| Bankruptcies
Pennsylvania Thomas C. Fornario and Elaine F. Fornario doing business as Paper Pickins 711 Potter Dr., Kennett Square; Chapter 7; no schedules available. WMR Resources Inc. 180 Coventry Ct., Yardley; Chapter 7; no schedules available. Ashland-Upland Associates L.L.P., 3400 N. 17th St., Philadelphia; Chapter 11; no schedules available. Club Boogie 2 Inc. 4233 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia; Chapter 11; no schedules available. New Jersey Network Technologies L.L.C. 23 Monroe Dr., Laurel Springs; Chapter 7; assets, $47,501.00; liabilities, $287,609.08. Desert Air Mechanical Contractors L.L.C. 1622 Somers Point-Millville Rd., St. 4, Egg Harbor Township; Chapter 7; assets, $6,000.00; liabilities, $121,828.72. Bankruptcy definitions: Chapter 7, debtor sells assets in return for discharge of debts.
Finance Ministry to issue B300bn worth of bonds every year
The Finance Ministry plans to float 300 billion baht worth of government bonds each year to help establish clear benchmarks for the bond market under a new public debt management law. The new law has already passed the first reading in the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and is now being reviewed in an NLA committee. Nattapol Chavalitcheevin, a spokesman for the NLA committee, said the law was expected to pass the second and third readings next month. Under the new law, the Finance Ministry hopes to establish new benchmarks at the five- and 10-year points on the yield curve through new issues worth up to 60 billion baht per lot. The Thai bond market currently has 4.6 trillion baht worth of outstanding debt, equal to around 53% of the country's gross domestic product.
H&R Block CEO Ernst resigns, Breeden to be chairman
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Mark Ernst has resigned as chairman, president and chief executive of H&R Block Inc., the tax preparation and accounting services company said Tuesday.
Ernst is being replaced as chairman by former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Richard Breeden, who led a dissident shareholder group that won three seats on the H&R Block board.Former Aetna Inc. executive Alan Bennett was named interim CEO while H&R Block looks for a permanent replacement.Breeden has criticized the company's diversification into mortgage lending, investment advising and banking, saying it had robbed momentum from the company's core tax preparation and accounting services business.Ernst's departure follows the resignation of Chief Financial William Trubeck earlier this month.
AWB hammered by drought
AGRIBUSINESS giant AWB has posted a 53.3 per cent fall in full year earnings due to the impact of 12 months of drought. But the farm services firm remains upbeat about its future because of its rapid diversification and growth of other business divisions. Its underlying profit before tax and amortisation fell from $147.107 million to $91.789 million, in line with the company's guidance. AWB managing director Gordon Davis said he was pleased with the results, even though the figure was down because all sections were profitable and it was a resilient business with a great franchise. Mr Davis said the result was achieved despite one of the worst droughts on record, the loss of its wheat export monopoly and company restructuring. "The management team successfully stabilised operating performance and we are now increasingly focussed on the next phase – growing the business," Mr Davis said.
Sumitomo Trust, Aozora Bank to form broad business tie-up
Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. and Aozora Bank announced Tuesday they will form a comprehensive business tie-up in the three fields of real estate, trust and asset management. The two banks made the decision to survive intensifying competition from megabanks, but they stressed they will not form a capital tie-up. By offering services and financial products to each other's customers, the two banks plan to strengthen their foundation for higher profitability. The two banks said they will first set up a "tie-up promotion committee" consisting of senior officials of both banks. The committee will decide on the details of the tie-up by March next year, including a possible expansion of the alliance beyond the three fields. According to the agreement between the two banks, an Aozora group company with strength in collecting debts will support the rehabilitation of Sumitomo Trust's debt-ridden client companies using their real estate.
1 in 4 homeless is a vet, study says - Army News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Army Times
Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the U.S., though they are only 11 percent of the general adult population, according to a report to be released Thursday. And homelessness is not just a problem among middle-age and elderly veterans. Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job. The Veterans Affairs Department has identified 1,500 homeless veterans from the current wars and says 400 of them have participated in its programs specifically targeting homelessness. The Alliance to End Homelessness, a public education nonprofit, based the findings of its report on numbers from VA and the Census Bureau. Data from 2005 estimated that 194,254 homeless people out of 744,313 on any given night were veterans.
Pub firm Enterprise Inns changes REIT tack
Business Finance and city news online from Interactive Investor (www.iii.co.uk). Plus financial and currency market news and information 24/7. Stock prices, share prices, currency markets news and business finance headlines. Also news from AFX and Reuters. UK online business, currency, markets and financial news .
|
