Cameron: We need privatised roads March 18, 2012 ROAD PRICING and greater use of toll roads could become a reality as the government seeks to find ways to entice the private sector to invest more in infrastructure. David Cameron will today launch a new study into the financing and ownership of Britain’s roads, arguing the country “urgently” needs “to repair the decades-long degradation [...]
F&C takes hit as outflows reach £7bn March 15, 2012 SHARES in F&C Asset Management sank nearly five per cent yesterday after it posted £7.2bn of net outflows during last year. The fund management firm, which has endured a turbulent 12 months including a boardroom coup and a series of job cuts, saw total assets under management drop 5.4 per cent to £100.1bn after the [...]
It’s not just lawyers who prosper in law March 14, 2012 LAW is bigger business than ever. Freshfields employs 5,000 people and has twenty-seven offices in sixteen countries. Linklaters also has twenty-seven offices in twenty countries. Its revenues in 2010-11 were £1.2bn. Of course, this is good news for lawyers. But non-lawyers work for law firms too. Of Freshfields’ 5,000 staff members, 2,000 are business services [...]
Peak fares set to rise in rail savings plan March 8, 2012 THE RAIL network must cut £3.5bn a year from its spending and overhaul ticket prices, transport secretary Justine Greening said yesterday. Setting out the coalition’s plan to shake up Britain’s trains, Greening said above-inflation fare rises on regulated routes will be abolished. But she said she will look into hiking prices on congested peak journeys [...]
Schroders stock-picker goes March 8, 2012 BLUE-chip money manager Schroders capped one of the more turbulent years in its two-century history with the departure of its chief investment officer. Alan Brown, well-known for his annual Crystal Ball prediction evenings, will step down from his post and from the board, the firm said yesterday, as it reported a near-halving in asset management [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 8, 2012 AFC Energy The developer of low-cost alkaline fuel cell technology has announced the appointment of Sir John Sunderland as non-executive director of the company. Sunderland has spent 40 years in leadership roles, best known as the former chief executive and later as chairman of Cadbury Schweppes. Currently Sunderland is a non-executive director of Barclays Bank, [...]
Greece helps US regain week’s loss March 8, 2012 US stocks rose yesterday, recovering most of the week’s losses, after Greece moved closer to a bond swap with private creditors to avoid a messy default. Earlier in the week, the S&P 500 posted its first big loss for the year on fears of a disorderly default in Greece. Now it is down just 0.3 [...]
Schroders weathers volatile 2011 March 8, 2012 Blue chip investment manager Schroders (SDR.L) said an injection of institutional money kept its net inflows for 2011 positive against a backdrop of wobbly markets that sent many retail clients headed for the exits. In full year earnings for 2011, Schroders said total net inflows were £3.2bn with a £6.8bn net gain in institutional money [...]
Cineworld profit lifted by blockbusters March 8, 2012 British cinema chain Cineworld posted a higher full-year profit helped by a string of popular releases during the Christmas season, and said it expected a strong blockbuster line-up for 2012. The operator of cinema complexes throughout the UK and Ireland said films such as the latest in the Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and [...]
Store wars fail to dent Ocado sales March 5, 2012 ONLINE grocer Ocado said the industry competition in Britain is the toughest in the world as it reassured its battered investors with a jump in first-quarter sales. The firm, which has seen its share price halve over the last year, posted a 10.9 per cent rise in gross sales to £162.1m but chief financial officer [...]