It was not a murky privatisation."Mr Stevenson admitted that the case bore "surface similarities" to the persecution of Yukos, the Russian oil company sold to its chief executive, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, in the 1990s for a fraction of its value. Increasingly, trading is carried out electronically and more specialised investors, such as hedge fund managers, need more sophisti- cated information.Reuters now offers more risk-related products and financial data for wealthy individuals wanting to invest independently. This was imple- mented by Mr Glocer at the beginning of 2003 with a target of saving £440m by the end of next year. It will result, ultimately, in 3,000 staff leaving the group.Mr Glocer wants to carry on the momentum from Fast Forward. The new programme, which will also earmark investment for developing new products, is meant to be "evolutionary" rather than "revolutionary" in scope.
Analysts estimate that the savings range will be between £100m and £120m over three years, starting in 2006.Another £450m, on top of the £600m promised from the Instinet sale, is also expected to be returned to shareholders.The programme is part of Reuters' efforts to stop the slide in sales and offer a wider range of financial information products beyond its traditional investment banking customers, whose number has declined over the past five years.Banks now employ fewer equity analysts and active traders, whose use of Reuters terminals provided most of the company's custom. City analysts also expect the company to reveal a share buyback programme worth £1bn. This will be financed by proceeds from the sales of its data-network company Radianz and its stake in Instinet, the US electronic brokerage. Reuters, which will announce interim results on 26 July, is coming to the end of its restructuring programme, Fast Forward. The Tube companies are carrying out extra work on the routes while they are shut.But the London Underground spokesman said there were no plans to close them on a long-term basis.. But a London Underground spokesman said the proposals must first meet three criteria: that alternative travel arrangements can be made during the shutdown; that the two companies have the staff and equipment to work 24-hours; and that financial benefits from the closures are reinvested in the network.One sticking point could be the Underground PPP bonus scheme which rewards the companies for completing work ahead of deadline. Moving to 24-hour working may automatically trigger payments - but London Underground would be reluctant to pay up due to the change in the contracts."We need to establish how the benefits are distributed," said one source close to the negotiations.Sections of the Circle, Piccadilly, Hammersmith & City, District and Metropolitan Lines are still closed following the terrorist bombings of 7 July.
Tom Glocer, the chief executive of Reuters, is to unveil a new cost-cutting programme as part of a major strategy presentation which analysts believe will save the electronic and media group up to £120m every year. These stated that all the modernisation work should be carried out at night or weekends to minimise disruption to travellers.It is understood that Tim O'Toole, managing director of London Underground, now believes it may be better for customers to face some short- term disruption so that works can be completed swiftly.Plans for the closures were originally drawn up by the two companies charged with modernising the Tube.Tube Lines has lodged proposals for a phased closure of the Northern Line in seven different sections. London Underground is considering closing large sections of the Tube in an attempt to cope with the backlog of repairs to the creaking system. The company said it was too early to estimate how this would affect customers' bills.A Home Office spokesman said that the Government would make an "appropriate" contribution towards the new costs placed on industry.But he refused to say how much money was available and insisted that the burden on internet companies would be minimal as many companies had already signed up to a voluntary code on retaining data.One industry source said that the Home Office had earmarked just £20m.The industry is also concerned that the European agreement on data storage may prove unworkable if the new laws are pushed though by EU ministers instead of the European Parliament.The plans were originally proposed by the UK, France, Sweden, and Ireland, after the Madrid bombings.. The price of surfing the web may have rise to cover the costs of new anti-terrorism laws, internet providers have warned. It's been the same with Furong Jiejie, whose photo adorned the front pages of many papers last week Now, though, it seems that her 15 minutes of fame are up.. If something happens in Guangzhou, then people in Beijing will hear about it quickly ...
