Fed comes to rescue July 31, 2008 The Federal Reserve extended its emergency lending program yesterday in an effort to settle turbulent money markets, as the European Central Bank and Swiss National Bank followed suit. The Fed said that the length of the program, under which investment institutions can turn to the central bank for cash, would be extended until January 30. [...]
Lloyds TSB profit decline rocks the City July 31, 2008 Lloyds TSB shocked the City yesterday as it raised its dividend 2 per cent to 11.4p, despite posting a 70 per cent slump in profits. Pre-tax profits at the high street bank dipped to £599m, compared to £1.99bn last year, reflecting the impact of £585m of write-downs from the bank’s insurance business. And the bank’s [...]
St James’s Place stands by its targets July 30, 2008 Wealth manager St James’s Place reported a 5.3 per cent fall in its first half profits, but chairman Mike Wilson said it was standing by its key long term sales growth targets, despite volatile market conditions. Group operating profits at the wealth manager, which sells insurance and investment policies to affluent clients, fell to £114.2m [...]
Merrill soars on bet worst could be over July 30, 2008 Shares in embattled US banking titan Merrill Lynch jumped nearly 8 per cent yesterday after the bank agreed to sell a massive debt portfolio at a discount, raising investor hopes it was putting its problems behind it. CEO John Thain has gone back to shareholders to boost the bank’s capital reserves, despite repeated assurances to [...]
Abbey grabs lending lead July 30, 2008 Abbey is poised to topple Halifax as the UK’s top lender of new mortgages after revealing first half results today that showed the Spanish-owned bank now writes one in three new mortgages in Britain. As rival lenders withdrew mortgage deals from the perilous credit market, Abbey’s share of new lending rocketed to 35 per cent [...]
New Caz boss: I won’t turn us into sharks July 29, 2008 JP Morgan Cazenove’s brand new CEO Naguib Kheraj has a long history in investment banking, having worked at Salomon Brothers and Robert Fleming prior to a 10-year career at Barclays. He joins the British investment bank at an opportune moment, as the famously blue-blooded organisation looks for experienced heads to guide it into the future. [...]
KKR seeks new talent ahead of float July 29, 2008 Top executives at KKR, the US private equity group which is to merge with one of its funds and list in New York, said yesterday it would set aside a stake in the business to attract “new talent”. KKR will hold 79 per cent of the new quoted company, but will allocate 20 per cent [...]
Tesco buys out RBS in £950m deal July 29, 2008 Britain’s retail giant is to take full control of its Tesco Personal Finance joint venture Tesco, the retail giant that already dominates the grocery market, is accelerating its push into financial services with a £950m buyout of the 50 per cent it does not own of its financial services joint venture with RBS. The buyout [...]
KKR defies the credit crunch with surprise £7.5bn flotation July 28, 2008 The legendary firm of New York buyout experts insists that going public is the best strategy Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the fabled US private equity group, is to go public in a deal which will see it merge with one of its listed funds and float on the New York Stock Exchange. KKR, whose founders include [...]
Two latest collapsed US banks avoid IndyMac-style panic run July 28, 2008 Customers of two banks closed by federal regulators in the US on Friday were assured over the weekend that every penny of their money was protected, preventing lines of angry accountholders from forming. The calm response was a stark contrast to the hundreds of angry customers who waited for hours earlier this month in Southern [...]