LSE battle for TMX hots up June 23, 2011 The London Stock Exchange faces a nail-biting fight for Canadian peer TMX Group after aggressive rival bidder Maple trumped its sweetened offer by a whisker overnight. The British bourse, which had hoped to win over Canadian shareholders of TMX by boosting its agreed $3.3bn (£2bn) all-share bid with a $673.5m special cash dividend on Wednesday, [...]
FSA says RBS report will show regulatory deficiency June 23, 2011 A report on Royal Bank of Scotland will be published this year and show that regulators were “severely deficient” in how they supervised the bank, the top market regulator said. Britain had to step in and shore up the bank during the financial crisis. Financial Services Authority Chairman Adair Turner told the watchdog’s annual meeting [...]
Aviva sells RAC to Carlyle for £1bn June 23, 2011 Aviva is to sell its RAC roadside rescue business to private equity firm The Carlyle Group for £1bn, as the insurer continues scaling back from non-core areas to focus on its insurance operations. Aviva said it expected an accounting profit of £600m from the sale of Britain’s second-largest breakdown recovery group, and would use the [...]
Go Ahead raises profit forecast as passengers increase June 23, 2011 Transport group Go-Ahead said it expected its full-year operating profit to be ahead of its previous expectations as passenger numbers increased on its Southern, Southeastern and London Midland rail franchises. “The previous consensus was around £108m and we’re ahead of expectations,” finance director Keith Down told Reuters in an interview. The company, which operates commuter [...]
Dixons sales drop but says recovery plan on track June 23, 2011 Electricals retailer Dixons said today its recovery plan was on track despite a full year sales drop. Total Underlying Group sales were down two per cent to £8.154bn compared to £8.32bn in the previous year Total Group sales, including those from businesses to be closed and closed businesses, were £8.341bn (2009/10 £8.532bn). Group like for [...]
Santander execs at odds over IPO timing June 22, 2011 TOP executives at Grupo Santander want the bank’s UK division to go public earlier than its London management would like, City A.M. has learned. Madrid and London are in disagreement over the timing of the float, with the Group’s leadership keen to press ahead this year and the bank’s UK execs more inclined to wait [...]
Top Banks in bid to revive London floats June 22, 2011 THE CITY’S biggest banks have launched a major charm offensive in an effort to kickstart London’s faltering market for multi-million pound fundraisings. Top banks have held talks with big institutional investors to discuss how to improve the way in which companies are taken public. “Are we happy with the IPO market? Not at all,” said [...]
Bank hints at more easing June 22, 2011 DOVISH minutes from the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, released yesterday, appear to have ruled out any normalisation of interest rates this year. The MPC’s minutes prompted some banks to put back their forecasts for monetary tightening in the UK – with the Bank hinting that policy could be loosened even further, with another [...]
Why interest rates won’t be going up June 22, 2011 IF you owe a lot of money to your bank, it’s time to rejoice. There is now almost no chance of interest rates going up this year. The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee voted 7-2 to keep rates on hold; and given the arguments and worries about growth expressed by the majority of the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 22, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BA CABIN CREW VOTE FOR PEACE DEAL British Airways cabin crew have voted overwhelmingly to accept a peace deal, ending 18 months of conflict in one of the most bitter recent industrial disputes. Unite said members voted 92 per cent in favour of what it described as an “honourable settlement’’, with eight per [...]