Hamlet has a brand new Sheen November 10, 2011 Theatre HAMLET YOUNG VIC No play can bore or tire the viewer more if produced unoriginally or acted weakly, and none can engage, emote nor enthral more if done well, than Hamlet. This Hamlet, starring Michael Sheen and directed by Ian Rickson (director of smash hit Jerusalem, playing across town), is the enthralling kind. Every [...]
GDP rises to 0.5 per cent November 1, 2011 Gross domestic product grew by 0.5 per cent on the quarter as business services and finance posted the strongest quarterly increase in four years, according to the Office for National Statistics. However, the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey released earlier showed that manufacturers saw the sharpest monthly rate of decline since June 2009 in October. [...]
Panasonic makes £3.4bn full-year loss October 31, 2011 Japanese electronics giant Panasonic has posted its second biggest-ever annual loss, of 420bn yen (£3.4bn), as it struggled with the impact of a soaring yen and falling demand in developed markets. The loss came despite Panasonic speeding up its efforts to restructure its unprofitable businesses and restructuring its flatscreen TV division to improve its performance. [...]
Lazard shares soar despite profit fall on market turmoil October 27, 2011 ELITE US investment bank Lazard pleased investors with a 24 per cent surge in revenue gained from advising on M&A in the third quarter. Lazard shares bounced as much as 18 per cent after it posted the better than expected rise in advisory revenues to $199.1m (£124.5m). Despite the gain, Lazard’s third-quarter pre-tax profits fell [...]
Asia presses the brakes on Ford recovery October 26, 2011 THE UNCERTAIN nature of the recovery in the global car market was underlined yesterday as Ford posted a dip in third-quarter profit. America’s number two car-maker also cut its profit margin forecast for this year after racking up losses in Europe and Asia. It said it had been hit by slowing growth in China and [...]
When black bowler hats gave way to red braces October 26, 2011 THE BIG Bang set the City on a course of profound expansion, not just of wealth, but of people and culture and even location. Twenty-five years after deregulation, London’s financial and legal districts are full of the sort of people that would have made the bowler-hatted old boys of the post-war period shudder. Women, foreigners, [...]
City backing for Bramson’s cuts at F&C October 25, 2011 THE CITY took an upbeat view of F&C Asset Management after its new chairman wielded the axe on its back office functions. Shares closed up 2.65 per cent as Edward Bramson, the activist investor who took the post in February after winning a bitter boardroom battle, announced plans to nearly treble cost-savings to £33.2m by [...]
Post-It maker 3M falls short of forecasts October 25, 2011 3M, the US maker of Post-It notes, has warned that the Eurozone crisis is threatening its business as its quarterly profits fell well short of market expectations. Shares in 3M have fallen 3.8 per cent after it said weaker demand for electronics and Europe’s sovereign debt crisis had hit its sales and it would have [...]
UBS profits better than forecast despite scandal October 25, 2011 Swiss bank UBS reported a better-than-expected third-quarter net profits but warned the tough trading conditions that hit its investment banking income looked set to continue unless the global economy improved. The bank said its core wealth management business had held up well despite a trading scandal which had lost the bank 1.8bn Swiss francs (£708m) [...]
ROTHSCHILD GIVES STAFF ITS TURKEY OF A BONUS October 23, 2011 EVERY little helps, as the Tesco slogan goes. So the price-conscious supermarket giant will be pleased to learn that the competitively remunerated London employees of Rothschild receive daily luncheon vouchers for the sum of £3 that can be refunded in any of its stores. But Rothschild’s solicitous attempts to ensure its workforce is well fed [...]