CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 25, 2010 Bluefin Insurance Services The Axa-owned broker has hired a senior property team from risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage Aon. Ed Brown is the first member of the team to join Bluefin. He was formerly a client manager at Aon and now becomes an executive director in Bluefin’s real estate division. He will soon be [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS April 25, 2010 L’OREAL Standard & Poor’s Equity Research (S&P) has maintained a “hold” stance on L’Oreal as it says the beauty group’s current valuation continues to discount a broad return-to-growth scenario from this year and in its opinion, leaving limited room for expansion. S&P has raised its 12-month target price for L’Oreal to €85 (£74). CREDIT SUISSE [...]
CITY OUT IN FORCE FOR MARATHON SUNDAY April 25, 2010 TENS of thousands of runners completed the London Marathon yesterday, braving 26 miles of light rain showers to get round the gruelling course. As usual, the business world’s athletic contingent did themselves proud in the race, including Sir Richard Branson, who made it round in just over five hours to celebrate Virgin’s first year sponsoring [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK April 25, 2010 THIRSTY doesn’t really begin to describe this group of five businessmen who headed to the Charlotte Street branch of Argentinian steakhouse Gaucho for a £2,383.40 slap-up lunch. They began with three bottles of Krug champagne, before moving on to Gaucho’s Argentinian wine list, starting with three bottles of the Finca La Anita Varua 2007 merlot, [...]
Greece triggers eurozone rescue package April 23, 2010 GREEK Prime Minister George Papandreou has asked for the EU/IMF debt rescue mechanism for his country to be triggered. It comes after data showed the debt-laden country has a budget deficit of 13.6 per cent of gross domestic product – higher than forecast. The loans package has been put together to help dig the eurozone [...]
Economic growth slows to 0.2pc April 23, 2010 THE economy grew by 0.2 per cent in the first three months of the year, official figures have shown. GDP expanded by 0.4 per cent in the final three months of 2009 when the UK lurched out of recession. The latest figures, from the Office for National Statistics, came in a week which saw unemployment [...]
Prudential names date for Asian listings April 23, 2010 PRUDENTIAL has said it plans to list in Hong Kong on 11 May and also confirmed a secondary listing in Singapore as it prepares to fund its $35.5bn (£23.6bn) takeover of Asian rival AIA. The move to list in Asia is expected to draw local investors to a $21bn rights issue, launched to fund its [...]
Ericsson profits down 30pc as market shrinks April 23, 2010 SWEDISH mobile giant Ericsson has reported a drop of almost a third in first-quarter profit with sales also dipping. The telecom equipment market contracted sharply in 2009 as the global downturn crimped operator spending. Its sales fell nine per cent year-on-year while operating profit, excluding joint ventures and restructuring costs, was 4.5bn Swedish crowns (£403m). [...]
Cam saves his skin in TV debate clash April 22, 2010 DAVID Cameron averted disaster last night by holding his own in the second televised leaders’ debate. The Tory leader was under immense pressure to up his game after delivering a lacklustre performance in last week’s debate, which was dominated by a strong showing from Liberal Democrat rival Nick Clegg. An instant YouGov poll for the [...]
Greece moves close to brink April 22, 2010 GREECE’S horrendous week got worse yesterday when its yawning budget deficit was revised by nearly one percentage point, and it was hit with another debt downgrade sparking a fresh bout of worry in bond markets. Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency, said the heavily indebted country’s public shortfall would come in at 13.6 per cent [...]