International Ferro loses less February 20, 2012 South Africa’s International Ferro Metals yesterday said it had narrowed its losses in the final six months of 2011. The net loss after taxation dropped from Zar107,000 (£8,700) in 2010 to Zar92,000. But the Aim-listed company reported production of ferrochrome down 15 per cent over the period. Chief executive Chris Jordaan said: “The combination of [...]
Workers occupy Arcelor plant February 20, 2012 Workers at an idled ArcelorMittal steel plant in north east France occupied the site yesterday, seeking to put their plight on the political map ahead of a presidential election where industrial decline is a central theme. Some 200 workers invaded management offices at the factory in Florange, in the Moselle region close to Belgium and [...]
Alibaba Group takes $3bn loan February 20, 2012 Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group was yesterday set to sign a $3bn (£1.9bn) loan it plans to use to take private its Hong Kong-listed unit, Alibaba.com. Alibaba Group, which is 40 per cent-owned by Yahoo, is looking to take Alibaba.com private in a bid to strengthen founder Jack Ma’s control of his e-commerce empire.
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 20, 2012 Royal Bank of Scotland RBS has appointed Stuart Dean as head of healthcare in the corporate and institutional banking (CIB) team. Dean has worked at RBS for more than 11 years in the bank’s structured finance division in the south of England and London. Before joining RBS, he spent two years at the John Lewis [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 20, 2012 LADBROKES UBS rates the betting group “buy” and has lifted its target price by 5p to 175p. The firm’s full year results were above forecasts, with strong growth in UK retail, which the broker says will continue this year thanks to double-digit growth at betting machines and a boost from Euro 2012. UBS expects to [...]
Episode 47: AN INTIMATE MONDAY LUNCH February 20, 2012 I sit opposite Caroline at the same secluded table we used to sit at 10 years ago. We’ve both moved on since then. The restaurant hasn’t. Caroline is clearly making a point. “How was your bonus?” she asks, as the waiter retreats, having taken our order. “We won’t go hungry,” I reply. Technically true, although [...]
FSA fines Santander £1.5m February 20, 2012 The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Spanish bank Santander £1.5m for failing to clarify a compensation procedure on some of its products. The FSA said that the Santander fine related to “failing to confirm under which circumstances its structured products would be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).” The FSA said Santander [...]
FTSE up as Greek D-Day arrives February 20, 2012 Miners led the FTSE 100 upwards this morning as China moved to stimulate more growth in its economy and Eurozone chiefs were poised to finally sign a bailout agreement to save Greece. China’s central bank cut the amount of cash banks must hold in reserves, boosting lending capacity for the second time in nearly three [...]
Lloyds to strip bankers of bonuses February 20, 2012 Lloyds is to strip five current and former senior bankers of more than £1m in bonuses over their role in the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI). The bank is taking back the bonuses over the scandal that cost the part state-owned bank £3.2bn last year. PPI was often sold alongside loans to cover repayments [...]
Bank of Ireland reports plunge in profits February 20, 2012 Bank of Ireland said it was attracting deposits, cutting costs and expected home loan arrears to peak this year, raising hopes Ireland’s biggest lender had turned a corner after a 60 percent drop in underlying profit in 2011. The only Irish bank to avoid nationalisation after an unprecedented property crash, Bank of Ireland said on [...]