Editor's Picks
Tomkins swings to loss, cuts divi
Wednesday 12 Aug 2009
Engineer Tomkins has cut its dividend as it swung to a half year loss and said its outlook remains uncertain.
Government 'disappointed' with FSA pay code
Wednesday 12 Aug 2009
FSA chief executive Hector Sants has again been forced to defend its new code on financial remuneration after business secretary Lord Mandelson expressed his disappointment with the proposed measures.
Resolution kicks off Life consolidation project
Wednesday 12 Aug 2009
Friends Provident has finally succumbed to the overtures of Clive Cowdery’s consolidation vehicle Resolution, but investors are already trying to guess who the insurance guru will target next.
UK unemployment hits 14-year high
Wednesday 12 Aug 2009
The number of people out of work in the UK has jumped to its highest level since 1995 as recession-hit companies continue to cut jobs, official figures showed today. Unemployment increased by 220,000 to 2.44m in the three months to June, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics, taking the International Labour Organization (ILO) jobless rate to a 13-year high of 7.8%.
Lloyds dispenses with HBOS fund arm
Wednesday 12 Aug 2009
Lloyds Banking is to make an unspecified number of job cuts following a decision to fold most of HBOS's Insight fund management division into its Scottish Widows arm. The parts not being transferred have been sold to Bank of New York Mellon for £235m. The sale price consists of cash of £200m and an equity consideration of £35m
Tough times ahead for Intercontinental Hotels
Tuesday 11 Aug 2009
Just how subdued any economic recovery might be is well demonstrated by Intercontinental Hotels Group’s latest update.
China charges Rio Tinto execs with bribery
Tuesday 11 Aug 2009
The Chinese authorities have formally charged Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu with bribery and violating commercial secrets, raising the prospect of seven years in a Chinese jail.
FSA reveals new code on bank pay
Tuesday 11 Aug 2009
The city watchdog has unveiled a new code of conduct that aims to curb excessive pay in the financial sector.
UK's biggest firms slash dividends
Tuesday 11 Aug 2009
The UK’s biggest companies will pay 13% less in dividends this year as they seek to rebalance their books in the wake of the credit crunch, according to a survey by the share registration company Capita Registrars.
Britain's trade gap widens
Tuesday 11 Aug 2009
Britain's global goods trade gap widened slightly more than expected in June as the oil balance fell into deficit, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Friends Provident agrees £1.86bn Resolution bid
Tuesday 11 Aug 2009
Clive Cowdery’s insurance investment vehicle Resolution will be catapulted into the FTSE 100 index after life insurer Friends Provident accepted a new £1.86bn bid on Tuesday. Friends shareholders will get 0.9 Resolution shares for every Friends share held and may elect to receive 79.4p in cash for each of the first 2,500 shares..
China claims Rio overcharged by $102bn
Monday 10 Aug 2009
China ramped up its row with Rio Tinto‘s over alleged spying by its employees by another notch as it accused the miner of overcharging its iron mills by over $100bn over the past six years.
Intercontinental Hotels slides into loss
Monday 10 Aug 2009
Hotel group Intercontinental held its interim dividend despite a tough first half that saw revenues tumble and the group post a loss after one-off items.
Public sector endangers jobs market
Monday 10 Aug 2009
The slump in Britain’s jobs market is slowing, but a deterioration in confidence within the public sector could send unemployment above 3m next year, a report says.
House prices to inch higher in 2010
Monday 10 Aug 2009
House prices have got another 3% to fall before rising a touch next year, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.
Resolution closes on Friends Provident takeover
Monday 10 Aug 2009
Life insurer Friends Provident is close to agreeing a takeover by Resolution after the terms of the original offer were improved sufficiently for talks to start between the two sides. Resolution made a revised offer of about £1.85bn, sending Friends’ shares up by almost 8%. A merger could be announced as early as Tuesday, Dow Jones Newswires is quoting people familiar with the matter as saying.
Week ahead: Prudential, Friends Provident, Intercontinental Hotels
Friday 07 Aug 2009
Life insurance groups take centre stage next week on an otherwise quiet week as the holiday season really kicks in.
RBS creeps into the black
Friday 07 Aug 2009
Royal Bank of Scotland has turned last year’s big half-year pre-tax loss into a small profit, although the part-nationalised bank saw bad debts rocket to £7.5bn.
Monday newspaper round-up: Rio Tinto, Lloyds Banking, Resolution
Friday 07 Aug 2009
China has accused Rio Tinto of spying on its steel industry for six years, costing the country Rmb700bn ($102bn) in excessive charges for iron ore. The remarks indicate that Beijing’s detention of four Rio employees in China on accusations of stealing state secrets about iron ore price negotiations could be the start of a widening campaign
Murdoch attempts to revolutionise online news
Thursday 06 Aug 2009
It is said Rupert Murdoch revolutionised the newspaper industry. If his latest venture of charging for online content works, he could stake a similar claim about how we consume news on the internet.
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