WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
CANDOVER FACES RUN-OFF IF BUYER CANNOT BE FOUND
Candover faces a crucial month as the ailing private equity group pushes to raise capital and cut costs before a key test of its debt covenants on 30 June. The group needs cash urgently and is considering a range of options, including an outright takeover, selling a minority stake, and tapping existing shareholders for more money via a rights issue.
GEITHNER CALLS FOR CLOSER TIES WITH CHINA
Tim Geithner, the US Treasury secretary, arrived in China on his maiden visit yesterday with calls for China to make its currency more flexible in return for fiscal reforms on the part of the US. “A successful transition to a more balanced and stable global economy will require very substantial changes to economic policy and financial regulation around the world,” he told an audience at Peking University.
MICROSOFT SETS XBOX BATTLE IN MOTION
Microsoft has unveiled a motion-sensing device for video games designed to extend the appeal and life of its Xbox 360 console. The company will hope to emulate the success of Nintendo’s Wii, whose motion-sensing controller has been the main driver of the success of the best-selling console of the current generation.
MANPOWER CHIEF LOOKS FOR VIRTUAL GROWTH
On Second Life, the virtual-reality website, Jeff Joerres is a barrel-chested bodybuilder with a mop of bright blonde hair. In the flesh, the chief executive of Manpower is somewhat less muscle-bound and his hair is starting to thin. “What am I going to do, be a 90-year-old man?” he laughs.
THE TIMES
EMPLOYERS PREPARE TO TRAWL GRADUATE POOL
Ministers are encouraging employers to offer internships to final-year students who cannot find jobs this summer, raising the prospect that new graduates might find themselves working for little or nothing. Opinion is split on the likely benefits of the new Graduate Talent Pool, to be launched by John Denham, the Universities Secretary, next month.
MOVERS & SHAKERS: PWC APPOINTS TAX ADVISER
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ London office has appointed Diane Hay as special adviser on international tax issues. She will work with the tax transfer pricing and international structuring teams. John Whiting, a PwC tax partner, received a lifetime achievement award at the LexisNexis taxation awards.
The Daily Telegraph
F&C STEWARDSHIP FUND UNDER FIRE FOR POOR PERFORMANCE AND INVESTING IN BANKS
F&C Stewardship fund, which is 25 years old, is under fire for poor performance and its decision to invest in banks it originally excluded. The F&C Stewardship fund, which launched on June 1 1984 under the Friends Provident brand, has been flying the flag for ethical funds ever since but on its 25th birthday that position is fragile.
NATIONWIDE’S OVERDRAFT RATE ALMOST DOUBLES
Nationwide, the country’s largest building society, is to increase the interest rate on overdrafts for the third time in 12 months, almost doubling the rate that borrowers paid this time last year. Customers going overdrawn will now pay 18.9 per cent AER, a rise of 1 percentage point.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
DEERE NAMES ALLEN TO SUCCEED LANE AS CEO
Deere’s board named Samuel R. Allen, president of the company’s construction and forestry equipment business, to succeed Robert W. Lane as chief executive starting in August. As part of the transition, Mr. Allen, 55 years old, was appointed chief operating officer and president beginning Monday. He also was appointed to the company’s board.
GMAC, BANKS FEUD OVER INTEREST RATES PAID BY ALLY BANK
GMAC and a bank lobby group are butting heads over the high interest rates GMAC’s bank unit is paying for deposits, with bankers saying GMAC is unfairly subsidised by federal funds. In the latest salvo, GMAC said yesterday that a complaint made last week by the American Bankers Association was inappropriate.