WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
ARCELORMITTAL FINED €276M FOR PRICE-FIXING
ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steel producer, has been fined €267.5m ($339m) for the part that its companies played in one of the most wide-ranging and long-running cartels to come to light in Europe. In all, 17 steel manufacturers were involved, and were given fines totalling €518.5m yesterday, with ArcelorMittal’s being the largest single penalty.
AXA ROSENBERG CHAIRMAN QUITS
Barr Rosenberg, a pioneer of computer-driven risk management and investment, has resigned as chairman of Axa Rosenberg after an investigation into errors in the data systems used by the US asset manager he co-founded in 1985. Tom Mead, director of research, has also quit the board and is leaving the group.
GOOGLE HIT BY FRENCH RULING
Google is facing a new regulatory battle after French antitrust authorities yesterday said the US internet group had abused its dominant position in the web advertising market when it barred a location data company from using its AdWords service. The Autorité de la Concurrence was responding to a complaint filed in February by Navx, a Paris-based producer of information on speed camera locations and petrol prices.
APPLE’S IADS TO HERALD NEW ERA
A new type of mobile phone advertising for the iPhone will be launched today by Apple, spurring a fast-growing market but raising worries for many developers of applications for the device. Big companies from Nissan to Sears to Citigroup have already committed to spending $60m this year on Apple’s iAds, which will open within a small number of the hundreds of thousands of applications on the iPhone.
THE TIMES
ROYAL MAIL PICKS ADVISER AS SALE SPECULATION INTENSIFIES
Royal Mail has appointed Barclays Capital as its investment banking adviser in preparation for a possible sale or partial flotation of the business by the government. The state-owned business has not had an investment banking adviser since NM Rothschild stepped down last July after Lord Mandelson, the business secretary at the time, saw his bill to part-privatise Royal Mail scuppered by bankbench Labour MPs.
HALF A MILLION SONY VAIO
COMPUTERS AT RISK OF OVERHEATING
Sony is the latest consumer electronics company to experience product issues after it warned that over half a million of its Vaio computers could be in danger of overheating. However, the company denied reports that it was to launch a major recall.
The Daily Telegraph
STANDARD & POOR’S GIVES NOTICE OF A POTENTIAL DOWNGRADE ON… MOODY’S
Any lingering doubts about the tough times to come for ratings agencies have blown away as Standard & Poor’s put the debt of one of its largest rivals on notice for a potential downgrade. In a report that could equally have been written about its own prospects, S&P credit analyst Emile Courtney laid out a grim picture for rival ratings agency Moody’s.
INFLATION PUSHES UP PRIVATE SECTOR PAY INCREASES
Private sector employers are coming under increasing pressure to offer inflation-busting pay rises to staff as the economy picks up, new figures have shown. However, one in 10 companies are still pushing through pay freezes, analysis by Income Data Services has revealed.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
SWATCH TAPS FOUNDER’S DAUGHTER TO LEAD BOARD
Two days after the death of Swatch Group founder and chairman Nicolas Hayek, the Swiss watch and luxury goods maker said yesterday his daughter Nayla Hayek has been elected as his successor and will head the company’s board. Hayek died on Monday from heart failure aged 82.
AMAZON.COM ACQUIRES ONLINE SHOPPING SITE WOOT
Seattle online retail giant Amazon.com acquired deal-of-the-day
site Woot for an undisclosed sum. Following the acquisition, Dallas-based Woot will continue to be managed independently, the companies said. “The acquisition will foster the long-term growth of Woot, allowing it to continue its passion for serving customers with low prices across a broad selection of products,” it said.