Dana not ripe for the picking June 3, 2009 OIL explorer Dana Petroleum said yesterday “it wasn’t for sale,” and that it was focusing on increasing production, even as rivals target each other in a market that analysts say is ripe for mergers and acquisitons. Dana said its forecasting output will go up by nine per cent, having risen 29 per cent last year. [...]
Amlin snaps up Fortis arm in expansion June 3, 2009 AMLIN, the insurer that trades on the Lloyd’s of London market, said yesterday it wants to raise £76m from markets to fund a buyout of a non-life insurance arm of part-nationalised Dutch bank Fortis. The group said it has struck a €350m (£303m) deal to buy Fortis Corporate Insurance (FCI) from the Dutch government, which [...]
VETERAN BAR OWNER HANGS UP CITY APRON June 3, 2009 AFTER a lengthy 48-year spell in the City, it’s finally time to say goodbye to ship broker-turned-restaurateur David Hughes, who’s often been described one of the friendliest bar owners in the world. Hughes first came to the City in 1961, aged 15, working as a ship broker at the Baltic Exchange on St Mary Axe, [...]
CITY EYE June 3, 2009 CONSTRUCTION on the Heron Tower on Bishopsgate has now reached the 17th floor. The 46-storey tower, due to be completed in 2011, will eventually house 3,000 City workers, all of whom will be personally greeted by name by a Hall Call system as they swipe their entry cards at the beginning of each day.
IS THIS BUYOUT A SOUND MOVE? June 3, 2009 RAKSHIT RANJAN NOBLE“Following the analyst meeting we are more positive on the quality of Fortis Corporate Insurance’s portfolio and Amlin’s ability to generate its desired synergies and returns from it. However, we do believe that there will be a drag on the share price in the short term due to a potential reduction in the [...]
LABOUR IN MELTDOWN June 3, 2009 AS VOTERS go to the polls, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is fighting for his political life after cabinet minister Hazel Blears resigned yesterday – just 24 hours ahead of today’s European and local government elections. Communities secretary Hazel Blears is the fourth ministerial departure in 48 hours and the second at cabinet level, after it [...]
UK SERVICES SECTOR OUT OF RECESSION June 3, 2009 A SURPRISE return to growth for the services sector recorded in May boosted hopes yesterday, suggesting that Britain could be the first major economy to recover from the financial crisis. The CIPS/Markit UK services sector purchasing managers’ index (PMI) released yesterday recorded a reading of 51.7, above the critical 50 mark that separates expansion from [...]
We owe it to democracy to vote today June 3, 2009 TODAY is Election Day – even though the astonishing circus of resignations, backstabbings and the near collapse of the Labour government have completely overshadowed the parties’ manifestoes for the European parliament. Many readers will doubtless be planning to abstain in disgust at the evident moral and financial corruption of our ruling classes, a belief that [...]
Q & A : TODAY’S ELECTIONS June 3, 2009 Q. WHAT IS THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT?A. It is the EU’s only directly elected body. There will be 736 members of the European Parliament (MEPs), of which 72 will come from the UK. Q. WHAT AM I VOTING FOR IN THE EUROPEAN ELECTIONS?A. You vote for a party rather than an individual candidate; individuals at the [...]
CITY VIEWS: IS IT RIGHT THAT POLITICIANS LOSE THEIR JOBS OVER EXPENSE CLAIMS? June 3, 2009 ROBERT SKRMETTA AON“These people should not be allowed into office ever again and in certain cases they should be facing criminal charges. They shouldn’t be given the option to resign, they should be fired instead. They have taken advantage of their situation to overuse taxpayers’ money.” MATTHEW MELVILLE GCUBE“I can understand it partly because they’re [...]