Apple’s store on Regent St bears fruit September 1, 2009 APPLE’S flagship store in London is so successful that it rakes in more than double the amount of cash per square foot than most of its rivals. The Regent Street store took £60m for the year ending September 2008, giving it a sales density of £2,000 per square foot. In comparison, the average Currys store [...]
CIT to defer interest payout on notes as it fights to escape bankruptcy filing September 1, 2009 FLOUNDERING US bank CIT has said that it will not be able to make a 15 September interest payment on a tranche of 2067 notes. The bank said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it could not find an alternative method of payment, meaning that it would have to “mandatorily [...]
Rosneft’s profits tumble but margins beat rival September 1, 2009 RUSSIA’S largest oil producer Rosneft yesterday reported net profits of $1.61bn (£1bn) for the second quarter of 2009, missing the average $1.72bn forecast in a poll of analysts. The company said the drop in net income, from $4.31bn a year ago and $2.06bn in the first quarter, was mainly due to the effective income tax [...]
AIGshares dive on bearish note as new chief exec apologises for angry remarks September 1, 2009 AILING US insurer AIG saw its shares plummet by over 20 per cent yesterday after a scathing analyst note, as new chief executive Robert Benmosche issued a humiliating apology for criticisms of the New York attorney general. The bailed-out firm saw its shares fall from $45.3 to just $36 in a few hours’ trading yesterday, [...]
Buyout firms circle Citi’s $1bn Tokyo call centre September 1, 2009 SEVERAL private equity firms are circling Citigroup after it announced its intention to sell off a Japanese call centre. Major buyout firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), Permira, Blackstone and Bain Capital are all understood to be interested in buying the centre, which is valued at up to $1bn (£620m). Sources familiar with the situation said [...]
Stanford forces Antigua change September 1, 2009 Antigua and Barbuda has appointed an experienced banker to head the tiny Caribbean nation’s financial regulatory body, replacing Leroy King, who is under house arrest facing US charges of abetting accused swindler Allen Stanford. A government statement said John Benjamin, a banker with more than 40 years of experience, will become administrator and chief executive [...]
Offshore private banking dead September 1, 2009 A US tax probe against Swiss bank UBS has killed traditional offshore banking, meaning wealth managers will have to improve their offers to survive, bankers and industry experts said yesterday. Pierre de Weck, head of private wealth management at Deutsche Bank, said “the consequences of the crisis at UBS have been dramatic”. Another expert said [...]
UScredit card satisfaction dives September 1, 2009 US consumer satisfaction with credit cards plummeted in 2009, driven by anger due to fees and higher interest rates, according to a J.D. Power and Associates poll released yesterday. The poll showed around 20 per cent of customers reported an increase in their interest rates since 2008, with the largest decline in satisfaction among revolvers, [...]
Property still too dear, says JPMorgan September 1, 2009 HOPES of an imminent recovery in the commercial property market were dampened yesterday after JP Morgan forecast further troubles for the sector. The bank slammed the recent property stock rally as mere “castles made of sand” and said the upturn was just “building a highly vulnerable property market with a small margin for error.” Commercial [...]
China Shenhua Energy pumps $40bn into coal investment in race to the top September 1, 2009 CHINA Shenhua Energy, the world’s most valuable coal producer, plans to invest $39.5bn (£24.4bn) through 2013 to expand production capacity as it races to supply the world’s top coal consumer. Shenhua, which also has power, rail and port divisions, will earmark about 30-50 per cent of the total investment for capital expenditure, Chairman Zhang Xiwu [...]