Where the smart money should be heading next year December 16, 2009 AT THE start of 2009, there was a very real chance that we would enter another Great Depression and the banking system was still on its knees. But the past 12 months have been an astonishing year in the markets – stock market indices have risen sharply beyond all expectations and major countries returned to [...]
BA staff in deal snub July 6, 2009 BRITISH Airways’ (BA) cost-cutting plans were dealt a blow yesterday, as 2,000 cabin crew rejected a plan to cut 3,500 jobs, freeze pay and change contracts. The flag carrier is trying to save money after reporting a record full-year loss of £401m earlier this year. BA and unions will reopen negotiations, chaired by conciliation service [...]
BA braced for cabin crew uproar June 28, 2009 British Airways is braced for contentious talks with its unions today, over cost cutting and redundancies at the company. The company set a deadline for tomorrow to reach a deal with its unions.
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 21, 2009 CABLE & WIRELESSCable & Wireless maintained guidance at both division and group levels in its first-quarter interim management statement, and Royal Bank of Scotland still considers the equity story one of the most compelling of European telecoms companies. The broker has a “buy” recommendation on the stock, with a target price of 200p. AUTONOMYInvestec believes [...]
BOLZANO: GATEWAY TO THE DOLOMITES September 13, 2009 BOLZANO was the subject of sniggering in Italy last month when it was rumoured that prime minister Silvio Berlusconi might be taking a trip there. The capital of the South Tyrol region, you see, is the site of the only sex addiction clinic in Italy. Whatever his reason for going there, Berlusconi could hardly pick [...]
Slaughters and friends feel the heat September 15, 2009 CITY solicitors are hooked on league tables, and the latest one feeding their addiction is a new ranking that details which law firms are bagging FTSE 100 instructions. Movement at the top has got tongues wagging, as the historically dominant Slaughter and May has seen its position challenged for the first time in years, triggering [...]
BA TALKS TRUNDLE ON June 30, 2009 BRITISH AIRWAYS will today re-start last ditch talks with its unions in a desperate bid to avert strike action, having failed to reach agreement before yesterday’s self-imposed deadline. It is thought that Unite and other unions could not agree with BA on a range of issues, including compulsory redundancies. Willie Walsh, the airline’s chief executive, [...]
Losses triple at BAA as its traffic drops July 29, 2009 AIRPORT operator BAA yesterday said losses at its London airports had more than tripled to £545.7m in the first half of the year. Exceptional items pushed the company into the red, but BAA said its underlying earnings were up 28 per cent to £469.9m. The airport operator took a hit from finance costs linked to [...]
‘Old and tired’ electricity gives Spice hot results July 13, 2009 SPICE, a contractor of outsourced utility services, yesterday said its full year profits soared by 58 per cent, on the back of growing regulatory markets and acquisitions. The company, which also said it had bought ComGroup, the Australian telecoms group, said its pre-tax profit was £32.3m, and that revenue had hit £386m, up 24 per [...]
Virgin knew of price fixing July 13, 2009 VIRGIN ATLANTIC chief executive Steve Ridgway admitted yesterday he was aware his airline had conspired to fix the price of fuel surcharges between July 2004 and April 2006 with rival British Airways (BA). Ridgway said in a statement: “Although I did not have any direct contact with BA in relation to passenger fuel surcharges I [...]