House prices boosted by fall in stock July 13, 2009 THERE were more definitive signs yesterday that the UK housing market is beginning to recover, according to June data from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The seasonally-adjusted balance of surveyors reporting falling rather than rising prices improved to -18.1 in June from -43.8 in May, the highest reading since September 2007. Housing market [...]
Cowdery will chase Friends July 13, 2009 CLIVE Cowdery’s buyout vehicle, Resolution, is prepared to launch a hostile bid for Friends Provident, the life assurance firm led by Trevor Matthews, if it fails to agree a takeover. Cowdery and Matthews may end up battling it out if a friendly deal can’t be struck, with Resolution prepared to ignore the Friends board’s recommendations [...]
Investors rebuff Venture offer from Centrica July 13, 2009 CENTRICA, the owner of British Gas, faced a setback in its battle to take over Venture Production yesterday, when the North Sea gas producer’s two largest investors backed management’s rejection of the $2bn (£1.2bn) bid. US investment firm ArcLight Capital Partners and one of Venture’s founders, Larry Kinch, which between them control 12.8 per cent [...]
Goldman to unveil soaring revenues July 13, 2009 GOLDMAN Sachs will report a bumper second quarter today, opening the door for the Wall Street firm to reinstate the hefty bonus awards of the past. Goldman, which kicks off the US banks’ reporting season today, is expected to report revenues of $10.7bn (£6.6bn) for the three months to 30 June, up from $9.4bn in [...]
BusinessWeek is put up for sale July 13, 2009 BusinessWeek, the McGraw-Hill magazine, was yesterday put up for sale. The magazine, founded in 1929, lost 30 per cent of its advertising revenue in the second quarter, despite claiming it had around 4.8m readers in 140 countries. McGraw Hill has appointed boutique investment bank Evercore Partners to find a buyer and could accept an offer [...]
New stock value for Facebook July 13, 2009 Digital Sky Technologies (DST), the Russian investment firm that invested $200m in Facebook this spring, is offering $14.77 (£9.09) a share for stock in the social network, in a deal that values it at around $6.5bn. The new valuation is lower than the $10bn valuation at which DST originally invested, as well as the $15bn [...]
French use explosive tactics July 13, 2009 French car part workers have threatened to blow up a factory unless carmakers Renault and PSA-Peugeot pay compensation for job losses. The 336 workers at the bankrupt New Fabris plant have said they want ¤30,000 (£26,000) each by 31 July or they will detonate canisters of gas.
EC drafts new rules on pay July 13, 2009 THE European Commission (EC) unveiled new measures to crack down on bank bonuses yesterday, with the publication of a draft law promising to penalise banks whose pay policies encourage risk. The latest planned legislation will concentrate on executive pay, seeking to establish a globally-applied mix of variable and fixed pay that best discourages risk-taking. “It [...]
Sunshine adds some extra sizzle to retail sales in June July 13, 2009 HOT, sunny weather helped retail sales rise 1.4 per cent on a like-for-like basis in June compared to the same period a year ago, according to figures published today by the British Retail Consortium (BRC). This is much higher than the 0.4 per cent fall in like-for-like sales expected by analysts, raising hopes of rising [...]
Asset management sector defies turmoil on global equity markets July 13, 2009 THE UK asset management industry is weathering the market chaos and will remain a global magnet for fund business provided tax and rule changes do not damage it for no reason, according to the Investment Management Association (IMA). Richard Saunders, the IMA’s chief executive, said the association’s annual survey shows the industry fell by just [...]