UK recession was deeper than thought July 12, 2010 BRITAIN suffered a far deeper contraction than had previously been thought and the health of the economy was far more reliant on public spending in the first three months of 2010, official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed yesterday. The data, which had been delayed by nearly two weeks, due to “potential [...]
CITY LOSES TO OCTOPUS IN FOOTY FORECASTS July 12, 2010 OH, HOW they chortled in the City yesterday at comparisons between the world’s most famous cephalopod and those investment banks who dared to put out predictions on the outcome of the World Cup. Paul the psychic octopus, they sniggered, had managed to get EVERY SINGLE ONE of his predictions correct, beating statistical odds of 1/256. [...]
A new port of call far north of the Algarve July 11, 2010 IF you’re thinking of getting away to Portugal this summer, chances are it’s the Algarve you’re considering, for a bit of sea, sardines or the swing of a golf club. Well fine, the country’s southern region does all those things extremely well. However, British holidaymakers tend to forget what the rest of the country has [...]
DS Smith makes bid for Otor July 7, 2010 PACKAGING and office products company DS Smith has extended its reach in Europe with the purchase of Otor from private equity group Carlyle. DS Smith has made a £206m bid for 95 per cent of the French packaging firm, with the rest of the deal value consisting of assumed debt. The firm, which has a [...]
City bank jobs boost Robert Walters’ fees July 7, 2010 A GROWING demand for professionals in the financial services sector has boosted recruitment giant Robert Walters’ business after the group posted positive second quarter trading results. Robert Walters’ net fee income for the first half of the year rose by 45 per cent to £72.3m, with second quarter income growth up by 59 per cent [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 6, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BARCELONA SEEKS LOAN TO HELP PAY PLAYERS Barcelona, the Spanish football giants whose players will make up the bulk of Spain’s team in Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final against Germany, are seeking a €150m loan to help pay player and staff wages. The move was announced by new Barcelona president Sandro Rosell who took [...]
Fresh exodus puts Osborne on the spot July 6, 2010 A FURTHER two members of the Office for Budget Responsibility are set to follow chairman Sir Alan Budd out the door, City A.M. has learned, leaving the chancellor’s newly-created economic forecasting body rudderless. George Osborne, who set up the independent body to lend credibility to the government’s economic forecasts, is now under pressure to appoint [...]
Law giants hit by M&A drought July 5, 2010 ■ Linklaters’ revenues down by 8.8 per cent ■ Allen & Overy’s revenues contract by 4 per cent ■ Clifford Chance is set to reveal a 5 per cent sales drop THE UK’s largest law firms have suffered a blow from a two-year M&A drought that has forced them to look beyond Britain’s shores for [...]
BP in rush to sell off assets July 4, 2010 A RAFT of Chinese and Middle Eastern bidders are looking at taking up a stake in BP as the oil major attempts to find investors ahead of a possible hostile takeover by a rival oil company. It is understood that a number of sovereign wealth funds, including the Kuwait Investment Office and oil companies have [...]
Browne joins government as super-boss June 30, 2010 FORMER BP chief executive Lord Browne was confirmed as the coalition government’s “super-director” yesterday in a controversial move that puts him at the heart of Whitehall. The peer accepted the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives’ invitation to take the unpaid post of “lead non-executive director” in the Cabinet Office. He will be tasked with injecting private [...]