Why the CBI was wrong to attack EC audit reforms December 6, 2011 AUDITING is at a crossroads. The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, the Office of Fair Trading, the European Commission, the US audit regulator (PCAOB) and investors all have substantial concerns about the listed company audit model. John Cridland of the CBI outlined the case for resisting the EC’s new proposals in these pages last [...]
FTSE falls as debt turmoil intensifies November 17, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index retreated yesterday, with nervous investors ditching riskier assets such as banks and retailers, as corporates showed signs of stress in the face of the intensifying debt contagion in Europe. London’s blue chip index shed 85.88 points, or 1.6 per cent to 5,423.14, with the FTSE volatility index, up 10.2 per cent [...]
Serco starts the year with £4bn contracts win May 14, 2012 OUTSOURCING firm Serco has won nearly £4bn of contracts so far this year, but said yesterday its revenues from the Americas had slumped. The FTSE 100-listed group, which runs services from the Docklands Light Railway to prisons and air traffic control centres around the world, said it expected first-half revenue to grow by around six [...]
FTSE hits a five-week high on hope of a euro debt plan December 5, 2011 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 hit a five-week closing high yesterday with optimism rising that politicians can finally agree a deal to solve its debt crisis in a crunch week for the Eurozone. European Union leaders, urged on anxiously by the United States, are seeking agreement on a convincing rescue plan that has eluded them for two [...]
Most of FTSE are ignoring Davies report October 12, 2011 JUST 33 companies in the UK’s FTSE 100 have set targets for the percentage of women they plan to appoint to their boards, ignoring calls for boardroom equality to be addressed. Six months after the publication of Lord Mervyn Davies’ government-commissioned report into women on boards, a progress review by the Cranfield School of Management has shown [...]
Pay packages for top British executives to start growing September 11, 2011 THE PAY packets of Britain’s top executives are set to start growing again after two years of stagnation, according to a survey released today, with almost 80 per cent of companies in the FTSE 350 saying they plan to increase payouts this year. Main board directors at FTSE 100 firms can expect their salaries to [...]
Ambitious network won’t see light of day February 20, 2012 FOR several years Inmarsat was the unsung darling of the FTSE 100. During the financial crisis it became a safe haven for investors seeking shelter from riskier stocks, a high-tech defensive with few competitors. Better still, its biggest shareholder Harbinger Capital, the US investment fund, propped up the shares by making clear its intention to [...]
Ambitious network won’t see light of day February 20, 2012 FOR several years Inmarsat was the unsung darling of the FTSE 100. During the financial crisis it became a safe haven for investors seeking shelter from riskier stocks, a high-tech defensive with few competitors. Better still, its biggest shareholder Harbinger Capital, the US investment fund, propped up the shares by making clear its intention to [...]
UK bosses agree pay clawbacks August 29, 2011 MORE than half of the UK’s top firms will soon be tied into schemes where the pay of top executives can be recouped if decisions they make adversely affect the business. A third of companies say they will introduce so-called clawback schemes next year, adding to the 25 per cent who brought one in over [...]
The devil’s in the detail of positive data October 3, 2011 GIVEN the rarity of positive data gracing the markets these days, yesterday’s Markit/CIPS manufacturing PMI headline activity statistics for September came as a welcome surprise – the forecast was for 48.6, which would have indicated further contraction, but the results pointed to an expansionary 51.1. However, champagne corks should remain firmly in bottles, as this [...]