Helical Bar plans developing spree June 4, 2009 PROPERTY group Helical Bar yesterday said it had turned a corner as it revealed plans to begin a development spree, despite plunging further into the red for the full year. The firm said it had raised around £500m to invest in retail projects and student accommodation developments, including £26.4m of its own cash raised in [...]
Goals in 11m fundraising June 4, 2009 Goals Soccer Centres, which runs five-a-side football pitches across Britain, said yesterday it planned to raise £11m from a placement of around 6.7m shares to accelerate the rate of openings of new soccer centres. The price of £165p a share represents a seven per cent discount to Goal Soccer’s closing price of 177.5p yesterday.
BA and Lloyds in pension row June 4, 2009 LLOYDS has been told by an increasingly irate staff union to issue a formal guarantee it will keep its final salary pension scheme open for existing members, ahead of its high-profile shareholder meeting today. This came as British Airways admitted last night all options remain open over its pension deficit, boosting fears it will close [...]
Fed is cautious on mortgage securities June 4, 2009 THE Federal Reserve was yesterday playing down expectations that it would prop up the market for mortgage-backed securities. The preisdent of the New York Fed said it was still assessing whether or not to include residential mortgage-backed securities in its ambitious consumer lending programme. “No decisions have been made yet,” William Dudley said in response [...]
Mayfair group opens infra fund June 4, 2009 Gravis Capital Partners, the recently-founded Mayfair boutique fund manager, has launched the first debt-based infrastructure fund available to high-net worth investors. The group said the fund will aim for an eight per cent annual return via debt investment in public sector-backed investments, in the form of debt, in construction areas like schools.
Brown’s grip is weakening by the hour June 4, 2009 HE may not be a household name, but James Purnell, the former secretary of state for pensions, was a key figure at the heart of Gordon Brown’s cabinet, a standard-bearer for what is left of the Blairite, reformist wing of the Labour Party. So his shock resignation at 10pm last night has dealt nothing less [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 4, 2009 J SAINSBURYIt’s the end of the beginning for J Sainsbury, not the beginning of the end, said analysts at Morgan Stanley as they upgraded the stock from “equal-weight” to “over-weight”. The broker expects the retailer to deliver premium like-for-like growth for at least 12 months, and has set a price target of 375p, which is [...]
Detail on LSE chief’s pay plan June 4, 2009 City A.M. yesterday reported that the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) new chief executive Xavier Rolet could earn £5.2m in his first year in the role. The LSE has subsequently pointed out that Rolet could earn up to £2.3m this year through his base salary, benefits and bonus, if targets are exceeded. Should he choose to [...]
Final salary schemes on the way out June 4, 2009 PENSIONS analysts sounded the death knell for final salary pension schemes yesterday, after supermarket chain WM Morrison became the third major company in a week to end its scheme. The retailer’s decision to bring the curtain down on the scheme follows similar moves by Barclays, which transferred 18,000 staff to a hybrid scheme and energy [...]
Santander to raise funds June 4, 2009 EUROPE’S largest bank Santander is to become the latest Spanish bank to issue preference shares to bolster its capital ratios and increase liquidity. The bank is understood to be seeking the blessing of the country’s market regulator to issue preference shares worth €2.5bn (£2.2bn), although a spokesman for Santander was unable to confirm the reports. [...]