Barclays to begin spending spree by buying Portugese credit card business September 27, 2009 BARCLAYS is close to agreeing a deal to buy Citigroup’s credit card business in Portugal. The deal is expected to be announced early this week, and is not thought to exceed £60m. Britain’s second largest bank is looking to complete a string of purchases throughout Europe at the same time as Citigroup is seeking to [...]
Ryanair chiefs get cold-shoulder September 27, 2009 Three Ryanair directors – Kyran McLaughlin, Michael Horgan and Paolo Pietrogrande – received almost double the level of dissenting votes usually seen in director elections for the Irish Stock Exchange’s top companies. Proxy voting company Manifest, which advises institutional shareholders on corporate governance issues, has already dubbed the airline ‘‘one of Europe’s most shareholder unfriendly [...]
Brevan eyes up a Geneva office September 27, 2009 Europe’s biggest hedge fund firm Brevan Howard Asset Management is planning to open an office in Geneva. The new office could be for any type or grade of staff, but it declined to give details on how many employees would work there.
Hutchings in battle to get back at Lupus September 27, 2009 Greg Hutchings, the former Tomkins boss who was ousted from Lupus Capital in July, yesterday ramped up his very public battle to regain control of the group. Hutchings has requisitioned an extraordinary general meeting calling for the removal of chairman Michael Jackson, turnaround specialist Keith Taylor and finance director Paul Felton-Smith and his own reinstatement [...]
MPs urged to mutualise Rock September 27, 2009 BUILDING societies have urged the government to put Northern Rock back under customer ownership, arguing the move would help create a stronger financial services sector. Northern Rock and other failed banks should be turned into building societies, or “mutualised”, and allowed to repay their taxpayer stakes over time, according to the Building Societies Association (BSA). [...]
BBVA in 2bn bond issue to bolster its capital base September 27, 2009 SPANISH bank BBVA said yesterday it had raised €2bn (£1.8bn) in a sale of convertible bonds, outstripping the €1bn it had initially intended to issue. “BBVA’s clients have expressed a very favourable opinion of the transparency of the issue and of its attractive return, with a fixed 5 per cent coupon for five years,” a [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 27, 2009 F&CF&C has appointed Philip Martin as Head of Proposition for its UK retail business. He was formerly at Nucleus Financial Group which he co-founded in 2006.Martin has worked at the Life Association of Scotland, Ivory & Sime and Scottish Life International. He ran his own strategic marketing and product development consultancy, Abacus, before co-founding Nucleus. [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 27, 2009 DSG INTERNATIONALMorgan Stanley downgraded DSG International to “underweight” and recommended investors take profits following the 50 per cent price increase over the last three months. The broker said that, although it believes that DSGI offers more leveraged upside in a consumer recovery than any other stock it covers, its bull case scenario playing out looks [...]
Bank of America refutes charge September 27, 2009 Bank of America Corp formally denied US Securities and Exchange Commission claims accusing it of misleading shareholders about bonuses it let Merrill Lynch pay employees before their merger at the start of the year. It is seeking an order dismissing the complaint.
Blacks to put itself through CVA September 27, 2009 Blacks Leisure Group, the outdoor goods retailer, is intending to go through a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) to secure its survival. The move would include cutting around 400 jobs, and losing 80 of its 400 Blacks, Millets and Free Spirit stores. KPMG will lead the CVA process as Blacks looks to secure its future.