Exane poaches highly-rated oil experts from BoA Merrill March 21, 2012 THE problems at Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s (BAML) UK equities franchise deepened yesterday as it emerged that two key members of the group’s oils team were leaving. City A.M. has learned that the highly regarded analyst Alejandro Demichelis, co-head of the bank’s oil and gas team, and his sales trading colleague Andy Crispin are [...]
Surprise jump in deficit as welfare spending goes up March 21, 2012 BORROWING unexpectedly doubled in February, official figures showed yesterday, as tax revenues dropped and welfare spending rose sharply. The deficit on current spending hit £11.05bn last month and investment spending pushed net borrowing to £15.18bn – up from £8.88bn in the same month of 2011. Excluding the bank bailouts, the national debt now stands at [...]
Solvency II reforms clear major hurdle March 21, 2012 AN influential European Parliament committee has overwhelmingly backed a draft proposal for a new capital regime for insurers, including amendments that make the new rules more industry friendly. The 37-to-five vote makes it virtually certain the changes will survive in the final version of the so-called Solvency II regime, potentially saving insurers billions of euros, [...]
Ziggo jumps on IPO day March 21, 2012 SHARES in Dutch cable company Ziggo rose over 18 per cent in its debut on the Amsterdam stock exchange yesterday – despite advisers pricing the initial public offering (IPO) at €18.50, the top end of its expected range. Ziggo joins Swiss group DKSH in ending an eight-month hiatus of big European listings. Darrell Uden of UBS worked [...]
Sainsbury’s sees boost in market share March 21, 2012 J SAINSBURY boss Justin King said the retailer’s success “was not dependent on others failing” as the group continued to win market share from rivals like Tesco and posted a surge in fourth-quarter sales. Justin King described himself as a “competitive guy” as the UK’s third largest supermarket reported a 2.6 rise in like-for-like sales [...]
Ted Baker and Inditex upbeat as sales surge March 21, 2012 TED BAKER dispelled some of the retail gloom with a surge in sales yesterday and said it was “well-placed” for opportunities and challenges ahead as it plots the next stage of its expansion abroad. The fashion brand said revenues increased 14.9 per cent to £215.6m last year, helped by a good performance across all of [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW HAS THE RETAILER FARED COMPARED TO RIVALS? March 21, 2012 CLIVE BLACK | SHORE CAPITAL Sainsbury has delivered what can only be considered a very sound and resilient performance against the backdrop of demonstrably challenging times. Indeed, the group deserves credit for the sales momentum delivered in the fourth quarter and in the face of some deep fuel related discounts by competitors. RICHARD HUNTER | [...]
Aviva chief exec gets 9pc pay hike as shares suffer March 21, 2012 AVIVA chief executive Andrew Moss saw his total pay rise by nine per cent in the year to 1 April, despite the insurer’s shares having fallen by more than 20 per cent over the past 12 months. Moss’s (pictured) basic pay rose 3.8 per cent, increasing from £925,000 to £960,000. He then earnt a £1.16m [...]
Shake-up for ENRC’s board as profit dips March 21, 2012 MINER ENRC yesterday signalled that it would be making more boardroom changes as it reported profits which fell short of City forecasts. The FTSE 100 company said pre-tax profits fell 7.5 per cent to $2.8bn (£1.7bn) after hits due to the rising cost of labour and energy. Revenues rose 17 per cent to $7.7bn last [...]
Lloyds Bank raises £170m March 21, 2012 LLOYDS Banking Group has raised £170m through a new share issue as it looks to keep debtholders on its side. The money will be used to restart dividend payments on certain bonds, a practice that was suspended by the European Commission following the taxpayer bailout of the bank during the 2008 financial crisis. Lloyds, which [...]