Global shares at highest levels since January 2008 November 18, 2013 One index of global equities has gone higher this morning as Asian markets swell. The announcement of Third Plenum reforms has seen the Hang Seng up over 2.7 per cent and Sensex up by more than 1.6 per cent. MSCI's World index has climbed to 401.12 – it highest level since January 2008. Mike van [...]
Severn Trent appoints BT Openreach CEO Liv Garfield November 18, 2013 Liv Garfield is to become the new chief executive officer (CEO) of water company Severn Trent. She will be stepping down as CEO of Openreach, BT's local access network division, in the spring of next year. During her time at BT, Garfield oversaw the £2.5bn commercial roll-out of fibre broadband, as well as pushing the [...]
Capita chief executive steps down to pursue private equity portfolio November 18, 2013 Capita chief executive Paul Pindar will step down, with effect from 28 February 2014. Mr Pindar, who has been with Capita for 26 years, is leaving to pursue a portfolio of private equity opportunities. Martin Bolland, chairman, said: Paul has made an enormous contribution throughout his career at Capita. He has been instrumental in smoothly [...]
Aberdeen posts strong 2013 performance after announcing Scottish Widows deal November 18, 2013 Aberdeen Asset Management has reported a 24 per cent jump in net revenue, to £1.1bn. The company, now set to become the largest independent fund manger in Europe, after its announcement this morning that it's to buy Lloyds' Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, saw profit before tax of £482.7m in the year to 30 September, up [...]
What you need to know before the open – 18/11 November 18, 2013 A quiet beginning to this week as European markets are set to get off to a slow start, with data from the US later in the week shedding more light on the impact of shutdown. Over in Asia, markets got a lift in trading today following the Third Plenum reforms announced last week. ETX [...]
Lloyds sells Scottish Widows to Aberdeen in £560m deal November 18, 2013 Lloyds Banking Group has announced this morning that it has agreed to sell Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP), its asset management business, to Aberdeen Asset Management, for an initial consideration of £560m, paid for by the issue of nearly 132m new Aberdeen shares. Aberdeen shares are soaring on the news this morning, up over 14 [...]
Snapchat turns down $3bn offer from Facebook November 15, 2013 FOR THOSE under 25, the phrase, “Send me a snap!” needs no explanation. For those a little older, I’ll explain. Sending a “snap” means sending an image (most likely a selfie) to your friends using the app Snapchat. You can draw on the image or add a caption, and even decide how long friends can [...]
Janet Yellen tops WSJ’s Fed forecasters November 15, 2013 The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has examined and scored on accuracy over 700 predictions made between 2009 and 2012 in speeches and congressional testimony by 14 Fed policymakers. Janet Yellen, the woman the Whitehouse want to be chair of the Federal Reserve, topped their chart. The newspaper used the following benchmarks: gross domestic product for [...]
An unexpected slide but US industrial recovery is still on course November 15, 2013 US industrial production fell by 0.1 per cent in October, after analysts predicted an increase of 0.2 per cent and following a 0.7 per cent gain in September (revised from 0.6 per cent). Paul Dales of Capital Economics says that there "is no evidence that the fall in US industrial production in October [...]
Cyprus set to lift capital controls November 15, 2013 Cyprus will be ready to lift capital controls within the next few months, according to the Cypriot finance minister. In an interview with Reuters, finance minister Harris Georgides said: The intention is to maintain pace and momentum not in abstract terms, but in very specific terms that will relate to their relaxation and eventually their [...]