Liberty unveils demerger as profits tumble March 9, 2010 LIBERTY International will split its retail and commercial property businesses in a bid to “achieve greater value for shareholders.” The shopping centres arm of the business will become a real estate investment trust (REIT) called Capital Shopping Centres (CSC) with a market cap of around £2bn. And its London based portfolio will become Capital & [...]
You should shop elsewhere March 9, 2010 LIBERTY didn’t suffer as much as rivals during the recession, which is why it isn’t bouncing back quite so energetically. Consensus forecast for net asset value (NAV) per share was between 480p and 500p, but those expectations were always too high. That said, even the bears were disappointed by the actual NAV per share of [...]
Moody’s threatens UK bank rating downgrades March 9, 2010 RATINGS agency Moody’s warned yesterday that the forthcoming withdrawal of government support to the UK banking sector could trigger a series of downgrades for City banks. Moody’s said the increased likelihood of systemic support from the state or the Bank of England in the case of a further crash had helped buoy its ratings on [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU MORE CONFIDENT ABOUT THE STOCK MARKET? March 9, 2010 WILL STOCKER | ICAP “It’s a little bit early to say. The market has not yet returned to the healthy levels of 18 months ago and we are not out of the doldrums. Globally the markets have picked up but I’ll wait another year before I invest, because there is still so much uncertainty around. [...]
New business surges ahead at Gartmore March 9, 2010 FUND manager Gartmore has seen a strong pick-up in new business over the first two months of the year, when it recorded higher net inflows than in the whole of 2009 following a December market listing. Gartmore chief executive Jeffrey Meyer said net inflows for January and February were £273m, compared to a figure of [...]
Murdoch: Middle East should open up March 9, 2010 RUPERT Murdoch urged Arab governments yesterday to reject media censorship and open their markets to foreign competition as he opened a high-profile conference aimed at furthering oil-rich Abu Dhabi’s ambitions as a cultural hub. The chief executive of News Corp, one of the biggest foreign investors in the region’s media, said economic incentives were more [...]
Bupa is healthy despite UK hit March 9, 2010 PRIVATE health insurance company Bupa said yesterday group profits remained healthy despite losing UK?customers in the recession. For the full year ending in December, revenues at Bupa rose 17 per cent to £6.9bn, while pre-tax profit jumped 117 per cent to £417m. Stripping out impairments caused by revaluations and losses, pre-tax profit grew four per [...]
Another Toyota to be recalled March 9, 2010 Embattled Toyota’s misery mounted yesterday when it admitted one of its Prius cars involved in a high-speed accelerator malfunction will be recalled. It will join hundreds of thousands of other Prius hybrid cars sold between 2004 and 2009 that will be brought back to the factory to prevent floor mats pinning down the accelerator. The [...]
FELIX DENNIS OFFERS UP A LESSON IN THE WAYS TO GET RICH QUICK March 9, 2010 WHOOMPH. On The Capitalist’s desk lands a blood-red copy of the latest money-getting guide from eccentric publishing magnate Felix Dennis, “88: The Narrow Road”. Many readers will be familiar with the book’s predecessor, “How to Get Rich”, which flew off the shelves after its release a couple of years ago. Dennis – who, as co-editor [...]
Eurotunnel’s profits slump March 9, 2010 EUROTUNNEL’S profits for last year were hit by snow disruption to services, the company said yesterday. The Channel Tunnel operator posted a net profit of €1.4m (£1.36m) for 2009, down from €40m in 2008. The company has seen services through the tunnel blighted by a number of factors. Eurostar train services timetable was badly hit [...]