Close Brothers says bad debts are falling as it signals strong start to year November 18, 2009 CLOSE BROTHERS, the merchant bank, has made a strong start to its financial year as funds under management grew and the loan book increased and bad debts fell. The 131-year-old bank, which financed the first railway in Alaska, said its loan book had grown by three per cent to £2.43bn in the three months to [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 18, 2009 LaSalleThe property investor has appointed Uwe Rempis as head of asset management for Northern Europe. Rempis has been at the firm since 2007 and has been actively involved with asset management and acquisition for a number of its German and European funds. He originally joined from Allianz Immobilien, where he also worked in property and [...]
Three banks get EU approval November 18, 2009 Plans by three major European banks to sell chunks of their operations in return for state aid were approved by EU authorities yesterday, marking the latest regulatory-enforced financial break-ups. In reviewing a raft of bank bailouts across the 27 European Union member states, the European Commission has forced lenders to divest assets, close branches, reduce [...]
American Express pays $300m for online firm November 18, 2009 American Express has agreed to acquire Internet-based payment platform Revolution Money for $300m (£179m), the credit card company said yesterday. Revolution Money, launched by AOL co-founder Steve Case’s Revolution in 2007, provides payments through an internet platform and prepaid cards that can be used for offline payments or to withdraw cash from ATMs in the [...]
C&W pension fund could need 100m November 18, 2009 CABLE & Wireless may be forced to agree an additional £100m payment into its pension fund before it can go ahead with the planned de-merger of its business units. The firm said on Tuesday it had revived plans to split its Worldwide unit, which supplies companies in Europe, Asia and the US, from its international [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 18, 2009 INMARSATInvestec downgraded Inmarsat to “hold,” saying the company’s launch of its global satellite phone services (GSPS) and in-flight mobile services have presented significant long-term growth opportunities. This combined with the potent mix of Inmarsat’s high operational leverage and underlying fundamentals have driven the broker to upgrade its assessment, with the target price rising from 650p [...]
Vale close to uranium success November 18, 2009 AIM-LISTED Vane Minerals said yesterday that recent drill testing at the Wate breccia pipe in northern Arizona had yielded significant high-grade uranium deposits. The project is within the Vane-Uranium One Exploration USA joint venture in which the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Vane Minerals (US), holds a 50 per cent interest. Matthew Idiens, director of corporate development [...]
Capital Pub Company says it sees signs of early recovery at its London outlets November 18, 2009 CAPITAL Pub Company yesterday reported a 20 per cent increase in profits yesterday in the half year to the end of September, raising hopes it would restart its dividend. Capital Pub, which operates 27 pubs throughout London, also saw a nine per cent increase in sales to £11.1m from £10.1m in 2008. Its adjusted pre-tax [...]
Airbus racks up $5.3bn of orders at Dubai airshow November 18, 2009 AIRBUS forecast a “difficult winter”,despite yesterday announcing a $670m (£400m) jet deal with Senegal Airlines, taking total orders unveiled at this week’s Dubai airshow to $5.3bn. Airbus’ chief operating officer for customers, John Leahy, said: “We had a good airshow, better than many expected. But our industry is not out of the woods yet. There [...]
BOVIS BANKS ON RECOVERY November 18, 2009 BOVIS chief executive David Ritchie had good news for hard-hit homeowners yesterday. The company, which has seen sales of private homes rise 83 per cent in 2009, said the property recovery showed no sign of ending. Prices have pushed to a point where Bovis is likely to revise the value of its land bank upwards [...]
