Still owned by Sydney Jacob, the chain's founder, Jeeves International has franchised outlets dotted around the globe from New York and Hong Kong to Istanbul and Jakarta.Johnson Services, which issued two profit warnings in 2002, made annual pre-tax profits of £15m, down from £19.3m a year ago.. BAA, the former British Airports Authority which runs Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and four other UK airports, could be open to a hostile takeover bid this week if the European Court of Justice decides to scrap "golden shares". These are shares held by governments that automatically carry as many votes as the rest of the company's shares put together, thereby blocking takeover attempts seen as being against the national interest. The case could have implications for other companies with golden shares, including BAE Systems, British Energy and National Grid. When they were privatised, they were all regarded of such strategic importance to the economy that the government retained a right of veto over any change in the controlling ownership. It has voluntarily relinquished golden shares in other organisations.Other European countries have similar golden shareholdings as they sought to cash in on privatising state industries without ceding ultimate control.In a preliminary judgment three months ago the European Court's advocate-general, Damaso Ruiz-Jarabo, said that the principle of a golden share was "contrary to the principle of free movement of capital".BAA said: "In theory we could become vulnerable to a takeover bid, but in practice we are the largest private operator of airports in the UK and internationally, and we operate the airports in a very efficient way, so there wouldn't be much for a bidder to go for.".
06/11 - 09/11 Reach Sugarland Tickets staging in Champlain Valley Expo, Charleston Civic Center. Sugarland is staging in Essex Junction, Charleston and Everett. Sugarland tickets
07/11 Acquire Sade Tickets playing in New Orleans Arena. Sade is playing in New Orleans. Sade tickets
06/11 Acquire Vancouver Canucks Tickets staging in South Island Field at Governors Island, South Point Showroom. Vancouver Canucks is staging in New York, Las Vegas and Cohasset. Vancouver Canucks tickets
A fresh savings price war is set to break out today with the UK launch of ING Direct, a Dutch-owned telephone and internet business, which claims to be the world's leading direct savings bank. The nearest domestic rivals are Halifax Bank and Northern Rock at 4 per cent, both of which are internet-only.Similar online launches, notably from Tesco and the Prudential's egg, have started with a headline-grabbing rate to build up a rapid following, only to fall back into the pack after a few months.But Lindsay Sinclair, the chief executive of ING Direct UK, insisted that its 4.3 per cent would be maintained He said: "The UK banking industry needs shaking up. Customers need to be able to unlock the complex and confusing savings market. Our great savings rate, delivered simply and securely, will remain at the forefront of the industry – this is not an introductory rate. We have low overheads and no branches and this saves us money; we pass those savings directly to our customers in the form of high interest rates."He denied that ING would be paying for the high savings rate by charging high prices for consumer loans. "We will be investing in top quality government bonds," he said, "and we are not looking for a very high margin. We are relying on low costs and high volumes, and in the US we broke even with this model in less than three years."Costs are being kept low by the fact that ING will have only one product, the savings account, in the UK for the first year.
The operation is based in Reading and is expected to create 200 jobs this year. For details phone 0800 376 5050 or visit . Royal & SunAlliance, the troubled insurer, floated its Australian operation, Promina, today on the Sydney stock market at a value of A$1.9bn (£750m), which is the world's biggest flotation so far this year and will release £540m of risk-based capital for the parent company. Individual investors, who were allocated 272 million of the 900 million shares on offer, paid A$1.70.
