Harry Potter conjures up profits for Time Warner February 8, 2012 TIME Warner rounded off a better-than-expected year on the back of its growing cable networks and the lucrative final Harry Potter film. The New York-based media and entertainment company reported fourth quarter profits of $772m (£488m), up slightly on last year’s $766m, from a five per cent rise in quarterly revenue to $8.2bn. This contributed [...]
Truth about banker pay: It’s falling February 5, 2012 BRITISH investment bankers are braced for deep slashes to their pay packets after a slowdown in trading saw their US rivals cut bonuses by up to 30 per cent. Industry insiders say that UK bankers are looking at a pay cut of 20-50 per cent – in addition to thousands in job cuts – contrary [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 5, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES RATING AGENCIES RAISE DOUBTS ON SCOTLAND SECURING TRIPLE A STATUS XtryAn independent Scotland would not be able to count on receiving triple A status, credit rating agencies have told the Financial Times, potentially leading to higher borrowing costs for it if a referencum on independence was successful. The three leading credit rating agencies [...]
FOCUS ON: TUNBRIDGE WELLS February 2, 2012 DOWN HOUSE Price: £1.1m A five bedroom Georgian house, situated in the edge of a village setting, with off-road parking, garden and extensive grounds. Contact Knight Frank on 020 7629 8171 or knightfrank.co.uk FERNCLYFFE Price: £3.6m Gigantic home featuring entrance hall, four reception rooms, conservatory, kitchen, games room, utility room, eight bedrooms, dressing room, and [...]
Oh I do long to be beside the (British) seaside February 2, 2012 IT’S not the South of France or the Amalfi Coast. But Britain’s seaside has plenty of charm of its own – and not just of the quaint and slightly run-down variety, but of a beautiful, unique and in some cases, highly exclusive type. For instance, Knight Frank recently sold a mansion in south Cornwall to [...]
Britain is now an anti-business nation February 2, 2012 YES, this government is anti-business. This is the first time since 1994, when Tony Blair took over the Labour party, that both government and opposition are united in their relentless attacks on corporate Britain, money-making and the City. The difference in those days – and starting in 1979 – was that the Tories were in [...]
Britain is now an anti-business nation February 1, 2012 YES, this government is anti-business. This is the first time since 1994, when Tony Blair took over the Labour party, that both government and opposition are united in their relentless attacks on corporate Britain, money-making and the City. The difference in those days – and starting in 1979 – was that the Tories were in [...]
London office take-up falls but tech firm demand soars February 1, 2012 TAKE-UP of central London offices fell by 27 per cent in 2011 compared to the previous year, as the global economic slowdown continued to take its toll, according to research by Knight Frank. The property consultancy said take-up fell to 10.7m square feet last year. However, this coincided with a fall in supply and doubling [...]
Goodwin stripped of knighthood January 31, 2012 FRED Goodwin was stripped of his knighthood last night, three years after Royal Bank of Scotland was saved from collapse by a £45bn taxpayer bailout. The former chief executive, who was knighted for “services to banking” in 2004, lost the title after a committee of civil servants decided he had brought the honours system into [...]
Mr Goodwin deserved to lose his title January 31, 2012 IT is right that Sir Fred has become Mr Goodwin once more. Goodwin was knighted for “services to banking”; given that he has done more than anybody else in the Western world to damage that industry’s reputation, Gordon Brown’s absurd decision to honour him needed to be reversed. It also sends a strong message that [...]