Lloyds offloads £500m loan package to Bain Capital arm March 22, 2012 LLOYDS has continued to cut its vast loan book by agreeing to sell a portfolio of loans to the US private equity firm formerly run by presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The British bank, 41 per cent taxpayer owned, is offloading the leveraged loans to Sankaty Advisors, the credit investment arm of Bain Capital. The portfolio [...]
METROBANK ADDS 260 JOBS March 22, 2012 METRO Bank, whose launch in 2010 marked the arrival of Britain’s first new High Street retail bank in more than 100 years, has plans to hire around 260 more staff this year and is looking for additional capital to fund its development
Henderson oil row deepens March 22, 2012 FUND manager Henderson yesterday stepped up its row with Lochard Energy by saying it has “lost confidence” in chief executive Haydn Gardner and another director. An EGM to discuss their roles will be held in April and Henderson said it has 40 per cent shareholder support. Lochard did not comment but is expected to highlight Gardner’s [...]
Tullett to pay up over data March 22, 2012 INTER-dealer broker Tullett Prebon has been ordered by a New York court to pay arch-rival BGC Partners $800,000 (£505,000) for misusing data, it said yesterday. This is far below the sum claimed by BGC, which said it had suffered “hundreds of millions of dollars” in damages, according to court documents. BGC’s claim for legal costs [...]
Fresh slump for Eurozone on output fall March 22, 2012 ECONOMIC activity in the Eurozone fell again in March, influential survey data showed yesterday, indicating the economy will contract in the first quarter of the year, taking the area into a technical recession. German output growth slowed, while economic activity fell in France and declined sharply for the rest of the currency union combined, according [...]
Ireland back in recession as slowdown hits exports March 22, 2012 THE IRISH economy slumped back into recession at the end of last year, in part because of weak demand from the rest of the Eurozone, official figures showed yesterday. GDP fell 0.2 per cent in the final quarter of 2011, following a 1.1 per cent fall in the third quarter and taking the economy back [...]
Chinese manufacturing tumbles March 22, 2012 Factory activity in China shrank for a fifth month in March, aggravating fears of a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy. Initial results from Markit and HSBC’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slowed to 48.1 from 49.6, representing a further fall in the sector as any score under 50 represents contraction. Losses in mainland Chinese [...]
Japan moves towards recovery March 22, 2012 Japan’s first trade surplus in five months and a revival of confidence among manufacturers yesterday added to evidence the economy is growing again as the yen weakens and external demand picks up, reducing the need for further monetary policy easing. Exports to the US rose by 11.9 per cent in the year to February – [...]
Boris pledges new deal for suburban rail March 22, 2012 BORIS Johnson has promised to secure specific improvements to London’s suburban rail services if he is re-elected, in the form of longer trains and enlarged stations. The Budget includes a pledge to consider further investment in the capital’s rail network, prompting Johnson (pictured) to assert that he is the best-placed candidate to win funds from [...]
Ryanair hit by setback in claim over payout March 22, 2012 BUDGET airline Ryanair yesterday lost the latest round in its legal battle to avoid paying for hotels, meals and drinks for passengers disrupted by delayed flights during the Icelandic volcano eruption in 2010. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) published an opinion indicating that airlines were not exempt from regulations requiring them to pay for [...]