Big banks hurt by competition investigation November 6, 2014 INVESTORS fled the big banks’ shares yesterday as a major new investigation threatened to break them up or impose significant new costs. But small lenders cheered the probe as a chance to end the dominance of the giant high street banks. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating the personal current account and the [...]
Bank advisers left red-faced by collapse in OW Bunker share price November 6, 2014 One of Denmark’s biggest ever flotations crashed more than 50 per cent below its issue price yesterday, raising more questions for banks serving up a spate of under- performing IPOs this year. Danish marine fuel company OW Bunker, which issued shares at 145 kroner in March, might declare bankruptcy after a scandal at its [...]
Senior Labour figures play down Miliband plot but jitters remain November 6, 2014 SENIOR Labour figures last night played down claims that a number of its MPs want leader Ed Miliband to step down, despite a clutch of anonymous sources claiming the party was on the brink of collapse. One of Miliband’s closest advisers, Lord Stewart Wood, told City A.M. that he was yet to hear anyone call [...]
Exclusive: CMC Markets plans more growth before IPO November 6, 2014 Online trading firm CMC Markets could float this time next year if the group grows as planned, chief executive Peter Cruddas told City A.M. yesterday. “I expect we can triple in size in the next five to seven years. I would be disappointed if we didn’t,” he said. “We are looking at a flotation, but there [...]
Sports Direct owner Ashley puts money on Debenhams success November 6, 2014 THE FOUNDER of Sports Direct, Mike Ashley, has sold his 4.6 per cent stake in Debenhams and entered into a put option worth 6.1 per cent. The deal was conducted through Sports Direct, and required the business to dispose of the Debenhams stake that it built upon last month, adding a further £33m worth of [...]
John Lewis ad tops 3m views November 6, 2014 JOHN Lewis is on track to capture the hearts, imaginations, and hopefully Christmas spending, of the UK once again with its festive ad that has hit 3m views on YouTube in just 24 hours. The ad has seen the success ahead of its TV debut on Channel 4 tonight. “What sets the John Lewis advert [...]
CBI director-general John Cridland: “Gosh, we really need to invest in infrastructure” November 6, 2014 In his fourth-floor office overlooking St Paul’s and the City of London, CBI director-general John Cridland seems at one with the world. The 49-year-old from Boston, Lincolnshire, is enjoying the relatively new offices and their proximity to the City and he is confident the economy is in good shape and that his members, who are [...]
Cable & Wireless in game-changing $1.85bn deal to buy Columbus International November 6, 2014 Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), the Caribbean and Central American telecoms operator, has agreed a deal to buy Columbus International, a fibre-based telecoms provider backed by US cable TV billionaire John Malone, for $1.85bn (£1.13bn). The FTSE 250-listed firm said the huge deal, which was worth nearly as much as CWC’s entire £1.14bn market [...]
Virgin Money IPO boosted November 6, 2014 BANKERS working on the flotation of Virgin Money are likely to exercise their “greenshoe” option when it floats later this month. A source close to the deal said enthusiasm from investors meant the company would sell an extra tranche of shares on top of the initial stake, thought to be 25 per cent, it had [...]
Zynga fails to make a hit in third quarter November 6, 2014 VIDEO gaming firm Zynga’s losses increased to $57.1m (£36.1m) in the third quarter of 2014, compared with a loss of $68,000 last year, as the FarmVille maker struggled to create its next hit and doubled down on efforts to make current offerings more mobile-friendly.