Primark to beat retail gloom September 21, 2009 Primark is set to become a major European force as retailers offering low-cost goods thrive in the recession, according to research out today by Verdict analysts. Verdict predicts the European retail sector will shrink by 5.2 per cent to in 2009, but that value retailers will outperform the market.
CITY MOVES Who’s switching jobs September 21, 2009 Matrix Corporate CapitalThe broking and corporate advisory firm has appointed Oliver Hoare as head of pan-European large cap equity sales. Hoare, who will begin with full coverage of the UK market and then roll out his team’s service to continental Europe, brings over 20 years of experience to the role. He was most recently at [...]
RBS IN SHARE ISSUE PLAN TO RAISE 4BN September 20, 2009 ROYAL Bank of Scotland is considering a share issue of £3bn-£4bn to reduce the government’s stake in the bank. The move would be a last-ditch bid to avoid seeing the government’s stake rise above 70 per cent following participation in the Asset Protection Scheme (APS). It would also see RBS joining Lloyds in the scramble [...]
USand EU closer to bonus deal September 20, 2009 A RADICAL plan by the Federal Reserve to regulate USbank bonuses has made a deal at this week’s G20 summit much more likely, analysts said last night. The US shift has significantly reduced the gap with the EU’s position, but other nations and national parliaments would still have to endorse any agreement. The Fed now [...]
Economic woe hurts sterling September 20, 2009 The POUND’S long-run sustainable exchange rate may have fallen due to an increased focus on Britain’s economic imbalances in the wake of the credit crisis, the Bank of England (BoE) says in a report published today. In an article in its Quarterly Bulletin, the BoE says changes to Britain’s relative economic outlook, the perceived riskiness [...]
Long-term incentives no panacea for City September 20, 2009 SLOWLY but surely, the US and the European positions on regulating bonuses are becoming more similar. At the risk of courting unpopularity, it is therefore worth injecting a few facts into a discussion which to date has been characterised by hysteria and demagoguery rather than reason. It is true and deplorable that some bankers were [...]
Lloyds braced for tax row September 20, 2009 LLOYD Banking Group is facing an investigation by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) over allegations that it helped wealthy clients avoid tax. Footage obtained by BBC’s Panorama shows a banker at the Jersey arm of Lloyds TSB Offshore telling an undercover reporter posing as a customer that he can channel funds through Hong Kong to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 20, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday TelegraphTRUELL TO CONSOLIDATE UK PENSIONS Renowned City investor Edmund Truell is gearing up for a fresh round of acquisitions to drive consolidation in the UK pensions market. Truell, who founded private equity house Duke Street, said he was exploring targets for his Pension Corporation vehicle and had seen a growing interest from [...]
Boden readies for foreign shores September 20, 2009 Boden, the catalogue retailer best known for selling middle class Britons their weekend clothes, is understood to be preparing for expansion into Europe. The privately-owned firm – headed by founder and 60 per cent shareholder Johnnie Boden – is eyeing openings in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Scandinavia, France and Switzerland. Boden posted a 9.5 per [...]
Boost for Chorion’s characters September 20, 2009 Chorion, the owner of children’s brands Noddy, Mr Men and Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Miss Marple, posted a 63 percent rise in annual earnings as the company said consumers turned to familiar characters in turbulent times. “We’ve noticed a drift from new to classic,” chairman Waheed Alli told Reuters in an interview. “People are looking [...]
