Greek bailout talks delayed by ash April 18, 2010 A MISSION of European officials and the International Monetary Fund to Greece has been delayed by the volcanic ash cloud and will arrive on April 21 if possible, Greece’s Finance Ministry said yesterday. Struggling under a huge budget shortfall and debt pile, Greece requested the talks with the European Union, the European Central Bank and [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS April 18, 2010 LLOYDS BANKING GROUP AlphaValue has moved a recommendation for Lloyds Banking Group from “add” to “sell” and say that short term valuation approaches are detrimental to the stock valuation due to Lloyd’s recovery profile. AlphaValue’s target price for Lloyds is currently 81p. NOBEL BIOCARE Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Equity Research has called Nobel Biocare’s stocks [...]
L’Occitane to list in Hong Kong April 18, 2010 Cosmetics retailer L’Occitane International plans to raise up to $708m (£460.9m) in a Hong Kong initial public offering, a source close to the deal said last night. L’Occitane, which manufactures products including almond and olive-based creams, would be the first French company to list in Hong Kong. The company was not immediately available for comment. [...]
Tories divided over how to take on Clegg April 18, 2010 AT an election rally in Swindon yesterday, David Cameron told supporters he would “accentuate the positive” this week. It was a clear rebuff to those Tories who think the party should turn its guns on Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg. Some polls now show the third party in the lead, although yesterday’s YouGov poll for [...]
ELECTION2010 April 18, 2010 Tories in iconic buildings pledge The Conservatives yesterday said they would legislate to protect iconic buildings, ensuring they aren’t obscured by new sky-scraper developments. Shadow arts minister Ed Vaizey said: “These are buildings people treasure and are part of our identity. We hope that the scheme would provide a significant hurdle against intrusive developments.” Paxman [...]
Sellers brush off pre-election fears April 18, 2010 SELLERS have shaken off pre-election jitters to increase their average asking prices by 2.6 per cent in April, the monthly Rightmove property index will show today. This marks a sharp jump on the meagre 0.1 per cent increase seen in March and takes the average price of a UK home to £235,512. Property prices are [...]
Greece is not the only Eurozone trouble spot April 18, 2010 FOR ONCE Goldman Sachs has done the Greeks a favour. It’s probably not the favour that the bank was hoping to deliver but the SEC’s decision to charge the Wall Street giant with fraud has taken the spotlight off Athens. Sadly, this refocusing of the news cycle is unlikely to last long enough to provide [...]
CBI: Labour pension scheme flawed April 18, 2010 THE Government’s new workplace pension scheme could deter millions of savers because of its high and complicated charges, the CBI warns today. Businesses are worried that staff, and particularly the lower paid, will baulk at the proposed charging structure of the National Employment Savings Trust (Nest), which loads fees towards the earlier years after a [...]
ARE PRE-ELECTION JITTERS HAVING A NOTICEABLE EFFECT ON THE HOUSING MARKET? April 18, 2010 LUCIAN COOK | SAVILLS “The election is no doubt in the public consciousness and will, if anything, put a limit to activity as people wait until after 6 May to buy. But activity in the housing market is so subdued anyway so it will be difficult to pick out any discernible impact. More interesting will [...]
Saudis look to abolish steel duty April 18, 2010 Saudi authorities are seeking to abolish a five per cent customs duty on steel imports to counter a deficit in domestic supply, the head of the kingdom’s biggest steel producer said yesterday. “There is an intention to abolish the duty but it has not been enacted yet. Such a decision can not be taken without [...]