WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 31, 2010 THE SUNDAYS The Sunday Telegraph MAUDE DEMANDS SERCO ANSWER Serco is to be ordered to explain to the government why it took the highly unusual step of writing to its leading suppliers to demand that they pay a blanket 2.5 per cent “cash rebate” on their work this year or risk losing future contracts. Serco, [...]
At a glance: George Osborne’s first comprehensive spending review October 20, 2010 SPENDING FIGURES This fiscal year current expenditure will be £637.3bn. In 2011-12, current spending will be £651.1bn, followed by £664.5bn in 2012-13, £678.6bn in 2013-14 and then £692.7bn in 2014-15. The government will pay £43.3bn of gross government debt interest this fiscal year followed by £46.5bn in 2011-12, £52.4bn in 2012-13, £57.8bn in 2013-14 and [...]
Osborne’s unlikely pin-up: Mr Brown October 20, 2010 POLITICAL EDITOR GEORGE Osborne has always been a master tactician first and an economist second. Yesterday’s highly political spending review was no different. Chief in his mind was closing down the lines of attacks his opponents might pursue. In that sense, he is not dissimilar to Gordon Brown, his predecessor but one and sworn enemy. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 18, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES CANDOVER POISED TO PULL PLUG ON THEME PARK Candover, the private equity group, is on the brink of ditching plans to sell or float Parques Reunidos, the Spanish theme park operator, after offers from rival buy-out groups came in below its €2bn ($2.8bn) price tag. Apollo Management and a consortium of Advent International [...]
NHS should not be shielded from the axe October 18, 2010 SEVERAL commentators recently have noted that public spending is set to rise in cash terms. Even after adjusting for inflation, total managed expenditure is set to fall by only 3.6 per cent. Can this really be so tough? Answer: emphatically, yes. Even at the overall level, a fall of 3.6 per cent is very significant. [...]
Enter the corporate entrepreneur: Britain’s best hope for real recovery October 17, 2010 CO-FOUNDER, MARKET GRAVITY THE UK’s recovery from the deepest recession in eighty years is dependent on sustained private sector growth. Corporate earnings may be recovering, but too much is due to cost cutting, not real growth, and this trend is not sustainable. Recent analysis from Market Gravity illustrates that while 75 per cent of FTSE [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 7, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES UK AND FRANCE IN TALKS ON TRIDENT MAINTENANCE An agreement being negotiated by the UK and France would see British nuclear warheads serviced by French scientists and break with half a century in which neither country has collaborated on its independent deterrent. Ahead of a summit in three weeks, the governments are close [...]
BP to develop gas fields in Azerbaijan October 6, 2010 BP is expected to close a deal with Azerbaijan’s national oil company today to explore and develop a huge natural-gas field in the Caspian Sea. The field, Shafag-Asiman, has estimated reserves of 17 trillion cubic feet, according to the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (Socar). If confirmed, that would make it almost as [...]
Energy firms take a battering September 20, 2010 A SPATE of Aim-listed oil and chemical stocks fell yesterday, as poor results and disappointing discoveries spooked investors. Sterling Energy said its wells in Kurdistan had produced less gas than expected, sending its shares on the Aim market down 39 per cent to 78.5p. Its two Sangaw wells had initially produced 4m cubit feet of [...]
Tullow buys six exploration licences in East Africa to repeat Ugandan oil find September 2, 2010 OIL explorer Tullow is buying 50 per cent stakes in six exploration licences in Kenya and Ethiopia as the hunt for oil in East Africa gathers pace. Tullow said yesterday the positions it is acquiring are in the East African Rift Basin, which has a similar geology to Uganda’s Lake Albert Rift Basin where it [...]