bn (£2bn) to take full control of an eastern European joint-venture with Czech firm PPF. It is the first major decision made by Mario Greco, Generali’s new chief executive, as part of the strategic review that followed his appointment last August. Generali said eastern Europe was now its fourth [...]
Best of the Brokers January 8, 2013 TUI TRAVEL Morgan Stanley yesterday downgraded the travel company from “equal weight” to “underweight” with a target price of 250p, expecting seasonal losses to be higher due to an accounting change and poor cash flow. However, the analyst still sees Tui Travel as a “well-managed business, with strong market shares in European tour operating” that [...]
As Gérard Depardieu flees to Russia, will the 75 per cent tax rate damage France? January 7, 2013 YES Emmanuelle Savarit François Hollande’s policy of a 75 per cent rate of income tax for top earners is already a disaster for the country’s image, and it will have a negative impact by reducing France’s economic competitiveness. France needs entrepreneurs and risk-takers to create wealth. Heavy taxation is unfair on talented people who create [...]
Actor Depardieu meets Putin and picks up Russian passport January 7, 2013 FRENCH film star Gerard Depardieu received a hug from President Vladimir Putin and a new Russian passport yesterday after abandoning his homeland to avoid a new tax rate for millionaires. Putin signed a decree on Thursday granting Russian citizenship to Depardieu, who has fumed over French President Francois Hollande’s plan to impose a 75 per [...]
Europe bears brunt of fall in investment banking revenue January 3, 2013 EUROPEAN investment banks were among the worst hit by the fees downturn in 2012, according to data released yesterday by Thomson Reuters. Worldwide fees fell by just 3.4 per cent to $74.8bn (£46bn) last year but the income from deals involving the UK, France and Spain slumped by more than 15 per cent. “The Eurozone [...]
Cameron pledges tax crackdown while UK is host of G8 January 1, 2013 DAVID Cameron today said he will put tax evasion at the heart of this year’s G8 summit and demand the world’s largest economies “galvanise collective international action” to tackle abuse of the taxation system. In a letter sent to leaders of the G8 group of wealthy countries, the Prime Minister said he would use Britain’s [...]