UKFI loses 11bn on its bank stakes July 13, 2009 UK FINANCIAL Investments (UKFI) – the company set up to manage government stakes in banks – has suffered paper losses of £10.9bn from its investment in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group, it said yesterday. Speaking as the organisation published its annual report, chief executive John Kingman said the value of its [...]
RHJ back in the running for GM July 13, 2009 PRIVATE equity firm RHJ International yesterday re-emerged as a strong contender to buy GM Europe saying it would keep Vauxhall’s two UK plants open and would make the European unit profitable by 2011. The firm said it is has been in “advanced” negotiations for several weeks with GM and now felt it was “appropriate to [...]
Teenage media habits: no need for panic July 13, 2009 SO now we know what banks should do if they want some publicity: ask a teenage scribbler to write one of their research notes. That is what Morgan Stanley has just done, getting an enterprising 15-year old intern to write about his friends’ media habits. But while his findings make sense – they don’t have [...]
Virgin knew of price fixing July 13, 2009 VIRGIN ATLANTIC chief executive Steve Ridgway admitted yesterday he was aware his airline had conspired to fix the price of fuel surcharges between July 2004 and April 2006 with rival British Airways (BA). Ridgway said in a statement: “Although I did not have any direct contact with BA in relation to passenger fuel surcharges I [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 13, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES GOLDMAN SACHS EXECUTIVES SOLD $700M OF STOCKExecutives at Goldman Sachs sold almost $700m worth of stock following the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Most of the sales occurred during the period in which the investment bank enjoyed the support of $10bn from the [...]
Stanford CFO to change his plea July 13, 2009 Former Stanford International Bank chief financial officer James Davis plans to plead guilty over conspiracy and obstruction charges relating to a $7bn (£4.3bn) fraud. Davis formally pleaded not guilty at a court appearance, but his lawyer David Finn told the court his client would change his plea to guilty within two weeks as part of [...]
Neonet to offer dark liquidity July 13, 2009 Neonet, Sweden’s largest broker, yesterday announced it has started to offer access to “dark liquidity”, thereby strengthening its buy-side offering further. Neonet is the most recent member of SmartPool, the multi-lateral “dark pool” trading facility launched by NYSE Euronext in partnership with JP Morgan, HSBC and BNP Parabis five months ago. A dark pool is [...]
House prices boosted by fall in stock July 13, 2009 THERE were more definitive signs yesterday that the UK housing market is beginning to recover, according to June data from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The seasonally-adjusted balance of surveyors reporting falling rather than rising prices improved to -18.1 in June from -43.8 in May, the highest reading since September 2007. Housing market [...]
Cowdery will chase Friends July 13, 2009 CLIVE Cowdery’s buyout vehicle, Resolution, is prepared to launch a hostile bid for Friends Provident, the life assurance firm led by Trevor Matthews, if it fails to agree a takeover. Cowdery and Matthews may end up battling it out if a friendly deal can’t be struck, with Resolution prepared to ignore the Friends board’s recommendations [...]
Investors rebuff Venture offer from Centrica July 13, 2009 CENTRICA, the owner of British Gas, faced a setback in its battle to take over Venture Production yesterday, when the North Sea gas producer’s two largest investors backed management’s rejection of the $2bn (£1.2bn) bid. US investment firm ArcLight Capital Partners and one of Venture’s founders, Larry Kinch, which between them control 12.8 per cent [...]
