Bringing the glamour back to poker June 14, 2009 MOST of the headlines in the City over the past few months have tended to focus on redundancies and doom, with an added dash of gloom. It’s all too easy to assume that the Square Mile’s top earners have handed over the keys to their Ferraris and are searching hopelessly through the jobs pages. But [...]
Laxey dumps Shaftesbury June 11, 2009 ACTIVIST investor Laxey Partners yesterday dumped its 19 per cent stake in Shaftesbury, just a week after supporting a £149m rights issue by the property company. Laxey yesterday appointed broker JP Morgan Cazenove as sole bookrunner for the placing of just over 25.7m shares and around 17.2m nil-paid rights in Shaftesbury, which owns large chunks [...]
Insolvent Arcandor refuses to rule out seeking state aid June 11, 2009 ARCANDOR, the insolvent German retailer and majority owner of travel agent Thomas Cook , may seek further state aid from Berlin, economy minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said yesterday. “It is not to be ruled out that there will be another request for state in the proceedings which are still ongoing. That would not be extraordinary [...]
NEW ROLE FOR BAZALGETTE June 11, 2009 PETER Bazalgette, the man behind shows such as Big Brother and Ready, Steady, Cook, was appointed as a non-executive director of the Critical Investment Group (CIG) yesteday, a new investment vehicle aimed at acquiring business-to-business media companies in the UK and overseas, which is due to be listed on AIM on 25 June.
Home Retail sales enjoy a sunshine lift June 11, 2009 HOME Retail Group yesterday brought some cheer to the market after its Homebase chain reported its first positive sales figures in two years. The DIY chain yesterday posted a 3.8 per cent increase in like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to 30 May, beating market expectations. Homebase said total sales, which include those from new [...]
BlackRock on verge of BGI deal June 11, 2009 MONEY manager BlackRock’s $13bn (£7.8bn) bid to take over Barclays Global Investors (BGI) could be wrapped up as early as today, with advisers working around the clock to put the final seal on the tie-up. The US firm will swallow BGI in a cash-plus-shares deal, giving Barclays a 20 per cent stake in what will [...]
IS IT SUNNY SIDE UP FOR HOME RETAIL? June 11, 2009 JOHN STEVENSON KBC PEEL HUNT“Home Retail Group’s first quarter trading update has seen a notable boost to seasonal lines as Homebase at last delivers like-for-like sales growth. Argos sales were also ahead of expectations, although margins remains under pressure. We note a strong performance in toys, no doubt benefiting from the demise of Woolworths, a [...]
Deripaska’s paper trouble June 11, 2009 Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska yesterday invited two government ministers to join the board of a troubled Russian paper mill he controls after he was reprimanded by the Prime Minister for his management of another plant. Deripaska also owned the loss-making Birmingham-based vanmaker LDV, which went into administration earlier this month after failing to find a [...]
De La Rue wins passport deal June 11, 2009 Banknote printer De La Rue has won preferred bidder status for a 10-year contract with the Home Office’s Identity and Passport Service to produce biometric passports in a deal worth £400m. The company already produces passports for more than 50 national governments around the world and also makes UK emergency travel documents.
Lord Jones warns on spending June 11, 2009 Former CBI director general and UK trade minister Lord Digby Jones yesterday called for “moral courage” in the UK public sector to remedy years of inefficiency in public service delivery, and to uphold the UK’s standing as a global economic leader and vital trading partner. He was speaking to the sixth annual Harvey Nash-sponsored business [...]