Home sales at highest point for 18 months May 18, 2009 ESTATE agents sold more houses in April than any other month since October 2007, according to the latest estate agent data. The average estate agent sold ten properties in April, up from eight in March and a low point of five in August 2008, the figures from the National Association of Real Estate Agents show. [...]
Daiwa to buy Close Brothers division May 18, 2009 DAIWA Securities said yesterday it will acquire Close Brothers Corporate Finance, joining the push by Japanese investment banks to sign cross-border deals. Daiwa Securities SMBC, an investment banking venture between Daiwa Securities Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, will pay £75m for the division of Close Brothers Group. Daiwa said it expects the transaction to [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 18, 2009 REDROWUBS downgraded Redrow to “sell”, saying the shares look expensive given its inflexible balance sheet. Redrow said in its interim management statement it has a net debt target of £225m by June. But the broker believes it has limited flexibility to buy land at the bottom of the market and that the valuation is unattractive [...]
Qinetiq faces strike threat on pay freeze May 18, 2009 AS MANY as 2,000 staff at British defence technology firm Qinetiq may go on strike, as workers gear up to vote on walkouts over pay. Scientist trade union Prospect said yesterday it and three other unions would ballot up to half of the 7,000-strong work-force at Qinetiq – once a division of Britain’s Ministry of [...]
Ross buys into Big Yellow’s share placing May 18, 2009 SELF-storage company Big Yellow Group said yesterday it successfully completed a £32.9m share placing to exploit low property market prices and fund the development of several new sites. The group said it placed 11.5m new shares at 285p, a 5.6 per cent premium to Friday’s closing share price and a sharp contrast to the deeply-discounted [...]
Ferrovial seeks to refinance debt May 18, 2009 FERROVIAL, the Spanish group which owns airport operator BAA, is intending to restructure its debt, it emerged yesterday. It plans to refinance around €3.3bn (£2.9bn) this month, and is understood to be offering higher interest rates over benchmark rates on its new loans. It will offer 200 to 300 basis points, higher than the 65 [...]
Oil production is up at LukOil May 18, 2009 RUSSIAN oil producer LukOil said yesterday its oil production hit 1.9m barrels per day for the first quarter, up 3.2 per cent from the same period last year. The news comes as the firm will have an opportunity to renew its contract for the West Qurna-2 oil field in southern Iraq, according to Ali Hussein [...]
Lenders give INM a break May 18, 2009 TROUBLED newspaper publisher Independent News & Media (INM) said yesterday it had agreed a grace period from lenders to renegotiate a €200m (£177m) bond. The owner of the Independent and Independent on Sunday said it now has until 26 June to hammer out a repayment deal on its senior debt, which was due for payment [...]
We need a new online democracy May 18, 2009 PRETTY much every UK citizen is ready to shout “you’re fired” at their local MP after the depressing expenses revelations. I’ve always believed that form is content – that how you say something is just as important as what you say. Barack Obama came to power by having such an effective way of expressing himself, [...]
Resolution is still on the hunt for life fund assets May 18, 2009 BRITISH buyout firm Resolution told investors yesterday it remains “fully engaged” in pursuing acquisition opportunities, despite deciding not to proceed with a number of deals in the quarter to the end of March. The company, launched by City heavyweight Clive Cowdery, revealed it spent £4m on due diligence investigations into possible buyout targets in the [...]