City chaos as strikes go ahead June 9, 2009 LONDON was thrown into chaos last night as London Underground (LU) staff staged a 48-hour walk-out. Last-ditch talks between RMT union officials and LU bosses fell apart just before the 7pm strike start-time, as the union accused transport chiefs of “pulling the rug from under a workable agreement” by bringing in lawyers. Transport for London [...]
Horlick outed as Bramdean secret bidder June 9, 2009 BRAMDEAN Alternatives fund manager Nicola Horlick yesterday dropped a bombshell on the City by revealing she was behind the bid approach announced in the middle of her public row with major shareholder Vincent Tchenguiz. Bramdean Alternatives confirmed yesterday that the approach, initially made on 17 March but announced on 30 April, came from Petersfield Asset [...]
Buyers eye Thomas Cook stake June 9, 2009 SHARES in holiday operator Thomas Cook yesterday jumped by 10 per cent to 235p despite the collapse of its majority shareholder Arcandor, on the back of bidder speculation. City A.M. understands that Germany’s leading tour operator Rewe is one of several potential bidders interested in snapping up Arcandor’s 52.8 per cent stake. It expressed an [...]
Darling hits out at plans for greater EU regulation June 9, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling has found German support in his bid to stop Europe-wide financial watchdogs having the power to dictate rules to national regulators. Darling spoke out against the two proposed bodies at a Luxembourg meeting of European finance ministers, with backing from his German counterpart Peer Steinbruck. The row is over whether the proposed [...]
More RBS staff face the axe June 9, 2009 Royal Bank of Scotland confirmed yesterday that 500 staff in its manufacturing division could lose their jobs as part of 4,500 redundancies announced in April. The bank said that cuts would be made across 28 centres, 140 coming with the closure of its Glasgow office.
UK government owed 17bn June 9, 2009 The UK government was owed £17.3bn in outstanding tax, interest and penalties as of 31 March 2008, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said yesterday. An HMRC spokesperson said that the report is not a reflection of HMRC debt activity as it stands – things have moved on and HMRC has made even [...]
Versace names new chief exec June 9, 2009 Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace SpA has named Gian Giacomo Ferraris of the Jil Sander Group as its new chief executive, after Giancarlo Di Risio resigned last week . It is believed that Di Risio and design head Donatella Versace had disagreed sharply over strategy, especially cost cuts, as the current financial crisis takes its [...]
France green-lights bank giant June 9, 2009 France’s parliament yesterday cleared the way for the creation of France’s second-biggest bank by approving a merger of the groups Caisse d’Epargne and Banque Populaire. The new bank will have a total 7,700 branches and 34m customers and could be up and running by July. Lawmakers in the upper house Senate approved the move by [...]
Never again must banks ask for handouts June 9, 2009 IT is great news that 10 US banks have been given the green light to reprivatise themselves by paying back $68bn in Tarp bailout money. This is a milestone in the financial crisis; not only are banks raising their own equity privately again but they are also issuing long-term debt that isn’t guaranteed by the [...]
Saad sell-off spooks City June 9, 2009 SHARES in Berkeley Group fell by 5.2 per cent yesterday after Saad Group sold nearly half its stake in the construction company, heightening concerns over the future of the Saudi investment firm’s other holdings. Saad, which held 28.5 per cent of Berkeley at the end of April, sold 16m of shares at a discounted 701p [...]