African security deal for UK’s G4S September 13, 2010 Security giant G4S yesterday announced its acquisition of Skycom, a market leader in the African security systems market. G4S, which operates in more than 110 countries around the world, has acquired 100 peer cent of the issued share capital through its local subsidiary G4S Secure Solutions. Skycom, has gross assets of £3.3m and counts most [...]
Lloyds confirms it will drop TSB September 13, 2010 LLOYDS Banking Group yesterday confirmed plans to rebrand its retail banking business, including the dropping of the historic TSB name. The move, first announced last November when Lloyds agreed its restructuring plan with the European Commission, will see the retail operation renamed Lloyds Bank over the next three years. There will be no change to [...]
HP snaps up rival ArcSight September 13, 2010 Hewlett-Packard, the world’s top personal computer maker, said it will buy security software firm ArcSight for $1.5bn (£971m) in cash yesterday to further diversify its computer business. The $43.50-a-share offer is a 24 per cent premium to ArcSight’s Friday close of $35.10 on Nasdaq. Shares were trading at $44.36 in heavy premarket trading yesterday, indicating [...]
Thomson Reuters poised to unveil social media for finance desktops September 13, 2010 Thomson Reuters will today roll out its next-generation desktop product for financial workers, incorporating Twitter-like social media features that it hopes will help it win customers from Bloomberg and others. Thomson Reuters Eikon will knit together dozens of disparate products that provide data, news, analytics and trading tools, as well as social media applications familiar [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 13, 2010 Secure Trust Bank Arbuthnot’s retail banking business has appointed Paul Lynam, a former senior banker at the Royal Bank of Scotland, as its new chief executive. Lynam, 42, was a managing director at RBS and was responsible for over 1m SME customers and almost 7,000 staff in the retail bank. He also previously held the [...]
Mortgages in slim rise September 13, 2010 THE number of mortgages for house buyers increased to 56,000 in July – a rise of seven per cent on the previous month, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said. This was also up six per cent up on the same month a year ago. But the group said that despite the seasonal rise, the [...]
Primark “performing well” in tough market September 13, 2010 Clothing chain Primark has continued to perform strongly despite the tough consumer environment and expects annual sales growth of six per cent, owner Associated British Foods (ABF) said. The strength of sterling against the dollar helped the chain when goods were bought in the dollars because of a favourable exchange rate, the company said. However [...]
BAE looking to offload US unit September 13, 2010 British defence company BAE Systems said it had hired advisors to sell its Platform Solutions business. “BAE Systems confirms that it has engaged Wells Fargo and JP Morgan to advise on strategic options with regard to the Platform Solutions business, including a possible sale,” the company said in a statement. “There can be no certainty [...]
BP: Spill claims will be under $20bn September 13, 2010 BP believes compensation claims related to its Gulf of Mexico oil spill will be less than the $20bn the oil giant has put into an independent claims fund, analysts at Citigroup said, following a meeting with incoming Chief Executive Bob Dudley. “He added that given current estimates of claims the $20bn (£12.9bn) Independent Claim Fund [...]
Indian shares soar on industial output rise September 13, 2010 Indian shares have surged to their highest level in more than two and a half years after new figures revealed that its industrial output jumped faster than expected. The data showed that July’s factory output was up 13.8 per cent compared with a year ago. India’s benchmark Sensex index rose 322 points to 19,122 – [...]