WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 29, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BIG INVESTMENTS BOOST UK’S GREEN SECTOR The prospect of thousands of new “green” jobs in the UK as part of a drive for a low carbon economy came a step closer with two big investments in the environmental sector. Siemens, the German industrial giant, became the fourth wind turbine manufacturer to announce that [...]
Greeks raise €5bn in new bond issue March 29, 2010 GREECE raised €5bn (£4.49bn) by issuing a seven-year syndicated bond yesterday, days after agreeing a last-ditch bailout package with the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The bonds were sold with a 5.9 per cent coupon and were listed on the Athens Stock Exchange. Alpha Bank, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML), Societie Generale, [...]
S&P: UK faces downgrade after election March 29, 2010 BRITAIN’S credit rating could be downgraded if the government doesn’t take fierce measures to cut the deficit, Standard & Poor’s has warned. The rating agency said that the UK could lose its coveted ‘AAA’ rating if a strong fiscal consolidation plan isn’t put into place. “We expect to review the long-term rating and outlook again [...]
Lloyds throws weight behind Daniels amid succession talk March 29, 2010 LLOYDS Banking Group last night moved to quash speculation that chief executive Eric Daniels is about to be replaced. Talks of Lloyds hiring City head hunter JCA Group to draw up a short list of potential candidates was dismissed by the banking giant, which threw its weight behind Daniels. A spokesperson said: “Eric Daniels is [...]
Citi looks forward to state-free future March 29, 2010 CITIGROUP’S imminent exit from the shade of the US government’s protection is a symbolic development, analysts said yesterday. Having paid back a $20bn (£13.4bn) loan to Washington in December, Citi chief executive Vikram Pandit will be looking forward to a future without the shadow of state ownership hanging over the company. Recent reforms implemented at Citi [...]
ALL SHOOK UP March 29, 2010 CKX, which owns the rights to the Elvis Presley estate and the American Idol television programme, said it is in talks over a $550m (£367m) sale to One Equity Partners, the private equity unit of JPMorgan. CKX also owns the rights to boxer Muhammad Ali’s name and image and bought UK music mogul Simon Fuller’s [...]
Mortgage approvals hit nine-month low March 29, 2010 MORTGAGE approvals slumped to their lowest level in nine months in February, lending data from the Bank of England showed yesterday, providing further evidence that the recovery in the housing market may be running out of steam. The number of mortgages approved fell for the second consecutive month to 47,094 – the weakest since May [...]
Money supply rises despite end of quantitative easing March 29, 2010 THE Bank of England’s preferred measure of broad money (M4) rose by 0.3 per cent in February despite fears that the end of quantitative easing would spell further weakness. Bank data yesterday showed that M4, excluding money holdings of non-bank financial intermediaries, expanded last month after two successive months of contraction – but the three-month [...]
Government ready to take a bigger stake in Irish Banks March 29, 2010 Shares in Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland fell sharply yesterday as the government prepared to take control of a much bigger chunk of the financial sector than initially planned. The Irish government is this week moving the first loans into a €54bn (£48bn) “bad bank” scheme, and today it will announce how much [...]
BAE Systems severs its links with former chairman Evans March 29, 2010 DEFENCE giant BAE Systems and its former chairman Sir Richard Evans have parted company permanently, according to the firm’s annual report. Evans, who retired from the post of chairman in 2004, continued to sit as a member of the Saudi Arabia advisory board until the end of last month. He was paid £246,954 last year. He [...]