Barclays wins investors round over sale of BGI to BlackRock August 6, 2009 BARCLAYS chairman Marcus Agius yesterday defended the sale of Barclays Global Investors, as some shareholders accused the bank of “selling the family silver”. Agius said the sale, worth $14.2bn (£8.5bn), would “allow shareholders to participate in and enjoy a relationship with the global leader in the industry”. One shareholder asked why the bank was selling [...]
Inmarsat boosted by broadband August 6, 2009 Satellite communications firm Inmarsat posted a better-than-expected 10 per cent rise in second quarter earnings yesterday, helped by demand for broadband on ships. The group, which provides mobile-phone and broadband coverage to ships, aircraft and remote locations around the world, reported earnings of $125.4m (£74.7m) on revenue of $173.2m, up 5.8 per cent.
Four Seasons to halve debt August 6, 2009 Care home operator Four Seasons Healthcare is closer to a £1.5bn agreement with creditors, which would halve its debt pile, following an about-turn by a group of hedge funds which had previously refused to give their support. An agreement is expected to be unveiled next week, and will see Royal Bank of Scotland become the [...]
ETF investment at record high August 6, 2009 The tentative recovery in the stock market and continued strong demand for passive investment have driven the value of assets invested globally in exchange traded funds (ETFs) to a record high of $862bn (£513bn). Data from Barclays Global Investors shows that investors have flocked back to ETFs, with the value of assets to reach $1 [...]
Mecom posts drop in sales August 6, 2009 Newspaper group Mecom said yesterday that it saw evidence the advertising market was stabilising since a low point in February, but reported a 22 per cent drop in ad revenues for the first half of the year. Mecom, which has titles in the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Poland, raised its full-year cost-saving target to €100m [...]
US retail sales decline in July but jobless claims fall sharply August 6, 2009 US RETAILERS reported their eleventh straight month of sales declines for July yesterday, but data showed that jobless claims fell last week, fanning hopes that the job market may be stabilising. July sales fell 5.1 per cent from a year earlier, compared with June’s 4.9 per cent decline. “You still have a picture of the [...]
BIGGS RELEASED August 6, 2009 GREAT Train Robber Ronnie Biggs, 79, was released from prison yesterday on compassionate grounds as he is severely ill with pneumonia. The south Londoner was a member of the gang that robbed a mail train in 1963, stealing £2.6m. After a 30-year sentence, he escaped from prison and went on the run for 30 years. [...]
BARCLAYS HIRES CLINTON SPINNER PENN FOR POST-CRUNCH COUNSEL August 5, 2009 BARCLAYS has brought in the big guns. Actually, it’s just the one gun, but they don’t come much bigger – Mark Penn, the American political pollster-cum-public relations guru who numbers both the Clintons, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Microsoft boss Bill Gates among his powerful clients. Penn is the worldwide chief executive of [...]
Sales drop at P&G eclipses profits surge August 5, 2009 PROCTER & Gamble, the American consumer goods giant, yesterday posted a disappointing 11 per cent decline in quarterly sales, hurt by weak demand for some Gillette razors and Braun shavers. The company, which also makes Tide laundry detergent and Pampers diapers, warned sales could fall as much as 10 per cent this quarter and profit [...]
US resists ratings regulation August 5, 2009 THE Obama administration is resisting calls to help ensure that credit ratings are reliable, saying this would force investors to rely even more on the ratings. Although credit rating agencies have been accused of assigning top ratings to complex securities that later crumbled in value, the government should not be in the business of regulating [...]