CVC to buy 15pc Abertis stake from ACS for €1.7bn August 11, 2010 ACS has agreed to sell a €1.7bn (£1.4bn) stake in toll road operator Abertis to private equity fund CVC Capital Partners, freeing up the Spanish builder to cut debt and pursue energy investments. ACS, Spain’s largest builder by market value, and British private equity firm CVC said yesterday they will form joint ventures to manage [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 11, 2010 Coutts The private bank has appointed Jeff Stubberfield as a commercial banker in its media banking team, looking after clients in the music, TV and entertainment business. Stubberfield has over 15 years of experience in financial services and joins from Barclays, where he spent eight years, latterly as a relationship director managing a portfolio of [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS August 11, 2010 ANGLO AMERICAN Morgan Stanley downgrades Anglo American to “equalweight” from “overweight” and lowers its price target to 3,208p. Believes all the positives have been priced into the shares, which are trading at at a 10 to 15 per cent premium to the sector. Believes that investors should switch into Xstrata which it rates as “overweight”. [...]
King downgrades growth forecasts August 11, 2010 The UK economy faces a “choppy recovery” over the next two years Bank of England Mervyn King has warned. His comments came as the Bank lowered its economic growth forecast, and said inflation would stay higher for longer than previously forecast. The Bank now expects the economy to grow by about 2.5 per cent in [...]
Unemployment falls to 2.46m August 11, 2010 The jobless total has fallen by 49,000 to 2.46m in the three months to June, according to the Office for National Statistics. According to the figures the number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance in July fell by 3,800 to 1.46m. Howard Archer of Global Insight said: “For now at least, unemployment continues to fall in [...]
Connaught hit after hedge fund cuts stake August 11, 2010 HEDGE fund Breeden European Partners has more than halved its stake in troubled social housing repairs group Connaught, after the value of its holding plunged by more than £13m in recent weeks. Breeden European, which was set up by former US Securities & Exchange Commission chairman Richard C. Breeden, had declared a stake of 13 [...]
Thomas Cook warns over “soft” UK economy August 11, 2010 TOUR operator Thomas Cook said it anticipated operating profit for the full year would be at the lower end of expectations following poor trading in the UK and the adverse impact of exchange rate movements. Europe’s second biggest travel firm said the weakness in the UK market had impacted margins while the costs of disruption [...]
Balfour Beatty lifted by acquisition August 11, 2010 CONSTRUCTION group Balfour Beatty said half-year pre-tax profit rose by 32 per cent on the acquisition of a US company last year and a strong performance in Britain and Asia. First-half pretax profit rose to 141 million pounds, compared to £107m last year, boosted by earnings at project management business Parsons Brinckerhoff. “Our strategy has [...]
Standard Life profit up on overseas expansion August 11, 2010 INSURER Standard Life reaped the benefits of growth at its overseas division to post higher interim profits. Operating profit before tax from continuing operations rose ten per cent from last year to £182m, helped by growth overseas in areas such as Canada and India. Net inflows rose 71 per cent to £5.3bn, while the company [...]
Fed in rescue bid on fears over growth August 10, 2010 THE US Federal Reserve confirmed fears of a marked slowdown in the world’s biggest economy yesterday as it made its first step towards extending its emergency monetary policy regime in a significant policy shift. The central bank said it would reinvest proceeds from its investments in mortgage-backed securities to buy longer-term government debt in a [...]