Catlin poised to set up Swiss reinsurer June 29, 2010 London-listed property and casualty insurer Catlin yesterday said it planned to set up a new venture in Switzerland to boost its presence in the European reinsurance market. Bermuda-based Catlin will provide the new operation, Catlin Re Switzerland, with capital reserves of at least $1bn (£662m). Catlin said the new venture would allow it to benefit [...]
China’s AgBank to cut costs as it tries to soothe investors June 29, 2010 Agricultural Bank of China will see its cost-to-income ratio fall by five to eight percentage points after its public offering, the bank said yesterday, as it tries to ease investor concern about its high cost base. Every one percentage point fall would lead to a subsequent 2bn yuan jump (£195m) in net profit, bank vice-chairman [...]
MINERVA SECURES £107M FLATS SALE June 29, 2010 MINERVA, the London commercial and residential developer, said yesterday that it had sold 11 apartments at its Lancaster Gate scheme, overlooking Hyde Park, for £107.5m. The off-market deals increased the level of presales at the scheme to £230m, which represents half of the space. The official launch of the scheme began last week.
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 29, 2010 Jones Lang LaSalle The real estate services firm has appointed Jamie Stewart-Liddon as a senior surveyor in its tenant representation team. He will be providing consultancy, acquisition and disposal advice to office occupiers primarily based in the South East of England. Stewart-Liddon worked for a City stock-broking firm before moving into commercial real estate five [...]
Pendragon is bullish for 2010 June 29, 2010 Car retail group Pendragon yesterday said it expects profitability for the six months to 30 June to be in line with expectations, reflecting improvement in aftersales profitability. In addition, the company said that used car sales volumes have continued to grow year on year and used car margins have stabilised. In a trading statement, the [...]
Wal-Mart names new US CEO June 29, 2010 Wal-Mart yesterday named Bill Simon to run its US discount stores, which have struggled with sluggish sales as their core customer continues to be pressured by high unemployment. Simon, 50, had been chief operating officer of Walmart US. The move allows Eduardo Castro-Wright, who had headed the US unit, to move to California and be [...]
Mortgage approvals fall June 29, 2010 MORTGAGE approvals fell unexpectedly in May, new figures from the Bank of England show. Last month 49,815 loans were approved – marginally down from April and well below the 51,000 forecast by economists. However, mortgage lending picked up more strongly than expected, rising to £1.184bn from £0.979bn in April – a figure that was sharply [...]
National Express says profit is on track June 29, 2010 TRANSPORT group National Express said it expects first-half pre-tax profit to improve year-on-year, while cost cutting measures will bolster its performance beyond this year. The group said it traded in line with expectations in the second quarter, with its business benefiting from improved margins at its rail business. “First half normalized profit before tax is [...]
Carpetright profit up 68 per cent June 29, 2010 CARPETRIGHT has posted a 68 per cent rise in full-year profit but said that consumer demand was looking subdued in 21010/11. The firm, which trades from about 586 stores in the UK and Ireland and 117 in the Netherlands and Belgium, said on Tuesday it made an underlying pretax profit of £28.2m in the year [...]
Emerson ups bid for Chloride to $1.5bn June 29, 2010 Emerson Electric has upped its cash offer for Chloride to $1.5bn (£995m) in a bid to tempt the group away from a recommended $1.25bn deal from Switzerland’s ABB. Emerson’s latest offer of 375 pence per share in cash for the power company is being made through vehicle Rutherfurd Acquisitions and represents a 15 percent premium [...]