Corporate debt restructuring could cause refinancing crisis January 25, 2010 VAST amounts of corporate debt due to be restructured in the summer could cause a refinancing crisis. The G4 countries of France, Germany, Italy and the UK have almost £350bn of debt that will mature by the end of the year. AlixPartners looked at debt held by 577 European companies, including 150 in France, 114 [...]
Bradford & Bingley liquidation cleared by European Union January 25, 2010 EU REGULATORS yesterday cleared the liquidation of failed British bank Bradford & Bingley after a request from UK authorities, which broke up and partly nationalised the lender nearly two years ago. Hit by a sharp rise in funding costs during the credit crunch, Bradford & Bingley sold its savings business and branch network to Spain’s [...]
African Minerals pulls in funds for Sierra Leone January 25, 2010 SHARES in African Minerals rose 1.8 per cent to 410p yesterday after the company, chaired by Frank Timis, said its £80m share placing had been successful. The group, which is using the proceeds of the issue to invest in an iron ore project in Sierra Leone, revealed that one strategic investor, Dundee Corporation, was taking [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 25, 2010 HMV Numis has cut its forecasts on HMV and shifted its recommendation to “hold” despite the retailer’s Christmas trading update which was in line with market expectations. Numis said the decline in HMV’s sales categories along with its growing fixed cost base meant the potential for profitability to evaporate was clear. PETROPAVLOVSK Canaccord Adams has [...]
Jaguar Land Rover chief to quit post January 25, 2010 THE boss of Jaguar Land Rover is quitting the Indian-owned luxury car manufacturer. Jaguar Land Rover yesterday said David Smith was stepping down as chief executive shortly and would be replaced by Ravi Kant, the vice chairman of Jaguar Land Rover’s parent company Tata Motors, until a permanent successor is announced. The firm did not say [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 25, 2010 Investec The investment bank has hired Paul Bail as a director in its debt advisory team, focusing on expanding its profile in the private equity space. Bail joins from Barclays, where he was managing director of leveraged finance in the financial sponsors group and a board director of Barclays Financial Investments. Prior to that, he [...]
UBS reshuffles its senior equities team January 25, 2010 INVESTMENT bank UBS yesterday announced some new names at its equities team after poaching a handful of top bankers from rivals Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. UBS said Salvatore di Stasi, formerly a managing director in the European financing group at Goldman, had joined as global head of corporate equity derivatives. The bank has also [...]
Soap sales drive profits rise at Cussons January 25, 2010 BRITISH soap and shampoo maker PZ Cussons said was it poised to make new acquisitions after a 21 per cent rise in its first-half profit. The maker of Imperial Leather, Carex soap and Original Source products ended the six months to 30 November with a pre tax profit of £44.7m – slightly above market expectations. [...]
MYNERS: WE DON’T WANT OBAMA PLAN January 24, 2010 CITY minister Lord Myners yesterday poured cold water on President Barack Obama’s bid to overhaul the banking rules, warning that Britain would not be following the proposed US reforms. Myners told City A.M. that efforts by the US administration to curtail banks’ investments in hedge funds, private equity and proprietary trading were “in no way [...]
Ferrero: We will not bid for Cadbury January 24, 2010 ITLALIAN chocolatier Ferrero has ruled out making a rival bid for Cadbury leaving clear Kraft Foods to complete its £11.7bn proposed takeover of the British confectioner. Hershey has already said it had no intention of bidding for Cadbury while Nestle has also confirmed that it does not intend to make a bid. Ferrero said in [...]