International
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US housing starts surge in positive sign for economy
Groundbreaking on new US homes surged in September to its fastest pace in more than four years, a sign the housing sector’s budding recovery is gaining traction and supporting the wider economic recovery. Housing starts increased 15 per cent last...
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Houses make way for new airport in France
A mechanical shovel clears away rubble as it demolishes a house which was squatted by protesters on land that will become a new airport complex in Notre-Dame-des-Landes, western France, yesterday. The new airport, some 30 kilometres from Nantes, is...
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Telecom operator Telia to cut 7,000 jobs
Lars Nyberg, president and chief executive of Nordic and emerging markets telecoms operator TeliaSonera AB addresses a news conference in Stockholm yesterday to unveil a $301.17 million cost-cutting plan as it reported third-quarter core profit...
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BAE Systems and EADS walk away from $45 billion merger
Talks on a $45 billion merger between EADS and BAE Systems collapsed yesterday after the governments of France, Germany and Britain failed to reach agreement over a deal to create the world’s largest aerospace and arms group. Britain’s BAE and the...
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IMF says it is ‘encouraged’ with Spain
The International Monetary Fund’s financial counsellor said yesterday the Fund was encouraged with steps by the Spanish Government to reduce its budget deficit. He added that whether Spain should apply for an international bailout was up to...
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New wave of complaints against Huawei, ZTE
People tour the Huawei booth at a communication technologies exhibition in Beijing earlier this year. A US congressional report that urged American companies to stop doing business with Chinese telecom equipment makers Huawei and ZTE has triggered a...
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Italy tax collectors took millions for parties, yachts, police say
The head of an Italian tax collection agency and four employees were arrested yesterday on charges of pocketing around €100 million from the money they gathered and spending it on private planes, parties and yachts. The news will infuriate Italians...
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Tesco halts sales slide at great cost while rivals gain
Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco managed to halt an 18-month slide in its sales, but the billion pounds it is spending to do so meant profits fell by more than 10 per cent in the first half, the first decline in 20 years. The company said the 0.1...
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Former LSE executive to lead Libor rival
The London Stock Exchange’s former head of clearing has been hired to run a start-up company that plans to offer an alternative to Libor, the benchmark interest rate discredited by a rigging scandal. Kevin Milne, who headed post-trade services at...
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Portugal buys breathing space with bond swap
Portugal returned to bond markets yesterday for the first time since a bailout last year, swapping short for longer-dated debt to buy time to fix its public finances. The swap will make Portugal’s debt repayments easier next year, giving it time to...
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Telefonica moves ahead with O2 Germany IPO
Telefonica started the sale of up to 20 per cent of its O2-branded German subsidiary yesterday, with the company set to raise up to €1.5 billion from the initial public share offer which is now expected to go ahead later this month to help cut the...
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More than 30,000 rally in Indonesia over pay
Workers ride motorcycle and shouts slogans during a protest at the Karawang Industrial estate in Bekasi, Indonesia’s West Java province, yesterday. More than 30,000 workers in several of Indonesia’s provinces staged strikes demanding for contract...
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Germany clears last hurdle to ESM fund ratification
Germany cleared the last legal hurdle to ratifying the eurozone’s new bailout fund yesterday with a cabinet declaration that addresses concerns raised by the country’s Constitutional Court. Germany is the last country in the 17-member eurozone to...
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Rajoy inches toward aid as protests, regions seethe
Violent protests in Madrid and growing talk of recession in wealthy Catalonia are piling pressure on Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy as he moves closer to asking Europe for rescue money. Rajoy has been resisting calls from influential domestic...
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Lloyd’s of London rebounds as disaster claims drop
The Lloyd’s of London insurance market swung back into profit in the first six months of 2012, after a comparative lack of natural disasters reduced its claims bill by nearly a third, it said yesterday. Lloyd’s made a profit of £1.5 billion compared...
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Retail sales improve slightly in September - CBI
Retail sales rose modestly in September and retailers were expecting another improvement in the coming month, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry showed yesterday. The CBI distributive trades survey’s sales balance rose to +6 in...
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Japan auto makers to slow output in China amid darkened outlook
Japanese automakers including Toyota and Nissan are cutting back production in China in the wake of anti-Japan protests that shuttered dealerships and darkened their sales outlook in the world’s biggest car market. Production slowdowns are a normal...
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Esprit H2 profits miss forecasts
Josè Manuel Martinez Gutierrez, new executive director and group CEO of Esprit, at a news conference announcing the company’s annual results in Hong Kong yesterday. Esprit Holdings Ltd posted second-half profit that missed analyst forecasts and said...
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World Bank warns of deepening Palestinian fiscal crisis
A fiscal crisis in the aid-dependent Palestinian economy will worsen unless foreign funding increases and Israel eases its restrictions in the occupied West Bank, the World Bank said yesterday. “Donors do need to act urgently in the face of a...
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Heineken nears Tiger beer deal after truce with rival
Dutch brewer Heineken took a major step towards winning control of the Tiger beer brand and an Asian brewing network yesterday after a Thai rival accepted the deal. Billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi’s Thai Beverage PCL and TCC Assets Ltd said...
