HEDGE FUND FASHION GURU HAS A SALES BOOM February 11, 2010 WE ALWAYS knew women were good at multi-tasking, but Britt Lintner really does take the concept to a new extreme. Regular readers may remember Lintner, who heads up her own flourishing womenswear label while managing to hold down a tough job in hedge fund sales at GLG Partners. And now I hear that not only [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF BT’S MASSIVE PENSION DEFICIT? February 11, 2010 ROS ALTMANN | INDEPENDENT PENSIONS EXPERT BT has a huge pension scheme with a massive deficit. The company is doing quite well, so it’s important it pays as much as it can into the scheme now. If it doesn’t, we could see a situation similar to British Airways, which is in serious trouble with its [...]
Credit Suisse in rude health after crunch February 11, 2010 CREDIT Suisse cemented its reputation as one of the victors of the global recession yesterday as it swung back into the black with net profits of Sfr6.7bn (£4bn) for 2009. Allaying fears after the Italian crackdown on tax havens left rival UBS gushing assets, Credit Suisse reported Sfr35.3bn net new money for its private banking [...]
Sir Win Bischoff adds reinforcements to the board at Lloyds Banking Group… February 11, 2010 LLOYDS Banking Group yesterday appointed two new non-executive directors, the first board appointments since Sir Win Bischoff became chairman of the reviving institution. Glen Moreno, the current chairman of Pearson, becomes the group’s senior independent director. Moreno has significant experience in the banking industry, having held a number of positions at Citigroup between 1969 and [...]
…as it sells a £185m stake in Esure to Peter Wood February 11, 2010 Lloyds Banking Group is selling off its majority stake in online insurer Esure as part of its plans to scale back its non-core operations. New company Esure Group Holdings, run by veteran insurance entrepreneur Peter Wood, is paying £185m for the 70 per cent stake – “slightly more” than its book value. The management buyout [...]
CITY EYE February 11, 2010 CITY workers toast their fundraising efforts for the SOS Children’s Haiti Appeal yesterday evening at Leadenhall Market, after donning antiquated headgear for the second annual Bowler Hat Day. The event saw a number of Square Mile grandees taking part, including Cardew Group chairman Anthony Cardew and Strand Hanson chairman and chief executive Robert Hanson and [...]
Diageo warns it could leave UK over tax February 11, 2010 THE head of Diageo yesterday threatened to take his company abroad because of UK tax laws. Chief executive Paul Walsh said that it was “very difficult” to locate staff in the UK where they could be hit by a 50 per cent tax rate. He also called for corporation tax to be cut and the [...]
Consumers suffering from hangover February 11, 2010 DURING the great depression, the US government continued prohibition. Too many Americans were drowning their sorrows in booze. If consumers are drinking their way through this recession, they aren’t swigging the premium brands that Diageo makes. On a constant currency basis, first half net sales fell by two per cent, as did volumes. Operating profit [...]
Britain’s eurozone liabilities revealed February 11, 2010 THE exposure of Britain to the eurozone’s weakest members was laid bare last night as French and German officials scrambled to agree a rescue package for Greece. Based on Bank for International Settlement numbers, in total the UK’s financial sector has just under £250bn in exposure to Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain (Piigs). The data [...]
Spanish economy continues to suffer as slump drags on February 11, 2010 INDEBTED Spain was lingering in recession in the fourth quarter, preliminary data from the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE) showed yesterday. The INE figures showed that the Spanish economy contracted 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared with -0.3 per cent in the previous three months. This indicates that output contracted [...]