FTSE hit by soaring bank yields November 17, 2011 The FTSE 100 fell in early trading today as yields on a Spanish bond auction soared to almost seven per cent – a level considered unsustainable by economists. A warning from ratings agency Fitch that the outlook for US banks could deteriorate if the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis is not resolved also took its toll. [...]
Fail to manage airport queues and see Britain’s future growth depart May 2, 2012 HEATHROW’S immigration queue crisis is already a national embarrassment, but the true scale of the damage it is doing has yet to be recognised. Inevitably, the coverage so far has focused on the Olympics. With hundreds of thousands of extra tourists flooding into the capital, and the attention of the world’s media and sporting establishments [...]
Rothschild and Rockefellers in joint venture May 30, 2012 THE ROTHSCHILD and Rockefeller dynasties have announced a tie-up that will see two of the world’s best-known business families join forces in the asset management industry. RIT Capital Partners, which is chaired and part-owned by Lord Jacob Rothschild, is to take a 37 per cent stake in Rockefeller Financial Services, the wealth manager. The multi-million pound [...]
FTSE falls as Eurozone fear factor hits banks November 15, 2011 The FTSE edged down this morning, mirroring weaknesses in Asia, as rises in bond yields in Spain and Italy heaped more pressure on markets. Italy sold three billion euros of five-year bonds at 6.29 per cent yesterday – a euro-era record. The country’s 10-year bond yields rose to 6.76 per cent, also pushing Spanish 10-year [...]
Virgin complains to regulator over IAG deal February 17, 2012 Virgin Atlantic has made a formal complaint to the European Commission about IAG’s purchase of Lufthansa’s British unit bmi, saying competition on some European routes would diminish and that fares would increase. Late last year, British Airways (BA) owner IAG agreed to buy bmi for £172.5m, seeing off rival bidder Virgin in the race to [...]
We must keep National but reduce the field to make it safer April 16, 2012 THERE is no getting away from the fact that Saturday’s Grand National left a bad taste in the mouth. I left Aintree racecourse for a second year running with a hollow feeling inside after another two horses lost their lives in the most famous race of them all. Synchronised, one of the stricken pair, had [...]
Tata doubles Jaguar Land Rover funds February 21, 2012 TATA Motors will double investments in its Jaguar Land Rover brands to £1.5bn a year, even as the Indian carmaker warned that it will be a challenge to sustain high margins at its key profit generator. With soaring revenues and expanding margins, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has driven the company’s growth in recent quarters, as [...]
UK car factories rev back into life February 14, 2012 JAGUAR Land Rover underlined the rebound in the British car industry yesterday when it posted a record quarterly profit. Just three years after it turned to the European Investment Bank for a £340m crisis loan, JLR reported a 57 per cent rise in net profit to £440m for the final three months of 2011. Demand [...]
Crunch time as firms seek women directors October 11, 2011 FORTY-FOUR per cent of the UK’s top 350 companies still have no women representatives on their boards, despite a recent push to improve boardroom diversity and encourage the appointment of female executives. Over the past decade, the proportion of women on the boards of the UK’s biggest 350 public companies has increased from five to [...]
CWW shares soar on likely bid from Tata March 20, 2012 CABLE and Wireless Worldwide’s stock jumped nine per cent yesterday on rumours that Tata Communications is on the cusp of making a formal offer for the ailing telecoms group. Reports claimed the Indian company, which earlier this month was said to be looking for $2bn (£1.26bn) in funding to loan the acquisition and refinance existing [...]