Credit Agricole CIB plans to boost commodity desk February 8, 2010 Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank plans to expand its commodity trading operations and enter the European physical gas and power markets by the end of March, its global head of commodities said. The bank, which has changed its name from Calyon, will have 90 front-office commodities staff by the end of the year, Martin [...]
London ‘leading the UK out of recession’ February 8, 2010 LONDON is leading the UK out of recession, new economic data has suggested. The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) shows that the capital was the strongest performer last month. The index for London, based on a survey of 1,200 manufacturing and service sector firms, was at 60.6. Any number above 50 is a sign that the [...]
Santander plans London flotation February 8, 2010 SPANISH banking giant Santander may list its British and US operations on the stock market to free up cash for expansion. Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and the savings arm of Bradford & Bingley could return to the market at a joint value of £15bn under the plan, which is one of a number of capital-raising [...]
Xstrata resumes dividends despite profit drop February 8, 2010 MINING group Xstrata is re-introduce dividend payments despite reporting a fall in full-year profits. The company’s pre-tax profits fell to $1.87bn (£1.2bn) in 2009 – down from $6.05bn the previous year. One-off costs and lower commodity prices hit the company’s profits. But it said the medium-term outlook for commodity demand remained “very promising”. Xstrata scrapped [...]
Ethel Austin plunges into administration February 8, 2010 CLOTHING retailer Ethel Austin has gone into administration. The 300-strong chain will continue trading as normal whilst a search is made for a new buyer, administrators MCR said. Redundancies have not been ruled out and MCR admitted there were “no guarantees” that a buyer could be found in the hard-hit retail sector. Administrators blamed the [...]
Eurozone’s tough time continues February 8, 2010 THE eurozone faces another difficult week amid mounting worries over budget deficits in Greece, Spain and Portugal. Finance ministers from the G7 countries meeting in Canada at the weekend insisted on a European solution to the problems rather than an IMF rescue. “We told our partners we had to solve the problem ourselves,” said Jean-Claude [...]
BofA and SEC back to court February 8, 2010 BANK OF AMERICA (BofA) is set to return to court in New York today to find out if its settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will be approved. It is round two for the bank, as a similar deal between the SEC and BofA was rejected six months ago by district judge Jed [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 8, 2010 THE SUNDAYS The Sunday Telegraph MANDELSON ATTACKS US AND EUROPE The full scale of world tension between governments over the way to deal with the banking crisis has been revealed today after Peter Mandelson, the business secretary, said that neither America nor the European Union had shown global leadership on the issue. As the G7 [...]
Rise of Texas is a lesson for London February 8, 2010 HERE is an intriguing question which says a lot about modern America but which everybody here in London always gets wrong. Which US state is home to most big companies? New York, surely, host to Goldman Sachs, News Corporation and Pfizer? Or could it be California, home of Apple, Intel and Walt Disney? Wrong, on [...]
AAA rating always for US February 8, 2010 US TREASURY secretary Tim Geithner has insisted that the country “will never” lose its top credit rating, despite a rising budget deficit. Geithner said that in times of economic crisis, international investors will carry on buying US Treasury bonds and dollar-denominated assets because they are regarded as a safe investment. The Obama administration has predicted [...]