Financial Guides
Share this..
Related stories
British Airways credit rating reduced
Standard and Poor's has today dealt another blow to British Airways with news that the company's long-term credit rating has been downgraded from BB to BB-. This comes just days after the company admitted it will report a record loss for the current year although there has been significant progress in the area of cost-cutting and refocusing of the operation. In all honesty the downgrade of the...
Read MoreIs Stuart Rose on the verge of leaving Marks & Spencer?
Marks & Spencer has been quick to dampen speculation that executive chairman Stuart Rose may leave the company earlier than expected. Stuart Rose appeared on a BBC political programme and tantalisingly suggested that he may well be leaving office before his official re-election date of July 2011. So what exactly is going on?
While Rose did not exactly give a definitive leaving date,...
Will 2010 be the year of the banking sector?
There is no doubt that 2008 and 2009 have been disastrous years for the UK banking sector and the UK financial sector as a whole. However, as we move into 2010 with the vast majority of UK banks now fully funded and recapitalised, is 2010 going to be a year of recovery for the UK banking sector? It is fairly obvious that the health of the UK banking sector today is very much better than it was...
Read MoreBritish Airways talks collapse
Talks with the conciliation service ACAS have collapsed without an agreement between British Airways and the Unite union. This is something of a body blow to the two parties as hopes were high that an agreement could be reached and finally this most damaging flurry of industrial action would come to an end. So what next for British Airways? There is now talk of further strike action in August,...
Read MoreHead of FSA's risk unit steps down
Sally Dewar, the head of the FSA's risk unit, has today stepped down after eight years with the Financial Services Authority. Ms Dewar had been expected to be one of the potential candidates to take over from outgoing chief executive Hector Sants but it seems that a delay in confirmation of the UK government's plans for the FSA may well be causing confusion within the Authority. Ms Dewar was he...
Read MoreWhen was the last time you had a financial health check?
The vast majority of UK public are more than happy to place their savings in a bank account, leave them there and do nothing about them for some time. However, on the other hand there are a growing number of the UK population looking to realign their assets on a regular basis in order to take account of market movements and the potential to improve their investment prospects and investment income....
Read MorePrudential battles to save AIG acquisition
The Prudential group is tonight battling to save the acquisition of AIG's Asian operation in a deal which could be worth $35.5 billion. The company is facing an ever increasing uphill battle with shareholders concerned the price is too high and the $21 billion rights issue to accompanying acquisition has been impacted by market conditions. So will the Prudential be able to save the deal? There...
Read MoreIs EMI in imminent danger of collapse?
Music giant EMI is on the verge of collapse after announcing pre-tax losses of £1.75 billion for the current year. The company was acquired by Terra Firma, the investment vehicle of Guy Hands, who is a well respected investor in the City. However, his acquisition of EMI has turned sour with the company on the verge of breaking banking covenants and in danger of being taken over by the banks. G...
Read MoreYou can still be active with your investments and have a long-term strategy
While the old adage that the best investment returns are made on a long-term basis has held true for many decades, this does not mean that you should not review your investments on a regular basis and make changes where necessary. A number of surveys in the past have shown that many people still retain substantial pension fund investments in underperforming funds which are not working for them. So...
Read MoreBritish Airways announces £50 million quarterly loss
In the three months to December 2009 British Airways lost £50 million which is very much less than many analysts had been expecting. The £50 million loss compares to a £122 million loss in the same period for 2008 although the pre-tax loss for the nine months ended December 2009 rose from £70 million in the corresponding period to £342 million. As we have mentioned on numerous occasions, B...
Read More