Citigroup trio under threat October 8, 2009 THE future of three of US bank Citigroup’s biggest names has been thrown into doubt following an external review of the company. A report by consultancy firm Egon Zehnder, commissioned by regulators earlier in the year, found that Citi’s management team, led by chief executive Vikram Pandit, was generally up to scratch. But the report [...]
Ted Baker smashes forecasts October 8, 2009 Designer brand Ted Baker said trading was exceeding its hopes and reaction to its autumn and winter ranges had been “encouraging”, as it posted a better than feared fall in first-half profit, sending its shares higher. Analysts upgraded pre-tax profit forecasts for the year to the end of January 2010 and finance director Lindsay Page [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 8, 2009 Religare Capital MarketsThe broking and investment banking group has appointed Martin Newson as its new chief executive of global investment banking. Newson will be tasked with bringing together the firm’s Indian capital markets franchise with its international investment banking operation. He was previously head of global equities at Dresdner Kleinwort, where he also led the [...]
Mandelson snubs Magna bid October 8, 2009 Business secretary Lord Mandelson has refused to back Magna’s bid for Vauxhall and Opel in its current form, after bringing in PricewaterhouseCoopers to go over the plans. PwC were brought in to review Magna’s bid separately from Germany, as concerns on UK jobs grew. If the UK doesn’t back the bid, Opel will miss out [...]
Senior Deutsche executives to escape espionage probe October 8, 2009 SENIOR executives at Deutsche Bank are to escape investigation by German authorities into a spying scandal that saw the bank hire detectives to dig up information on a troublesome shareholder. The bank is facing a probe into privacy violations by Frankfurt prosecutors and financial regulator BaFin, and has already fired two executives over their alleged [...]
Carphone on track for a March split October 8, 2009 CARPHONE Warehouse said yesterday that it signed up more broadband customers than expected in its second quarter, and that it is on-track to demerge the business in March 2010. The long-awaited demerger of its telecoms and retail businesses has been delayed due to the problems of valuation during the economic downturn. “The worst seems to [...]
US fiscal deficit at record high October 8, 2009 America’s government deficit will reach $1.4 trillion – or 9.9 per cent of GDP – in the fiscal year ending 30 September, analysts at the Congressional Budget Office said yesterday. In the 2008 fiscal year, the deficit was $459bn. The US Treasury is due to publish its official figures later this month.
Rates held by central banks October 8, 2009 BOTH Threadneedle Street and the European Central Bank (ECB) kept monetary policy on hold yesterday as both central banks were in wait and see mode. In the UK, rates were kept at 0.5 per cent and QE at £175bn while the cost of borrowing in the Eurozone remained at one per cent. City analysts had [...]
Shell to build giant gas ship October 8, 2009 Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell said yesterday it was planning to deploy the world’s first floating liquefied-natural-gas (LNG) facility. The landmark project, which is set to be the world’s biggest vessel, will be placed off the coast of northwestern Australia. Other super-majors, who have also been floating the idea of a floating station, will monitor [...]
Ladbrokes launches 275m cash call in a bid to relieve debt as revenues fall October 8, 2009 LADBROKES, the book maker, yesterday announced a fully underwritten £275m cash call to pay down its debt, as it revealed its revenue had fallen by 15 per cent in the third quarter due to “exceptionally low” margins on football and horsing bets. The betting firm, which has already had to withheld its interim payments to [...]