Poor growth prospects are major problem March 10, 2010 AT FIRST glance, the first set of annual results since David Nish took the helm look good. Operating profit on a European Enterprise Value (EEV) fell just 1.5 per cent to £919m, around 39 per cent ahead of consensus. But profits were boosted by changes in asset allocation and hedging arrangements – not better performance. [...]
Northern Rock pays out bonuses as mulls a sale March 10, 2010 NORTHERN Rock chief executive Gary Hoffman will waive his £700,000 annual bonus and in turn hand staff £15m in bonuses as the bank dramatically cut its losses for the year. Hoffman will instead be placed on a long-term incentive scheme that will see his bonus linked to performance objectives for the bank. Management at Northern [...]
CHINA CLOSE TO VOLVO DEAL March 10, 2010 GEELY, the Chinese carmaker, has secured funds for its planned purchase of Volvo Cars from US rival Ford from Chinese financial institutes and regional authorities, according to reports yesterday. Ford said late last year it had agreed terms to sell its Swedish unit Volvo to Geely for around $2bn (£1.3bn). Volvo employs 22,000 workers worldwide, [...]
CAUGHT IN THE THROES OF A NIGHT OF PASSION March 10, 2010 AS AN elite bunch of the City’s most successful ladies and gentlemen left the Mansion House last night after a fundraising “Passion and Performance” evening hosted by Lord Mayor Nick Anstee, they should have been justifiably proud. For between just 320 guests from blue-blooded institutions such as Barclays, Accenture, Linklaters, HSBC, RBS, Lloyds Banking Group, [...]
Tullow poised for new deal March 10, 2010 TULLOW Oil – which is just weeks away from a Ugandan tie up with Total and China’s CNOOC – saw its profits tumble last year. In January, Tullow exercised an option over partner Heritage Oil’s Ugandan assets – Blocks 1 and 3A – and is planning to start exploration later in the year. And now [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF TULLOW’S PROFIT DIP AND DEAL NEWS? March 10, 2010 TONY SHEPARD | CHARLES STANLEY “It was expected to report lower profits this year which was not much of a surprise. I was expecting a bit more of a decline than that but not much more. But Tullow is not about last year’s results, it is about exploration. Results are not the key to Tullow [...]
Chile earthquake to cost insurance industry $7bn March 10, 2010 SWISS Re, the world’s second biggest reinsurer, has said the insurance sector will have to pay out as much as $7bn (£4.6bn) in damage claims from the earthquake in Chile. Swiss Re yesterday estimated its own losses from the 8.8 magnitude earthquake, the fifth most powerful since seismic measurements began, at around $500m. Rival Munich [...]
CITY VIEWS: IS BARCLAYS RIGHT TO TRY AND BUY AN AMERICAN BANK? March 10, 2010 CHRIS HARRIS| INSIDE INVESTMENT “What I think on the subject is that it seems like a good idea. Considering the fact that values at financial companies are depressed at the moment, it’s probably a good acquisition for Barclays.” RAPHAEL VIALLET | FIRST STATE INVESTMENTS “Barclays has already had some experience in this area and with [...]
Weak factory data pushes pound lower March 10, 2010 STERLING sank further yesterday after unexpectedly weak industrial production data dashed hopes that the British economy would be able to build on its return to growth in the fourth quarter of last year. The pound – which had been battered last week by a combination of political worries, weak data, and the Pru’s acquisition of [...]
Chinese exports surge rapidly March 10, 2010 CHINESE exports and imports grew faster than expected in February, underlining the momentum behind the world’s third-largest economy and reinforcing the case for a rise in the yuan. Exports jumped 45.7 per cent in February from a year earlier, following a 21 per cent rise in January, while imports surged 44.7 per cent after record [...]