Prudential hits record high due to expansion August 12, 2013 PRUDENTIAL boss Tidjane Thiam was yesterday vindicated after his decision to bet the company on overseas expansion pushed the insurer’s share price to record highs. Just three years ago Thiam’s job was on the line following a bungled £20bn bid for Asian rival AIA that left the company with a near-£400m bill. But now [...]
Bottom Line: Tidjane Thiam back on top as bet on Asian growth pays off August 12, 2013 IT’S HARD to believe that just three years ago Prudential chief Tidjane Thiam was being called on to justify his position. After a clumsily handled bid for Asian insurer AIA was derailed by nervous shareholders and widespread media opposition, the firm was left nursing costs of £377m. But a vote of confidence at the [...]
US deficit reduction on track despite July adding $98bn to red August 12, 2013 THE US government is on track to substantially reduce its budget deficit for the current financial year, despite spending $98bn (£63.4bn) more than it took in last month. Figures released last night showed July’s deficit up sharply from the $69.6bn recorded in the same month of 2012, yet statisticians said this was due to different calendar timings [...]
Musk unveils Hyperloop concept August 12, 2013 AMERICAN entrepreneur Elon Musk last night set out details of what he believes will be the future of transport – an air-propelled pod sent through a low-friction tube suspended on pylons over California, going by the name of Hyperloop. Musk, the founder of Paypal and Tesla Motors, published an open source design of the concept, [...]
London Whale’s former boss set to be arrested August 12, 2013 AN ARREST warrant has been issued for the supervisor of the so-called London Whale trader, the authorities revealed yesterday. Prosecutors from the US attorney’s office are believed to be pushing for the arrest of Javier Martin-Artajo, claiming he tried to cover up the scale of the losses. Former trader Bruno Iksil built up derivatives positions [...]
Labour U-turn on criticism of Tesco and Next August 12, 2013 LABOUR’S immigration spokesman Chris Bryant yesterday endured a day from hell as he attempted to defuse a row with two retail giants while launching a new immigration policy. Bryant had planned to attack Tesco and Next for allegedly preferring cheap employees from eastern Europe at the expense of British workers. But after the firms complained [...]
UK’s financial services continue to build their competitive edge August 12, 2013 THE FINANCIAL sector in the UK is becoming increasingly competitive, fuelled by a surge in business volumes as the economy heats up, according to a report released by TheCityUK today. The professional body announced the first back-to-back quarterly improvements in competitiveness in two years, with rising business volumes, improved credit conditions, and a third quarter [...]
Companies scramble to borrow before rates rise in coming years August 12, 2013 BOND markets are set for a surge in the coming months as firms look to take advantage of low rates before economic conditions change, JP Morgan executives forecast yesterday. It comes after Bank of England governor Mark Carney said he would consider hiking rates when unemployment falls below seven per cent, which he expects to [...]
Fidelity looks into the future with Google Glass market app August 12, 2013 FIDELITY Investments, the US money manager, yesterday became the first finance company to unveil software for Google’s wearable computer spectacles. The company, through its Fidelity Labs research and development unit, has launched an app for the glasses to show quotes of four major US stock markets for users at close time. Google’s pioneering Glass project [...]
Thames megaport threatened by hardline union campaign August 12, 2013 UNION tactics are threatening the success of the enormous London Gateway port development, its chief executive has told City A.M. “The biggest threat to the project is Unite the Union,” said Simon Moore. “They are out to see London Gateway fail.” Moore said he had to placate his superiors at parent company DP World after Unite [...]