Third day of red as miners and banks lose their appeal May 13, 2009 THE FTSE 100 dropped 2.1 per cent yesterday, succumbing to disappointing US retail sales figures, profit-taking in the banking sector and mining stocks weighed down by weak commodity prices. The index retreated for the third day in a row, closing at 4,331.37, or 94.17 points down. “Despite the change of tone, markets have more room [...]
Troubled Johnson in share bomb September 10, 2008 Dry cleaning to clothes hire company Johnson Service Group yesterday revealed an 80 per cent plunge in first half profits due to tough trading conditions. Johnson has been weathering a troubled period following its shares collapse last year. The group reported pre-tax profit of £0.4m, compared with £2.3m last year as revenue slumped 18 per [...]
Vodafone top brass change under Colao September 10, 2008 Vittorio Colao, Vodafone’s new chief executive, announced a major reshuffle of the mobile telecoms giant’s top management yesterday – a move that will split its blossoming emerging markets division into two and see the departure of his most senior executive by the end of the year. Colao has appointed former France Telecom finance director Michael [...]
Boerse: cash equities are not for sale September 10, 2008 A Deutsche Boerse supervisory board member said yesterday that the exchange is unlikely to sell its cash equities business to the London Stock Exchange, contrary to a report in Handelsblatt earlier this week. Citing unnamed financial sources, the German business daily had reported that UK-based The Children’s Investment Fund wanted the Boerse to pursue a [...]
More women make it to the top in City law profession… September 10, 2008 More women are landing top jobs at the UK’s leading law firms than ever before, according to a study released yesterday. The research, which was commissioned by The Lawyer magazine, showed that although men still outnumber females by four to one throughout the profession, ratios in the top ranks are slowly improving. Nearly 20 per [...]
…as 3i breaks glass ceiling September 10, 2008 Private equity firm 3i yesterday smashed through the City’s glass ceiling, announcing that it was appointing a female finance director. Julia Wilson, 41, will join the board at the end of the month to replace the outgoing finance director, Simon Ball. 3i chairman Baroness Sarah Hogg – who is the most powerful woman at a [...]
Tullet Prebon and GFI end merger talks September 10, 2008 Merger talks between GFI and Tullett Prebon ended last night after the two interdealer brokers failed to agree on the terms of a deal. Tullett, the second largest broker between banks, combined with GFI, the largest interdealer broker of credit derivatives, would have created a firm to rival market leader ICAP. This is the second [...]
Cowdery gets his man as Tiner joins Resolution team September 10, 2008 Cowdery assembles crack buyout team Clive Cowdery set up the first incarnation of Resolution in 2003 with £500,000 of his own money, after leaving General Electric’s insurance unit. The company began life as a closed life fund consolidator, before Cowdery transformed it into a FTSE 100 insurance behemoth through a series of tie-ups. A merger [...]
Resolution to float as Tiner becomes CEO September 10, 2008 Acquisitions vehicle appoints new board members and gears up for spending spree Clive Cowdery’s buyout firm Resolution yesterday announced plans to raise £1bn through an initial public offering in November, as it prepares for a series of acquisitions of financial services companies in need of restructuring. Cowdery has pulled off a major coup by landing [...]
Brain-drain? It’s nothing but a blip September 10, 2008 Lots of City workers are heading for Dubai at the moment, but don’t worry: London will lure them back soon, says Max Orbach We all know somebody who has re-located to Dubai, Singapore or even Moscow in the last few months, as the British economy has wobbled, house-prices have fallen and inflation has risen. While [...]
