Caledon confirms share placing January 13, 2011 Australia’s Caledon Resources confirmed it will propose a share placing, as the Queensland-focused coking coal producer scrambles to repay loans due by the end of February. The company said yesterday it had requested a trading halt on the Australian Stock Exchange, pending an announcement related to a proposed placement. There was market talk that Caledon [...]
TeliaSonera may buy Polkomtel January 13, 2011 Nordic telecoms group TeliaSonera, which has been seeking growth in emerging markets, said it was interested in buying Poland’s biggest mobile operator Polkomtel. Polkomtel has made approaches to potential buyers, launching what could be Europe’s largest buy. Bankers have put a price tag of around €4bn (£3.35bn) on Polkomtel.
Correction January 13, 2011 Yesterday, in an article, City A.M. referred to Jim Pettigrew as chief operating officer of Ashmore. He in fact left this role in October 2007. City A.M. regrets the error.
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 13, 2011 City of London Law Society The membership organisation has appointed a new chief executive: David Hobart. He is currently CEO of the Bar Council, in charge of representing barrister members, and has been heavily involved in changes to the law industry since 2007. Before joining the Bar Council, he had a long career in the RAF, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 13, 2011 CARPHONE WAREHOUSE RBS rates the retailer “sell” with a target price of 244p. The broker expects a decline in like-for-like sales when the firm reports its third quarter results on 18 January, with only rapid growth in the US driving the shares at the moment. Conditions will remain tough, RBS believes, with economic hardship in [...]
Fallback in US data shakes faith in recovery January 13, 2011 US JOBLESS claims jumped to their highest level since October last week while food and energy costs lifted producer prices in December. However, a surge in exports to their highest level in two years helped narrow the US trade deficit in November, an encouraging sign for fourth-quarter economic growth. Despite a string of recent data [...]
Basel says bank bondholders must bear losses January 13, 2011 BASEL bank regulators have laid out rules making clear that holders of hybrid bank debt will take losses if a lender becomes insolvent, rather than taxpayers. One of the biggest controversies of the financial crisis was how holders of subordinated bank capital debt escaped liability for bank failures even when public funds were being used [...]
Bank of England keeps interest rates on hold January 13, 2011 The Bank of England kept its key interest rate at a record low 0.5 per cent as expected on Thursday, judging that longer-term downward pressure on prices will quell an expected short-term spike in inflation. Consumer price inflation was 3.3 per cent in November and is forecast to rise to four per cent in the [...]
Ferrovial revives plan to sell off BAA stake January 13, 2011 Spanish group Ferrovial is pushing ahead with a plan to sell a ten per cent stake in British airport operator BAA, operator of London’s Heathrow, a move aimed at halving its 24.5bn euro (£20.46bn) debt. The company said it would seek offers for the stake, estimated last year to be worth about 200M euros, in [...]
Industrial output growth slows January 13, 2011 Industrial output grew at its slowest annual pace since July in November, dragged down by continued weakness in the oil and gas sector and despite ongoing strength in manufacturing, official data showed. Industrial output rose 0.4 per cent on the month after October’s 0.1 per cent decline. However, that was a smaller rebound than the [...]