Airlines face legal action over misleading debit card charges June 28, 2011 AIRLINES and travel companies were warned yesterday that they face punishment over their “hidden” credit and debit charges. An investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), found evidence of companies using “drip pricing” tactics – where surcharges are added to the full price only after consumers have filled in a number of web pages. [...]
Shares in Avis spike on news of takeover June 14, 2011 SHARES in car hire firm Avis Europe leaped 58 per cent yesterday as investors rushed to benefit from its takeover by US counterpart Avis Budget. Avis Budget said it would pay £636m in cash for Avis Europe to reunite the two firms after 25 years and create a group with revenues of $7bn (£4.3bn). The [...]
WHISKY AT MIDDAY FOR ABERDEEN’S POLAR FEAT June 2, 2011 THE WHISKY came out at noon at Aberdeen Asset Management yesterday to christen the boat the fund managers are sponsoring on its voyage into the Arctic unknown. The Old Pulteney has been designed to withstand some of the harshest conditions on earth, and her six-man crew – led by Scottish explorer Jock Wishart – will [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 2, 2011 Norton Rose Jon Harry is joining the law firm’s Paris office as a partner on 6 June. Harry led the corporate group of Hogan Lovells’ Paris office from 2006 to 2009, before becoming a corporate specialist practising in Paris, with expertise in cross-border mergers and acquisitions. Evolution Securities The investment bank has appointed Mark Wellesley-Wood [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 31, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES UK CONSUMER RECOVERY SET TO BE SLOWEST IN 180 YEARS The UK economy is set to experience the slowest pick-up in consumer spending of any post-recession period since 1830, according to a Financial Times analysis of official forecasts. Families are expected to spend just slightly more by 2015 than they were before the [...]
Airlines hit as ash cloud reaches UK May 24, 2011 A ROW between airlines and aviation officials broke out yesterday over fears the volcanic ash cloud blowing in from Iceland could cause a repeat of last summer’s mass flight disruptions. Planes due to fly to and from Scotland were grounded yesterday, including flights from London airports. However, late last night, UK air traffic control service [...]
Ryanair gives flat forecast despite profit May 23, 2011 EUROPE’S largest low-cost airline Ryanair said yesterday high fuel costs and a lack of growth in capacity would mean flat earnings this year after a 26 per cent surge in 2010, sending its shares down 6.2 per cent. The Irish airline, which operates more than 1,500 flights a day, said it expected traffic growth to [...]
Capacity cuts could be end of good times May 23, 2011 FOR the first time in its 25 year history, Ryanair is cutting capacity. When winter 2011 rolls round the discount airline plans to ground 80 of its fleet including 50 new deliveries – even if the UK experiences an Indian summer that lasts until next February. A winter pullback on capacity is not unusual, but [...]
Fresh Eurozone debt fears see FTSE plunge to two-month low May 23, 2011 RENEWED concerns about the Eurozone debt crisis triggered a steep sell-off of Britain’s top shares yesterday, led by commodity stocks, with some analysts and investors seeing little on the horizon to tempt investors back into the market. The FTSE 100 index ended at its lowest closing level since 23 March, off 112.60 points, or 1.9 [...]
Euro woes and commodity falls leave FTSE low May 23, 2011 Fears of debt default in Greece, election upset in Spain and weakness in Italy’s economy caused the FTSE to tank to a two-month low today. Commodity stocks led the fallers as the FTSE 100 index plunged more than 100 points to close down 1.9 per cent at 5,835.89. Investors abandoned risky assets after rating agency [...]