Nat Ex chews over cash call after big fine August 2, 2009 AILING transport group National Express is eyeing a £350m cash call, it emerged yesterday, as the troubled group seeks to rebuff takeover bids. The move, which has received shareholder support, comes after the government last month stripped the company of its East Coast rail franchise when it warned it could no longer afford the £1.4bn [...]
NO FIGHTING CHANCE August 2, 2009 Around 20,000 jobs are at risk as the UK’s last fighter aircraft factory faces being shut down within five years. The news comes after the government decided to cut its spending on the Eurofighter Typhoon last week. The fighter-building industry is expected to end when the last Typhoon rolls out of Warton, Lancashire, in 2014. [...]
UK recession close to the end August 2, 2009 The UK recession is expected to end within just three months, but the outlook is still bleak for the Eurozone, whose economies can expect to remain in decline until 2010, according to figures from accountants BDO Stoy Hayward. The BDO Output Index, which measures short-run turnover expectations and order book strength, has seen the largest [...]
GLG to lose fund star to Soros August 2, 2009 London-based hedge fund GLG Partners is on the brink of losing its star fund manager Robert Donald. Donald, who manages part of the £1.3bn European fund with Pierre Lagrange is mulling quitting GLG after six years, to team up with legendary financier George Soros. Soros, who famously made $1bn betting against sterling in 1992, is [...]
Nissan’s electrifying model car August 2, 2009 Japanese car maker Nissan yesterday rolled out its new electronic vehicle, the Leaf, taking it closer to its aim to become the first car firm to mass produce the vehicles. Chief executive Carlos Ghosn said the firm sees “high potential” for electric vehicles. The zero-emission hatchback vehicle is set to go on sale in Japan, [...]
Small rise for July surveys August 2, 2009 FURTHER improvements are expected in the forward-looking CIPS/Markit purchasing managers’ indices (PMI) due out this week, although economists caution that the rises will only be modest at best, indicating a weak recovery for the UK economy in the second half of 2009. The service sector, which accounts for about 60 per cent of UK GDP [...]
City divided on how to use quantitative easing money August 2, 2009 The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) faces a tough decision this week when it meets to discuss its next steps on quantitative easing (QE). The Bank last week exhausted the £125bn of Treasury money it said it would pump into the banking system, and must now decide at its monthly meeting whether to [...]
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THE PURCHASING MANAGERS’ INDICES TO SHOW? August 2, 2009 PHILIP SHAW INVESTECRecent trends in the services PMI have been highly encouraging in recent months. The problem is that this revival is still not fully reflected in the official data, which showed the service sector contracting by 0.6 per cent over the second quarter. The MPC is likely to place some weight on the readings [...]
UBS avoids US tax fine, will expose clients August 2, 2009 STRICKEN Swiss bank UBS will walk away from its epic fight with the US tax authorities without paying a fine, in a deal designed to head off a diplomatic crisis between the two nations, it emerged yesterday. But UBS is to hand over details of 5,000 rich American clients who may have evaded taxes to [...]
Seymour Pierce on top of Aim advisers August 2, 2009 STOCKBROKER Seymour Pierce continued to dominate the small cap advisory sector over the past three months of the year, the latest Aim adviser rankings from financial data provider Hemscott show today. Seymour Pierce added six new stockbroking clients over the period despite a wave of recent small cap insolvencies and delistings from Aim, taking its [...]