Outlook tough for Speedy Hire May 27, 2009 TOOL hire company Speedy Hire reported a 29.5 per cent fall in profit yesterday, reflecting the downturn in construction, and said trading continued to be tough, sending its shares down as much by 6.5 per cent to 176p. Adjusted pre-tax profit fell to £33.9m for the year ended 31 March, from £48.1m in the same [...]
Home loans at lowest level since 2001 May 27, 2009 MORTGAGE lending sunk to its lowest level for eight years in April, data showed yesterday. Net lending by the major banks was £2.7bn during April, down from £3.4bn in March – the lowest figure since March 2001, according to the British Bankers Association (BBA). However, the number of mortgages approved for house purchases actually rose [...]
Great Portland pays 18m to exit bet May 27, 2009 PROPERTY group Great Portland Estates yesterday spent £18.2m to buy its way out of an expensive interest rate hedge. The London landlord became the first major property company to pay a hefty break fee to end an interest rate hedge on £190m of debt. It’s thought the move will save the company about £8.5m a [...]
CITY VIEWS: HAS THE GOVERNMENT DONE ENOUGH FOR THE CAR INDUSTRY? May 27, 2009 JOHAN BLEEKER INVESTMENT BANKER“No one really understands huge car companies, and getting good insight is hard. If the government is going to intervene, it should be to call for more transparency in the industry and find out where the help really needs to go.” KEITH RIDGE MARTIN BROKERS“The scrappage scheme is only a £300m investment [...]
Britvic slumps on stake sale May 27, 2009 SHARES in soft-drink maker Britvic yesterday fell by 5.3 per cent to 275p after it emerged its biggest shareholder Permira had dumped its 14 per cent stake in the company. Broker UBS placed the 30.2m shares at 265.5p yesterday – a discount to Tuesday’s closing price – netting Permira around £81.5m. Permira said: “Our strategy [...]
Saudi’s optimism boosts oil prices to a six month high May 27, 2009 THE price of oil hit a six-month high yesterday, as Saudi Arabia said it was optimistic about the prospect of economic recovery. The news that crude oil was trading above $63 a barrel comes as OPEC prepares for an extraordinary meeting today to decide on output levels. Saudi’s oil minister Ali al-Naimi said yesterday that [...]
Shed Media appoints Rabbatts as non-executive chairwoman May 27, 2009 TELEVISION production company Shed Media has appointed Heather Rabbatts as its non-executive chairwoman. The former Channel 4 head of education will join the Shed Media board on 10 June, replacing David Kogan. Rabbatts is also a non-executive director of the Royal Opera House, UK Film Council and Crossrail, and was previously a non-executive director of [...]
GREEN SHOOTS FOR MEDIA May 27, 2009 GOLDMAN Sachs turned positive on a number of publishers, upping its target price for Daily Mail and General Trust to 346p and for Trinity Mirror to 88p. The investment bank said signs of a“positive macro outlook” had led it to increase its forecasts for the media sector by an average of 23 per cent for [...]
ADDICTS, INCEST AND ORGIES: HOW THE STOCK EXCHANGE DOES DRAMA May 26, 2009 EXTRA-curricular activities (of the character-building, not reputation-trashing, sort) have become rather popular in the City since improving one’s CV became more of a necessity than an idle pastime. And in that spirit, keen Square Mile theatregoers will be happy to learn that SEDOS – the Stock Exchange Dramatic and Operatic Society – have been hard [...]
GM ON THE BRINK OF BANKRUPTCY May 26, 2009 CAR giant General Motors (GM) was last night teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, as it failed to win enough support for a $27.2bn (£17bn) debt-for-equity deal with its bondholders. Creditors had until midnight US time last night to accept a deal which would give them 10 per cent in a restructured GM, in return [...]