Biggest fall in oil use since 1982, says BP June 10, 2009 GLOBAL oil consumption in the developed world fell by 1.6 per cent last year — the largest drop since 1982 — and the decline is set to continue, said BP chief executive Tony Hayward. Presenting the firm’s annual Statistical Review of World Energy he said world oil consumption fell by 420,000 barrels a day in [...]
US banks must repay warrants June 10, 2009 THE TEN US banks who were given approval this week to start paying back $68bn (£41.6bn) worth of loans from the state will have to shell out another $5.1bn to redeem warrants held by the US Treasury if they want to be free of government restrictions. Credit Suisse estimates that the Treasury holds warrants – [...]
Four appointed to join BoE panel June 10, 2009 THE Bank of England (BoE) yesterday confirmed the appointment of senior business figures Roger Carr, David Lees, Mark Tucker and Harrison Young as members of its Financial Stability Committee. The governor and two deputy governors of the central bank also sit on the committee, set up earlier this year to beef up the Bank’s oversight [...]
Heartwood positive despite crisis June 10, 2009 Independently-owned wealth manager Heartwood said yesterday it had performed strongly over the past year despite challenging market conditions. Heartwood now has around £1bn of funds under management and administration, having added over £100m of net new client assets under management over the year. Chief exec Simon Lough said profits were ahead of last year, excluding [...]
Live Nation deal referred to CC June 10, 2009 The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has referred a proposed merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation to the Competition Commission, amid concerns that it would result in reduced competition. Ticketing agent Ticketmaster and venue operator of promoter Live Nation have an agreement to work together until December 2009.
Wolseley back in the FTSE 100 June 10, 2009 FTSE Group said yesterday that heating and plumbing distributor Wolseley, global private equity firm 3i Group and the London Stock Exchange Group will be joining the FTSE 100. In the rebalance, Drax Group, Whitbread and Amlin will all leave the UK’s blue chip benchmark. The changes to the indices take place following FTSE’s UK Index [...]
Rock appeal gathers pace June 10, 2009 INVESTORS in nationalised lender Northern Rock yesterday launched a legal bid to overturn a High Court decision which they claim will leave them with “derisory” compensation. Institutional investors RAB Capital, SRM Global and a collective of private shareholders numbering more than 200,000, who are backed by the UK Shareholders Association, say the government’s compensation scheme [...]
Odey and GLG among hedge fund winners June 10, 2009 WINNERS are emerging from the hedge fund sector’s dramatic comeback in May, with groups like Odey and GLG now trumpeting net gains as high as 35 per cent this year so far. Hedge fund managers are saying investments in banks and emerging markets paid off last month, while recent research claimed May saw the vehicles [...]
Rising US debt yields sparks market fears June 10, 2009 US MARKETS were fearing recent cheer may be premature last night after an auction of benchmark 10-year Treasury notes triggered a bout of selling that sent spreads widening to levels last seen in October last year. The widening yields led to concerns that the cost of servicing government debt could hamper a recovery. This came [...]
Phorm raises 15m in funds June 10, 2009 ONLINE advertising company Phorm said yesterday it raised around £15m through a placing with institutional investors. The group, which has drawn criticism from the Government and European Commission over data privacy, said it had raised the money with a 450p per share placing to expand its services and for general working capital purposes. “I am [...]