NAB snaps up Challenger unit August 18, 2009 National Australia Bank, the top lender in Australia, said yesterday it has agreed to buy Challenger Financial Services’ mortgage unit for A$385m (£192m) to up its market share. NAB said the deal would give it an additional A$4bn worth of residential mortgages. The acquisition follows its purchase of Aviva’s Australian businesses in June for A$825m, [...]
TfL seeks to smooth out traffic August 18, 2009 Transport for London (TfL) is set to smooth traffic flow by identifying traffic hotspots, it said yesterday. Intelligent traffic cameras that detect jams as they build up are set to revolutionise the way TfL tackles congestion in the Capital. Twenty cameras fitted with special image recognition technology have been put at traffic hot spots across London.
Rok stuck in a hard place August 18, 2009 Shares in self-styled “local” builder Rok slumped yesterday after the company posted a 47 per cent drop in first-half pre-tax profits to £6m. Evolution analyst Philip Sparks – who cut his rating on the stock to “Add” from “Buy” – said he had hoped the results would herald the beginning of a re-rating for Rok. [...]
Slump hits Fresnillo August 17, 2009 FRESNILLO, the world’s largest silver producer, yesterday said its profits in the first-half had slumped 10.8 per cent, as prices for the precious metal tumble in the downturn. The Mexican company, which is listed in London, said pre-tax profits for the period were $179.9m (£110.3m) down from $201.6m the previous year.But the miner said it [...]
Introducing competition will improve healthcare August 17, 2009 AS AN American who has lived in the UK for 11 years, I love both countries. The debate over healthcare has reminded me of my heritage as a daughter of a physician. Obama is courting America to extend healthcare coverage in the US, triggering a mild UK/US incident and crashing Twitter. What many people outside [...]
Ryanair slashes Manchester routes August 17, 2009 BUDGET airline Ryanair yesterday said it would cut nine of the 10 routes it flies from Manchester and blamed the airport for refusing to cuts its charges. The low-cost carrier said nine routes would be switched or changed as of 1 October, meaning 44 weekly flights will be cut along with 600 local jobs.Most flights [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS August 17, 2009 AEGONNomura said that it sees Aegon’s capital position as being very solid and views the firm as having a “belt and braces” approach to capital management. The broker thinks that the firm’s economic rationale for early repayment to the Dutch government is compelling and rates the stock a “buy” with a €7.00 target price. HAMPSON [...]
Charles Stanley snaps up Matterley August 17, 2009 Charles Stanley said yesterday it had boosted its fund management business by taking over the operations of investment boutique Matterley Asset Management. Matterley, which runs the £2.5m S&W Matterley Undervalued Returns fund, will continue to operate under its own name for a limited period before coming under the Charles Stanley brand. Matterley partners Ian Dighé [...]
Shaftesbury enjoys West End shoppers August 17, 2009 LANDLORD Shaftesbury said yesterday a record influx of overseas and domestic tourists has boosted tenants in its core West End market. The property firm which owns more than 450 properties in Theatreland, Chinatown and Carnaby Street, said it continued to see healthy demand for its shops, restaurants and residential accommodation. The group said that the [...]
Myerson ousted at own fund August 17, 2009 ACTIVIST investor Brian Myerson yesterday lost his second corporate tussle of the year as shareholders voted to oust him as manager of South African Property Opportunities (SAPO), the fund he set up in 2006. Myerson’s contract with SAPO includes a 12 month notice period, meaning his management agreement will terminate on 20 October 2010. But [...]