Santander talks with US bank fail September 26, 2010 TALKS between US bank M&T and Santander over a $7.14bn (£4.5bn) merger of their US operations “are no longer on” a source close to the deal has told City A.M. The negotiations over a merger between M&T and Santander-owne Sovereign Bank collapsed on Thursday. The deal also has implications for Allied Irish Bank (AIB), M&T’s [...]
Gatwick airport owners to sell a minority stake September 26, 2010 THE owner of Gatwick airport is in negotiations to sell a minority stake in the transport hub to an unidentified investor. Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is believed to be holding talks with a global institutional investor with the aim of selling one final minority stake in the airport it acquired from the British Airports Authority [...]
Britons hit by uncertainty September 26, 2010 BRITISH households felt their wallets stretched even further in September as a combination of rampant inflation, job market uncertainty and static incomes caused a marked deterioration in households’ finances, the Markit Household Finance Index will show today. Markit’s survey revealed that 27 per cent of households reported a deterioration in September compared to just 7 [...]
ECONOMIST VIEWS: HOW CONFIDENT DO YOU THINK UK HOUSEHOLDS ARE? September 26, 2010 HOWARD ARCHER | IHS GLOBAL INSIGHT “With the latest evidence pointing to a significant moderation in growth in the third quarter, we suspect that consumers may have become gloomier again about the economic outlook and how they might be affected. In particular, consumers remain worried over the fiscal squeeze that will increasingly bite.” ALAN CLARKE [...]
Top 100 list shows women at senior level September 26, 2010 MORE than a fifth of Europe’s 100 most influential women sit at the top of some of the largest companies within the financial services sector, according to new findings. According to the fourth annual list of the 100 most influential women compiled by Financial News, more than 20 per cent of the listed women in [...]
Sainsbury ponders expansion in China September 26, 2010 J SAINSBURY has sent a team to China to decide whether the supermarket group can begin a war on a new front with its arch-rival Tesco. Senior executives met with officials from China’s Ministry of Commerce when they visited London this week. Darren Shapland was moved from finance director to a business development role at [...]
Winterflood backs LSE on rules change September 26, 2010 CITY veteran Brian Winterflood has joined London Stock Exchange (LSE) chief executive Xavier Rolet’s call for the Square Mile to oppose the government’s proposed splitting up of the UK’s share listing regulations. According to an audience member at a Quoted Companies Alliance (QCA) dinner last Thursday, Winterflood gave an impassioned speech, calling on all those [...]
Waitrose to take Tesco head on in price contest September 26, 2010 WAITROSE is to take Tesco head on after the supermarket giant revealed that it will price match its rival on over 1,000 branded products. Starting today, Waitrose will use Tesco as a benchmark when pricing its top-selling everyday branded products, such as Persil, Ribena and Heinz Baked Beans. Managing director Mark Price said this is [...]
US Senate is divided in row over tax breaks September 26, 2010 US Democrats do not have the votes in the Senate to pass their proposal to extend tax breaks for all but the richest Americans, Senate majority whip Dick Durbin said yesterday after the US lower house left the door open for a vote on the proposals to be delayed until after the mid-term elections. Under [...]
The housebuilding chief executive who can see clear blue skies ahead September 26, 2010 FOR A MAN who took over a housebuilder in the middle of a devastating financial and property crisis, David Ritchie, the chief executive of Bovis Homes, looks remarkably relaxed. But it is certainly fair to say the pain has eased in recent months for the firm, even though Ritchie remains in the middle of turning [...]