Whitbread up as Baker hire steadies ship September 7, 2009 WHITBREAD, the owner of hotel group Premier Inn and Costa Coffee, yesterday appointed former Boots chief executive Richard Baker as a non-executive director. Baker, who is also chairman of gym chain Virgin Active, succeeds Charles Gurrassa, who is stepping down after nine years at the group. Chief executive Alan Parker yesterday slammed rumours that Baker [...]
Veteran asset managers see consolidation September 7, 2009 A QUARTET of top names in the asset management industry have predicted a period of consolidation, coupled with simplification and heightened scrutiny of the financial products they offer. Martin Gilbert, who heads Aberdeen Asset Management, said he expected there to be “fewer asset managers in three years than there are today”. “Firms today can be [...]
Goldman in Eurotunnel stake September 7, 2009 CHANNEL Tunnel rail operator Eurotunnel said yesterday that US banking giant Goldman Sachs is to become its biggest shareholder, sending its shares surging by 7.8 per cent. The group said Goldman has decided to convert all of its convertible bonds, taken on when it acted as underwriter to a capital raising last year, into equities. [...]
BarCap poaches Rothschild’s Marsaglia amid growth drive September 7, 2009 BARCLAYS Capital has taken its plans to become a global investment-banking player up a gear by naming Stefano Marsaglia, the respected Rothschild banker, as chairman of its financial institutions group (FIG). In the latest in a series of high-profile hires Barclays has snapped up the Italian heavyweight, who has spent the last 17 years at [...]
Obama names union adviser to boost manufacturing in the US September 7, 2009 US President Barack Obama yesterday named Ron Bloom, former special assistant to the president of the United Steelworkers union, as his senior manufacturing adviser. Bloom, senior adviser to Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner, has been the leader of Obama’s auto industry task force since February. He will work with the National Economic Council to help boost [...]
ARE YOU IMPRESSED BY WHITBREAD’S MANAGEMENT TEAM? September 7, 2009 SAM HART CHARLES STANLEY“Whitbread’s trading update was slightly better than expected. Going forward, we expect the trading environment to gradually improve as the UK economic recovery gathers momentum.” MATTHEW GERARD INVESTEC“The decline in Premier Inn has stabilised and management is making significant progress on cost savings, which is leading us to upgrade our full year [...]
Mixed results for retailers as sales rise September 7, 2009 RETAIL figures for August will today reveal a mixture of good and bad news, with total sales up 2.2 per cent on the year before but like-for-like sales down 0.1 per cent. Total sales, which includes revenue from extra retail space added since last August, hint at an increase in consumer and retailer confidence. But [...]
Weak jobs market ahead for London September 7, 2009 EMPLOYERS in London foresee weaker hiring activity in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to the quarterly Manpower employment outlook published today. Employers reported an overall improvement in hiring prospects on the previous quarter. But London’s outlook fell by eight percentage points, which is the weakest outlook for the region since 1993. However, Alan Clarke, [...]
Myners hails success in the fight against European hedgie rules September 7, 2009 CITY minister Lord Myners yesterday said he had made progress in the fight against European plans to bring in strict rules that could devastate London’s hedge fund industry, after he visited Brussels to lobby EU lawmakers. Myners said he found the EU receptive to calls to rethink the proposals, which experts claim show a complete [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 7, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES ZURICH CHIEF BACKS EU SOLVENCY RULESThe head of Zurich Financial Services, one of the world’s biggest insurance companies, has broken ranks to criticise industry rivals for lobbying against European plans to increase insurers’ financial strength. James Schiro, Zurich chief executive, said the fierce industry “pushback” against proposed new solvency rules for insurers was [...]
