Darling defends spending November 1, 2009 ALISTAIR Darling yesterday defended the use of a fiscal stimulus to ride out the economic downturn. He reiterated that the government had no intention of cutting off the economy any time soon, despite a ballooning budget deficit. “We and all the other countries are doing the same thing, we’re putting money into our economy to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPER SAY THIS MORNING November 1, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday TelegraphODEY CASHES IN ON BARCLAYS SHARES OVER EU “UNCERTAINTY”Crispin Odey, the hedge fund manager who has made millions of pounds calling the fate of British banks, has sold part of his stake in Barclays. The boss of London-based Odey Asset Management, who built a 1.5 per cent stake in Barclays shortly after [...]
UK house price fall slowing November 1, 2009 UK house prices fell at their slowest annual rate since June 2008 in October, dropping 4.2 per cent, due to an ongoing lack of housing for sale after the credit crunch, property data company Hometrack will say today. Hometrack’s survey of estate agents and surveyors showed that house prices rose 0.2 per cent in England [...]
Oil firm Denbury buys Encore November 1, 2009 Oil exploration and production company Denbury Resources said yesterday that it will acquire Encore Acquisition in a transaction valued at about $4.5bn (£2.7bn), to create one of the largest carbon-dioxide enhanced oil recovery platforms across the Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain regions. Encore stockholders will receive $50 per share for each share of Encore common [...]
CIT agrees pre-pack bankruptcy November 1, 2009 US-based commercial lender CIT Group filed for bankruptcy last night, as the global credit crisis left it unable to fund itself and the recession left it with too many bad loans. CIT’s creditors have already approved the century-old lender’s pre-packaged plan, which will result in them owning the company. Most bondholders will also end up [...]
Santander able to bid for RBS assets November 1, 2009 Spanish bank Santander has been cleared to bid for Royal Bank of Scotland’s business-focused branches when the bank’s assets are divested under plans being drawn up. Competition rules agreed between London and Brussels will ensure that no purchase of the assets will push the buyer’s market share in the specific market past 15 per cent. [...]
Hester fights to hang on to Citizens in US November 1, 2009 ROYAL Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester is fighting tooth and nail to keep Citizens, the group’s flagship American retail banking business, on its books after it emerged that Europe is considering forcing it to divest the brand in the interests of competition. Citizens, which has over 1,480 branches in the US, is regarded [...]
Bank plan could cost 40bn November 1, 2009 THE Government may have to find a further £40bn to fund the continuing restructuring of Lloyds, RBS and Northern Rock, it emerged yesterday. The biggest injection will be into RBS, which might receive as much as £26bn as a result of participating in the government’s toxic insurance scheme. Lloyds Banking Group will need up to [...]
Lloyds close to agreeing break fee of 2.5bn November 1, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group and the Treasury are close to rubber-stamping a deal under which the bank will fork out a break fee of £2.5bn to exit the government’s asset protection scheme (APS). An announcement is expected possibly as early as tomorrow on the exact terms of Lloyds’ exit from the state-backed scheme, into which it [...]
Kraft’s offer softened by lack of rivals November 1, 2009 CONFECTIONERY group Cadbury could get an improved takeover offer from suitor Kraft this week, although it may fall short of investors’ hopes due to a lack of rival bids. It is understood the US maker of Dairylea cheese may make a £10.5bn offer for the Dairy Milk firm, higher than the £9.9billion offered by Kraft [...]
