Porsche worker targeted in VW share investigation September 1, 2009 GERMAN prosecutors have raided the apartment of another Porsche employee as part of a probe into the alleged market manipulation of Volkswagen shares A Porsche spokesman confirmed that another apartment had been searched last Friday. The apartment of an employee who is not at management board level was searched, two people familiar with the investigation [...]
SOC GEN ROGUE TRADER TRIAL STALLED September 1, 2009 THE PLANNED trial of French former trader Jerome Kerviel, blamed for huge losses at Societe Generale, has been blocked pending a procedural appeal, his lawyer Olivier Metzner said yesterday. Kerviel, 32, has been under investigation since SocGen in January 2008 unveiled €4.9bn (£4.3bn) in losses which it said were caused by unauthorised deals carried out [...]
CITY VIEWS: WILL THE RUNAWAY FTSE?100 SUSTAIN ITS GROWTH TO TOP 5,000 POINTS? September 1, 2009 CHRIS METHERELL BBVA“I think we are in for a period of consolidation, with markets staying at more or less the levels they are at now. They should stay there for an extended few weeks, and then rise more gradually as the economic environment improves. There will be no other upward bursts over the next few [...]
RSA cash call fears trigger share slump September 1, 2009 RSA INSURANCE saw its shares fall by five per cent yesterday after it refused to quell fears that it is considering asking markets for $1bn (£619m) in a cash call. Shares in the group slumped 4.75 per cent to a close of 124p as the size of the potential rights issue shocked investors. The stock [...]
Scrap plan boosts US car sales September 1, 2009 US car sales boomed in August as consumers burned through $3bn (£1.8bn) in government incentives, leaving carmakers to contend with both inventory shortages and uncertain demand in the months ahead. The now-exhausted US “clunkers” programme, which was inspired by the programmes in France and other European markets, drove a rush to dealerships in late July [...]
Alibaba eyes European expansion from London September 1, 2009 CHINESE e-commerce firm Alibaba has opened a new European headquarters in London in an attempt to accelerate its expansion outside of China. The world’s largest business-to-business online marketplace, which has based its new home in the West End, has also announced the launch of a multi-million dollar global advertising campaign to aid its overseas growth. [...]
WOULD IT BE A MISTAKE FOR RSA TO LAUNCH A MAJOR CASH CALL? September 1, 2009 DUNCAN HALL FINNCAPThe size of the possible fundraising is pretty breathtaking for an organisation of RSA’s size. And the firm tends to be cited as a takeover target more than a potential consolidator. We would tell investors that, if there is to be a fundraising, they should stand back at the moment and wait for [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 1, 2009 Martin CurrieThe investment management firm has appointed Alastair Barrie as global head of hedge fund sales and Clayton Cheek, pictured, as US head of hedge fund sales. Barrie joins from RBS, where he was a director of institutional business. He has also worked as director of global hedge fund sales at Henderson. Clayton, who will [...]
Kalahari raises 20m in placing September 1, 2009 Namibia-focused miner Kalahari Minerals said yesterday it had raised £20m through a share placing to satisfy its commitments towards a proposed A$91m (£46.9m) equity raising from Extract Resources, in which it holds a 40 per cent stake. Kalahari has issued 11.8m shares to new and existing shareholders at 170p a share. It added that it [...]
Majestic drops minimum purchase September 1, 2009 Wine warehouse operator Majestic Wine said yesterday it had reduced its minimum in-store purchase to six bottles rather than twelve, after having been hit by lower levels of demand from consumers in the credit crunch. The Aim-listed firm saw its underlying profits fall by 22.5 per cent over the year to March to £12.7m. Majestic [...]