Redrow cuts payout hit by housing slump September 10, 2008 Evidence of the housing market downturn became even more explicit yesterday as housebuilder Redrow announced a halving of profits and a new £450m debt facility to 2011. Shareholders are also losing out on a third dividend, due to an “unprecedented decline in the fortunes of the UK housing market in a very short period of [...]
EDF may face £1.5bn fee for BE takeover September 8, 2008 French energy giant EDF is facing yet another hurdle in its British Energy (BE) takeover bid – a £1.5bn approval fee. Close to finalising the bid, investors Invesco and M&G, which own 21 per cent of the shares, are understood to have pushed for a sweetener at the eleventh hour and will reiterate their position [...]
TUC calls for tax reforms September 8, 2008 The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called for a new higher-rate tax bracket for those earning over £100,000, putting it on a collision course with Conservative leader David Cameron. The TUC’s statement, made in advance of its annual conference which begins tomorrow in Brighton, contrasts sharply with a newspaper interview given by Cameron at the [...]
Lehman talks continue amid board revamp September 8, 2008 US investment bank Lehman Brothers’ fundraising efforts could take a new twist this week, as talks with Korea Development Bank (KDB) over a $6bn investment look to have slowed. Chief executive officer Dick Fuld has drafted a blueprint for dividing the group into a “good bank” and a “bad bank”, by hiving off the bank’s [...]
London blue chips set for further falls September 8, 2008 Strategist are betting on the FTSE 100 to fall further this week due to mounting concerns over the outlook for the UK economy. Last week marked the blue chip index’s biggest weekly fall for six years leaving it teetering on the edge of so-called bear market territory, defined as a 20 per cent fall from [...]
US mortgage agencies are nationalised September 8, 2008 The US government took control of twin mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac yesterday as it unveiled a series of measures designed to rescue the beleaguered US housing market. Treasury secretary Henry Paulson said the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) would place Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under “conservatorship” to prevent the collapse of [...]
The time has finally come to go short on oil September 8, 2008 Decreased production and low consumption mean that fuel prices are falling, says Katie Hope The black stuff is finally on the slide. From the heady heights of July this year when oil hit $147 a barrel and analysts were predicting it could catapult to $200 a barrel, forecasters are now betting the next move will [...]
Recession fears force cost-cutting September 8, 2008 Businesses are desperately cutting costs and reducing the size of their workforce due to fears of an impending recession, a survey found yesterday. Eighty-four per cent of businesses taking part in the study, which was carried out for accountants MacIntyre Hudson, said they thought there was a significant deterioration in the overall economic climate for [...]
Aviva cuts final payout for Norwich Union policy holders by 10 per cent September 5, 2008 Norwich Union, part of giant British insurance group Aviva, will slash its final policy payout by 10 per cent, in a move that will affect 2.4m policyholders. Norwich said yesterday its terminal bonuses would be cut by as much as 10 per cent after its funds were hit by faltering stock markets, commercial property and [...]
Resolution will not bid for UK insurer September 5, 2008 Clive Cowdery’s Resolution is not interested in a bid for the insurer Friends Provident, a company spokesman said yesterday. Shares in Friends Provident rose yesterday on reports that it was on a “wish list” of companies in Resolution’s sights. But a Resolution spokesman said today there was no truth in the rumours. He said: “There [...]