LOVING IT August 10, 2009 BURGER giant McDonald’s yesterday scoffed at the downturn, reporting a 4.3 per cent rise in global same-store sales in July. The increase was powered by a 7.2 per cent increase in same-store sales in Europe. The group’s new McCafé coffee chain helped perk up the results, which beat analysts’ forecasts.
State St reserves running dry August 10, 2009 State Street, one of the world’s biggest institutional investors, said yesterday that it may not have set aside enough money to cover fees and penalties linked to lawsuits and investigations by regulators into risky investments. Two years ago State Street set aside $625m (£379m) to cover costs stemming from lawsuits by clients charging that the [...]
UBS announces senior hires August 10, 2009 Swiss bank UBS has announced a series of senior appointments within its investment banking division, just a week after reporting huge losses. The bank said yesterday that it has hired the former European co-head of Merrill Lynch’s fixed income, and currencies and commodities trading (FICC) unit, Dimitri Psyllidis, to help overhaul its own FICC operations.
Cattles sells unit to pay-off debt August 10, 2009 Ailing sub-prime lender Cattle has sold its invoice finance division as it attempts to cut its runaway debt-pile. The firm said that the sale of Cattles Invoice Finance, which accounted for around three per cent of its company’s loan book, will allow it to repay £65.5m in debt. Private equity group Anacap Financial Partners manages [...]
BoA judge refuses settlement August 10, 2009 A federal judge yesterday refused to approve a proposed settlement between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Bank of America over the payment of bonuses to Merrill Lynch employees, saying he was unable to determine if it was fair to the public. The bank had agreed last week to pay $33m to resolve [...]
Retail sales mixed in July August 10, 2009 SPENDING on home improvements and seasonal clothing clearances boosted retail sales in July. According to figures published by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) today, retail sales values rose by 1.8 per cent on a like-for-like basis compared to the previous July. On the three-month weighted average of May to July, like-for-like retail sales values rose [...]
Collins Stewart hiring again ahead of market upswing August 10, 2009 FINANCIAL services group Collins Stewart will today announce a number of high-profile new hires alongside its interim results, as new chief executive Mark Brown beefs up the group’s core businesses to take advantage of opportunities in the current market turmoil. Most of the hires will be to the securities division, though the group has also [...]
BEER TODAY, GONE TOMORROW August 10, 2009 LIVERPOOL Football Club looks set to end its 17-year partnership with Danish brewers Carlsberg at the end of the 2009/10 season. Carlsberg and the club have not been able to reach an agreement on a new shirt sponsorship deal, with the Reds looking to double their price from the last time the deal was extended. [...]
UK house prices seen rising August 10, 2009 STRONG growth in buyer enquiries and price expectations improved to their highest level since April 2007, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) will reveal today. Their latest market survey showed that only 23 per cent of surveyors reported a fall in house prices over the last three months, taking the net balance to -9 [...]
FSB: Use Rock to end the banks’ credit monopoly August 10, 2009 THE government should consider using Northern Rock as a “people’s bank”, operating via the post office network, to increase the flow of credit to small firms, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said yesterday. The FSB said that the state support offered to banks had allowed them to develop a “monopoly” on providing businesses with [...]