Analyst Views: Does Ladbrokes’ profit warning change your view on the company? September 26, 2013 KARL BURNS PANMURE GORDON“Within retail the business has seen poor results leading to lower gross win margins, while in online it is yet to see a discernible benefit from the integration of Playtech and the integration process is unlikely to complete by early 2014 as Ladbrokes migrates from Micro-gaming. SIMON DAVIES CANACCORD GENUITY“The real disappointment [...]
Watchdog fines Clydesdale for account mix-up September 26, 2013 CLYDESDALE Bank is paying £42m in a fine and compensation to customers after a mix-up in the amount it charged more than 40,000 mortgage clients. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined Clydesdale, owned by National Australia Bank, £8.9m for the error, which dated back several years. Clydesdale discovered in April 2009 it had miscalculated the [...]
Counterparties get $7.8bn back five years on from Lehman crash September 26, 2013 COUNTERPARTIES who lost out on trades with Lehman Brothers when the investment bank filed for bankruptcy in September 2008 received the first tranche of their money back yesterday. Administrators PwC announced the $7.8bn (£4.9bn) repayment, which amounts to 100 per cent of the claims made by a group known as the Omnibus Trust. More payments [...]
Google lawsuit over small ads set to go ahead September 26, 2013 A FEDERAL judge last night refused to dismiss most of a lawsuit against Google over allegations the company improperly scanned the content of customers’ emails in order to place ads. US district Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California ruled that the proposed class action lawsuit against Google can proceed. She rejected Google’s argument that [...]
EU lobby steps up as funds fear capital carnage September 26, 2013 MONEY market funds (MMFs) fear planned EU rules to treat them like banks could hit returns, push some funds under and dent investment in companies and government debt. Banks and industry groups have told City A.M. they are stepping up their lobbying efforts to explain to legislators funds are not like banks and should not [...]
Liontrust grows assets as it opens Asia fund opportunities September 26, 2013 LIONTRUST saw inflows of £312m in the six months to September, the asset manager announced yesterday. Those flows helped push total assets under management up 13 per cent to £3.4bn. “The recent broadening of the investment remit on the Liontrust income fund to give it a global mandate means we have a strong income offering [...]
Number saving for retirement still declining September 26, 2013 THE NUMBER of people actively saving in pension schemes is still falling according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), down by 400,000 in the year to 2012. In 2011, there were 8.2m active members of an occupational pension scheme in the UK, dropping down to 7.8m in 2012. The number of contributors [...]
Business group pushes for cap on rising rates September 26, 2013 A NEW report released today by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) calls on the government to cap annual business rate increases at two per cent, and to review the whole system. The CBI’s research highlights how much business rates have risen in comparison to other taxes. In the decade up to the 2012-13 financial [...]
Lending up as Spain’s recession shows signs of coming to an end September 26, 2013 BANK lending increased in Spain in August as the crunch in peripheral Eurozone economies showed signs of ending, European Central Bank (ECB) data showed yesterday. The troubled Iberian economy saw lending rise 0.8 per cent in the month, representing a small turnaround from a fall of more than 12 per cent in the last year. [...]
Nike races past forecasts as its sales rocket September 26, 2013 NIKE enjoyed big gains in sales in North America and Europe last quarter and benefited from fewer markdowns, helping the maker of sports clothes and shoes report a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit. Total revenue rose 7.7 per cent to $6.97bn (£4.3bn), and global orders for delivery later this year, which the company calls “futures orders”, rose [...]