Savills sales drop 45 per cent in a year July 9, 2008 Shares in property giant Savills dived more than 10 per cent yesterday after the firm said sales in its residential business were 45 per cent down year on year. Piling misery on the battered housing market, Savills warned that the cost of prime property in London (homes priced between £1m and £5m) fell by 7.5 [...]
BP’s man in Russia lives to fight again July 9, 2008 The Kremlin, BP and four Russian moguls all want control of TNK-BP. Roger Baird reports. The embattled chief executive of BP’s Russian joint venture TNK-BP, Robert Dudley, survived an attempt by its Russian billionaire partners to remove him on Monday – but he will have to do it all over again on Friday. The screws [...]
Rose to dodge investors’ ire July 9, 2008 Marks & Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose is likely to keep both his jobs as chief executive and chairman despite facing fiery opposition from shareholders at the retailer’s annual meeting today. Up to 30 per cent of shareholders are planning to either vote or abstain over concerns about his dual role, though analysts doubted they [...]
City law firms beat the crunch July 9, 2008 The City’s biggest law firms look set to beat the credit crunch, topping revenues of £1bn last year. All four of the firms that make up the “magic circle” posted earnings over £1bn and showed double digit growth, with Clifford Chance holding the top spot as the world’s largest law firm with revenues of £1.33bn, [...]
Bollywood Godfather takes on Hollywood July 8, 2008 Anusha Bradley talks to the boss of Eros, the media mogul bent on profiting from the silver screen It goes without saying: Kishore Lulla loves movies. “Indian or Hollywood, I love watching them all. Whether it’s Spiderman, Harry Potter, Shawshank Redemption, or The Godfather – I love the Godfather – they give me a lot [...]
What the FSA’s regulations mean for you July 8, 2008 The new rules might be heavy handed, but they could be to your advantage, writes Katie Hope Hot on the heels of the decision by the FSA, the City’s watchdog, to clamp down on investors using contracts for difference (CFDs) to short shares during a rights issue period, it’s now taken another stab at improving [...]
Brown: stop wasting food July 8, 2008 Britons can help bring food prices down by cutting the amount they waste every year, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said yesterday. Brown was speaking as he was travelling to the G8 summit in Japan where the rich nations’ club is meeting to discuss rising fuel and food prices as well as global warming. A government [...]
Satellite firm gets bid from hedge fund July 8, 2008 Shares in satellite communications company Inmarsat rose as much as 13 per cent after confirming it had received an approach from its largest shareholder, US hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners. However, it’s unlikely to be a quick sale. Regulatory approval would most likely be needed from both European and American authorities before a firm offer [...]
EMI appoints cleaning exec to leading job July 8, 2008 Record company EMI Group has appointed an executive with no experience of the music business to head up its record division, as part of the firm’s strategy to fill key positions with talent from outside the industry. EMI yesterday announced that Elio Leoni-Sceti, vice-president of household goods firm Reckitt Benckiser, would become chief executive of [...]
Fears mount for Bradford & Bingley as shares flop July 8, 2008 Bradford & Bingley’s stock plunged to an all-time low of 42p yesterday – well below its rights issue price of 55p – as concerns over the troubled lender’s future intensified. Fears also increased that the lender would issue another profit warning, due to the deepening crisis in the housing market, when it releases the prospectus [...]