WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 28, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES AMAZON SEEKS TO EXPAND GLOBALLY Amazon says it plans to revamp its international e-commerce platform to make it easier for the company to reach customers in new markets. The online retailer, the world’s largest by number of visitors, operates online businesses in six countries outside the US. It says it has set up [...]
Thomas Cook plans Chinese tie-up as it moves in to emerging markets November 28, 2010 TOUR operator Thomas Cook is hoping to forge a tie-up with a Chinese travel company to expand into tiger economies. The holiday group is understood to want to move into the Chinese market by 2012 as part of its drive to cash in on growth in emerging markets. The company last week announced a deal to [...]
Greenergy launches bid for Total’s UK forecourts November 28, 2010 GREENERGY, a supplier of fuel to British supermarket petrol stations, has launched a £1bn-plus bid to buy Total France’s UK retail network. Greenergy’s chief executive Paul Lester said he had held preliminary discussions with the French oil major about buying its portfolio of 780 petrol station forecourts. The supplier, in which the world’s number three [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK November 28, 2010 Sometimes Pret just doesn’t hit the spot for lunch, don’t you find? Such was the case for two Russian gents, residents of Chelsea, who splurged the best part of two grand on their midday meal one day last week. Our epicures started out with a £180 bottle of Dom Perignon to whet the appetite, which [...]
Cook takes Russian trip with Intourist tourist November 25, 2010 EUROPE’S second-largest tour operator Thomas Cook is buying more than half of Russian rival Intourist to enter the growing Russian travel market. Cook will invest up to $45m (£28.5m) – $10m in cash and $35m in its shares – in the venture for the 50.1 per cent stake. It said the deal would enable it [...]
Russian state bank eyes E.ON’s stake in Gazprom November 25, 2010 A DEAL for the sale of German utility E.ON’s stake in dominant Russian gas company Gazprom to Russian state bank VEB may be announced as early as today, a source in Russia’s energy ministry said yesterday. “The idea is completely realistic. I think that this is what will happen, I think it will be announced [...]
Sportingbet sees profits rise by a third November 24, 2010 Online gaming firm Sportingbet saw its first quarter profits soar by almost a third as it exceeded expectations in its European business. Pre-tax profit rose 31 per cent to £8.5m, compared with £6.5m last year. Net gaming revenue grew five per cent to £51.1m. Sportingbet, which has customers across Europe, Australia, Canada, South America and [...]
THREE OTHER HEAVING CITY RESTAURANTS November 22, 2010 THE ANTHOLOGIST Nearly the same as the Folly, but “darker” as the Folly manager puts it, with a pink butterfly as its logo. It’s also smaller. But passing down Gresham Street it’s more of a mellow, tempting den than a dingy dive. A proper nightspot, with “Soul Saturdays”, a good wine list and a huge [...]
BP to ramp up production of Russian gas November 22, 2010 RUSSIA’s third largest oil firm, TNK-BP, said yesterday it was to invest $3.8bn (£2.4bn) in its gas business over the next three years in a bid to more than double production to 30bn cubic metres (bcm) by 2020. The oil firm, which is half-owned by British oil company BP, will invest $1.8bn between now and [...]
Orascom sells 50pc stake in $1.2bn deal November 22, 2010 ORASCOM Telecom has sold its 50 per cent stake in Tunisian mobile operator Tunisiana to a Qatari-Tunisian consortium for $1.2bn in a further sign of consolidation in the Arab telecoms market. The consortium includes Qatar Telecom’s (Qtel) Kuwaiti unit Wataniya, which already owns 50 per cent of Tunisiana, the Qatari fixed line and wireless carrier [...]