Lending weak but mortgage approvals up June 23, 2009 THERE was more good news for the UK housing market yesterday in the shape of mortgage approvals data from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA). The BBA said approvals for home purchase numbered 31,162 in May, compared to 29,018 in April. This marks a 15.8 per cent increase on the same period in 2008. BBA statistics [...]
DRAX FIRED UP FOR SHARE PLACING June 23, 2009 DRAX, which owns west Europe’s biggest coal-fired power station, said yesterday it would launch a £100m share sale, as it looks to pay off debt and keep its credit rating. It will place up to 25.5m new ordinary shares – or 7.5 per cent of its share capital – to raise money. Last month, Drax’s [...]
Bank economist: QE is showing positive signs June 23, 2009 IT MAY be too soon to judge precisely how effective the Bank of England’s quantitative easing (QE) programme has been but there are already early positive signs, the BoE’s chief economist Spencer Dale said in a speech yesterday. “It is still early days in terms of judging the ultimate success of the programme in stimulating [...]
RBS loss is the biggest of any bank in world June 23, 2009 ROYAL Bank of Scotland lost more than any other bank in the world last year, booking a pre-tax operating loss of nearly $60bn (£36.7bn), according to figures released today. The Banker magazine’s Top 1000 World Banks 2008/09 survey revealed that RBS was the world’s biggest loser, beating Wall Street giant Citigroup, which lost slightly more [...]
RISING STAR OF THE SUN June 23, 2009 REBEKAH Wade has been named as the new chief executive of News International, which publishes The Sun, The Times and The News of the World, as well as other British newspapers. Wade, who has edited The Sun for six years, will report to James Murdoch, the News Corp chairman and chief executive Europe and Asia.
Debenhams raising flops June 23, 2009 HIGHSTREET retailer Debenhams yesterday said its shareholders had taken up just a third of its share offering in a £323m fundraising. The department store chain launched the cash call earlier this month to achieve chief executive Rob Templeman’s aim of taking its £900m debt mountain “off the agenda”. Britain’s second largest high-street retailer said 73,388,851 [...]
MySpace says it will axe two thirds of international staff June 23, 2009 STRUGGLING social networking site MySpace said yesterday that it will cut about two thirds of its international work force and close at least four of its offices outside of the US, putting dozens of UK staff at risk. The News Corp-owned firm has proposed a restructuring plan that would see its international staff cut from [...]
Fast food prospers as consumers loosen belts June 23, 2009 WHILE the recession continues to claim casualties from a variety of sectors, others are finding that an economic downturn has boosted business. One of the sectors whose BrandIndex scores have notably risen is fast food. As usual, we have created a “basket” of brands (Burger King, Domino’s, KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Wimpy). For comparison, [...]
Aggreko powers ahead June 23, 2009 TEMPORARY power provider Aggreko expects first-half profit to rise as its international power division continues to grow, but said growth would likely slow in the second half. Aggreko, which rents out generators, air conditioners and cooling towers, said it expected pre-tax profit for the six months to the end of June to grow by around [...]
UK hedge fund group supports US plans for registration scheme June 23, 2009 A KEY hedge fund association has thrown its weight behind plans in the US to force the funds to be registered with regulators and disclose information to allow authorities to gauge the risk they pose to the economy. The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), which represents UK hedge funds, said it agrees funds whose sizes [...]