New women’s mag attracts giants July 12, 2009 Three retail giants, including French Connection founder Stephen Marks, have agreed to back a new free magazine for women set to be handed out at transport hubs in six cities across the UK. The magazine, pencilled in for an autumn launch, is being referred to as Project Y pending a final name and also has [...]
Puma Hotels in debt refinancing July 12, 2009 The Puma Hotels leisure chain, which operates 20 luxury resorts across the UK, is to announce it has had to refinance its £332m of bank debts after suffering losses in the consumer downturn caused by the credit crunch. It is expected to say it negotiated an extended debt facility with Anglo Irish Bank – to [...]
IDENTITY CRISIS AT FUND VETERAN JOHN DUFFIELD’S NEW VENTURE July 9, 2009 JOHN Duffield really hasn’t been too lucky of late, has he? The veteran New Star Asset Management founder established a new venture called Hyde Park Asset Management back in April, as first revealed by yours truly, but soon had to ditch the moniker after hedge fund marketing firm Hyde Park Investment enlisted its legal heavies [...]
Santander in move to raise capital ratio July 9, 2009 Spain’s Santander said yesterday it would swap securities issued by its subsidiaries for new securities from the parent bank to strengthen its balance sheet and improve capital structure efficiency. Santander, the eurozone’s largest bank by market capital, said it would make exchange offers for 30 outstanding US dollar, euro, sterling and yen Tier 1 hybrid [...]
Sky fraud probed by UK site July 9, 2009 SKY CAPITAL Holdings, the brokerage at the centre of a $140m (£87.2m) “boiler room” investigation, threatened to sue a city website that was investigating its operations, a City source told City A.M. yesterday. The news came as it emerged that as many as 400 UK retail investors may have been duped out of their money [...]
More jobs axed at Corus as steel demand plunges July 9, 2009 STEELMAKER Corus said yesterday it was planning to cut a further 366 jobs at its Scunthorpe plant, taking the total for the group to nearly 5,000 this year. The news comes a week after the group axed 2,000 posts throughout the UK, as the recession leads to a slump in the demand for steel. Corus [...]
US jobless claims back to Jan level July 9, 2009 THE number of US workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell to the lowest level since January, however the seasonally adjusted data was distorted by an unusual pattern of layoffs in the automotive industry. Economists watch the labour market closely for signs that the impact of the most severe recession in decades is fading, [...]
Individual Restaurant Co beats share sale targets July 9, 2009 INDIVIDUAL Restaurant Company, the group behind the Restaurant Bar and Grill and Piccolino chains, yesterday said it has beaten its target of raising £2.1m with a share sale. The firm took the opportunity to place a further 3,950,216 shares – the 10 per cent maximum amount it was granted at its recent annual meeting – [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 9, 2009 F&C Asset ManagementThe asset manager has appointed Jacob De Wit and Richard Wilson (pictured), respectively head of fixed income and head of equities at the firm, to its executive committee following its de-merger from Friends Provident. The news follows the appointment of Kieran Poynter, the former chairman of accountancy firm PwC, and former Henderson Group [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 9, 2009 ADMIRALAdmiral’s recent underperformance makes them an attractive prospect, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, who upgraded it to a “buy” recommendation. Admiral’s stock has underperformed the sector by 11 per cent over the past three months, but Merrill Lynch believe Admiral’s near term trading outlook appears robust, and the insurance firm’s returns should be [...]