CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 21, 2010 Berwin Leighton Paisner The law firm has appointed James Duncan as a partner, tasked with launching a standalone derivatives practice for the firm. Duncan has been at rival Linklaters since 1997 and specialises in derivatives and structured products. He recently advised audit firm PwC on the administration of Lehman Brothers. He has also worked with [...]
Goldman Sachs profits jump January 21, 2010 US bank Goldman Sachs has seen its net profits jump in the fourth quarter. The company made $4.95bn (£3.06bn) between September and December, compared with a loss of $2.12bn in the same period in 2008. Goldman said it will have a $16.19bn compensation and benefits pot for the whole year – up 48 per cent [...]
London Stock Exchange sees drop in revenue January 21, 2010 LONDON Stock Exchange Group Plc has posted a 9 per cent fall in revenue for its third quarter and said it expected market conditions to be testing for the current quarter. LSE, like other European exchanges, has been losing market share to upstart multilateral trading facilities (MTFs) such as Chi-X and BATS since pan-European regulation [...]
Enterprise Inns sees sales lift January 21, 2010 PUB group Enterprise Inns reported improving sales after many of its struggling licensees saw a long-awaited upturn in business. The UK’s second largest pub company said average net income per pub declined by 4 per cent in the 16 weeks to 16 January – compared to 8 per cent in the last financial year. Shares [...]
Morrison beats rivals with festive sales boost January 21, 2010 SUPERMARKET chain Morrison posted the biggest rise in Christmas sales among Britain’s top four grocers – but urged caution about 2010. Sales at stores open at least a year rose 6.5 per cent, excluding petrol and VAT, in the six weeks to 3 January. Total revenue rose by 10.8 per cent for the period. Morrison, [...]
US banks reveal cost of repaying bailouts January 20, 2010 WALL Street’s major players revealed the full price of buying their way out of the US government bailout scheme yesterday. Bank of America joined Citigroup to see its bottom line pummeled after paying a hefty penalty to escape the $700bn state Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Tarp) in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs [...]
BSkyB loses appeal over ITV stake January 20, 2010 BSkyB has been ordered by a court to sell offload some of its 17.9 per cent stake in ITV. The broadcaster lost its appeal and was told to reduce its stake to below 7.5 per cent. BSkyB bought into the company for £940m in 2006 – effectively blocking cable group NTL from buying ITV. However, [...]
Buffett slams Cadbury deal January 20, 2010 MAJOR Kraft shareholder Warren Buffett has attacked the US company’s £11.7bn proposed takeover of chocolatier Cadbury as a “bad deal”. Buffett, who made a high-profile intervention earlier in the month when he warned Kraft chairman Irene Rosenfeld not to overpay for the British company, said he felt “poorer” as a result of the 850p per [...]
UK about to miss a great opportunity January 20, 2010 THERE are two, diametrically opposed ways to respond to the immense challenges posed by globalisation and the rise of the emerging markets. The first – and right way – is that followed by much of the private sector, especially in London, the most global and open of all the world’s great cities. Everyone with an [...]
Darling pushes for clarity January 20, 2010 ALISTAIR Darling is considering tough new rules forcing companies to disclose sensitive financial information. The move is designed to promote new sources of funding as banks cut lending. The Treasury hopes encouraging greater transparency would make it easier for large and upper-mid sized companies to sell bonds and take out loans. The Treasury may even [...]