Etihad posts its maiden profit February 9, 2012 ARABIAN airline Etihad yesterday posted its first net annual profit, crediting new partnerships and strong cost control for the $14m gain on revenues up 36 per cent to $4.1bn. The eight-year-old firm said passenger numbers rose 17 per cent to 8.3m during the year, and it said further growth was expected from its recent deal [...]
LLOYD’S WEIGHS RISK OF OFFSHORE GAMBLE February 9, 2012 LLOYD’S of London is moving offshore, as The Capitalist hears the insurance group has entered a team in one of the world’s most competitive yacht races – a two-day zigzag around 11 Caribbean islands that is a magnet for seafaring captains of industry. First to arrive in the Caribbean was Marshall Bailey, the COO of [...]
London 2012 | IMAGE OF THE WEEK February 9, 2012 REFLECTING ON 2012 | OLYMPIC STADIUM AND TOWER This photo was taken by Jessica Glass as part of the BT Storytellers project. Jessica is just one of 100 people from across the UK who are taking part in a campaign to record the story of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The BT Storytellers [...]
Doughty in €355m Spain deal February 9, 2012 BUYOUT group Doughty Hanson has bolstered its presence in the private healthcare market by agreeing to buy Spain’s third largest private hospital operator for €355m (£298m). It will take USP Hospitales, a Madrid-based hospital chain, off the hands of creditors Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The firm’s bid represents a nine times multiple [...]
Greek drama fails to hurt Hargreaves February 9, 2012 INVESTMENT manager Hargreaves Lansdown said the Eurozone crisis would drag on “until Greece goes bust” as it revealed a jump in profits. Co-founder Peter Hargreaves told City A.M. the seeds of a recovery had been cut off by the “perpetual” problem of Greece and the single currency. “Greece will never pay its debts. The tanks [...]
Catlin trumps forecasts after a disastrous year February 9, 2012 PROFITS at insurer Catlin plummeted by 82 per cent in 2011 after it was forced to absorb nearly $1bn in catastrophe-related claims. The firm, operator of the biggest syndicate at Lloyd’s of London, announced a year-end profit of $71m, down from $406m in 2010. This still beat analysts’ expectations, reflecting the strength of Catlin’s reinsurance [...]
Losses rise at Och-Ziff’s hedge funds February 9, 2012 OCH-ZIFF Capital Management Group’s quarterly profit fell as its performance income plunged last year when wild market swings left some of its portfolios in the red. Calling 2011 “particularly volatile”, chief executive Daniel Och said yesterday dramatic market movements made for the most difficult conditions since 2008. But he also said things have improved in [...]
Global revenues at law firm DLA Piper top $2bn for first time as growth pays February 9, 2012 WORLDWIDE revenues at law firm DLA Piper have passed $2bn (£1.26bn) for the first time, thanks in part to aggressive expansion plans that recently saw it become the world’s largest law firm by headcount. Global gross revenue at the firm in 2011 was $2.25bn, while profits per equity partner – a popular way of judging [...]
SVG set for boost from a £50m share buyback February 9, 2012 PRIVATE equity investor SVG Capital said asset values recovered some lost ground in the final quarter of 2011, as the company launched a £50m tender offer to buy back shares yesterday. Private equity firms are under pressure as tough trading conditions and volatile stock markets, against which they benchmark their investments, weigh on their privately-owned [...]
Factory jump raises chance of a recovery February 9, 2012 UK MANUFACTURING output jumped higher than predicted in December, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed yesterday, leading some economists to suggest the economy may be back on the track to recovery. The production industries as a whole, which includes manufacturing, mining and energy, registered a small rise in output in the month [...]