Regulator alleges price fixing in sports bra market September 20, 2013 A regulator has alleged price fixing in selling of Shock Absorber bras in UK department stores. The Office for Fair Trading (OFT) today issued a Statement of Objections to a sports bra manufacturer for allegedly fixing the resale price of their Shock Absorber bras. (Release) DB Apparel, the maker of Shock Absorber has, the OFT [...]
RBS sale of Direct Line stake nets £630m September 20, 2013 An update from RBS has confirmed that the sale of a stake in home insurer Direct Line has raised £630m (release). That's an 18 to 20 per cent premium on the insurer's 175p floatation price. Now the state-backed bank retains a 30.3 per cent stake in the insurer, which was floated last Autumn. RBS previously [...]
Foxtons returns to market at £649m as stocks gear towards housing recovery September 20, 2013 London estate agents Foxtons has floated on the London Stock Exchange at 230p a share. (Release) Market capitalisation for the company is about £649m with gross proceeds raised of £390m. Our deputy editor David Hellier writes: STRONG demand for shares in Foxtons, the London-focused estate agency chain, was last night expected to push the group’s [...]
Before the open: markets slower following Fed decision on tapering September 20, 2013 European markets are set to open muted this morning, given the marginally weaker finish in the US, following the Fed's decision not to taper, and record high for the Dax earlier in the week. It was a similar story for Asian markets which were subdued, following Wednesday's announcement. Following a slightly rough time against the [...]
RBS offloading £630m worth of stake in Direct Line September 19, 2013 State-backed bank RBS is offloading a 20 per cent stake in Direct Line, expected to net around £630m (release). City AM understands the bank could get 207p to 210p for the stock, a discount of four to five per cent on the trading price. That's an 18 to 20 per cent premium on the insurer's [...]
Nokia boss Elop takes £15.8m golden handshake to move back to Microsoft September 19, 2013 A Nokia announcement to shareholders has shown boss Stephen Elop received a €18.8m (£15.8m) sum to move to Microsoft (release). Tech giant Microsoft snapped up Nokia's mobile devices deal in a €5.33bn (£4.5bn) deal at the start of September. Elop's new role is as Microsoft's vice president of devices and services. That's a little more [...]
Good data for the US real estate market in August September 19, 2013 The US existing home sales index has risen 1.7 per cent in August following expectations of a 2.6 per cent fall. Number of sales is at 5.48m, up from July's 5.39m and the 5.25m consensus. Change in July was positive with an increase of 6.5 per cent.
US manufacturing indicator booms in September to 30 month high September 19, 2013 US manufacturing data just smashed expectations. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey is in at 22.3 for September, up from 9.3 prior. Analysts had forecast a rise of just 0.7 points to 10. Amna Asaf, economist, Capital Economics: The surge in September's US Philly Fed manufacturing index to a two-and-a-half-year high suggests that the recent improvement [...]
Regulator hits JP Morgan with £137,610,000 fine over London Whale scandal September 19, 2013 Banking giant JP Morgan has been hit with a fine of £137,610,000 from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) following the charging of traders who lost the company more than £3.9bn. The fine is the second-largest to be given by the FCA and much higher than expected, with estimations of around £50m. Compared with the amount the bank [...]
Better than expected US jobs data this week September 19, 2013 Some nice initial jobless claims numbers for the US, They've risen from 294,000 (revised up from 292,000) to 309,000 this week. Worse raw data, but below forecasts of a rise to 330,000. Continuing jobless claims up, from 2.815m (revised down from 2.871m) to 2.787m. Analysts had been expecting them all the way up to 2.9m. [...]