Setanta’s £125m bet July 1, 2008 Setanta Sports has upped its multimillion-pound gamble to take on the dominant Sky Sports by paying a record £125m for the rights to the Scottish Premier League. The new four-year deal is the largest in Scottish football history and will go through to 2014. It is more than double the £54m Setanta paid for its [...]
Emergency share issue on the cards for Taylor Wimpey July 1, 2008 Confirmation from the UK’s largest housebuilder, Taylor Wimpey, that it is seeking to shore up its balance sheet will start a wave of refinancing across the sector, analysts warned yesterday. The housing company said it expects to write down the value of its land bank by around £660m, and revealed it was in talks with [...]
Giving the dream July 1, 2008 Fund manager Nicola Horlick wants to do her bit for society, she tells Timothy Barber Nicola Horlick has never been known for mincing her words. When asked about the turmoil currently engulfing Western economies, the chief executive of Bramdean Asset Management is characteristically forthright. “This all feels like the last days of the Roman Empire, [...]
To have and to fold November 3, 2005 Ben Laurance meets Andrew Ritchie, the Brompton founder who has created a manufacturing rarity – a flourishing British engineering firm that exports 60 per cent of what it makes You see them nestling behind seats on trains. You see them behind desks in offices across the capital. Above all, you see them on the roads, [...]
Suisse is on a roll November 3, 2005 After suffering more than most when the dotcom bubble burst in 2000, Credit Suisse has pulled itself back into profitability, says Laurie Laird Just five years after the financial world was shaken by the collapse of the dotcom bubble, Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) has hauled itself back to profitability and respectability. Net income jumped [...]
Goldenport plans £220m LSE float November 3, 2005 Greek shipping line Goldenport said it plans to raise £80m through an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange to buy more ships and pay off debt. Analysts put its market value at around £220m. A spokesman for Goldenport said that it plans to issue its prospectus and float on the LSE’s main market [...]
Boomtime for Credit Suisse November 3, 2005 Credit Suisse became the latest big bank to report soaring profits on the back of stronger financial markets. The Swiss bank reported a 42 per cent rise in third quarter profits to Sfr1.92bn (£846m) thanks to growth across its investment banking, private banking and asset management divisions. Oswald Grübel, chief executive, called the results “satisfactory”. [...]
Ryanair gambling on giving away its seats November 3, 2005 Fancy a flutter when you fly? Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary says the no-frills carrier is hoping to sign a partnership with a gaming company to introduce inflight gambling in a move which could mean passengers travel for free on Europe’s largest carrier. O’Leary said his bold plan to introduce an airborne Las Vegas could see [...]
BCCI £1bn case ended ‘month late’ November 3, 2005 Judge tells court of his surprise that the Deloitte action against BoE had been allowed to drag on for so long BCCI’S liquidator Deloitte was instructed by the collapsed bank’s creditor committee to immediately halt its action against the Bank of England on 26 September, but only managed to extricate itself from the £1bn litigation [...]
Dial M to turn the wheels November 2, 2005 The new BMW looks fabulous, goes like a dream and costs £80k, but you need a computing degree to drive it. There are few cars that cook tarmac as well as those engineered in BMW’s “M” division, and the new £80,000 M6 is no exception. With a 500bhp V10 stuffed under the bonnet it’s been [...]