Finance Matters

• 17Oct

  Fold-up bike ‘crazy guy’ receives royal award

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  The man who invented the foldaway Brompton bicycle has been honoured by the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace for his lifelong obsession.Andrew Ritchie invented the diminutive bike in 1979 and has been tweaking the design ever since. After collecting the Prince Philip Designers Prize, Mr Ritchie said he was not finished yet and was still thinking about how to make the bike lighter. The portable bike folds down to barely bigger than its 16 inch (40cm) wheels. In a brief speech Mr Ritchie thanked some of his early financial backers, who had each invested £100 in the scheme. His obsession started in 1975 when he came across a different model and thought he could do better. Speaking after receiving the award, Mr Ritchie described himself as a “crazy guy” who had spent his time trying to create the most human-friendly product he could.
  Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
  James Waller of Evans Cycles shows how to fold and assemble a folding bike
  He sai…

  Click to read the full article »
• 17Oct

  Bid failure hits National Express

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  Shares in National Express have fallen 26% after its largest shareholder withdrew a £765m takeover offer.Spain’s Cosmen family, which owns an 18.5% stake, had joined with private equity firm CVC on the bid. The CVC-Cosmen consortium said its offer would be withdrawn if not recommended by the board of National Express. Rival Stagecoach had agreed to buy National Express’s bus and rail operations if a deal went through. When the market opened, shares in the company fell 124p to 347p. At one stage, £250m was wiped from the value of the company. The Cosmens have announced that they will instead support plans for National Express, which has debts of nearly £1bn, to strengthen its finances by raising cash from shareholders. The consortium takeover offer was made after National Express lost the rights to the East Coast route. In July, the government said it would take the route back into public ownership after the company lost £20m in the first half of the year and suf…

  Click to read the full article »
• 17Oct

  Halifax estate agents sold for £1

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  Lloyds Banking Group has agreed to sell its Halifax estate agency business to LSL Property Services for £1, and said 460 jobs would go.The loss-making business has 218 offices, 93 of which are franchise operations. There are 121 Halifax banking counters located in estate agents, which will close down in early 2010. Branches will be rebranded as one of LSL’s existing brands: Your Move, Reeds Rains or Intercounty. Lloyds said that 1,050 employees would be transferred to LSL after the sale and 360 of the 460 jobs due to go will be full-time positions. ‘No longer integral’It said that compulsory redundancies would be a last resort. The jobs will go among staff operating the banking counters within estate agents. Lloyds said that the vast majority of the branches had a Halifax or Lloyds TSB branch within one mile of them. Lloyds said that the decision followed a strategic review, “which concluded that an estate agency operation is no longer integral to its business model”….

  Click to read the full article »
• 17Oct

  Germany defends Opel deal

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  Germany says EU concerns about the sale of carmaker Opel to Canada’s Magna do not put the deal at risk.Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said the deal was “on track” and ministers could address EU doubts. The European Commission warned on Friday that planned state aid for Opel might breach competition rules. Brussels said there were “significant indications” Berlin pledged the 4.5bn euro ($6.7bn; £4bn) aid only if its preferred buyer for Opel was chosen.
  Even though the German government said it was all a misunderstanding, there’s no doubt that Berlin has had something of a blind spot when it comes to Opel.Magna cleverly played the electoral card with Angela Merkel (who was seeking a second term as chancellor) by promising fewer job cuts in Germany and more in Opel/Vauxhall plants in Spain, Britain and Belgium.But Magna may now have to dig deeper into its pocket if it wants to control Opel/Vauxhall.No-one can ignore or brush aside the strict EU rules on state aid. But…

  Click to read the full article »
• 17Oct

  Iraq cabinet ratifies BP oil deal

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  Iraq’s cabinet has ratified a deal with two foreign energy companies to develop the giant southern oilfield in Rumaila.The contract with Britain’s BP and CNPC of China is the first major deal with foreign firms to be signed since an international auction in June. The project aims to almost triple output at the 17bn barrel field – increasing it by 2m barrels a day. Iraq has the world’s third largest oil reserves, but production lags behind potential due to a lack of investment. The country’s total daily output of 2.4m barrels is lower than it should be due to problems stemming from sanctions against former Iraqi governments, lack of investment and insurgent attacks, analysts say. Bidders withdrawThirty two companies – including Shell, Exxon, BP and Total – bid for contracts to develop six oil fields and two gas fields in June’s televised auction, Iraq’s first big oil tender since the invasion of 2003.
  But most of the bidders withdrew at the last moment, saying the terms on offer were un…

  Click to read the full article »
• 17Oct

  Bereaved savers ‘treated badly’

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  The way some banks treat recently bereaved customers is “inadequate and chaotic”, according to the chairman of the Treasury Select Committee.John McFall MP said that some companies had adequate procedures in place for bereavements, but others did not treat customers fairly. He is calling for a new code of practice to ensure financial services companies act as they should. However, the British Bankers’ Association said training was in place. “The main issues are treating people fairly at the most stressful time of their lives. We have had evidence that people have had to jump through unnecessary hurdles as a result of their business with banks and financial institutions,” said Mr McFall. “I am writing to the Financial Services Authority so that they can remind these institutions that treating customers fairly is a primary responsibility. “They can develop a code of conduct so that it makes things easier for people at the most stressful time of their lives, rather than harder.”
  Ingrid F…

  Click to read the full article »
• 17Oct

  Supermarkets ‘hurting suppliers’

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  Aggressive price-cutting tactics by supermarkets could result in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs in the food industry, a union has warned.Unite has accused retail giants of driving down suppliers’ profits. Deputy general secretary Jack Dromey said: “The supermarkets have immense power but they do not exercise that power responsibly.” But the British Retail Consortium said the stores were just trying to get the best value for their customers. Andrew Opie, the BRC’s director of food and consumer policy, said: “It’s not in retailers’ interest to put UK businesses out of business, we want a sustainable long-term relationship with suppliers.”
  Manufacturers and suppliers have long complained about heavy-handed tactics by supermarkets as they strive for lower prices. One supplier who did not want to be identified told the BBC they were regularly put under pressure by large supermarkets. “You just get an e-mail or a letter demanding an immediate cut in costs,” the supplier said. “They h…

  Click to read the full article »
• 17Oct

  Post union warns of extra strikes

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  The postal workers’ union’s head has said he is prepared to stage further industrial action before Christmas.The Communication Workers Union has announced two nationwide strikes next week due to an escalating row over pay, working conditions and reform. General secretary Billy Hayes told the Times that he was “not ruling anything out”, including more stoppages. Mr Hayes also suggested that he was in a stronger position than former miners’ leader Arthur Scargill in the 1980s. The 24-hour strikes will begin on 22 October. On the first day, mail centre staff and drivers will strike. The next day it will be delivery and collection staff. Mr Hayes told the newspaper that although the CWU was trying to reach agreement with Royal Mail, its planned 48-hour walkout – due begin this Thursday – may not be the last. Asked whether his position was stronger than that of Mr Scargill before the 1984-5 miners’ strike, Mr Hayes replied: “Yes. I think in terms of the impact of the Royal Mail on the econo…

  Click to read the full article »
• 17Oct

  Pin reminder security scrutinised

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  A system used by a High Street banking group to help customers who have forgotten their card Pin number has major security flaws, the BBC learns.Lloyds TSB has told Radio 4’s Money Box programme that it allows credit card customers to text requests for Pin reminders on any phone. Security experts say this could allow fraudsters to order and intercept Pins. Lloyds insisted it had adequate security measures in place to prevent fraudsters doing this. ‘Stolen’In order to request a Pin reminder, customers simply have to text ‘PIN’ and their card number to the bank. The phone does not have to have been registered with the bank for the purposes of telephone banking.
  The customer immediately receives a reply text confirming the request which says if it is successful the bank will send the Pin reminder to the customer’s home address within three working days. A Lloyds TSB customer called Malcolm, from Buckinghamshire, who did not want to give his full name, believed his Pin was stolen this way…

  Click to read the full article »
• 16Oct

  Bank of America reports $1bn loss

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  Bank of America has reported a $1bn (£612m) net loss for the three months from July to September, which was worse than had been expected.The figure compares with a net profit of $3.2bn in the previous quarter and $1.2bn in the same period of last year. But the bank’s boss Kenneth Lewis said he was “heartened by early positive signs”, referring to the levelling-off of bad debts from its credit cards. Bank of America is the fourth major US bank to report third-quarter results.
  It was announced on Wednesday that Mr Lewis, who is retiring as chief executive at the end of the year, would not receive any pay or bonus for 2009. He said in the results statement that the figures had been hit by a number of “non-core items” and that “excluding those items, our revenue continued to hold up well”. The report said that although the rate of debts going bad was slowing, “credit costs remained high as most economies around the world remained weak”. Bank of America set aside $11.7bn to cover cre…

  Click to read the full article »

« Previous Entries   Next Entries »