Opel talks stall as job row looms May 27, 2009 GENERAL Motors was last night locked in talks with German chancellor Angela Merkel, US government representatives and potential bidders for GM’s European Opel unit, in an effort to rescue the division, even as a row over likely job losses was brewing. The talks in Merkel’s Berlin office were focused on identifying the best bidder of [...]
Fresh row in TNK-BP saga May 27, 2009 THE acrimony between BP and its partners in the TNK-BP joint venture flared up anew yesterday as a group of Russian shareholders put up their own candidate to rival the British company’s choice of chief executive. BP unveiled Pavel Skitovich, a former head of Russian mining firm Polyus Gold, as its choice to lead the [...]
Sterling’s long decline comes to an end May 27, 2009 IT may seem strange given the dire state of Britain’s public finances but sterling is starting to regain some of its strength, especially against the dollar. Yesterday the pound rose above $1.60 for the first time in seven months, boosted by better services sector sentiment and mortgage approvals. Sterling is now trading well above its [...]
BoA nears capital target May 27, 2009 BANK of America (BoA) yesterday moved another step closer to raising the $33.9bn (£21bn) that US regulators say it needs, after it reached an agreement to convert $5.9bn of preference shares into common stock, bringing the total it has raised to nearly $26bn. BoA was told to raise the funds after stress tests by US [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 27, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES MISYS PUTS NEW FINANCE IN PLACE FOR ALLSCRIPTSMisys, the banking and healthcare software group, has refinanced the debt package it agreed in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers last year. The $210m (£131m) three-year deal replaces a $325m package to secure the acquisition of Allscripts, the US clinical software record provider, [...]
Gartmore to buy Rensburg fund May 27, 2009 Fund manager Gartmore is to buy rival Rensburg’s Corporate Bond fund, after poaching the vehicle’s respected manager John Anderson in February. Gartmore pounced after Rensburg decided to slim down its business following a strategic review, as it seeks to weather the financial crisis. Joint chief executive of Rensburg Alex Brotherston said the group will now [...]
UBS chief defends salary hike May 27, 2009 The chief executive of UBS, Oswald Grübel, has defended the Swiss bank’s decision to increase the base salaries of its investment bankers. In a leaked memo, Grübel said that high salaries were necessary for the profitability of the company and said the company would stick to its guns, even if it took flak in the [...]
Santander to ditch brands May 27, 2009 SPANISH banking titan Santander brought the curtain down on the Abbey, Alliance & Leicester (A&L) and Bradford & Bingley (B&B) brands yesterday, after a year in which it snapped up some of the UK’s best-known lenders. Santander’s name will hang above some 1,300 branches by the end of the integration process in 2010, or around [...]
More US banks are struggling May 27, 2009 The number of US banks in financial difficulty jumped by 40 per cent in the first quarter, the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said yesterday. The FDIC said 305 banks were still struggling in the period between January and March, up from 252 in the previous quarter. However, bank profits rose substantially, topping $7.6bn [...]
Virgin Media in debt offering May 27, 2009 UK cable operator Virgin Media said last night it would price a $650m (£407.1m) offering of new debt before the end of the week, in a bid to pay off debt due in the next two years. The new offering of senior notes will give the US-listed group more breathing room and builds on its [...]