Accounting firms facing ban on sale of products to audit clients October 6, 2009 SOME of the City’s biggest accounting firms are facing restrictions on the services they can sell to audit clients, after the financial reporting watchdog launched a review of rules designed to maintain auditor independence. The Auditing Practices Board (APB), a division of the Financial Reporting Council, said it would review whether the sale of non-audit [...]
Mazda fundraising for green cars October 6, 2009 Japanese carmaker Mazda is planning to raise Y96bn (£680m) in a share sale to fund development of hybrid vehicles, as it tries to catch up with “greener” competitors like Toyota and Honda. It said it would offer 363m new shares to investors, equivalent to one-quarter of its outstanding stock, and sell an additional 97m existing [...]
YUM TAKESBITEOUTOFCHINA October 6, 2009 YUM Brands, parent of the Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC chains, posted a quarterly profit that blew past Wall Street’s target, boosted by results from China, and raised its full-year profit forecast. Overall operating profit was up 15 per cent for the third quarter, driven by 32 per cent growth in China.
Iata against airline accusations October 6, 2009 The International Air Transport Association has (Iata) urged governments against using taxes on airlines as a quick-fix solution to cutting emissions. It said the industry was wrongly charged by environmentalists as the “bogeyman of climate change” and viewed by policymakers as a “cash-cow for much-needed revenue” to cope with the downturn.
BNP Paribas launches new fund October 6, 2009 BNP Paribas Real Estate said yesterday it plans to launch a UK commercial property fund for institutional investors and is seeking £150m of commitments for it by end-2009. The property adviser, a BNP Paribas unit, said the closed-ended, five-year fund would be geared up to 50 percent and invested in a diversified portfolio of commercial [...]
Northern Foods sales slow down October 6, 2009 Northern Foods yesterday reported slowing sales growth, but said its recent Fox Biscuits marketing campaign had helped to off-set falling sales in its ready meal business. The group announced a 2.9 per cent increase in underlying sales in the six months to 26 September, a slowdown from the 5.5 percent growth seen in the first [...]
DUNSTONE ALL SET FOR UPCOMING NUPTIALS October 5, 2009 FORGET Simon Cowell’s star-studded 50th birthday bash – this weekend will see the party of the City’s year when Carphone Warehouse tycoon Charles Dunstone finally ties the knot with PR executive Celia Gordon Shute. Dunstone – who recently enjoyed an impressive motoring-themed stag do split between the Goodwood estate and on the Isle of Wight [...]
TORIES TO UP PENSION AGE TO SIXTY-SIX October 5, 2009 A WAR of words is set to erupt between Labour and the Tories as both parties attempt to seize the initiative on spending cuts. George Osborne will today announce that a Tory government would increase the state retirement age to 66 by 2016, ten years ahead of Labour’s deadline, in a bid to cut the [...]
FSA WARNED ON LIQUIDITY PLAN October 5, 2009 THE Financial Services Authority (FSA) was told yesterday that its new liquidity rules could put London at a competitive disadvantage. The FSA unveiled plans to force UK banks to hold an extra £110bn in government bonds, in a bid to prevent a repeat of the banking crisis. Liquidity requirements will be delayed to allow banks [...]
Bullish Goldman note on banks lifts US shares ahead of earnings season October 5, 2009 US STOCKS surged yesterday after investment bank Goldman Sachs upgraded the banking sector to “attractive” from “neutral” ahead of the third-quarter earnings season that kicks off tomorrow. Wall Street shrugged off a four-day losing streak after Goldman issued a note saying that while the big banks’ earnings have surged by nearly 40 per cent this cycle [...]