Helical Bar announces plans to kickstart London projects November 26, 2009 COMMERCIAL property firm Helical Bar plans to kickstart its development pipeline in the next 12 to 18 months as the UK market rebounds and the company may raise its full-year dividend. “Let’s hope we can raise the full-year dividend. We usually, and very rarely not, annually raise the dividend by 10 to 12 per cent, [...]
F&C DITCHES THE DORCHESTER FOR A LEANER SHOWING AT PING PONG November 25, 2009 THINGS may be looking up in terms of the economy, but the corporate Christmas goose is looking just as lean as it was in the depths of the financial crisis last year – and a little bird tells me that asset management firm F&C Investments is among the companies trimming its budget. Usually, F&C staffers [...]
Danish and French take on Swisscom November 25, 2009 FRANCE Telecom yesterday struck a deal with Danish peer TDC to boost their position in the small but affluent Swiss market and challenge local leader Swisscom. France Telecom will pay €1.5bn (£1.35bn) for a 75 per cent stake in a new company that has the assets and clients of TDC’s Sunrise and France Telecom’s Orange [...]
AIG approves CEO pay deal November 25, 2009 AMERICAN International Group (AIG), the insurer that received billions of dollars in a US bailout, has been authorised by its board to pay chief executive Robert Benmosche’s $7m (£4.2m) compensation, after it laid to rest concerns that he may quit the post. The approval means AIG can pay Benmosche an already agreed annual salary of [...]
Harvey Nash shares fall as firm cites challenges November 25, 2009 SHARES in Harvey Nash tumbled yesterday after the British recruitment and outsourcing firm admitted trading remains challenging, while the expectation of a V-shaped recovery in its end-markets has not materialised. Panmure Gordon said the update was “significantly worse than expected, and should send a reality check to those expecting cyclical recovery from recruitment markets”. The [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 25, 2009 LLOYDS BANKING GROUPCharles Stanley yesterday maintained its “hold” position on Lloyds Banking Group. It said Lloyds has come a long way with its massive cash call to exit the government asset protection scheme. But it said the next two years are likely to be difficult and the group is unlikely to pay a dividend until [...]
Johnson Matthey sees an uncertain recovery for the automotive markets November 25, 2009 FTSE 100-listed Johnson Matthey yesterday said first-half pre-tax profits fell by a fifth and the world’s largest supplier of catalytic converters warned that prospects for a recovery in global auto sales were uncertain. “The timing of a return in consumer confidence and the impact of the expiry of car scrappage schemes will be key factors [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 25, 2009 ElectraThe private equity group has appointed Roger Perkin as a non-executive director. Perkin is a former senior partner at Ernst & Young, where he spent 40 years of his career. He was previously lead auditor to UBS from 1998 to 2005 and has worked for clients including 3i, Resolution and Henderson. He also recently advised [...]
BANKS TO DISCLOSE ALL PAY OVER 1M November 25, 2009 THE government will today announce plans to implement in full the recommendations of the Walker review, paving the way for a massive shake-up of corporate governance and much greater openness over pay at the City’s largest financial institutions. From 2010 onwards, FTSE-100 banks and comparable financial institutions such as large building societies will be forced [...]
Dubai asks for delay over debt November 25, 2009 DUBAI WORLD, the owner of P&O, triggered fury last night after it called for a moratorium on its debt repayments. The announcement sent the cost of insuring Dubai’s sovereign debt against default soaring above Icelandic levels. The emirate was last night judged the sixth riskiest country in the world by the credit markets. The news [...]