HBOS set to report big fall in profits July 28, 2008 Troubled mortgage giant HBOS will announce interim results this week, with profits expected to have fallen more than 50 per cent year-on-year, as investors call for asset sales to offset heavy write-downs. Analysts are forecasting a slump in profits to £1.3bn, due in part to losses related to the US sub-prime mortgage crisis and stuttering [...]
Apple boss does not have repeat cancer July 28, 2008 Apple’s chief executive Steve Jobs, who has been dogged by speculation over his health, does not have recurrent cancer or another terminal illness According to a source close to Apple, rumours that Jobs is suffering from cancer are over-exaggerated. The source said it was common for those recovering from pancreatic cancer to experience weight loss, [...]
London hardest hit as house prices suffer further falls July 28, 2008 Fresh evidence that the housing market is continuing to deteriorate emerged today as an influential survey revealed prices fell for the tenth month in a row – with most of the declines hitting London. House prices fell a further 1.2 per cent in July, compared to a 1 per cent fall from June, according to [...]
BP’s Dudley must go, say oligarchs July 28, 2008 The position of TNK-BP chief executive Robert Dudley was blasted as “untenable” yesterday by four Russian billionaires who own half the joint oil venture after he fled the former communist state last week. A spokesman for AAR, the holding company for the oligarchs Mikhail Fridman, Viktor Vekselberg, Len Blavatnik and German Khan, said: “It is [...]
Hg Capital considers bid for magazine publisher July 28, 2008 Wilmington Group, publisher of the journalists’ magazine Press Gazette as well as many other business titles, will today confirm that it is in preliminary talks with Hg Capital about a possible takeover by the private equity firm. While informal talks have been held with Hg Capital, it is understood that a formal offer would be [...]
How the big channels are defying the odds to prosper July 25, 2008 Anyone who wants to understand something fundamental about the media just has to hold a single number in their head – 38,000. It’s a decent size for most football crowds or those willing to watch a Wagner opera the whole way through. But it doesn’t exactly pass muster as the ratings for a top US [...]
Fake Facebook entry banned July 25, 2008 A business whose personal details were falsely entered on Facebook, the social networking website, has won substantial libel damages at the High Court. Mathew Firsht won £22,000 in damages against an old school friend, Grant Raphael, who created the false entries. The judge ruled that Raphael’s defence – that the entry was created by people [...]
Imperial fired up for growth July 25, 2008 Imperial Tobacco, the world’s fourth-biggest cigarette company, yesterday said group performance had been in line with forecasts and that it was on course for another good year. The British maker of Lambert & Butler cigarettes said the integration of Altadis, the Franco-Spanish rival it acquired for €12.6bn (£9.92bn) in January, was going well. “Our operating [...]
Credit Suisse swings back into the black July 25, 2008 Swiss bank Credit Suisse has returned to profit in its second quarter, thanks largely to its private banking arm. The group outstripped analysts’ predictions, recording profits of Sfr 1.2bn (£560m) in the three months to 30 June, reversing losses made in the first quarter. The figures showed a 62 per cent fall in profits year-on-year, [...]
BG to stick by its £6.7bn bid for Origin July 25, 2008 British Gas explorer BG Group yesterday said it has no plans to boost its £6.7bn bid for Australian power firm Origin Energy, despite the bid target’s management touting the business to the Chinese. A BG spokeswoman said: “We believe our bid is a fair price for the company, and we will formally submit it to [...]