CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 22, 2011 SWIP Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has confirmed Francis Ghiloni as director of distribution and client management. Ghiloni, who joined SWIP in March 2010 as head of group partnerships, has held the role on an interim basis since June. Based in Edinburgh, Ghiloni reports to SWIP’s managing director Dean Buckley, and will be responsible for SWIP’s [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 22, 2011 BEAZLEY Nomura rates the insurance group as “neutral” with a target price of 135p, after it confirmed its interest in fellow Lloyd’s insurer Hardy on Wednesday. The broker notes that Beazley will probably need external financing if it pushes ahead with the deal, as an improving rate outlook and interest from other parties could push [...]
US GDP revised down December 22, 2011 The US economy grew at a slower pace than previously estimated in the three months to the end of September. Revised figures from the US Commerce Department show GDP grew at an annual rate of 1.8 per cent in the period. That was down from the previous estimate of two per cent and first estimate [...]
S&P cuts Co-Op outlook December 22, 2011 Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook on mutually-owned conglomerate The Co-Operative Group to “negative” from “stable,” due to risks associated with the Co-Op’s planned purchase of some 630 Lloyds bank branches. Earlier this month, Lloyds said it had picked The Co-Op as its preferred bidder for 632 branches which it has been [...]
FTSE given lift by airline deal December 22, 2011 The FTSE 100 nudged up this morning led by BA owner International Airlines group (IAG) which announced a deal for Lufthansa’s bmi. Overall European shares started higher with the FTSEurofirst 300 index gaining around one per cent in early trade while global stocks, as measured by MSCI world equity index, were edged up 0.2 per [...]
UK growth rate revised upwards December 22, 2011 UK GDP growth has been revised up to 0.6 per cent from 0.5 per cent. The annual rate of growth remained unrevised at 0.5 per cent, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Analysts said Thursday’s figures did not change their view that the economy was set for a sharp slowdown due [...]
Daniel Stewart posts first half loss December 22, 2011 Daniel Stewart Securities , one of a clutch of small brokers operating in the City of London, posted a first-half loss as the European sovereign debt crisis led to deals drying up. The company made an underlying net loss of £143,799 for the six months ending 30 September – down from a profit of £190,572 [...]
Toyota sees record year in 2012 December 22, 2011 Toyota forecast a 20 per cent jump in global sales to a record 8.48m vehicles next year as it claws back from this year’s output losses caused by natural disasters in Japan and Thailand. Toyota overtook General Motors as the world’s top-selling automaker in 2008 but is set to lose that crown this year as [...]
IAG seals bmi takeover December 22, 2011 British Airways owner IAG announced a deal to buy German rival Lufthansa’s UK unit bmi for £172.5m in cash, and said jobs would go as part of an urgently-needed restructuring of the loss-making carrier. Lufthansa has the option of selling the airline’s ‘bmi regional’ and ‘bmibaby’ units before the deal completes, and IAG will pay [...]
Wellcome boost helps charities December 21, 2011 THE WELLCOME Trust, the prominent UK charity for health research, yesterday pledged to increase its donations by 30 per cent over the next five years, after its investment portfolio comfortably outperformed global stock markets. The fund, chaired by City stalwart Sir William Castell, reported a total return of two per cent on its investments this [...]