Lloyds Bank profit increase pushes share price up, despite £660m loss over TSB sale May 1, 2015 The sale of TSB has come at a big price for Lloyds, but investors are undeterred. The figures Lloyds share price has gone up 3.38 per cent, after underlying pre-tax profit rose 21 per cent and beat analyst expectations. Lloyds Bank statutory profit before tax slipped 11 per cent in the first quarter of 2015, falling to [...]
City activists smell the scent of success: Edward Bramson’s showdown at Electra follows battles over Alliance Trust and John Menzies April 30, 2015 US corporate raider Edward Bramson is closing in on one of the UK’s oldest private equity groups, Electra, six months after he failed to capture the firm. The showdown comes amid a flurry of UK activist raids since the turn of the year, underscored by little-known fund Lakestreet Capital, which yesterday revealed it [...]
Martin Sorrell is best paid FTSE boss pocketing £43m but WPP braces for fresh shareholder row April 30, 2015 Global advertising giant WPP hiked chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell’s pay by 43 per cent for 2014, taking his awards to £43m and making him the best paid boss in the FTSE 100. The payout comes after years of shareholder rebellions at the firm’s annual general meetings. In 2012, a majority of shareholders voted against [...]
RBS in the red as mega-fines for PPI mis-selling and forex-rigging wipe out profit April 30, 2015 RBS could be on-track to pay a dividend if its turnaround continues, its chief executive said yesterday, as the bank’s underlying profitability improved in the first quarter of 2015. But it made another loss, this time of £446m, as it struggles through its restructuring, and set aside another £856m to cover legal costs and [...]
Royal Mail share price sent higher by end to rival Whistl’s LDC deal April 30, 2015 Royal Mail shares shot up 5.3 per cent yesterday on news Lloyds private equity arm LDC had pulled out of investment talks with the owner of rival postal service Whistl. LDC said its decision to end discussions with Dutch postal operator PostNL was due to “ongoing changes in postal market dynamics and the complexity [...]
When raiders strike: Are US activist investors in City boardrooms a force for good or a costly nuisance? April 30, 2015 When US investor Nelson Peltz walks into a boardroom carrying a piece of paper you know there’s going to be trouble. Peltz, best known in the UK for bouncing Cadbury’s into a series of spin-outs and mergers, has a tried and tested tactic for effecting change: meet a chief executive, present him with a [...]
Foxtons warns of sales slowdown as home buyers await General Election outcome April 30, 2015 London estate agency Foxtons warned that the General Election had put the brake on sales as prospective homebuyers await the outcome of next week’s polls before making plans. The company, famous for its fleet of Green Mini Coopers, reported revenues of £33.1m in the three months to 31 March, down 3.1 per cent on [...]
Saga investors rewarded with 4.1p dividend as insurer posts 9.6pc jump in pre-tax profit April 30, 2015 Specialist insurer Saga posted a 9.6 per cent jump in pre-tax profit for the year ended 31 January 2015, up to £195.5m from £178.3m the year before. The company, which targets the over-50 market, failed to live up to expectations when it listed on the London Stock Exchange in May last year. It floated [...]
LinkedIn share price plummets as second quarter outlook fails to impress April 30, 2015 LinkedIn once again beat expectations, but a bleak outlook for the second quarter didn't go down well with investors. The figures During the first three months of 2015, the social networking site's revenue went up to $638m (£415m), 35 per cent higher than last year's first quarter figure. This was ahead of the $636.5m [...]
Yorkshire currency trader arrested in global Ponzi probe April 30, 2015 A Yorkshire-based trader has been arrested as part of an investigation into a global Ponzi scheme that cost investors tens of millions of pounds. City of London Police said yesterday that a 59 year-old was arrested in East Yorkshire by detectives on suspicion of fraud by false representation and money laundering. So far they've received complaints from [...]