China to back acquisition spree July 21, 2009 Beijing will make use of its foreign exchange reserves to back its companies in their efforts to buy up firms on foreign soil, Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao said yesterday. “We should hasten the implementation of our ‘going out’ strategy and combine the utilisation of foreign exchange reserves with the ‘going out’ of our enterprises,” [...]
Banks said to need more capital July 21, 2009 Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland will need to raise billions to meet regulatory requirements on capital due to come into force in 2010, JPMorgan said yesterday. JPMorgan analyst Carla Antune da Silva said Barclays would need to find another £12.8bn and RBS £8.5bn to comply with rules requiring banks to set aside capital against [...]
Life assurers were stress-tested July 21, 2009 Life assurers were put through stress tests earlier this year, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said yesterday for the first time. The FSA told insurance firms to test their capital resilience against a 2009 fall in equity values of 20 per cent, a drop in property values of 15 per cent, a rise in corporate [...]
State Street sinks to a loss on writedown July 21, 2009 US BANK State Street reported a $3.3bn (£2bn) second-quarter loss yesterday as it suffered hefty writedowns on the value of some of its investments. The loss of $7.12 per share contrasted sharply with net income of $548m, or $1.35 per share, in the same quarter in the previous year. But State Street’s reversal of fortunes [...]
City calls for social mobility July 21, 2009 THE CITY has called for a renewed effort to allow people from all social backgrounds to enter professional careers. City groups were alarmed by a study headed by former Labour minister Alan Milburn that said the rich found it much easier to access the top professions. They said the trend must be tackled head-on by [...]
Ryanair cuts back on its Stansted winter flights July 21, 2009 NO frills airline Ryanair yesterday announced a 40 per cent capacity cutback in its winter flights out of Stansted, blaming the government’s Air Passenger Duty and the airport’s passenger fees. The cut comes at a bad time for BAA, which has been forced to sell the airport along with Gatwick and one of its Scottish airports. [...]
Lloyd’s of London review will focus on whether to launch new global markets July 21, 2009 LLOYD’S of London is considering launching a raft of new insurance markets around the world in its landmark strategic review. The move could capitalise on the near-failure of US rival AIG and boost the group’s global presence. Sean McGovern, the market’s general counsel who is heading up the review, one of the biggest in Lloyds’s [...]
Vasanta secures a crucial cash injection from Endless July 21, 2009 OFFICE supply giant Vasanta has announced it has secured lifeline funding from turnaround group Endless Investments, in return for handing a 79 per cent stake to the private equity house. The group has avoided collapse through a £30m cash injection from an Endless-led syndicate. The deal will also see 29 per cent of the firm’s [...]
SAFE AS HOUSES July 21, 2009 LAND Securities chief executive Francis Salway says the real estate company plans to raise £360m through a securitisation of an office let to the Home Office – the first deal of its kind since the credit crunch took hold of the market – signaling that investor appetite for commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) may be returning. [...]
BP forecasts drop in output July 21, 2009 BP said yesterday that its North Sea output will drop around nine per cent in 2009 – but said that it remains committed to the region despite rising costs and dwindling reserves. Europe’s second-largest oil and gas company said production from its UK and Norwegian fields will be equivalent to 320,000 barrels per day, down [...]
