Compass sees boost from new business wins September 29, 2009 COMPASS Group, the world’s biggest caterer, has seen a 14 per cent growth in yearly earnings per share on the back of new business wins, cost cuts and a weak pound, sending its shares to a 12-month high. The company, which feeds office and factory workers, soldiers and schoolchildren, said it expected underlying sales to [...]
EX-RBS BANKER HOUNDED OUT OF THE CITY September 28, 2009 ONE of Sir Fred Goodwin’s former sidekicks at the Royal Bank of Scotland was last night forced to resign from his new City role at headhunter Odgers Berndtson, after his connection to the beleaguered bank cost his firm one of its most lucrative contracts. Johnny Cameron, previously head of investment banking at RBS, said he [...]
JP MORGAN EXEC: NO ONE INNOCENT September 28, 2009 THE co-chief executive of JP Morgan’s investment banking arm has blamed “greedy bankers, investors and borrowers” for the financial crisis. Bill Winters’ comments – which will be seen as an attack on Wall Street, the City and clients – were made earlier this week during a closed-doors debate at the Investment Management Association. City rainmaker [...]
Orange finds juicy deal for Apple iPhone September 28, 2009 ORANGE has landed the rights to carry Apple’s flagship product the iPhone, ending rival O2’s exclusivity deal with the firm. The mobile operator, which is owned by France Telecom, said it would start selling the iPhone later this year, although it has yet to decide on pricing and exact release date. Orange said yesterday that [...]
WHO PROFITS MOST FROM THIS DEAL? September 28, 2009 JOHN TYSOE THE MOBILE WORLDApple usually wants to be with the largest operator but this seems to break the mould of exclusivity. The scale of it is not transformational for Orange, but if other operators are able to follow suit it will allow Apple to address the entire market. I don’t think this will be [...]
Barclays eyes Standard Life Bank division September 28, 2009 BARCLAYS is eyeing a bid for the banking operations of insurance titan Standard Life, sources close to the situation said yesterday. The insurer is understood to have put its Standard Life Bank unit up for sale at a price of between £200m and £300m and people familiar with Barclays’ plans said that the business would [...]
Land Registry figures show house prices in slight decline September 28, 2009 LAND Registry figures yesterday showed a slowdown in the pace of annual decline in house prices, with a 9.4 per cent drop in August after an 11.7 per cent fall in July and as much as 16 per cent in February. The figures came on the same day property data company Hometrack said the annual [...]
Burford Capital plans listing to raise 200m to fund legal cases September 28, 2009 COMMERCIAL dispute financier Burford Capital yesterday said it plans to float on London’s Aim market by placing shares worth up to £200m. The investment company, registered in Guernsey, is headed by Sir Peter Middleton, the former Treasury official and chairman of Barclays. Dealings are expected to take place on or around 16 October the company [...]
IMF to raise its forecasts September 28, 2009 THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund has boosted hopes for an early exit from recession by saying it is to raise its global growth forecasts in the next few days. IMF deputy director Murilo Portugal said yesterday the Fund is to raise its forecast for 2010 global growth to around three per cent, compared to the current [...]
New evidence on CEO pay rebuts Darling September 28, 2009 LET us, for once, put the emotion and anger to one side. What real, rigorous, academic evidence is there supporting the view that bonuses caused or were a significant contributor to the financial crisis (rather than other factors being to blame, such as ultra-loose monetary policy or flawed risk models)? The answer: very little. In [...]