Britvic reassures on profit as Irish declines hit sales October 15, 2009 SOFT drinks maker Britvic said it was confident of meeting market estimates for fiscal 2009 operating profit, but Irish sales in the fourth quarter were hurt by volume declines amid tough economic conditions. The company, whose brands include Robinsons, Tango and J2O, said the Irish soft drinks market showed no indication of a return to [...]
RHJ forks out for Kleinwort Benson deal October 15, 2009 GERMANY’S Commerzbank reached agreement to sell its UK private bank Kleinwort Benson to Belgian investment firm RHJ International for £225m in cash yesterday. The sale comes after Commerzbank was told by the European Commission to sell the division as a condition of approval for the €18.2bn (£16.7bn) it has received in state aid from Berlin. [...]
$ACHS AND THE CITI October 15, 2009 GOLDMAN Sachs brought more cheer to the City yesterday as it recorded third-quarter earnings of $3.2bn (£1.97bn), well ahead of analysts’ expectations, thanks to the continued strength of its fixed income operations. “Although the world continues to face serious economic challenges, we are seeing improving conditions and evidence of stabilisation, even growth, across a number [...]
CITIGROUP PROFIT FAILS TO IMPRESS October 15, 2009 CITIGROUP posted an unexpected third quarter profit of $101m (£62m) yesterday, but saw its shares fall on worries about $8bn in credit losses. The bank, led by chief executive Vikram Pandit, had been expected by analysts to record a loss, but inched into profit as it recorded $20.39bn in revenues. But analysts pointed out that, [...]
EU hedgie bill to cost 2.9bn October 15, 2009 EUROPEAN UNION plans to crack down on hedge funds and private equity houses could cost the industries as much as €3.2bn (£2.9bn), according to the first official report into the directive. The study, conducted by Charles River Associates for City watchdog the FSA, also said the affected firms would be hit with annual costs of [...]
We need more facts and less emotion October 15, 2009 RAGE against bankers is reaching yet another crescendo, especially as many of the main players are once again making bumper profits. In large part, the anger is visceral and emotional, fuelled by a staggeringly simplistic analysis of the causes of the crisis peddled by much of the media; but plenty of intellectually powerful arguments are [...]
QE optimism lifts pound October 15, 2009 STERLING hit a three-week high against the US dollar yesterday following comments from Paul Fisher, head of markets at the Bank of England, who said that quantitative easing (QE) was now working. “I feel much more confident now that the asset purchase programme is having the scale and speed of impact that we would have [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 15, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES BUYERS AWAIT DYSON’S FANSSir James Dyson, champion of British industrial design, has launched his latest invention aimed at catapulting the conventional electric desk fan into the 21st century. His “Air Multiplier” fan boasts reduced energy consumption and no external blades. But fans of Dyson inventions must wait several weeks for the fan to [...]
LDV sold to chinese car firm October 15, 2009 LDV, the Birmingham van maker, has been sold by administrators to a Chinese engineering firm Eco Concept for an undisclosed sum. Eco Concept is led by Dr Qu Li, the Chinese consultant who worked for the Phoenix Four during their ownership of MG Rover. LDV was backed by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska but collapsed into [...]
Tory MP to quit over expenses October 15, 2009 The Conservative MP David Wilshire, who is facing claims he used expenses to pay his own company, said he will stand down at the general election. Wilshire, who represents Spelthorne in Surrey, referred himself to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner after reports he directed £100,000 of public money to a company he owned. His decision followed [...]