A message to SpinVox sceptics: stop the sniping August 3, 2009 RECENTLY, there’s been a bit of controversy surrounding SpinVox, the UK-based voice to text messaging company led by Christina Domecq. Certain bloggers and journalists have accused the firm of not paying suppliers, and of not possessing the intellectual property that can convert spoken voice mails into text, instead relying on an army of call centre [...]
Whitbread’s chief weighs up options for expansion plan August 3, 2009 WHITBREAD chief executive Alan Parker yesterday revealed he will be launching an extensive international and domestic expansion plan and took City analysts by surprise by hinting he might be prepared to tap shareholders for funds before Christmas. Whitbread, which owns budget hotel chain Premier Inn and Costa Coffee, has been eyeing up prospects in the [...]
New bidders circle Insight August 3, 2009 BANK of New York Mellon and Northern Trust have made a late entry into the race to buy the majority of Insight, the asset manager that Lloyds Banking Group inherited from HBOS, sources said yesterday. Both US banks are understood to have presented binding offers for the unit, valued at between £230m and £250m, with [...]
UK worth nearly 7 trillion August 3, 2009 The UK was worth almost £7 trillion at the end of 2008, a two per cent drop on the previous year and the first fall since 1992, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said yesterday. The UK’s most valuable asset is housing, worth £3.923bn and 56 per cent of total net worth, down nine per [...]
Fidessa warns on customer cuts August 3, 2009 Software company Fidessa saw its shares drop yesterday as caution in the group’s outlook stalled analyst upgrades, despite revenue and earnings per share at the half-year stage coming in ahead of consensus. The group, which supplies trading systems to banks, says markets are stabilising, but some customers are experiencing challenging conditions and are looking to [...]
AnaCap acquires a second bank August 3, 2009 Private equity firm AnaCap Financial Partners has received regulatory clearance to acquire Malta-based private bank Mediterranean Bank, its second private bank purchase of the year. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but AnaCap said that it would be injecting new capital into the bank to improve its Tier 1 capital ratio.
Close Growth Capital spun off in management buyout August 3, 2009 MERCHANT bank Close Brothers said yesterday it has spun off its last remaining private equity division, Close Growth Capital, under a management buyout by the arm’s bosses. The firm has already been rebranded as Growth Capital Partners, and is now controlled by managing partner Bill Crossan and partners Garrett Curran and James Blake. The spin [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 3, 2009 ExecutionNick Tranter has joined Execution as head of derivatives to lead the development of the firm’s institutional and hedge fund derivatives business. Nick has a wealth of experience, having spent 20 years working in the derivatives markets working with Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan. He joins Execution from his current post as head of equity and [...]
HAMMERSON HELM SWITCH August 3, 2009 ANGLO-French property firm Hammerson said yesterday chief executive John Richards (pictured) will retire at the end of September after 10 years at the helm. UK managing director David Atkins will succeed him in the role. The group also added that losses almost doubled to £818.3m for the six months to 30 June from £417.1m a [...]
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON HSBC’S RESULTS? August 3, 2009 HENK POTTS BARCLAYS WEALTH“Messy numbers, with various accounting changes, but definitely ahead of expectations and sentiment towards the sector continues to improve. Household, the US business which is largely in run-off mode, was the largest source of upside surprise with lower provisions and lower realised losses.” DAVID BUIK BGC PARTNERS“HSBC’s tier one capital stands at [...]