Law and business: commercial news round-up 20.02.15
updated on 20 February 2015
Commerciality remains top of many recruiters’ list of ideal traits for their future trainees – where better to develop that skill than with a small collection of topical business news stories, designed to help you to start thinking like a lawyer. To access that part of your brain, read on:
- Balfour Beatty has sold its 80% stake in the Thanet Ofto project – a windfarm off the cost of Kent – to release £40 million and help mitigate against a series of profit warnings in 2014.
- Rolls Royce has been implicated in corruption claims that extend as far as Brazil, related to claims from a former executive at Petrobras that he personally received at least $200,000 from the car company.
- Sony is in financial trouble, reporting a ¥170 billion loss for the year to March (compared with ¥40 billion loss for same period last year) and has announced that it plans to split off its video and audio unit to cut costs.
- The government is delighted to ascribe the highest employment rate since records began in 1971 (73.2%) to a strengthening economy. With unemployment falling and wages rising, this could give the Tories a pre-election boost.
- The Greek economic rescue deal reached another bump in the road, as Germany rejects a plan for six-month repayment extension, despite earlier signs that a compromise might be on the cards. As ever, The Economist explains it beautifully here.
Be sure to check the News section every Friday afternoon for this weekly commercial news round-up. Follow @LawCareersNetUK and @CityLawLIVE on Twitter for instant business news updates.
