Sorrell goes on war path over TNS bid July 10, 2008 German rival GfK says it will trump the £1.08bn offer from advertising giant WPP WPP yesterday launched a £1.08bn hostile bid for market research firm TNS, dismissing competing takeover plans from rival GfK as “flaky”. In a day of drama in the City, TNS and GfK withdrew their proposal for a friendly tie up after [...]
Fed bail-out move halts market slide July 9, 2008 Ben Bernanke says Fed may continue emergency lending scheme into next year Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke’s announcement last night that he is considering extending its emergency cash lending system for investment banks into next year rescued plunging markets in London and the US. But economists warned that the move signalled that the fall out [...]
G8 in climate dispute with poor states July 9, 2008 Big emerging economies will come under pressure today to respond to an initiative by rich countries to work towards a target of at least halving their global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Group of Eight (G8) industrial nations want the leaders of eight fast growing countries to adopt a “shared vision” of tackling global [...]
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 [...]