Mouchel set to breach its covenants October 13, 2011 British infrastructure and maintenance group Mouchel said yesterday it was in talks with its lending banks regarding expected covenant breaches caused by a profit warning last week, and named a new interim chairman after incumbent Bo Lerenius resigned. “The board is encouraged that the banks have been supportive and the discussions continue to be constructive [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 10, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES TOUGH CARE HOME REGULATIONS PROPOSED The government is considering a series of tough regulations for residential care homes following the collapse this year of Southern Cross, the UK’s biggest home operator. The measures, outlined yesterday for consultation, include requiring companies to post capital upfront as a condition of their licence, and giving councils [...]
Cameron backs Liam Fox October 10, 2011 PRIME MINISTER David Cameron said yesterday that Liam Fox made “serious mistakes” in his dealings with Adam Werritty but backed his embattled defence secretary pending a full report into his conduct. Cameron’s comments came after an interim report on Fox’s ties with Werritty – a close friend who has no official post within the government [...]
Dexia saved as fire sale of assets begins October 10, 2011 A FIRE SALE of Dexia assets was underway last night after France, Belgium and Luxembourg agreed to spend €90bn (£78.45bn) on a bailout for the crippled bank’s ailing bonds unit. The break-up of the group will see Dexia Bank Belgium, the largely retail division, sold to Belgium for €4bn. Dexia is also seeking backing from [...]
Liam Fox under fire over “serious mistakes” October 10, 2011 Defence secretary Liam Fox made “serious mistakes” in his dealings with his friend Adam Werritty but still has the prime minister’s support, David Cameron has said. Fox’s future had been in doubt over media and political accusations of risking national security by granting high level access to Werritty, his former flatmate, who has no official [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 9, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES WATCHDOG HITS FRENCH AUDITORS French auditors have been lambasted by the UK’s leading accountancy regulator for their performance during the Greek debt crisis. Stephen Haddrill, chief executive of the Financial Reporting Council, criticised the way French banks and insurers had been allowed by their auditors to post smaller losses on Greek government bonds [...]
Women start to make their presence felt on the board, says Lord Davies October 9, 2011 THE BOARDROOMS of Britain are becoming more female, says former trade minister Lord Davies, with recent appointments such as Karen Witts to the board of Wolseley helping to meet his target of 25 per cent female FTSE 100 boards by 2015. The full figures will be revealed at a Downing Street event on Wednesday, where [...]
Plan for Dexia rescue fund is taking shape October 5, 2011 CUSTOMERS pulled millions of euros from troubled Dexia yesterday but the Franco-Belgian bank avoided a full-scale run on deposits as a bailout appeared imminent. Belgian customers withdrew around €300m (£258.88bn) from Dexia accounts, excluding online transactions. The Belgian arm of the bank holds €80bn in deposits. An emergency package is set to be announced today [...]
Thomson Reuters to issue notes September 29, 2011 MEDIA conglomerate Thomson Reuters has announced it will offer $350m (£223m) of 10 year notes to refinance borrowings used to repay a recently expired bond issue. Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank Securities, JP Morgan Securities and RBS Securities are the joint book-running managers for the offering. The offering is expected to close on 5 October, the [...]
Life in your hands: smartphone apps September 28, 2011 RIGHT, you’ve got the latest kit, the iPhone 4, iPad 2, BlackBerry Bold Touch perhaps, but your smartphone’s home screen is looking ever-so bare. Remedying this involves a trawl through app stores and user reviews without even knowing what you’re looking for. Fear not. We look beyond the social necessities of Facebook and Foursquare, and [...]