Latest Business News from Times Online

GM Europe may slip away from Magna

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:15:03 GMT

MAGNA’S grasp on General Motors Europe, the owner of Vauxhall and Opel, appeared to be slipping this weekend as it emerged that all three bidders for the group will be asked to present their plans to Barack Obama’s automotive task force at the end of the month.

Hedge fund star to launch new UK fund

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:01:25 GMT

LANSDOWNE PARTNERS, one of Mayfair’s largest hedge funds, is to open its doors to fund manager Patrick Degorce, a former French navy officer who split from the high-profile activist investor Christopher Hohn earlier this year.

Centrica told to pay 900p a share

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:53:45 GMT

SHAREHOLDERS in Venture Production, the North Sea oil and gas group under siege from Centrica, will demand at least 900p a share to accept a takeover, according to Venture chief executive Mike Wagstaff.

Jaguar poised to shut for the summer

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:27:17 GMT

EXECUTIVES at Jaguar Land Rover, the Midlands carmaker, are drawing up plans for an extended shutdown of its UK plants and a new round of staff layoffs as it struggles to cope with the slump in the world car market.

American account: Barack Obama’s cures may just kill any recovery

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:34:53 GMT

SOMETIMES we might be better off if this globalised world of instant communication were less global and less instant. This week we benefited, if that is the right word, from simultaneous news from London, England; Sun Valley, Idaho; Washington, DC; and L’Aquila, Italy. Integrating all of this information is no small feat.

CIA hires Wall Street talent

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:54:14 GMT

THE CIA is taking advantage of the financial meltdown to recruit a new generation of financially literate spies with a series of job ads targeting Wall Street workers.

Economic outlook: Tear up the rulebook, it's all about borrowing

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:51:12 GMT

If we didn’t know it before last week, we surely do now. The economic policy landscape has changed. People will have different views on the period before the summer of 2007 — the longest run of non-inflationary growth in the modern era — but we are not going back there, at least in terms of policy.

Guy Hands in £300m EMI crisis talks

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:44:20 GMT

THE private equity firm Terra Firma is in talks about a huge restructuring of the debt-laden music giant EMI.

Goldman Sachs bankers defy gloom with bonus bonanza

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:38:54 GMT

DOZENS of bankers at Goldman Sachs in London could be in line for million-pound bonus payouts following another bumper quarter of profits at the giant investment bank.

Revealed: £200,000 pay rise for chief of ailing BA pension fund

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:03:36 GMT

THE fund manager running British Airways’ troubled pension fund received a pay rise of nearly £200,000 last year, giving her a bigger wage than the airline’s finance director.

Lloyds braced for £13bn writeoff

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:45:27 GMT

LLOYDS BANKING GROUP is poised to write off as much as £13 billion on its loans to commercial property, businesses and mortgage holders as the crisis engulfing the taxpayer-backed bank deepens.

Can Google break Windows?

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:43:57 GMT

IN OCTOBER 2007 Jeremy Fennell, Dixons’ group category director, was on a trip to Taiwan meeting computer manufacturers and parts suppliers. “They were all talking about netbooks and saying it might be something we’d be interested in,” he said. Pint-sized, stylish and cheap netbooks were already a growing market in Asia where their no-frills hardware but smart design had proved a hit with a consumers who wanted to surf the web on the go.

Cowdery in bid for Friends Prov

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:31:49 GMT

THE insurance tycoon Clive Cowdery has tabled a proposal to merge Friends Provident, the £1.4 billion pension and life company, with his quoted investment vehicle Resolution.

Ross Mandell in boiler room fraud probe

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Ross Mandell set down his glass and smiled. The self-confessed bad boy of Wall Street couldn’t believe his luck.

JJB chairman repays loan to Mike Ashley

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:47:30 GMT

Sir David Jones, chairman of JJB Sports has repaid a controversial £1.5 million loan to his retail rival and leading shareholder Mike Ashley.

Cash-strapped employers are reducing working hours as a means of retaining workers

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The number of people working shorter hours or taking temporary leave from work at the request of their employer has trebled in the past year as the recession takes its toll on the UK’s workforce.

Is Barclays above its station?

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Two events this week three thousand miles apart. In New York, Barclays paid $4 million (£2.5 million) for naming rights to a subway station. In future, Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street, a teeming commuter station in Brooklyn, will have the word Barclays added to its already clumsy moniker.

Parker exudes charm but beware the iron fist

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Sir John Parker has been linked with just about every important chairmanship in the FTSE 100 in recent years, and with good reason. Senior businessmen who have worked with him say that he is one of the outstanding chairmen of his generation. He has the natural charm and gentlemanly manner expected in a City grandee, but what sets him apart is a steeliness that was forged in the Belfast shipyards of Harland and Wolff.

Iberia moves for make or break decision on drawn-out merger discussions with BA

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Merger talks between British Airways and Iberia, which have stumbled on for nearly a year, should be brought to a head, the new boss of the Spanish airline said yesterday.

Rio Tinto four face long wait in jail as Chinese build legal case on espionage

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Four Rio Tinto workers detained in China over espionage and bribery claims are facing nearly 18 months in jail while authorities gather evidence against them.

Lower factory prices point to new fall in inflation

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The price of British-made goods fell at the sharpest pace since 2001 in June as manufacturers endured dwindling demand. Factory gate prices fell by 1.2 per cent in the year to June — four times larger than the 0.3 per cent decline recorded for May, suggesting that inflation is set to tumble further. Analysts had expected a fall of 0.8 per cent.

The sun shines on Waitrose

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Middle-class customers rushing to have picnics and barbecues in last week’s glorious weather boosted sales at Waitrose.

Goldman Sachs issues downgrade for JJB Sports

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The woes of JJB Sports intensified yesterday when a leading team of analysts predicted that the retailer’s losses during the next two years would be worse than expected.

Centrica beats deadline with £1.3bn bid for Venture

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, last night made a £1.3 billion takeover bid for Venture Production, the North Sea gas producer.

Gas firms fail to pass price cuts to customers

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Consumers are being denied the benefits of a sudden collapse in the price of natural gas that is bringing a profits surge to gas utilities.